http://www.failurisms.net http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=151&title=November FAILS (Video)&body= http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=151&title=November FAILS (Video)&body= http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=150&title=McDonalds Anus Snack Wrap&body=McYummy! http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=150&title=McDonalds Anus Snack Wrap&body=McYummy! http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=149&title=Sarah Palin's Endorsement: Fails!&body=The Huffington Post   |  Nick Wing Sarah Palin entered the high stakes game of political endorsements last year with a big fat whiff. In New Yorks's 23rd Congressional district, Doug Hoffman, the divisive conservative counterpart to the more moderate Dede Scozzafava, won the support of Sarah Palin and of Tea Party types, but not much else. Hoffman eventually lost to Bill Owens in a highly symbolic special election. Since then, the former Alaska Governor's involvement in a number of races has not always produced the results that she would have liked. Throwing her weight behind candidates in a total of 34 races according to the Washington Post (winning 10 and losing 8, so far) this election cycle, Sarah Palin's once strong streak of helping -- or perhaps simply picking -- eventual winners has begun to weaken. And now, with four of Palin's more obscure choices losing elections in a matter of weeks, some within the GOP, such as Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), have begun to question the real effect of the former vice presidential candidate's support. Of the candidates Palin has already endorsed, 15 of them still have upcoming primary elections. And as November draws closer, she'll be expected to hit the campaign trail again for those mama and papa grizzlies who are still around for the general election. On top of all of this, there is little reason to believe that Palin is close to quitting the endorsement game, as much as some might like her to. Be prepared to see a growing list of Palinites, and with it, most likely a continuing rollercoaster ride of successes and failures. Take a look back at some of Sarah Palin's most spectacular flops and vote on the biggest fail.   Read More at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/sarah-palins-endorsement_n_679244.html http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=149&title=Sarah Palin's Endorsement: Fails!&body=The Huffington Post   |  Nick Wing Sarah Palin entered the high stakes game of political endorsements last year with a big fat whiff. In New Yorks's 23rd Congressional district, Doug Hoffman, the divisive conservative counterpart to the more moderate Dede Scozzafava, won the support of Sarah Palin and of Tea Party types, but not much else. Hoffman eventually lost to Bill Owens in a highly symbolic special election. Since then, the former Alaska Governor's involvement in a number of races has not always produced the results that she would have liked. Throwing her weight behind candidates in a total of 34 races according to the Washington Post (winning 10 and losing 8, so far) this election cycle, Sarah Palin's once strong streak of helping -- or perhaps simply picking -- eventual winners has begun to weaken. And now, with four of Palin's more obscure choices losing elections in a matter of weeks, some within the GOP, such as Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), have begun to question the real effect of the former vice presidential candidate's support. Of the candidates Palin has already endorsed, 15 of them still have upcoming primary elections. And as November draws closer, she'll be expected to hit the campaign trail again for those mama and papa grizzlies who are still around for the general election. On top of all of this, there is little reason to believe that Palin is close to quitting the endorsement game, as much as some might like her to. Be prepared to see a growing list of Palinites, and with it, most likely a continuing rollercoaster ride of successes and failures. Take a look back at some of Sarah Palin's most spectacular flops and vote on the biggest fail.   Read More at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/sarah-palins-endorsement_n_679244.html http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=146&title=McDonald's McNugget Rage: She Needs Her Fix Now!&body=  Associated Press: TOLEDO, Ohio — A security video from a McDonald's in Ohio shows a woman punching two restaurant employees and smashing a drive-thru window because she couldn't get Chicken McNuggets. The tantrum caught on tape in Toledo earlier this year shows the customer reaching through the drive-thru window, slugging one worker and then another. She then grabs a bottle out of her car and tosses it through the glass window before speeding off. It happened early on New Year's Day. Police say Melodi Dushane was angry that McNuggets weren't being served, because it was breakfast time. Dushane says she was drunk at the time. She was sentenced to 60 days in jail last month and ordered to pay McDonald's for the broken window. The video was released Monday when it became public record.     http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=146&title=McDonald's McNugget Rage: She Needs Her Fix Now!&body=  Associated Press: TOLEDO, Ohio — A security video from a McDonald's in Ohio shows a woman punching two restaurant employees and smashing a drive-thru window because she couldn't get Chicken McNuggets. The tantrum caught on tape in Toledo earlier this year shows the customer reaching through the drive-thru window, slugging one worker and then another. She then grabs a bottle out of her car and tosses it through the glass window before speeding off. It happened early on New Year's Day. Police say Melodi Dushane was angry that McNuggets weren't being served, because it was breakfast time. Dushane says she was drunk at the time. She was sentenced to 60 days in jail last month and ordered to pay McDonald's for the broken window. The video was released Monday when it became public record.     http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=145&title=Blue Gold: Failure For Our Water Treatment Plants&body=I've always been one to drink bottled water and tap water, but I think and hope now that I will act upon drinking strictly tap water indefinitely...       (although.... I do love my Glacéau Smartwater...so I may be a bit hypocritacal... but who isn't??...)     http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=145&title=Blue Gold: Failure For Our Water Treatment Plants&body=I've always been one to drink bottled water and tap water, but I think and hope now that I will act upon drinking strictly tap water indefinitely...       (although.... I do love my Glacéau Smartwater...so I may be a bit hypocritacal... but who isn't??...)     http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=144&title=BP trying to block Oil Spill research?&body=RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI and NOAKI SCHWARTZ, Associated Press HOUSTON -- Faced with hundreds of lawsuits and a deep need for experts, BP has been offering some Gulf Coast scientists lucrative consulting contracts that bar them from releasing their findings on the company's massive oil spill for three years. Some scientists say the contracts constrain academic freedom. A few signed the agreements, then changed their minds. And others argue BP's contract is standard, and with little federal funding available to study the spill's impact, Gulf Coast researchers have few other options. Full story: http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=144&title=BP trying to block Oil Spill research?&body=RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI and NOAKI SCHWARTZ, Associated Press HOUSTON -- Faced with hundreds of lawsuits and a deep need for experts, BP has been offering some Gulf Coast scientists lucrative consulting contracts that bar them from releasing their findings on the company's massive oil spill for three years. Some scientists say the contracts constrain academic freedom. A few signed the agreements, then changed their minds. And others argue BP's contract is standard, and with little federal funding available to study the spill's impact, Gulf Coast researchers have few other options. Full story: http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=142&title=Facebook Bombs: Unsatisfied Users&body=  From HuffingtonPost.com:     By:  Bianca Bosker   Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg might have quieted some of the outcry over Facebook's privacy settings, but, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Facebook's users still aren't happy. The index, which, for the the first time, included social media sites among the thirty online media companies, found that Facebook had one of the lowest "satisfaction" scores among the firms ranked. Facebook's "abysmal" 64 points out of 100 put it in "the bottom 5% of all private sector companies, and in the same range as the IRS tax e-filing system, airlines and cable companies," the Wall Street Journal explains. MySpace, Wikipedia, and YouTube received scores of 63, 77, and 73 out of 100, respectively. Google, which earned an 80, saw its score go down 7% over the previous year, but it still topped search engine sites and web portals: Bing scored 77, Yahoo! 76, and AOL 74. Larry Freed, the CEO of ForeSee Results, which worked on the ACSI survey, said Facebook's low score came as a surprise. "At the same time, our research shows that privacy concerns, frequent changes to the Web site, and commercialization and advertising adversely affect the consumer experience," Freed noted in the ASCI press release. He also explained, "Customer satisfaction is a combination of what you get and what you expect [from a website]. The business model of starting out free and ad-free, then turning your site into something else over time works somewhere in tech, but from the average consumer standpoint it doesn't work."   Read more about this article here.   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=142&title=Facebook Bombs: Unsatisfied Users&body=  From HuffingtonPost.com:     By:  Bianca Bosker   Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg might have quieted some of the outcry over Facebook's privacy settings, but, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Facebook's users still aren't happy. The index, which, for the the first time, included social media sites among the thirty online media companies, found that Facebook had one of the lowest "satisfaction" scores among the firms ranked. Facebook's "abysmal" 64 points out of 100 put it in "the bottom 5% of all private sector companies, and in the same range as the IRS tax e-filing system, airlines and cable companies," the Wall Street Journal explains. MySpace, Wikipedia, and YouTube received scores of 63, 77, and 73 out of 100, respectively. Google, which earned an 80, saw its score go down 7% over the previous year, but it still topped search engine sites and web portals: Bing scored 77, Yahoo! 76, and AOL 74. Larry Freed, the CEO of ForeSee Results, which worked on the ACSI survey, said Facebook's low score came as a surprise. "At the same time, our research shows that privacy concerns, frequent changes to the Web site, and commercialization and advertising adversely affect the consumer experience," Freed noted in the ASCI press release. He also explained, "Customer satisfaction is a combination of what you get and what you expect [from a website]. The business model of starting out free and ad-free, then turning your site into something else over time works somewhere in tech, but from the average consumer standpoint it doesn't work."   Read more about this article here.   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=143&title=Lohan Reports To Jail&body=I can remember when she did Disney's remake of The Parent Trap...........     By ANTHONY McCARTNEY and DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writers Anthony Mccartney And Derrik J. Lang, Ap Entertainment Writers LYNWOOD, Calif. – Whisked away to a women's jail in an unmarked sheriff's car after a brief hearing, Lindsay Lohan reported Tuesday for a 90-day sentence that the troubled actress likely will serve in isolation, and which may be significantly shortened. Wearing dark denim jeans, a gray top, black corset belt and black jacket, the 24-year-old Lohan showed up at the Beverly Hills courtroom about 10 minutes late. After a short hearing, she rose and was handcuffed behind her back to serve her time for a probation violation. Lohan was accompanied to court by her mother, Dina, and younger sister Ali, who wiped away tears after her sister was taken into a lockup. Her estranged father, Michael Lohan, yelled, "We love you Lindsay!" as his daughter was led away. She was then taken across town to the Century Regional Detention Facility in the industrial suburb of Lynwood. In court, Lohan was represented by her longtime attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, who had resigned earlier but never filed a formal motion with the court. Famed celebrity attorney Robert Shapiro said Friday that he had agreed to represent the actress, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel said Tuesday that he had told her hours earlier that he would not take the case. Holley said after the hearing that Lohan had decided she did not want Shapiro to represent her. "She's stepped up, she's accepted responsibility," Holley said of her client. "She's scared as anyone would be, but she's as resolute and she's doing it." Prosecutor Danette Meyers said she thought Lohan was receiving the appropriate sentence. She said the case, which is atypical for the attention it receives, spotlighted that drunken driving is a serious offense with consequences. "Someone can get killed," Meyers said. "Hopefully it has opened a number of eyes." While the judge did not address Lohan's tardiness Tuesday directly, she did order her to report to probation officials within a day of her release from jail. The judge had previously ordered Lohan to report within two days. Revel also has ordered officials not to allow Lohan to serve any of her sentence on house arrest or work release. Two weeks ago the judge determined that the "Mean Girls" star violated her probation by missing seven alcohol education classes since December. She had been on probation since August 2007 after pleading guilty to misdemeanor drug charges and no contest to three driving charges. Lohan, a prolific user of the microblogging site Twitter, posted a message roughly 12 hours before her court appearance referencing her looming incarceration. "The only 'bookings' that I'm familiar with are Disney Films, never thought that I'd be 'booking' into jail eeeks," Lohan posted. The jail and rehab stints have left some of the actress' projects in limbo, including her planned portrayal of porn star Linda Lovelace in a biopic. Once considered an up-and-coming star, Lohan has in recent years been better-known as a tabloid staple and for the criminal case she has struggled to put behind her. Her probation had to be extended for a year to give Lohan more time to complete her alcohol education courses and Revel ordered weekly attendance in December. But the actress didn't complete the sessions as ordered and missed a court date in May, setting a stage for her return to jail. She is expected to serve her time — probably a quarter of her sentence or less — in isolation at a women's jail in the industrial suburb of Lynwood. The facility has hosted several female celebrities, including Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Michelle Rodriguez, Khloe Kardashian and very briefly, Lohan. She will be forced to wear a jail-issued jumpsuit and be given a set of simple toiletries that all inmates receive: toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, comb, deodorant, shampoo and shaving implements. Hilton received one for her own secluded 23-day stay in 2007 for reckless driving charges. ___ McCartney reported from Beverly Hills. AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=143&title=Lohan Reports To Jail&body=I can remember when she did Disney's remake of The Parent Trap...........     By ANTHONY McCARTNEY and DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writers Anthony Mccartney And Derrik J. Lang, Ap Entertainment Writers LYNWOOD, Calif. – Whisked away to a women's jail in an unmarked sheriff's car after a brief hearing, Lindsay Lohan reported Tuesday for a 90-day sentence that the troubled actress likely will serve in isolation, and which may be significantly shortened. Wearing dark denim jeans, a gray top, black corset belt and black jacket, the 24-year-old Lohan showed up at the Beverly Hills courtroom about 10 minutes late. After a short hearing, she rose and was handcuffed behind her back to serve her time for a probation violation. Lohan was accompanied to court by her mother, Dina, and younger sister Ali, who wiped away tears after her sister was taken into a lockup. Her estranged father, Michael Lohan, yelled, "We love you Lindsay!" as his daughter was led away. She was then taken across town to the Century Regional Detention Facility in the industrial suburb of Lynwood. In court, Lohan was represented by her longtime attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, who had resigned earlier but never filed a formal motion with the court. Famed celebrity attorney Robert Shapiro said Friday that he had agreed to represent the actress, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel said Tuesday that he had told her hours earlier that he would not take the case. Holley said after the hearing that Lohan had decided she did not want Shapiro to represent her. "She's stepped up, she's accepted responsibility," Holley said of her client. "She's scared as anyone would be, but she's as resolute and she's doing it." Prosecutor Danette Meyers said she thought Lohan was receiving the appropriate sentence. She said the case, which is atypical for the attention it receives, spotlighted that drunken driving is a serious offense with consequences. "Someone can get killed," Meyers said. "Hopefully it has opened a number of eyes." While the judge did not address Lohan's tardiness Tuesday directly, she did order her to report to probation officials within a day of her release from jail. The judge had previously ordered Lohan to report within two days. Revel also has ordered officials not to allow Lohan to serve any of her sentence on house arrest or work release. Two weeks ago the judge determined that the "Mean Girls" star violated her probation by missing seven alcohol education classes since December. She had been on probation since August 2007 after pleading guilty to misdemeanor drug charges and no contest to three driving charges. Lohan, a prolific user of the microblogging site Twitter, posted a message roughly 12 hours before her court appearance referencing her looming incarceration. "The only 'bookings' that I'm familiar with are Disney Films, never thought that I'd be 'booking' into jail eeeks," Lohan posted. The jail and rehab stints have left some of the actress' projects in limbo, including her planned portrayal of porn star Linda Lovelace in a biopic. Once considered an up-and-coming star, Lohan has in recent years been better-known as a tabloid staple and for the criminal case she has struggled to put behind her. Her probation had to be extended for a year to give Lohan more time to complete her alcohol education courses and Revel ordered weekly attendance in December. But the actress didn't complete the sessions as ordered and missed a court date in May, setting a stage for her return to jail. She is expected to serve her time — probably a quarter of her sentence or less — in isolation at a women's jail in the industrial suburb of Lynwood. The facility has hosted several female celebrities, including Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Michelle Rodriguez, Khloe Kardashian and very briefly, Lohan. She will be forced to wear a jail-issued jumpsuit and be given a set of simple toiletries that all inmates receive: toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, comb, deodorant, shampoo and shaving implements. Hilton received one for her own secluded 23-day stay in 2007 for reckless driving charges. ___ McCartney reported from Beverly Hills. AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.   http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=141&title=New iphone Fails to get connected&body=Can you hear me now?...     http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=141&title=New iphone Fails to get connected&body=Can you hear me now?...     http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=140&title=Big Polluters efforts failing&body="Deja Vu" That's how marine toxicologist and Huffington Post blogger Rikki Ott described the similarity of events surrounding the failing health of workers recruited to cleanup the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and their Alaskan counterparts who worked to do the same after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reported that fishermen hired to cleanup BP's mess were coming down with nausea, severe headaches, and breathing problems after working in waters contaminated by the nation's worst oil spill. BP reportedly told the workers that if they encountered oil, it "wasn't supposed to bother [them]." BP did not distribute gloves, suits, or any other kind of protective gear. Following up on the LA Times report, Propublica noted that BP continues to use a dispersant called Corexit, which has been tied to human health problems in the past. BP continues to use Corexit despite a deadline imposed by the EPA directing the oil company to stop using it. Ott told the Times that the illnesses for cleanup workers were "déjà vu ... What we saw with Exxon Valdez was a parallel track -- sick animals and sick people. Harbor seals were looking like they were drunk and dying ... and autopsies showed brain lesions....What are we exposing these poor fishermen to?" While sicknesses observed during the current BP oil spill might be most similar to those during the 1989 Exxon Valdex cleanup, other events, like the failed blowout preventers, location, and long-shot solutions appear to be more similar to a different spill, 1979'S Ixtoc 1 oil spill. from: Huffington Post http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=140&title=Big Polluters efforts failing&body="Deja Vu" That's how marine toxicologist and Huffington Post blogger Rikki Ott described the similarity of events surrounding the failing health of workers recruited to cleanup the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and their Alaskan counterparts who worked to do the same after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reported that fishermen hired to cleanup BP's mess were coming down with nausea, severe headaches, and breathing problems after working in waters contaminated by the nation's worst oil spill. BP reportedly told the workers that if they encountered oil, it "wasn't supposed to bother [them]." BP did not distribute gloves, suits, or any other kind of protective gear. Following up on the LA Times report, Propublica noted that BP continues to use a dispersant called Corexit, which has been tied to human health problems in the past. BP continues to use Corexit despite a deadline imposed by the EPA directing the oil company to stop using it. Ott told the Times that the illnesses for cleanup workers were "déjà vu ... What we saw with Exxon Valdez was a parallel track -- sick animals and sick people. Harbor seals were looking like they were drunk and dying ... and autopsies showed brain lesions....What are we exposing these poor fishermen to?" While sicknesses observed during the current BP oil spill might be most similar to those during the 1989 Exxon Valdex cleanup, other events, like the failed blowout preventers, location, and long-shot solutions appear to be more similar to a different spill, 1979'S Ixtoc 1 oil spill. from: Huffington Post http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=139&title=30 Days later the Oil still flows!&body=BP announced today that it is now capturing an estimated 5,000 barrels a day of crude oil and 15 million cubic feet of natural gas from one of the leaking pipes at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the first time the company has publicly admitted that its earlier estimate that only 5,000 barrels of oil were gushing into the Gulf each day were woefully inaccurate. BP is capturing only a portion of the oil from only one of two leaks on the sea floor, adding further evidence that the company’s daily outflow estimate is far too low. Several scientists who testified in front of Congress yesterday said the total outflow could be more than 100,000 barrels a day, far above BP’s estimate. http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=139&title=30 Days later the Oil still flows!&body=BP announced today that it is now capturing an estimated 5,000 barrels a day of crude oil and 15 million cubic feet of natural gas from one of the leaking pipes at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the first time the company has publicly admitted that its earlier estimate that only 5,000 barrels of oil were gushing into the Gulf each day were woefully inaccurate. BP is capturing only a portion of the oil from only one of two leaks on the sea floor, adding further evidence that the company’s daily outflow estimate is far too low. Several scientists who testified in front of Congress yesterday said the total outflow could be more than 100,000 barrels a day, far above BP’s estimate. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=138&title=Taser Those Fans!&body= Article by: JON KRAWCZYNSKI   The video of a 17-year-old fan being chased around the field and finally Tasered at a Philadelphia Phillies game drew laughs as it became an Internet sensation. Around the major leagues, though, many players and managers aren't joining in. While some question the use of force on a teen who ran on to the field as a lark, plenty of players, baseball officials and security officers say it's difficult to make that determination in the moment. Recalling the stabbing of tennis star Monica Seles in 1993, and the beating of Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa in 2002, they stressed the need to feel safe on the field. "You've got to do whatever you think is necessary to stop some of these fans," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's a wacko fan. I'm all for it." It says something about the distance that has grown between fans and players, but also about the concern that's developed about security among everyone at the ballpark. Some of baseball's enduring images come from fans on the field – like the two kids in Atlanta patting Hank Aaron as he rounded second base after breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record in 1974. Then there was Morganna, "the Kissing Bandit," who made a tradition of sauntering onto the field and plopping red-lipsticked smooches on players' cheeks in the 1970s and 80s. But there also is a darker side to fans getting in on the action, particularly in the last 20 years or so. Gamboa was mugged by two fans at a Royals-White Sox game in Chicago. The Houston Astros had to rush to the aid of outfielder Bill Spiers when he was attacked by a fan in Milwaukee in 1999 and the NBA's Indiana Pacers brawled with Pistons fans in Detroit in 2004. "I think it's important that the players are protected out there," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "You never know what's going to happen. So many times we've had guys run on tennis courts with knives or whatever, we just have to make sure that's taken care of." Philadelphia police sent a strong message on Monday night when Steve Consalvi jumped onto the field and eluded capture as several security guards gave chase. Finally, a police officer shot Consalvi with a Taser and he fell face-first to the turf.   The story continues at.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/06/mlb-players-managers-appl_n_565739.html http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=138&title=Taser Those Fans!&body= Article by: JON KRAWCZYNSKI   The video of a 17-year-old fan being chased around the field and finally Tasered at a Philadelphia Phillies game drew laughs as it became an Internet sensation. Around the major leagues, though, many players and managers aren't joining in. While some question the use of force on a teen who ran on to the field as a lark, plenty of players, baseball officials and security officers say it's difficult to make that determination in the moment. Recalling the stabbing of tennis star Monica Seles in 1993, and the beating of Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa in 2002, they stressed the need to feel safe on the field. "You've got to do whatever you think is necessary to stop some of these fans," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's a wacko fan. I'm all for it." It says something about the distance that has grown between fans and players, but also about the concern that's developed about security among everyone at the ballpark. Some of baseball's enduring images come from fans on the field – like the two kids in Atlanta patting Hank Aaron as he rounded second base after breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record in 1974. Then there was Morganna, "the Kissing Bandit," who made a tradition of sauntering onto the field and plopping red-lipsticked smooches on players' cheeks in the 1970s and 80s. But there also is a darker side to fans getting in on the action, particularly in the last 20 years or so. Gamboa was mugged by two fans at a Royals-White Sox game in Chicago. The Houston Astros had to rush to the aid of outfielder Bill Spiers when he was attacked by a fan in Milwaukee in 1999 and the NBA's Indiana Pacers brawled with Pistons fans in Detroit in 2004. "I think it's important that the players are protected out there," Houston manager Brad Mills said. "You never know what's going to happen. So many times we've had guys run on tennis courts with knives or whatever, we just have to make sure that's taken care of." Philadelphia police sent a strong message on Monday night when Steve Consalvi jumped onto the field and eluded capture as several security guards gave chase. Finally, a police officer shot Consalvi with a Taser and he fell face-first to the turf.   The story continues at.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/06/mlb-players-managers-appl_n_565739.html http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=137&title=Big Polluters&body= http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=137&title=Big Polluters&body= http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=132&title=iPad Probs&body=Well, with the innovation of our modern-age technology, kids are probably not swinging on those swings as much... They are touching their iPad and iPod screens. But, kids, please don't waste your money on this....     iPad 3G video downscaled, blocked over AT&T network By Charles Starrett Senior Editor, iLounge  Published: Friday, April 30, 2010  News Category: iPad In our early testing, iLounge has learned that some video delivery applications act differently over the 3G network than they do on Wi-Fi. The iPad’s built-in YouTube application strips both standard and HD videos to a dramatically lower resolution over the cellular data connection, something that iTunes Store video previews notably do not do, instead staying at a higher quality and consuming a greater amount of data. Other third-party applications, such as the ABC Player, refuse to work at all over the cellular connection, producing a notification pop-up that states, “Please connect to a Wi-Fi network to use this application. Cellular networks are not supported at this time.”     More at: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/ipad-3g-video-downscaled-blocked-over-att-network/   http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=132&title=iPad Probs&body=Well, with the innovation of our modern-age technology, kids are probably not swinging on those swings as much... They are touching their iPad and iPod screens. But, kids, please don't waste your money on this....     iPad 3G video downscaled, blocked over AT&T network By Charles Starrett Senior Editor, iLounge  Published: Friday, April 30, 2010  News Category: iPad In our early testing, iLounge has learned that some video delivery applications act differently over the 3G network than they do on Wi-Fi. The iPad’s built-in YouTube application strips both standard and HD videos to a dramatically lower resolution over the cellular data connection, something that iTunes Store video previews notably do not do, instead staying at a higher quality and consuming a greater amount of data. Other third-party applications, such as the ABC Player, refuse to work at all over the cellular connection, producing a notification pop-up that states, “Please connect to a Wi-Fi network to use this application. Cellular networks are not supported at this time.”     More at: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/ipad-3g-video-downscaled-blocked-over-att-network/   http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=133&title=Got Bad Milk? &body= But, I love milk!........                                                                   "Got Proof?" http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=133&title=Got Bad Milk? &body= But, I love milk!........                                                                   "Got Proof?" http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=117&title=Newt Gingrich WRONG&body= Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, leveling harsh criticism against the Obama administration. After Gingrich assailed the administration for reading Miranda Rights to Detroit undie bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Stewart drew a comparison to something that happened under George W. Bush. "Didn't they do the same with Richard Reid, who was the shoe bomber?" he asked the Republican icon. "Richard Reid was an American citizen," insisted Gingrich. Reid is actually a British citizen of Jamaican descent. http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=117&title=Newt Gingrich WRONG&body= Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, leveling harsh criticism against the Obama administration. After Gingrich assailed the administration for reading Miranda Rights to Detroit undie bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Stewart drew a comparison to something that happened under George W. Bush. "Didn't they do the same with Richard Reid, who was the shoe bomber?" he asked the Republican icon. "Richard Reid was an American citizen," insisted Gingrich. Reid is actually a British citizen of Jamaican descent. http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=116&title=Best Fails of 2009&body= http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=116&title=Best Fails of 2009&body= http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=115&title=Sarah Palin Quits Turkey Trot 5K Race.&body= Sarah Palin dropped out of a 5k race on Thanksgiving Day in Kennewick, Wash. The former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Governor quit the race because she wanted to avoid the crowds that were waiting for her at the end, according to The Tri-Cities Harold. Palin was 1 of about 3,000 participants. The paper reported that her presence drew a "mass of onlookers." Palin announced that she would be running the race on Twitter. The former Republican vice-presidential candidate visited nearby Richland, Wash., to spend the holiday with relatives.  She said it's good to be back in the Tri-Cities to reconnect with "the roots." Her grandparents, Clem and Helen Sheeran, came to Richland in 1943. Does this woman finish anything she starts? http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=115&title=Sarah Palin Quits Turkey Trot 5K Race.&body= Sarah Palin dropped out of a 5k race on Thanksgiving Day in Kennewick, Wash. The former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Governor quit the race because she wanted to avoid the crowds that were waiting for her at the end, according to The Tri-Cities Harold. Palin was 1 of about 3,000 participants. The paper reported that her presence drew a "mass of onlookers." Palin announced that she would be running the race on Twitter. The former Republican vice-presidential candidate visited nearby Richland, Wash., to spend the holiday with relatives.  She said it's good to be back in the Tri-Cities to reconnect with "the roots." Her grandparents, Clem and Helen Sheeran, came to Richland in 1943. Does this woman finish anything she starts? http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=113&title=Sarah Palin fans struggle to answer why they support her&body= But she sure is pretty ain't she? http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=113&title=Sarah Palin fans struggle to answer why they support her&body= But she sure is pretty ain't she? http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=114&title=Paula Deen hit in face with a Ham&body=If all the butter and fat doesn't kill her, the flying hams will! http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=114&title=Paula Deen hit in face with a Ham&body=If all the butter and fat doesn't kill her, the flying hams will! http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=112&title=Limbaugh Falls for Obama Thesis Hoax, in no rush to apologize&body= (Oct. 25) - A fictitious article that claimed President Barack Obama slammed the Constitution in his college thesis had some people fooled into thinking it was the real thing -- including Rush Limbaugh. The conservative radio show host reported the story as fact on his show Friday after an obscure blogger, Michael Leeden, picked it up from a satire Web site last week, the New York Daily News reported Sunday. But after Limbaugh found out the piece was a fake, he didn't apologize for his mistake.   Limbaugh sounded off on the false report about a college thesis written by Obama, titled "Aristocracy Reborn." In it, the report claimed, the president criticized the nation's Founding Fathers, the Constitution and the distribution of wealth.   "While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned," read the fake report on Obama's Columbia University thesis, referring to the Constitution. "While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."   Limbaugh went off on his show.   "So here is who we have as our president of the United States: an anti-constitutionalist man who finds it an obstacle and is finding ways around it on purpose, unconstitutionally," Limbaugh said.   "Much of what he's doing is unconstitutional, and I'm waiting for the lawsuits to be filed by some of these people at some point," he added. "How is that hope and change working out for ya, folks?"   Later in the program, Limbaugh learned the report was a fake and alerted his listeners. But he insisted the fabricated thesis was still in line with what the president thinks, the New York Daily news reported.   "So I shout from the mountaintops: 'It was satire!'" Limbaugh said on the program. "But we know he (Obama) thinks it. Good comedy, to be comedy, must contain an element of truth, and we know how he feels about distribution of wealth."   Leeden has since apologized for making the mistake.   "The hoax/satire was written in August, so it’s not connected to any current event. I came across it on Twitter, read the blog, found it interesting, and posted on it. I failed to notice that one of the tags was 'satire,'" he wrote.   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=112&title=Limbaugh Falls for Obama Thesis Hoax, in no rush to apologize&body= (Oct. 25) - A fictitious article that claimed President Barack Obama slammed the Constitution in his college thesis had some people fooled into thinking it was the real thing -- including Rush Limbaugh. The conservative radio show host reported the story as fact on his show Friday after an obscure blogger, Michael Leeden, picked it up from a satire Web site last week, the New York Daily News reported Sunday. But after Limbaugh found out the piece was a fake, he didn't apologize for his mistake.   Limbaugh sounded off on the false report about a college thesis written by Obama, titled "Aristocracy Reborn." In it, the report claimed, the president criticized the nation's Founding Fathers, the Constitution and the distribution of wealth.   "While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned," read the fake report on Obama's Columbia University thesis, referring to the Constitution. "While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."   Limbaugh went off on his show.   "So here is who we have as our president of the United States: an anti-constitutionalist man who finds it an obstacle and is finding ways around it on purpose, unconstitutionally," Limbaugh said.   "Much of what he's doing is unconstitutional, and I'm waiting for the lawsuits to be filed by some of these people at some point," he added. "How is that hope and change working out for ya, folks?"   Later in the program, Limbaugh learned the report was a fake and alerted his listeners. But he insisted the fabricated thesis was still in line with what the president thinks, the New York Daily news reported.   "So I shout from the mountaintops: 'It was satire!'" Limbaugh said on the program. "But we know he (Obama) thinks it. Good comedy, to be comedy, must contain an element of truth, and we know how he feels about distribution of wealth."   Leeden has since apologized for making the mistake.   "The hoax/satire was written in August, so it’s not connected to any current event. I came across it on Twitter, read the blog, found it interesting, and posted on it. I failed to notice that one of the tags was 'satire,'" he wrote.   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=111&title=The 10 Creepiest Unintentionally-Sexual Ads of All-Time&body=Courtesy of HuffingtonPost.com, we have the top 10 creepiest unintentionally-sexual advirtisements of all-time. Here is No. 1: "The 70s were definitely a simpler time, but today this logo for the Catholic Church’s Archdiocesan Youth Commission looks like an admission of guilt." Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/11/the-11-creepiest-unintent_n_316963.html?slidenumber=3#slide_image And, here is my personal favorite... oh no!.... not Mr. Bucket, haha: "But... look out!! The balls will pop out of his mouth!''   Check out the remaining eight at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/11/the-11-creepiest-unintent_n_316963.html     http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=111&title=The 10 Creepiest Unintentionally-Sexual Ads of All-Time&body=Courtesy of HuffingtonPost.com, we have the top 10 creepiest unintentionally-sexual advirtisements of all-time. Here is No. 1: "The 70s were definitely a simpler time, but today this logo for the Catholic Church’s Archdiocesan Youth Commission looks like an admission of guilt." Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/11/the-11-creepiest-unintent_n_316963.html?slidenumber=3#slide_image And, here is my personal favorite... oh no!.... not Mr. Bucket, haha: "But... look out!! The balls will pop out of his mouth!''   Check out the remaining eight at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/11/the-11-creepiest-unintent_n_316963.html     http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=108&title=Chicago Fails to win Olympics.&body= http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=108&title=Chicago Fails to win Olympics.&body= http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=107&title=Glenn Beck is a Socialist too?&body=Glenn Beck's "9-12" logo based on Communist & Socialists designs. September 13, 2009 | 10:30 am Ever since Glenn Beck took to the Fox television airwaves recently to offer a bizarre reading of the art commissioned 70 years ago for New York's Rockefeller Center, I've been puzzled by the graphic design element of his 9-12 Project. The logo (pictured) for his affiliated groups' rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend derives from century-old communist, socialist and other left-wing designs. Those were the motifs he railed against in his Rockefeller rant. For the logo, three raised and clenched red fists are superimposed over the U.S. Capitol. Obviously the bloody fist represents the tea-baggers' themes of unity and resistance. But do Beck; the corporate-sponsored astro-turf group, FreedomWorks, headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas); the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights; the private-property group, the National Assn. of Rural Landowners; and the rest of the march sponsors know the symbol's origins? Unity and resistance are what the fist represented in 1917, when it was first employed by the Industrial Workers of the World, a union organization founded by socialists. And in the 1940s, when it stood  for various nations' communist party organizations. That's also what it meant when it was revived in the 1960s, appearing as a symbol for the SDS, as well as anti-war and feminist movements. It was the basis for the black-power salute given by John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. And today, it's the symbol for the Progressive Labor Party (pictured), a political outfit whose website says it "fights to smash capitalism." Turnout for the 9-12 Project's Saturday march on Washington was a bust; 30,000 protesters signed up in advance (MSNBC reporter David Shuster tweeted that D.C. park police called that figure "generous"). But even if three times that many actually showed up, the number would fall far short of the hundreds of thousands (and even millions) claimed to be planning to attend. Even in that reduced crowd, however, surely someone recognized how odd the right-wing gathering's left-wing logo was. Maybe Beck will explain. Sort of. -- Christopher Knight Credits: 912dc.org; Progressive Labor Party   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=107&title=Glenn Beck is a Socialist too?&body=Glenn Beck's "9-12" logo based on Communist & Socialists designs. September 13, 2009 | 10:30 am Ever since Glenn Beck took to the Fox television airwaves recently to offer a bizarre reading of the art commissioned 70 years ago for New York's Rockefeller Center, I've been puzzled by the graphic design element of his 9-12 Project. The logo (pictured) for his affiliated groups' rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend derives from century-old communist, socialist and other left-wing designs. Those were the motifs he railed against in his Rockefeller rant. For the logo, three raised and clenched red fists are superimposed over the U.S. Capitol. Obviously the bloody fist represents the tea-baggers' themes of unity and resistance. But do Beck; the corporate-sponsored astro-turf group, FreedomWorks, headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas); the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights; the private-property group, the National Assn. of Rural Landowners; and the rest of the march sponsors know the symbol's origins? Unity and resistance are what the fist represented in 1917, when it was first employed by the Industrial Workers of the World, a union organization founded by socialists. And in the 1940s, when it stood  for various nations' communist party organizations. That's also what it meant when it was revived in the 1960s, appearing as a symbol for the SDS, as well as anti-war and feminist movements. It was the basis for the black-power salute given by John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. And today, it's the symbol for the Progressive Labor Party (pictured), a political outfit whose website says it "fights to smash capitalism." Turnout for the 9-12 Project's Saturday march on Washington was a bust; 30,000 protesters signed up in advance (MSNBC reporter David Shuster tweeted that D.C. park police called that figure "generous"). But even if three times that many actually showed up, the number would fall far short of the hundreds of thousands (and even millions) claimed to be planning to attend. Even in that reduced crowd, however, surely someone recognized how odd the right-wing gathering's left-wing logo was. Maybe Beck will explain. Sort of. -- Christopher Knight Credits: 912dc.org; Progressive Labor Party   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=106&title=Da Bears Fall Down&body=The Chicago Bears fail. I hate saying this. I hate thinking this. But, its true. Last night on Sunday Night Football, the Chicago Bears didn't play the game of football. Nothing was right.   And, this morning da Bears even fell further. This article and video from ESPNChicago.com explains:     Bears lose injured Urlacher for season Comment Email Print Share var stobj = SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title:"Bears\'%20Urlacher%20has%20season-ending%20surgery", url:"http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=4472175", published: "2009-09-14" }); stobj.attachButton(document.getElementById("espnstlink")); ESPN.com news services var bnMediaDuration = 91; var intervalID = 0; var tracked = 0; intervalID = setInterval("trackPlaylist()", 10000); function trackPlaylist(){ if(anTrackModule){ clearInterval(intervalID); anTrackModule("espn", "embeddedplaylist", "controlgroup", "impression"); tracked = 1;} } Urlacher's Season Over After Wrist Injury Brian Urlacher's season appears in jeopardy after the Chicago Bears' six-time Pro Bowl linebacker told the Chicago Tribune his "season is over" in a text messageTags: NFL, Chicago Bears, Brian Urlacher .beta-opt {border-width:1px 0 0; border-style:solid; border-color:#ccc; padding:8px 0 0; margin:0 10px 4px; height:1%; font-size:11px; clear:both; float:left; width:95%;} .ie6 .beta-opt {margin:0 5px 4px;} .beta-opt label {float:left; width:180px;} .beta-opt input {margin-left:10px;} .beta-opt input.btn-enable, .beta-opt input.btn-disable {background:url(http://assets.espn.go.com/broadband/video/images/btn_red_enable.png) 0 0 no-repeat; border:none; height:18px; width:82px; cursor:pointer;} .beta-opt input.btn-disable {background:url(http://assets.espn.go.com/broadband/video/images/btn_red_disable.png) 0 0 no-repeat;} .beta-opt p {padding-bottom:0; margin-bottom:0; margin:0;} .beta-opt p a {padding-right:8px; font-size:10px; line-height:24px;} h4.inline-header {font-family:helvetica,arial; color:#444; font-size:12px; letter-spacing:0.3px; line-height:25px; margin:0; padding:0 0 0 10px;} function setCookie(c_name,value,expiredays){ var exdate=new Date(); exdate.setTime(exdate.getTime()+expiredays*24*60*60*1000); document.cookie = c_name+ "=" + escape(value) + ((expiredays==null) ? "" : ";expires="+exdate.toGMTString()) + ";path=/;domain=.go.com;"; document.cookie = c_name+ "=" + escape(value) + ((expiredays==null) ? "" : ";expires="+exdate.toGMTString()) + ";path=/;"; } function getBetaCookie(c_name){ if (document.cookie.length>0){ c_start=document.cookie.indexOf(c_name + "="); if (c_start!=-1){ c_start=c_start + c_name.length+1; c_end=document.cookie.indexOf(";",c_start); if (c_end==-1) c_end=document.cookie.length; return unescape(document.cookie.substring(c_start,c_end)); } } return ""; } var cname = "releaseCandidate"; function setBetaCookie(){ var betaState = document.beta.state[0].checked? "true" : "false"; setCookie(cname, betaState, 100); window.location.reload(false); } function setBtns(){ var betaCook = getBetaCookie("releaseCandidate"); if (betaCook != "" && betaCook == "true"){ document.getElementById("enableBtn").className = "btn-disable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Enabled"; } else { document.getElementById("disableBtn").className = "btn-enable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Disabled"; } } function clickButton(button){ if (button.className == "btn-enable"){ setCookie(cname, "true", 100); document.getElementById("enableBtn").className = "btn-disable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Enabled"; } else { setCookie(cname, "false", 100); document.getElementById("enableBtn").className = "btn-enable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Disabled"; } window.location.reload(false); } window.onload = setBtns; Learn More » Report a bug » Feedback » Urlacher's Season Over After Wrist Injury VIDEO PLAYLIST Urlacher's Season Over After Wrist Injury Urlacher's Season Over After Wrist Injury Brian Urlacher's season appears in jeopardy after the Chicago Bears' six-time Pro Bowl linebacker told the Chicago Tribune his "season is over" in a text messageTags: NFL, Chicago Bears, Brian Urlacher .beta-opt {border-width:1px 0 0; border-style:solid; border-color:#ccc; padding:8px 0 0; margin:0 10px 4px; height:1%; font-size:11px; clear:both; float:left; width:95%;} .ie6 .beta-opt {margin:0 5px 4px;} .beta-opt label {float:left; width:180px;} .beta-opt input {margin-left:10px;} .beta-opt input.btn-enable, .beta-opt input.btn-disable {background:url(http://assets.espn.go.com/broadband/video/images/btn_red_enable.png) 0 0 no-repeat; border:none; height:18px; width:82px; cursor:pointer;} .beta-opt input.btn-disable {background:url(http://assets.espn.go.com/broadband/video/images/btn_red_disable.png) 0 0 no-repeat;} .beta-opt p {padding-bottom:0; margin-bottom:0; margin:0;} .beta-opt p a {padding-right:8px; font-size:10px; line-height:24px;} h4.inline-header {font-family:helvetica,arial; color:#444; font-size:12px; letter-spacing:0.3px; line-height:25px; margin:0; padding:0 0 0 10px;} function setCookie(c_name,value,expiredays){ var exdate=new Date(); exdate.setTime(exdate.getTime()+expiredays*24*60*60*1000); document.cookie = c_name+ "=" + escape(value) + ((expiredays==null) ? "" : ";expires="+exdate.toGMTString()) + ";path=/;domain=.go.com;"; document.cookie = c_name+ "=" + escape(value) + ((expiredays==null) ? "" : ";expires="+exdate.toGMTString()) + ";path=/;"; } function getBetaCookie(c_name){ if (document.cookie.length>0){ c_start=document.cookie.indexOf(c_name + "="); if (c_start!=-1){ c_start=c_start + c_name.length+1; c_end=document.cookie.indexOf(";",c_start); if (c_end==-1) c_end=document.cookie.length; return unescape(document.cookie.substring(c_start,c_end)); } } return ""; } var cname = "releaseCandidate"; function setBetaCookie(){ var betaState = document.beta.state[0].checked? "true" : "false"; setCookie(cname, betaState, 100); window.location.reload(false); } function setBtns(){ var betaCook = getBetaCookie("releaseCandidate"); if (betaCook != "" && betaCook == "true"){ document.getElementById("enableBtn").className = "btn-disable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Enabled"; } else { document.getElementById("disableBtn").className = "btn-enable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Disabled"; } } function clickButton(button){ if (button.className == "btn-enable"){ setCookie(cname, "true", 100); document.getElementById("enableBtn").className = "btn-disable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Enabled"; } else { setCookie(cname, "false", 100); document.getElementById("enableBtn").className = "btn-enable"; document.getElementById("betaPlayerStatus").innerHTML = "Disabled"; } window.location.reload(false); } window.onload = setBtns; Learn More » Report a bug » Feedback » What's Next For Bears Defense? What's Next For Bears Defense? Herm Edwards talks about how the Bears cwill replace Brian Urlacher Tags: NFL, Chicago Bears, Brian Urlacher Rodgers On Week 1 Win, Urlacher Injury Rodgers On Week 1 Win, Urlacher Injury Aaron Rodgers talks about Week 1 win over the Bears and Brian Urlacher's season-ending injury Tags: NFL, Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated right wrist -- a major blow for a team with high expectations. Urlacher Team spokesman Jim Christman confirmed a Chicago Tribune report, saying, "Brian did have surgery this morning and he is out for the remainder of the season." Urlacher had said in a text message to the newspaper that his "season is over." Urlacher apparently was injured in the first quarter of Sunday night's 21-15 loss at Green Bay making a tackle on Packers running back Ryan Grant. He left on the Packers' first drive of the second half. Urlacher, a six-time Pro Bowl player, had started 49 consecutive games in his 10-year career and has missed a total of seven games -- all in 2004 with a hamstring injury. The Bears have been in contact with free-agent linebacker Derrick Brooks to fill the void left by Urlacher's injury, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, and it's possible the Bears could sign Brooks as early as Monday. NFC North blog ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert writes about all things NFC North in his division blog. • Blog network: NFL Nation "It's always tough to have your leader go down," linebacker Lance Briggs said, according to the Tribune. "He knows the defense better than anybody and he communicates everything to everyone else." Urlacher made several plays in the first half, including when he lowered his right shoulder into quarterback Aaron Rodgers after he had released the ball on a third down to send him sprawling. Information from ESPN.com NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert and The Associated Press was used in this report.   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=106&title=Da Bears Fall Down&body=The Chicago Bears fail. I hate saying this. I hate thinking this. But, its true. Last night on Sunday Night Football, the Chicago Bears didn't play the game of football. Nothing was right.   And, this morning da Bears even fell further. This article and video from ESPNChicago.com explains:     Bears lose injured Urlacher for season Comment Email Print Share var stobj = SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title:"Bears\'%20Urlacher%20has%20season-ending%20surgery", url:"http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=4472175", published: "2009-09-14" }); stobj.attachButton(document.getElementById("espnstlink")); ESPN.com news services var bnMediaDuration = 91; var intervalID = 0; var tracked = 0; intervalID = setInterval("trackPlaylist()", 10000); function trackPlaylist(){ if(anTrackModule){ clearInterval(intervalID); anTrackModule("espn", "embeddedplaylist", "controlgroup", "impression"); tracked = 1;} } Urlacher's Season Over After Wrist Injury Brian Urlacher's season appears in jeopardy after the Chicago Bears' six-time Pro Bowl linebacker told the Chicago Tribune his "season is over" in a text messageTags: NFL, Chicago Bears, Brian Urlacher .beta-opt {border-width:1px 0 0; border-style:solid; border-color:#ccc; padding:8px 0 0; margin:0 10px 4px; height:1%; font-size:11px; clear:both; float:left; width:95%;} .ie6 .beta-opt {margin:0 5px 4px;} .beta-opt label {float:left; width:180px;} .beta-opt input {margin-left:10px;} .beta-opt input.btn-enable, .beta-opt input.btn-disable {background:url(http://assets.espn.go.com/broadband/video/images/btn_red_enable.png) 0 0 no-repeat; border:none; height:18px; width:82px; cursor:pointer;} .beta-opt input.btn-disable {background:url(http://assets.espn.go.com/broadband/video/images/btn_red_disable.png) 0 0 no-repeat;} .beta-opt p {padding-bottom:0; margin-bottom:0; margin:0;} .beta-opt p a {padding-right:8px; font-size:10px; line-height:24px;} h4.inline-header {font-family:helvetica,arial; color:#444; font-size:12px; letter-spacing:0.3px; line-height:25px; margin:0; padding:0 0 0 10px;} function setCookie(c_name,value,expiredays){ var exdate=new Date(); exdate.setTime(exdate.getTime()+expiredays*24*60*60*1000); document.cookie = c_name+ "=" + escape(value) + ((expiredays==null) ? 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What's Next For Bears Defense? Herm Edwards talks about how the Bears cwill replace Brian Urlacher Tags: NFL, Chicago Bears, Brian Urlacher Rodgers On Week 1 Win, Urlacher Injury Rodgers On Week 1 Win, Urlacher Injury Aaron Rodgers talks about Week 1 win over the Bears and Brian Urlacher's season-ending injury Tags: NFL, Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated right wrist -- a major blow for a team with high expectations. Urlacher Team spokesman Jim Christman confirmed a Chicago Tribune report, saying, "Brian did have surgery this morning and he is out for the remainder of the season." Urlacher had said in a text message to the newspaper that his "season is over." Urlacher apparently was injured in the first quarter of Sunday night's 21-15 loss at Green Bay making a tackle on Packers running back Ryan Grant. He left on the Packers' first drive of the second half. Urlacher, a six-time Pro Bowl player, had started 49 consecutive games in his 10-year career and has missed a total of seven games -- all in 2004 with a hamstring injury. The Bears have been in contact with free-agent linebacker Derrick Brooks to fill the void left by Urlacher's injury, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, and it's possible the Bears could sign Brooks as early as Monday. NFC North blog ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert writes about all things NFC North in his division blog. • Blog network: NFL Nation "It's always tough to have your leader go down," linebacker Lance Briggs said, according to the Tribune. "He knows the defense better than anybody and he communicates everything to everyone else." Urlacher made several plays in the first half, including when he lowered his right shoulder into quarterback Aaron Rodgers after he had released the ball on a third down to send him sprawling. Information from ESPN.com NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert and The Associated Press was used in this report.   http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=105&title=KFC's Double Down Sandwich: Who Needs Bread?&body=If the staggering obesity epidemic wasn't enough, KFC (formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken) has added another high-calorie food for all of "fat" America to try. The sandwich consists of two fried pieces of chicken instead of bread for the buns. It also possesses two types of cheeses and bacon. According to Fox News, the "sandwich" is being test-marketed in only two areas so far, Rhode Island and Nebraska.   http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=105&title=KFC's Double Down Sandwich: Who Needs Bread?&body=If the staggering obesity epidemic wasn't enough, KFC (formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken) has added another high-calorie food for all of "fat" America to try. The sandwich consists of two fried pieces of chicken instead of bread for the buns. It also possesses two types of cheeses and bacon. According to Fox News, the "sandwich" is being test-marketed in only two areas so far, Rhode Island and Nebraska.   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=104&title=New York Mets: Not Much of a Big Apple&body=Nothing is going in the right direction for the New York Mets. They are 16.5 games back. And, have lost their last three games. That's just the beginning. Read this:   From The Associated Press: Mets ace Santana (elbow) scratched from next start By MIKE FITZPATRICK (AP) – 20 hours ago NEW YORK — Johan Santana was scratched from his next scheduled start because of discomfort in his pitching elbow, the latest injury to a star player on the depleted New York Mets. Santana's setback is particularly alarming for the fourth-place Mets, who are counting on the two-time Cy Young Award winner to lead their rotation for years to come. "He has not been throwing between starts for quite awhile," New York manager Jerry Manuel said Monday after his team's 6-2 loss to Philadelphia. "I would say since before the All-Star break. He has been pitching with this problem, but not with the level of discomfort he has now. ... Now, it concerns him." Santana had been slated to pitch Tuesday night in Florida. Instead, the left-hander will be examined by Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek, and right-hander Nelson Figueroa will start against the Marlins. "I hope to have some definitive word for you tomorrow," Manuel said. The Mets have 11 players on the disabled list, including David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz and John Maine. New York also learned Monday that right fielder Jeff Francoeur has a torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) thumb. He is day-to-day, the club said. Santana is 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA in 25 starts during his second season with the Mets. He was acquired in a February 2008 trade with Minnesota. Santana was unavailable for comment after Monday's game. New York catcher Brian Schneider said Santana's stuff hasn't been up to par lately. "What I'm looking at is his location, which, like I said, hasn't been as sharp as it had been," Schneider said. Acquired last month in a trade with Atlanta, Francoeur was injured Sunday while making a diving catch. X-rays were negative, but his thumb swelled up afterward and he went to the hospital Monday for an MRI, which revealed the tear. Since joining the Mets on July 11, Francoeur has been the team's most productive hitter. He is batting .305 with six homers and 24 RBIs in 39 games. He also has eight doubles and two triples. Cory Sullivan started in right field Monday against Philadelphia left-hander Cliff Lee. Francoeur lined into an unassisted triple play by Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett on Sunday, ending New York's 9-7 loss. It was the second time in major league history a game ended on an unassisted triple play — Detroit first baseman Johnny Neun also turned the trick in 1927. In other news, Wright took grounders on the field before the game and said he still expects to come off the disabled list Sept. 1 in Colorado. The All-Star third baseman has been sidelined with a concussion since getting hit in the head with a fastball from San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain on Aug. 15. "I'm really itching to get back out there," said Wright, who has been taking batting practice indoors. Wright said he isn't experiencing any post-concussion symptoms and he hopes to take BP on the field Tuesday — but he won't travel with the Mets during the first part of their upcoming road trip. New York plays three games in Florida beginning Tuesday, then three at the Chicago Cubs before opening a series at Coors Field on Sept. 1. "It felt good to go out there and finally put the spikes back on," Wright said. "Still on schedule. Still on track." The Mets also recalled left-hander Ken Takahashi from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned lefty Pat Misch to their top farm club. Takahashi, a 40-year-old rookie from Japan, was 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 15 relief appearances for the Mets earlier this season. He relieved starter Bobby Parnell in the sixth inning Monday and tossed 1 1-3 scoreless innings. Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=104&title=New York Mets: Not Much of a Big Apple&body=Nothing is going in the right direction for the New York Mets. They are 16.5 games back. And, have lost their last three games. That's just the beginning. Read this:   From The Associated Press: Mets ace Santana (elbow) scratched from next start By MIKE FITZPATRICK (AP) – 20 hours ago NEW YORK — Johan Santana was scratched from his next scheduled start because of discomfort in his pitching elbow, the latest injury to a star player on the depleted New York Mets. Santana's setback is particularly alarming for the fourth-place Mets, who are counting on the two-time Cy Young Award winner to lead their rotation for years to come. "He has not been throwing between starts for quite awhile," New York manager Jerry Manuel said Monday after his team's 6-2 loss to Philadelphia. "I would say since before the All-Star break. He has been pitching with this problem, but not with the level of discomfort he has now. ... Now, it concerns him." Santana had been slated to pitch Tuesday night in Florida. Instead, the left-hander will be examined by Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek, and right-hander Nelson Figueroa will start against the Marlins. "I hope to have some definitive word for you tomorrow," Manuel said. The Mets have 11 players on the disabled list, including David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz and John Maine. New York also learned Monday that right fielder Jeff Francoeur has a torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) thumb. He is day-to-day, the club said. Santana is 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA in 25 starts during his second season with the Mets. He was acquired in a February 2008 trade with Minnesota. Santana was unavailable for comment after Monday's game. New York catcher Brian Schneider said Santana's stuff hasn't been up to par lately. "What I'm looking at is his location, which, like I said, hasn't been as sharp as it had been," Schneider said. Acquired last month in a trade with Atlanta, Francoeur was injured Sunday while making a diving catch. X-rays were negative, but his thumb swelled up afterward and he went to the hospital Monday for an MRI, which revealed the tear. Since joining the Mets on July 11, Francoeur has been the team's most productive hitter. He is batting .305 with six homers and 24 RBIs in 39 games. He also has eight doubles and two triples. Cory Sullivan started in right field Monday against Philadelphia left-hander Cliff Lee. Francoeur lined into an unassisted triple play by Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett on Sunday, ending New York's 9-7 loss. It was the second time in major league history a game ended on an unassisted triple play — Detroit first baseman Johnny Neun also turned the trick in 1927. In other news, Wright took grounders on the field before the game and said he still expects to come off the disabled list Sept. 1 in Colorado. The All-Star third baseman has been sidelined with a concussion since getting hit in the head with a fastball from San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain on Aug. 15. "I'm really itching to get back out there," said Wright, who has been taking batting practice indoors. Wright said he isn't experiencing any post-concussion symptoms and he hopes to take BP on the field Tuesday — but he won't travel with the Mets during the first part of their upcoming road trip. New York plays three games in Florida beginning Tuesday, then three at the Chicago Cubs before opening a series at Coors Field on Sept. 1. "It felt good to go out there and finally put the spikes back on," Wright said. "Still on schedule. Still on track." The Mets also recalled left-hander Ken Takahashi from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned lefty Pat Misch to their top farm club. Takahashi, a 40-year-old rookie from Japan, was 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 15 relief appearances for the Mets earlier this season. He relieved starter Bobby Parnell in the sixth inning Monday and tossed 1 1-3 scoreless innings. Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=103&title=Beck fails to keep sponsors&body=More Advertisers Bolt Glenn Beck    Huffpost - More Advertisers Bolt Glenn Beck  DAVID BAUDER | 08/24/09 12:11 AM | Buzz up! FILE - In this May 5, 2009 file photo, newscaster Glenn Beck attends the Time 100 Gala, a celebration of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file) document.write(' Get Breaking News Alerts never spam '); NEW YORK — Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel after a vacation on Monday with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist. A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Walmart, CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago. While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows. The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that is has decided not to advertise on political talk shows. The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors. They also host the most-watched programs on their networks. "This is a good illustration of that conundrum," said Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, which he said has temporarily halted buying ads on Fox News Channel as a whole. Beck can bring the eyeballs. With the health care debate raising political temperatures, his show had its biggest week ever right before his vacation, averaging 2.4 million viewers each day, according to Nielsen Media Research. He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that. He would not comment for this article, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said. ColorofChange.org quickly targeted companies whose ads had appeared during Beck's show, telling them what he had said and seeking a commitment to drop him. The goal is to make Beck a liability, said James Rucker, the organization's executive director. "They have a toxic asset," Rucker said. "They can either clean it up or get rid of it." It's not immediately clear how many of the companies actually knew they were advertising on Beck's show. Sometimes commercial time is chosen for a specific show, but often it is bought on a rotation basis, meaning the network sprinkles the ads throughout the day on its own schedule. Sometimes ads appear by mistake; Best Buy said it bought commercial time for earlier in the day, and one of its ads unexpectedly appeared in Beck's show. One company, CVS Caremark, said it advertises on Fox but hadn't said anything about Beck. Now it has told its advertising agency to inform Fox that it wanted no commercials on Beck. "We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful," said spokeswoman Carolyn Castel. Besides the unpredictability of the opinionated cable hosts, the rapid pace of today's wired world complicates decisions on where to place ads, said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman for Sprint. She said she was surprised at how fast the Beck issue spread across social media outlets and how quickly advertiser names were attached to it. UPS' Hallabran said the decision to pull commercials "should not be interpreted as we are permanently withdrawing our advertising from Fox." He said the company wants to reach viewers with a wide spectrum of opinions. Except for UPS Stores, there's no evidence that any advertisers who say they don't want to be on Beck's show are leaving Fox. Network spokeswoman Irena Briganti said the companies have simply requested the ads be moved elsewhere and that Fox hasn't lost any revenue. She wouldn't say whether Fox was benefiting from any anti-anti-Beck backlash, with companies looking to support him. Some Beck supporters have urged fans to express their displeasure at companies for abandoning their man. Beck supporters have suggested that retaliation might have something to do with ColorofChange.org's campaign. One of the group's founders, Van Jones, now works in the Obama administration and has been criticized by Beck. But Rucker said Jones has nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started. Beck's strong ratings – even at 5 p.m. EDT he often outdraws whatever CNN and MSNBC show in prime-time – make it unlikely Beck is going anywhere even with the list of advertisers avoiding him approaches three dozen. But it could mean advertising time becomes cheaper on his show than such a large audience would normally command. Some of his show's advertisers last week included a male enhancement pill, a law firm looking to sue on behalf of asbestos victims, a company selling medical supplies to diabetics and a water filter company. Rucker said ColorofChange.org has contacted about 60 companies regarding Beck, and is heartened by the response. "It's causing a certain conversation around Beck, which I think is important," he said. http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=103&title=Beck fails to keep sponsors&body=More Advertisers Bolt Glenn Beck    Huffpost - More Advertisers Bolt Glenn Beck  DAVID BAUDER | 08/24/09 12:11 AM | Buzz up! FILE - In this May 5, 2009 file photo, newscaster Glenn Beck attends the Time 100 Gala, a celebration of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file) document.write(' Get Breaking News Alerts never spam '); NEW YORK — Glenn Beck returns to Fox News Channel after a vacation on Monday with fewer companies willing to advertise on his show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling President Barack Obama a racist. A total of 33 Fox advertisers, including Walmart, CVS Caremark, Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on Beck's show, according to the companies and ColorofChange.org, a group that promotes political action among blacks and launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him. That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week ago. While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within the most opinionated cable TV shows. The Clorox Co., a former Beck advertiser, now says that "we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk show hosts." The maker of bleach and household cleaners said in a statement that is has decided not to advertise on political talk shows. The shows present a dilemma for advertisers, who usually like a "safe" environment for their messages. The Olbermanns, Hannitys, O'Reillys, Maddows and Becks of the TV world are more likely to say something that will anger a viewer, who might take it out on sponsors. They also host the most-watched programs on their networks. "This is a good illustration of that conundrum," said Rich Hallabran, spokesman for UPS Stores, which he said has temporarily halted buying ads on Fox News Channel as a whole. Beck can bring the eyeballs. With the health care debate raising political temperatures, his show had its biggest week ever right before his vacation, averaging 2.4 million viewers each day, according to Nielsen Media Research. He was actually on another Fox show July 28 when he referred to Obama as a racist with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." The network immediately distanced itself from Beck's statement, but Beck didn't. He used his radio show the next day to explain why he believed that. He would not comment for this article, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said. ColorofChange.org quickly targeted companies whose ads had appeared during Beck's show, telling them what he had said and seeking a commitment to drop him. The goal is to make Beck a liability, said James Rucker, the organization's executive director. "They have a toxic asset," Rucker said. "They can either clean it up or get rid of it." It's not immediately clear how many of the companies actually knew they were advertising on Beck's show. Sometimes commercial time is chosen for a specific show, but often it is bought on a rotation basis, meaning the network sprinkles the ads throughout the day on its own schedule. Sometimes ads appear by mistake; Best Buy said it bought commercial time for earlier in the day, and one of its ads unexpectedly appeared in Beck's show. One company, CVS Caremark, said it advertises on Fox but hadn't said anything about Beck. Now it has told its advertising agency to inform Fox that it wanted no commercials on Beck. "We support vigorous debate, especially around policy issues that affect millions of Americans, but we expect it to be informed, inclusive and respectful," said spokeswoman Carolyn Castel. Besides the unpredictability of the opinionated cable hosts, the rapid pace of today's wired world complicates decisions on where to place ads, said Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokeswoman for Sprint. She said she was surprised at how fast the Beck issue spread across social media outlets and how quickly advertiser names were attached to it. UPS' Hallabran said the decision to pull commercials "should not be interpreted as we are permanently withdrawing our advertising from Fox." He said the company wants to reach viewers with a wide spectrum of opinions. Except for UPS Stores, there's no evidence that any advertisers who say they don't want to be on Beck's show are leaving Fox. Network spokeswoman Irena Briganti said the companies have simply requested the ads be moved elsewhere and that Fox hasn't lost any revenue. She wouldn't say whether Fox was benefiting from any anti-anti-Beck backlash, with companies looking to support him. Some Beck supporters have urged fans to express their displeasure at companies for abandoning their man. Beck supporters have suggested that retaliation might have something to do with ColorofChange.org's campaign. One of the group's founders, Van Jones, now works in the Obama administration and has been criticized by Beck. But Rucker said Jones has nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started. Beck's strong ratings – even at 5 p.m. EDT he often outdraws whatever CNN and MSNBC show in prime-time – make it unlikely Beck is going anywhere even with the list of advertisers avoiding him approaches three dozen. But it could mean advertising time becomes cheaper on his show than such a large audience would normally command. Some of his show's advertisers last week included a male enhancement pill, a law firm looking to sue on behalf of asbestos victims, a company selling medical supplies to diabetics and a water filter company. Rucker said ColorofChange.org has contacted about 60 companies regarding Beck, and is heartened by the response. "It's causing a certain conversation around Beck, which I think is important," he said. http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=102&title=Is she "faking" it?&body=  REAL OR FAKE: One Woman’s Embarrassing Facebook Message August 22nd, 2009 | by Pete Cashmore24 Comments The top item on many social news sites this morning is a screenshot (below) that purportedly shows an embarrassing message a woman posted to her public Facebook page. If real, it’s a mistake that might take some time to recover from. Is it genuine thought? The jury’s out: while it doesn’t appear to be Photoshopped, and the woman’s friends are definitely real Facebook () members, it’s very possible the account was compromised by another person. What do you think: real, fake, a malicious prank…or something else? For more Facebook funnies, see Top 5 Funniest Fake Facebook Pages The full size image is here.   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=102&title=Is she "faking" it?&body=  REAL OR FAKE: One Woman’s Embarrassing Facebook Message August 22nd, 2009 | by Pete Cashmore24 Comments The top item on many social news sites this morning is a screenshot (below) that purportedly shows an embarrassing message a woman posted to her public Facebook page. If real, it’s a mistake that might take some time to recover from. Is it genuine thought? The jury’s out: while it doesn’t appear to be Photoshopped, and the woman’s friends are definitely real Facebook () members, it’s very possible the account was compromised by another person. What do you think: real, fake, a malicious prank…or something else? For more Facebook funnies, see Top 5 Funniest Fake Facebook Pages The full size image is here.   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=101&title=You Got The Wrong Bleacher Bum&body=At the Chicago Cubs game a Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino got a beer shower. But, the security took the wrong guy away.     As of right now, the alleged Cub fan has surrendered. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=101&title=You Got The Wrong Bleacher Bum&body=At the Chicago Cubs game a Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino got a beer shower. But, the security took the wrong guy away.     As of right now, the alleged Cub fan has surrendered. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=100&title=Game of Chicken: Horse Vs. Car&body=Since when do horses and cars play chicken? And, where's the chicken?   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=100&title=Game of Chicken: Horse Vs. Car&body=Since when do horses and cars play chicken? And, where's the chicken?   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=99&title=Beer summit un-American!&body=None of the beers consumed at the recent "Beer Summit" between President Barack Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr & Sgt. James Crowley are American owned companies! Treason to last drop! http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=99&title=Beer summit un-American!&body=None of the beers consumed at the recent "Beer Summit" between President Barack Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr & Sgt. James Crowley are American owned companies! Treason to last drop! http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=98&title=Thank you for shopping&body=    http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=98&title=Thank you for shopping&body=    http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=97&title=Dickipedia ~ A Wiki of Dicks!&body=http://www.dickipedia.org http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=97&title=Dickipedia ~ A Wiki of Dicks!&body=http://www.dickipedia.org http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=96&title=2nd Stimulus would be nuts&body=Friday, July 24, 2009 11:08 AM By: Dan Weil Some experts are calling for the Obama administration to adopt a second fiscal stimulus package. Magazine publisher Forbes isn’t one of them. “This is nuts,” he writes in his magazine.“Hyped-up government spending is useless, if not damaging, for providing sustained economic growth. Our own experiences, as well as those of other countries, particularly Japan in the 1990s and the early part of this decade, have demonstrated that repeatedly."  The administration and Federal Reserve should instead focus on strengthening the dollar, Forbes says. “Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Fed head Ben Bernanke should both publicly vow that the Fed will not monetize future government debts and that they will restore the integrity of the U.S. dollar by measuring how it's doing against other currencies and commodities, particularly gold.” While some complain that the Fed is loosening monetary policy too much, Forbes writes: “Incredibly, the Fed, contrary to its reputation, has been tightening since December. Its balance sheets have shrunk by several hundred billion dollars since its year-end highs.” He points out that “this is deflationary.” He says “The Fed refuses to take rifle-shot steps to help revive the credit markets for mortgages and for small business and consumer loans.” Investment legend Warren Buffett disagrees with Forbes about the need for more stimulus. “I think a second one (fiscal stimulus package) may well be called for" to lift the economy out of recession, Buffett told ABC. © 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved. http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=96&title=2nd Stimulus would be nuts&body=Friday, July 24, 2009 11:08 AM By: Dan Weil Some experts are calling for the Obama administration to adopt a second fiscal stimulus package. Magazine publisher Forbes isn’t one of them. “This is nuts,” he writes in his magazine.“Hyped-up government spending is useless, if not damaging, for providing sustained economic growth. Our own experiences, as well as those of other countries, particularly Japan in the 1990s and the early part of this decade, have demonstrated that repeatedly."  The administration and Federal Reserve should instead focus on strengthening the dollar, Forbes says. “Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Fed head Ben Bernanke should both publicly vow that the Fed will not monetize future government debts and that they will restore the integrity of the U.S. dollar by measuring how it's doing against other currencies and commodities, particularly gold.” While some complain that the Fed is loosening monetary policy too much, Forbes writes: “Incredibly, the Fed, contrary to its reputation, has been tightening since December. Its balance sheets have shrunk by several hundred billion dollars since its year-end highs.” He points out that “this is deflationary.” He says “The Fed refuses to take rifle-shot steps to help revive the credit markets for mortgages and for small business and consumer loans.” Investment legend Warren Buffett disagrees with Forbes about the need for more stimulus. “I think a second one (fiscal stimulus package) may well be called for" to lift the economy out of recession, Buffett told ABC. © 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved. http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=95&title=Public Schools make you dumb&body= http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=95&title=Public Schools make you dumb&body= http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=94&title=A Cinematic Failure(s)?&body= From ChicagoTribune.com:   'The Ugly Truth' stars Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, John Michael Higgins, Cheryl Hines Rating: 11/2 stars (poor-fair) By Michael Phillips | Tribune criticJuly 24, 2009 "The Ugly Truth" continues a pretty ugly run of romantic comedies squandering the on-screen talent while perpetuating the image of career women as harpies with nice clothes and no dates. The sex of the screenwriters doesn't seem to matter (all three credited screenwriters here are women). Everyone belonging to the Writers Guild of America, apparently, has signed a secret pact to recycle the same shrill, Type-A, vaguely inhuman female lead who must learn to bend a little and appreciate the hunk in her midst, the one smitten with all her nutty foibles. If only the foibles were funny foibles. If only the characters seemed like earthlings. Although the star is listed as an executive producer, the blame does not lie with her.Katherine Heigl can be funny; her comic sweet spot resides within tightly wound characters -- Doris Day, with an extra coat of lacquer -- whipping through life with an air of cool assurance masking the vulnerable woman underneath. In "The Ugly Truth" she plays Abby Richter, an obsessively organized Sacramento TV producer whose morning show (John Michael Higgins and Cheryl Hines are wasted as the married hosts) has struggled in the ratings. Management solution: Hire the loutish local cable-access host Mike Chadway ( Gerard Butler, who seems to be channeling the voice and delivery of the late pitchman Billy Mays). In no time his "Defending the Caveman"-style relationship advice and bikini Jell-O wrestling segments have juiced the ratings. Then comes the "Cyrano de Bergerac" routine. Abby's gaga over the male-model-like surgeon (Eric Winter, whose tweezed eyebrows don't exactly scream out "Sacramento") newly arrived in her apartment building. How to land the big fish? Mike becomes her stealth coach in seduction techniques. A few push-up bras and doormat lessons later, she's on the verge of sex with the doc. Yet Mike's heart is slowly breaking, and not even an extended slapstick sequence involving inadvertent vibrator usage in public places can take his mind off what he's missing. Aside from being relational science-fiction, "The Ugly Truth" feels about 150 years out of date -- or it would, if the script weren't so clinically dependent on the topics of masturbation and genitalia and raunch. You want coarse language with real wit? Try "In the Loop," the stiletto-sharp British political comedy, also opening this week. You want a female character to look up to, unconstrained by the usual regressive ninny stereotypes? Watch what Gina McKee does, in a supporting role in "In the Loop." The spirit of Rosalind Russellin "His Girl Friday" lives!   Related links 'The Ugly Truth' review by Michael PhillipsVideo 'The Ugly Truth' Photos 'The Ugly Truth' red carpet Photos This has not been an inspiring time for the battle of the sexes. The last two years we've had a full complement of female-centric rom-coms -- among them the Butler-co-starring "P.S. I Love You," Heigl's showcase "27 Dresses," the heinous " Bride Wars," this summer's well-acted mediocrity "The Proposal" and now "The Ugly Truth." None of these movies seems interested in the ways women and men interact and actually talk about sex, and life, and love, on planet Earth; they're so lame-brained and childish about setting up obstacles, so formulaic and witless in the banter and so patronizing about what women want, they force you to take solace in whatever skill the performers can bring, for lack of a better term, to the party. Though Butler's often as twitchy as Mel Gibson in "Conspiracy Theory," he has his roguish appeal, neatly contrasted with Heigl's ice-princessy air, self-punctured by her occasional fits of silliness. (She does a very nice happy dance in "The Ugly Truth.") What I wonder, though, is this: If Heigl has gone on the record as feeling like a piece of meat, or at any rate marginalized and stereotyped, by her role in "Knocked Up," does that mean she takes more pride in the material she had to work with in "27 Dresses" and now this? mjphillips@tribune. com   MPAA rating: R (for sexual content and language) Running time: 1:40 Starring: Katherine Heigl (Abby Richter); Gerard Butler (Mike Chadway); Eric Winter (Colin); Bree Turner (Joy); John Michael Higgins (Larry); Cheryl Hines ( Georgia) Directed by: Robert Luketic; written by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith; produced by Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. A Columbia Pictures release. Or is this one worse? Or both?     http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=94&title=A Cinematic Failure(s)?&body= From ChicagoTribune.com:   'The Ugly Truth' stars Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, John Michael Higgins, Cheryl Hines Rating: 11/2 stars (poor-fair) By Michael Phillips | Tribune criticJuly 24, 2009 "The Ugly Truth" continues a pretty ugly run of romantic comedies squandering the on-screen talent while perpetuating the image of career women as harpies with nice clothes and no dates. The sex of the screenwriters doesn't seem to matter (all three credited screenwriters here are women). Everyone belonging to the Writers Guild of America, apparently, has signed a secret pact to recycle the same shrill, Type-A, vaguely inhuman female lead who must learn to bend a little and appreciate the hunk in her midst, the one smitten with all her nutty foibles. If only the foibles were funny foibles. If only the characters seemed like earthlings. Although the star is listed as an executive producer, the blame does not lie with her.Katherine Heigl can be funny; her comic sweet spot resides within tightly wound characters -- Doris Day, with an extra coat of lacquer -- whipping through life with an air of cool assurance masking the vulnerable woman underneath. In "The Ugly Truth" she plays Abby Richter, an obsessively organized Sacramento TV producer whose morning show (John Michael Higgins and Cheryl Hines are wasted as the married hosts) has struggled in the ratings. Management solution: Hire the loutish local cable-access host Mike Chadway ( Gerard Butler, who seems to be channeling the voice and delivery of the late pitchman Billy Mays). In no time his "Defending the Caveman"-style relationship advice and bikini Jell-O wrestling segments have juiced the ratings. Then comes the "Cyrano de Bergerac" routine. Abby's gaga over the male-model-like surgeon (Eric Winter, whose tweezed eyebrows don't exactly scream out "Sacramento") newly arrived in her apartment building. How to land the big fish? Mike becomes her stealth coach in seduction techniques. A few push-up bras and doormat lessons later, she's on the verge of sex with the doc. Yet Mike's heart is slowly breaking, and not even an extended slapstick sequence involving inadvertent vibrator usage in public places can take his mind off what he's missing. Aside from being relational science-fiction, "The Ugly Truth" feels about 150 years out of date -- or it would, if the script weren't so clinically dependent on the topics of masturbation and genitalia and raunch. You want coarse language with real wit? Try "In the Loop," the stiletto-sharp British political comedy, also opening this week. You want a female character to look up to, unconstrained by the usual regressive ninny stereotypes? Watch what Gina McKee does, in a supporting role in "In the Loop." The spirit of Rosalind Russellin "His Girl Friday" lives!   Related links 'The Ugly Truth' review by Michael PhillipsVideo 'The Ugly Truth' Photos 'The Ugly Truth' red carpet Photos This has not been an inspiring time for the battle of the sexes. The last two years we've had a full complement of female-centric rom-coms -- among them the Butler-co-starring "P.S. I Love You," Heigl's showcase "27 Dresses," the heinous " Bride Wars," this summer's well-acted mediocrity "The Proposal" and now "The Ugly Truth." None of these movies seems interested in the ways women and men interact and actually talk about sex, and life, and love, on planet Earth; they're so lame-brained and childish about setting up obstacles, so formulaic and witless in the banter and so patronizing about what women want, they force you to take solace in whatever skill the performers can bring, for lack of a better term, to the party. Though Butler's often as twitchy as Mel Gibson in "Conspiracy Theory," he has his roguish appeal, neatly contrasted with Heigl's ice-princessy air, self-punctured by her occasional fits of silliness. (She does a very nice happy dance in "The Ugly Truth.") What I wonder, though, is this: If Heigl has gone on the record as feeling like a piece of meat, or at any rate marginalized and stereotyped, by her role in "Knocked Up," does that mean she takes more pride in the material she had to work with in "27 Dresses" and now this? mjphillips@tribune. com   MPAA rating: R (for sexual content and language) Running time: 1:40 Starring: Katherine Heigl (Abby Richter); Gerard Butler (Mike Chadway); Eric Winter (Colin); Bree Turner (Joy); John Michael Higgins (Larry); Cheryl Hines ( Georgia) Directed by: Robert Luketic; written by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith; produced by Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi. A Columbia Pictures release. Or is this one worse? Or both?     http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=93&title=Ready Steady ... Escargot!&body= From TheSun.co.uk:   By STAFF REPORTER   COMPETITORS gathered from around the globe for the world snail racing championships. People in Congham, Norfolk, have been racing the shell-dwellers at their annual fete for 25 years. The annual gathering sees about 250 people from as far away as Malawi bring their hard-backed friends along to race. This year it was pesky plant-eater Terri who set his owner on a silvery trail to fame if not fortune. In his quest to become the world's fastest snail, the slimy competitor slithered 13 inches to the finish line in 2 minutes 49 seconds.   Snails ... gett a slitter on Owner, 27-year-old Claire Hopkins, from West Raynham, Norfolk, said: "We only came by chance so this is quite unexpected, I feel quite privileged to win." The creatures who win the preliminary are then entered into the final at the end of the day. Snail master Neil Riseborough, 50, said: "This is the snail racing world championships, all the rest are imitations. If you don't win the final here then you're not a world champion." The victor claimed a silver tankard filled with lettuce, and the prestigious title of "Fastest Snail in the World". The current record was achieved in 1995 at two minutes. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=93&title=Ready Steady ... Escargot!&body= From TheSun.co.uk:   By STAFF REPORTER   COMPETITORS gathered from around the globe for the world snail racing championships. People in Congham, Norfolk, have been racing the shell-dwellers at their annual fete for 25 years. The annual gathering sees about 250 people from as far away as Malawi bring their hard-backed friends along to race. This year it was pesky plant-eater Terri who set his owner on a silvery trail to fame if not fortune. In his quest to become the world's fastest snail, the slimy competitor slithered 13 inches to the finish line in 2 minutes 49 seconds.   Snails ... gett a slitter on Owner, 27-year-old Claire Hopkins, from West Raynham, Norfolk, said: "We only came by chance so this is quite unexpected, I feel quite privileged to win." The creatures who win the preliminary are then entered into the final at the end of the day. Snail master Neil Riseborough, 50, said: "This is the snail racing world championships, all the rest are imitations. If you don't win the final here then you're not a world champion." The victor claimed a silver tankard filled with lettuce, and the prestigious title of "Fastest Snail in the World". The current record was achieved in 1995 at two minutes. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=92&title=Chicago Blackhawks fire GM Dale Tallon&body=From ChicagoTribune.com: By Chris Kuc | Tribune reporterJuly 14, 2009 Brandon Pirri shakes hands with Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon after Pirri was drafted in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. (Bruce Bennett, Getty Images / June 27, 2009)   The Blackhawks have fired general manager Dale Tallon and Stan Bowman will be named his replacement, according to a report. Comcast SportsNet reported late Monday that Tallon, who had been GM of the Hawks since June 21, 2005, and had built the Hawks into a Stanley Cup contender, was out and that an official announcement would be made Tuesday. Tallon put together a team that reached the playoffs for the first time in seven years and advanced to the Western Conference finals during the 2008-09 season. But he came under fire last week for sending qualifying offers to restricted free agents late, causing them to be delivered after the deadline set by the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement.   Related links Dale Tallon in action Photos Blackhawks GM admits mistake on late offers 2008-09 Hawks results The eight players, including Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker, all were signed to contracts, and the NHL Players' Association withdrew its grievance. Tallon was in the final year of his contract, and last Wednesday, in his first comments after the filing snafu, he said he had not asked for an extension. When asked if he planned to ask for an extension, Tallon said: "I have a contract. I'm not worried about it. I've been here for 32 years. I don't see any reason to have to do that. That will take care of itself." Tallon had been a member of the Hawks' front office since the start of the 1998-99 season, when he was appointed director of player personnel. Before that, he had a 10-year career as a player in the NHL, including a five-year stint with the Hawks from 1973 to '78. After retiring from the NHL following the 1979-80 season, he served as the Hawks' color analyst for radio and television broadcasts for 16 seasons. Bowman, the son of legendary NHL coach and current senior adviser for hockey operations Scotty Bowman, has been with the Hawks' organization for eight seasons, including the last two as assistant general manager. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=92&title=Chicago Blackhawks fire GM Dale Tallon&body=From ChicagoTribune.com: By Chris Kuc | Tribune reporterJuly 14, 2009 Brandon Pirri shakes hands with Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon after Pirri was drafted in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. (Bruce Bennett, Getty Images / June 27, 2009)   The Blackhawks have fired general manager Dale Tallon and Stan Bowman will be named his replacement, according to a report. Comcast SportsNet reported late Monday that Tallon, who had been GM of the Hawks since June 21, 2005, and had built the Hawks into a Stanley Cup contender, was out and that an official announcement would be made Tuesday. Tallon put together a team that reached the playoffs for the first time in seven years and advanced to the Western Conference finals during the 2008-09 season. But he came under fire last week for sending qualifying offers to restricted free agents late, causing them to be delivered after the deadline set by the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement.   Related links Dale Tallon in action Photos Blackhawks GM admits mistake on late offers 2008-09 Hawks results The eight players, including Kris Versteeg and Cam Barker, all were signed to contracts, and the NHL Players' Association withdrew its grievance. Tallon was in the final year of his contract, and last Wednesday, in his first comments after the filing snafu, he said he had not asked for an extension. When asked if he planned to ask for an extension, Tallon said: "I have a contract. I'm not worried about it. I've been here for 32 years. I don't see any reason to have to do that. That will take care of itself." Tallon had been a member of the Hawks' front office since the start of the 1998-99 season, when he was appointed director of player personnel. Before that, he had a 10-year career as a player in the NHL, including a five-year stint with the Hawks from 1973 to '78. After retiring from the NHL following the 1979-80 season, he served as the Hawks' color analyst for radio and television broadcasts for 16 seasons. Bowman, the son of legendary NHL coach and current senior adviser for hockey operations Scotty Bowman, has been with the Hawks' organization for eight seasons, including the last two as assistant general manager. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=90&title=Strange but True Cubs Injuries&body= From ChicagoTribune.com:   By Paul Sullivan Ryan Dempster's broken toe from jumping over the dugout railing could be seen as the revenge of the Gatorade dispenser. Recall that Dempster punched the dispenser several weeks ago, leading to future assaults by Carlos Zambrano, and its eventual removal from the dugout. Either way, Dempster's toe injury is likely to go down as one of the more foolish Cubs injuries in history, along with the following infamous 10 episodes: 1. Sammy Sosa went on the disabled list with back spasms after sneezing. 2. Kerry Wood injured his back while slipping in his hot tub. 3. Jose Cardenal couldn't play one day because he said his eyelids were swollen shut when he woke up. 4. Zambrano suffered an elbow injury the Cubs said was related to spending too much time on his laptop. 5. Alfonso Soriano strained a calf while making a hop during a catch, though he denied the two were related. 6. Mike Harkey injured his knee while turning a cartwheel on the field before a game. 7. Kyle Farnsworth injured a knee after kicking an electric fan in the tunnel between the clubhouse and the dugout. 8. Steve Trout went on the disabled list after falling off an exercise bike. 9. Felix Pie twisted a testicle in spring training. 10. Mike Remlinger sprained his pinkie finger when he got it caught between two recliners while relaxing in the Cubs clubhouse.   Also, availible in slide show format. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=90&title=Strange but True Cubs Injuries&body= From ChicagoTribune.com:   By Paul Sullivan Ryan Dempster's broken toe from jumping over the dugout railing could be seen as the revenge of the Gatorade dispenser. Recall that Dempster punched the dispenser several weeks ago, leading to future assaults by Carlos Zambrano, and its eventual removal from the dugout. Either way, Dempster's toe injury is likely to go down as one of the more foolish Cubs injuries in history, along with the following infamous 10 episodes: 1. Sammy Sosa went on the disabled list with back spasms after sneezing. 2. Kerry Wood injured his back while slipping in his hot tub. 3. Jose Cardenal couldn't play one day because he said his eyelids were swollen shut when he woke up. 4. Zambrano suffered an elbow injury the Cubs said was related to spending too much time on his laptop. 5. Alfonso Soriano strained a calf while making a hop during a catch, though he denied the two were related. 6. Mike Harkey injured his knee while turning a cartwheel on the field before a game. 7. Kyle Farnsworth injured a knee after kicking an electric fan in the tunnel between the clubhouse and the dugout. 8. Steve Trout went on the disabled list after falling off an exercise bike. 9. Felix Pie twisted a testicle in spring training. 10. Mike Remlinger sprained his pinkie finger when he got it caught between two recliners while relaxing in the Cubs clubhouse.   Also, availible in slide show format. http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=88&title=Governor Sanford and the Failure of Moral Politics&body= Governor Mark Sanford (Republican) ~South Carolina By Emma Ruby-Sachs Civil Lawyer From HuffingtonPost.com It's satisfying to lambast a staunch social conservative for an extramarital affair on another continent. Governor Sanford voted to impeach Bill Clinton, has been a solid opponent of gay marriage and often invokes the "word of God" to support his conservative policies. I understand, those emails were hilarious and the press conference was pathetic and those of us without full rights in the United States certainly want Sanford's career to stay in the dumps. But, all this hubub over an affair? As my parents would say, it's just inappropriate sex. The real failure in this sad story is a political platform based on a personal moral code. Laws are put in place, ideally, to protect the most vulnerable members of society from those stronger than them. It's why we have criminal law, tax law, family law, securities law, etc. A good law maker identifies a weak party and works to protect them, thus representing their constituents. When law makers choose, instead, to identify a moral agenda, one that ignores the actual reality of people living in their district, and attempts to impose certain value systems based on that moral agenda, they target minorities and establish legal restrictions that fail to relate to problems voters face. So, instead of working to find homes for children without parents, politicians like Governor Sanford oppose gay adoptions. Instead of ensuring that each taxpayer is given a credit for their dependents, Governor Sanford opposes the tax rights associated with gay marriage. And like anyone who loses touch with reality, Sanford fell victim to his own fictions. His moral code bears no relation to the diverse country in which he lives. It turns out, his moral code bears little relation to his own life. Moral politics ignore reality, they serve to ostracize and isolate vulnerable members of society and they are inevitably impossible to follow. Their separation from the messy human condition means that even the people imposing the morally based laws are sinners and transgressors. We have a lot in common with Governor Sanford. We too have had to grapple with what we are taught is right and what we feel is honest and true. He's just learning the lesson a little later in life. Perhaps his tragedy will teach others the folly of moral political policies and encourage law making that addresses the diverse populations facing difficult and myriad problems in the U.S. today.   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=88&title=Governor Sanford and the Failure of Moral Politics&body= Governor Mark Sanford (Republican) ~South Carolina By Emma Ruby-Sachs Civil Lawyer From HuffingtonPost.com It's satisfying to lambast a staunch social conservative for an extramarital affair on another continent. Governor Sanford voted to impeach Bill Clinton, has been a solid opponent of gay marriage and often invokes the "word of God" to support his conservative policies. I understand, those emails were hilarious and the press conference was pathetic and those of us without full rights in the United States certainly want Sanford's career to stay in the dumps. But, all this hubub over an affair? As my parents would say, it's just inappropriate sex. The real failure in this sad story is a political platform based on a personal moral code. Laws are put in place, ideally, to protect the most vulnerable members of society from those stronger than them. It's why we have criminal law, tax law, family law, securities law, etc. A good law maker identifies a weak party and works to protect them, thus representing their constituents. When law makers choose, instead, to identify a moral agenda, one that ignores the actual reality of people living in their district, and attempts to impose certain value systems based on that moral agenda, they target minorities and establish legal restrictions that fail to relate to problems voters face. So, instead of working to find homes for children without parents, politicians like Governor Sanford oppose gay adoptions. Instead of ensuring that each taxpayer is given a credit for their dependents, Governor Sanford opposes the tax rights associated with gay marriage. And like anyone who loses touch with reality, Sanford fell victim to his own fictions. His moral code bears no relation to the diverse country in which he lives. It turns out, his moral code bears little relation to his own life. Moral politics ignore reality, they serve to ostracize and isolate vulnerable members of society and they are inevitably impossible to follow. Their separation from the messy human condition means that even the people imposing the morally based laws are sinners and transgressors. We have a lot in common with Governor Sanford. We too have had to grapple with what we are taught is right and what we feel is honest and true. He's just learning the lesson a little later in life. Perhaps his tragedy will teach others the folly of moral political policies and encourage law making that addresses the diverse populations facing difficult and myriad problems in the U.S. today.   http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=89&title=Pass the salt please&body=  Sodium: Is the food industry trying to kill us? Beth Gilbert Miami Women's Health Examiner   With the high rate of cardiovascular disease among men and women in the United States, you would think that food service providers would be offering more low sodium options. However, walk the aisles of your local Publix, Winn Dixie or Walmart and tell me how many low sodium options you find available? I can tell you, close to zero, if you are looking for items lower than 50 mg of sodium. I can see why the average American consumes approximately 10,000 mg of sodium per day, even though the National Institute of Health recommends 2,400 mg or less per day. Most practicing clinicians tell patients with high cardiovascular disease risk, congestive heart failure or who have experienced a heart attack to look for items with a sodium content lower than 50 mg, as sodium should be restricted to 1,500 mg or lower per day in cardiovascular risk patients. However, that is nearly impossible and many individuals who already have developed cardiovascular disease are elderly and may have a difficult time cooking for themselves. Additionally, cost is an issue for this patient population. I was utterly shocked walking through the frozen food aisle of my local Publix to find ZERO items with sodium levels less than 100 mg, aside from some frozen vegetables or fruits but that was it. Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender, Healthy Choice Meals and even organic options were loaded with sodium. I am not just talking a little over 100 mg but many with a total of 500 mg or more, reaching as high as 1,200 mg. Even in the prepared foods section, Perdue GRILLED chicken strips, thinking they would be a lower sodium option, were loaded with close to 500 mg of sodium. How are those incapacitated by cardiovascular disease able to prepare a healthy meal option without having to cook everything fresh? Bernice Appelbaum of Deerfield Beach, FL said, “I had a heart attack several years ago and always look for lower sodium items. I am somewhat ignorant in that I look for items that state ‘low sodium’ on the front of the box but if I look at the back of the box the sodium content is quite high. How many of us actually read the back of box, especially having a hard enough time moving around and getting our reading glasses out.” She went on to say, “I see the label, it says low sodium or heart healthy. So, I think it is healthy enough for elderly people with heart conditions to eat it. I need to be more educated now.” Bernice is lucky, she is a highly active and mobile 85 year old woman who can drive and cook but her friends are not so capable, which makes them reliant on high sodium frozen dinners and prepared food items. There is just so much oatmeal, no-salt chips and peanut butter one can eat; it is almost like the food service industry is trying to kill us all. Whole foods, Epicure Market and the Fresh Market do offer lower sodium items but then again they come at a higher price tag. Additionally, food delivery services offer low fat and sodium options but they are also very expensive. However, local farmer’s markets are a good option but they usually occur weekly and are not always all year round. So the question still remains, how is an elderly person living on social security suppose to afford to maintain a healthy heart when they have a hard time paying co-pays on multi-prescription drug regimens and have few low cost, low sodium prepared food options? Additionally, why are these food service providers making it so difficult for the general population to remain heart healthy? At the present time, the question remains unanswered. For more info: American Heart Association Dietary Recommendations to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=851; Mayo Clinic Seven Steps to Prevent Heart Disease: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-healthy-diet/nu00196   http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=89&title=Pass the salt please&body=  Sodium: Is the food industry trying to kill us? Beth Gilbert Miami Women's Health Examiner   With the high rate of cardiovascular disease among men and women in the United States, you would think that food service providers would be offering more low sodium options. However, walk the aisles of your local Publix, Winn Dixie or Walmart and tell me how many low sodium options you find available? I can tell you, close to zero, if you are looking for items lower than 50 mg of sodium. I can see why the average American consumes approximately 10,000 mg of sodium per day, even though the National Institute of Health recommends 2,400 mg or less per day. Most practicing clinicians tell patients with high cardiovascular disease risk, congestive heart failure or who have experienced a heart attack to look for items with a sodium content lower than 50 mg, as sodium should be restricted to 1,500 mg or lower per day in cardiovascular risk patients. However, that is nearly impossible and many individuals who already have developed cardiovascular disease are elderly and may have a difficult time cooking for themselves. Additionally, cost is an issue for this patient population. I was utterly shocked walking through the frozen food aisle of my local Publix to find ZERO items with sodium levels less than 100 mg, aside from some frozen vegetables or fruits but that was it. Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender, Healthy Choice Meals and even organic options were loaded with sodium. I am not just talking a little over 100 mg but many with a total of 500 mg or more, reaching as high as 1,200 mg. Even in the prepared foods section, Perdue GRILLED chicken strips, thinking they would be a lower sodium option, were loaded with close to 500 mg of sodium. How are those incapacitated by cardiovascular disease able to prepare a healthy meal option without having to cook everything fresh? Bernice Appelbaum of Deerfield Beach, FL said, “I had a heart attack several years ago and always look for lower sodium items. I am somewhat ignorant in that I look for items that state ‘low sodium’ on the front of the box but if I look at the back of the box the sodium content is quite high. How many of us actually read the back of box, especially having a hard enough time moving around and getting our reading glasses out.” She went on to say, “I see the label, it says low sodium or heart healthy. So, I think it is healthy enough for elderly people with heart conditions to eat it. I need to be more educated now.” Bernice is lucky, she is a highly active and mobile 85 year old woman who can drive and cook but her friends are not so capable, which makes them reliant on high sodium frozen dinners and prepared food items. There is just so much oatmeal, no-salt chips and peanut butter one can eat; it is almost like the food service industry is trying to kill us all. Whole foods, Epicure Market and the Fresh Market do offer lower sodium items but then again they come at a higher price tag. Additionally, food delivery services offer low fat and sodium options but they are also very expensive. However, local farmer’s markets are a good option but they usually occur weekly and are not always all year round. So the question still remains, how is an elderly person living on social security suppose to afford to maintain a healthy heart when they have a hard time paying co-pays on multi-prescription drug regimens and have few low cost, low sodium prepared food options? Additionally, why are these food service providers making it so difficult for the general population to remain heart healthy? At the present time, the question remains unanswered. For more info: American Heart Association Dietary Recommendations to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=851; Mayo Clinic Seven Steps to Prevent Heart Disease: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-healthy-diet/nu00196   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=87&title=Does Transformers 2 Have Any More Than Meets The Eye&body=This article is also featured on my blog: the nuzzo news. This isn't an official movie review, cause I haven't actually seen the film in it's entirety as of yet. But, I do in fact work at a movie theater. I'm employed at the Starplex Cinemas in Normal, IL (if you were interested in knowing). So with my part-time job, I have some knowledgeable intel on the matter.  It seems like most people either like the film, find it mediocre, or for the few that loved it: liked it more than the first. I fall some where in between. From the three 30-minute segments that I've seen on my breaks; I wasn't too much more impressed than the first Transformers movie. I could tell that their budget was a little bigger, so a few things were tweaked to make it more enjoyable. For example, in the first film, the camera footage was way too shaky during the action scenes and they fixed that. It also seemed like they upped the anti in the CGI department. And, I will admit, there was some more hot Megan Fox scenes. But, it seemed like they tried way too hard to do that for the audience, and it most definitely worked.  But, even with those two improvements and more, it just didn't do it for me. The cons of Transformers 2 just barely out weigh the pros of the first one. One thing that I noticed was, one of the antagonist Transformers' (also known as decepticons) Starscream's voice wasn't the same. I don't know, it just didn't sound the same. Meh, besides that puny pet peeve of mine, the acting was nothing more than "B-Budget." Every time someone engaged in a conversation, I nearly clenched my teeth. And, please, please, if there's a Transformers 3, avoid any and all romantic scenes. Okay, fine, with this Hollywood market there must be at least one. But, just one. Maybe two could slide. But, from what I saw so far in this new Transformers, there was way too much kissy-kissy, and not enough Transformy-formy (sorry, that was bad). And, I'm not even going to begin talking about the plot of the film. "What plot? What story?," you say - exactly my point. Here's what the professional critics thought, from TrailerAddict.comTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen Reviews.  Overall, my unofficial the nuzzo news' movie rating is 3/5 stars. As a movie it deserves a 2/5 Stars. But since those pesky transforming alien robots are so awesome/cool, I give it an extra star for shits (no giggles). So, what do you think of the film? http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=87&title=Does Transformers 2 Have Any More Than Meets The Eye&body=This article is also featured on my blog: the nuzzo news. This isn't an official movie review, cause I haven't actually seen the film in it's entirety as of yet. But, I do in fact work at a movie theater. I'm employed at the Starplex Cinemas in Normal, IL (if you were interested in knowing). So with my part-time job, I have some knowledgeable intel on the matter.  It seems like most people either like the film, find it mediocre, or for the few that loved it: liked it more than the first. I fall some where in between. From the three 30-minute segments that I've seen on my breaks; I wasn't too much more impressed than the first Transformers movie. I could tell that their budget was a little bigger, so a few things were tweaked to make it more enjoyable. For example, in the first film, the camera footage was way too shaky during the action scenes and they fixed that. It also seemed like they upped the anti in the CGI department. And, I will admit, there was some more hot Megan Fox scenes. But, it seemed like they tried way too hard to do that for the audience, and it most definitely worked.  But, even with those two improvements and more, it just didn't do it for me. The cons of Transformers 2 just barely out weigh the pros of the first one. One thing that I noticed was, one of the antagonist Transformers' (also known as decepticons) Starscream's voice wasn't the same. I don't know, it just didn't sound the same. Meh, besides that puny pet peeve of mine, the acting was nothing more than "B-Budget." Every time someone engaged in a conversation, I nearly clenched my teeth. And, please, please, if there's a Transformers 3, avoid any and all romantic scenes. Okay, fine, with this Hollywood market there must be at least one. But, just one. Maybe two could slide. But, from what I saw so far in this new Transformers, there was way too much kissy-kissy, and not enough Transformy-formy (sorry, that was bad). And, I'm not even going to begin talking about the plot of the film. "What plot? What story?," you say - exactly my point. Here's what the professional critics thought, from TrailerAddict.comTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen Reviews.  Overall, my unofficial the nuzzo news' movie rating is 3/5 stars. As a movie it deserves a 2/5 Stars. But since those pesky transforming alien robots are so awesome/cool, I give it an extra star for shits (no giggles). So, what do you think of the film? http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=85&title=Top 10 Sin Bin Moments&body= These guys failed to stay in the game:   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=85&title=Top 10 Sin Bin Moments&body= These guys failed to stay in the game:   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=86&title="Year One" or "Land of the Lost"?&body=   Which one is it? Which one is the bigger failure?   I have not yet seen either of these movies, but they don't seem too promising. The trailers were decent and the cast seemed great. But, those are two key things that draw in a majority of the crowd. However, I will most likely check them out since I work at a movie theater. And, will be sure to report back upon my viewing pleasure. So, the reason I speculate these two particular films are due to the unnecessary amounts of hype and buzz they received from the public media. The same goes for The Hangover, but that actually ended up being a great movie. Not just have a heard Year One is a poor film, but have read it in varies media outlets at TrailerAddict.com. What do you think? http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=86&title="Year One" or "Land of the Lost"?&body=   Which one is it? Which one is the bigger failure?   I have not yet seen either of these movies, but they don't seem too promising. The trailers were decent and the cast seemed great. But, those are two key things that draw in a majority of the crowd. However, I will most likely check them out since I work at a movie theater. And, will be sure to report back upon my viewing pleasure. So, the reason I speculate these two particular films are due to the unnecessary amounts of hype and buzz they received from the public media. The same goes for The Hangover, but that actually ended up being a great movie. Not just have a heard Year One is a poor film, but have read it in varies media outlets at TrailerAddict.com. What do you think? http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=84&title=Yanks Cannot Beat Sox; Wang Just Fails&body=Chien-Ming Wang's ERA speaks for itself. It currently stands at 14.34, which is ridiculously high at this point in the season. His record doesn't sing anything either, showing an 0-4 record. Historically, Wang can really pitch the ball. In 2006 & 2007, Wang tallied 19 wins and had an ERA under four.  So, what is wrong with Wang?!... You've got me. I've been wondering that all season. Maybe he just hates the Yankees, like I do. That'd be nice. Speaking of failing, the Yankees cannot beat the the Red Sox. This article from NewsDay.com explains the details:   Wang fails as Yankees fall to 0-7 vs. Red Sox BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com12:33 AM EDT, June 11, 2009 Boston Red Sox's J.D. Drew slides safely into home as New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada (20) gathers in the throw from the field during the first inning (AP Photo / June 10, 2009)   BOSTON - There was the comeback after their starter, for a second straight night, failed to get out of the third inning, and mostly solid relief pitching. It certainly ended better than it began for the Yankees, but inescapable was this ugly statistic: The Yankees are 0-7 this season against their archrivals. Chien-Ming Wang, in his second start since being put back in the rotation, was pulled after 22/3 innings, and after falling behind by four runs, the Yankees fell, 6-5, to the Red Sox last night at Fenway Park. The Yankees (34-25) dropped one game behind the Red Sox (35-24) in the division.   Related links Ken Davidoff: Yankees must put an end to Wang disaster What's next for Wang? What should the Yankees do with Chien-Ming Wang? Let him start against the lowly Nationals and hope for improvement.Send him back to the bullpen and give the ball to Hughes.Make up an injury and DL him again.Release him. Eat the $5 mil. View current results   Blog: What to do with Chien-Ming Wang Red Sox sweep Yankees at FenwayPHOTOS CC Sabathia to face Fenway intensity as Yankee Balls flying out thanks to stadium, not weather Red Sox not gloating over 7-0 record vs. Yankees   New home of the Yankees Yankee Stadium Guide Video, photos, nearby dining, directions, transit info, seating chart, 360-degree tour and more. Erik Boland's Yankees Blog Yankees fan forum 2009 Yankees Season Tracker PHOTOS Buy Yankees tickets! See the new Yankee Stadium PHOTOS Ken Davidoff's baseball blog   Give us your best shot Your Yankees Photos Submit your photos and view pics taken by other fans. • Upload your photos! Newsday's Fantasy Baseball blog "A lot of little things," said Mark Teixeira, who was 4-for-5, including two doubles and a home run. "They're doing the things to help them win and we're not. They add up, and they've added up seven times." Jonathan Papelbon earned his 15th save, though the Yankees had a late chance. Alex Rodriguez, 0-for-7 in the series, worked a one-out walk, and pinch runner Ramiro Peña stole second with Robinson Cano at bat. But Cano struck out and Jorge Posada, who homered off Tim Wakefield, flew out to deep left. The Yankees entered this series having won seven of 10, and they said they were a vastly different team than the one that went 0-5 against Boston. But nothing has changed as the Red Sox extended their second-longest winning streak to start a season against the Yankees, behind the 14 in 1912. "It's two games," Johnny Damonsaid. "The unfortunate part of it is it's against the Red Sox. It's a big deal to us, it's a big deal to the fans. We had our chances tonight and we didn't take advantage of them." Damon and Teixeira hit back-to-back homers (Teixeira's AL-leading 19th) against Ramon Ramirez to start the seventh to make it 6-5, but lefty Hideki Okajima and Papelbon finished the Yankees from there. The Yankees left 10 on base, though the side story to the night is the mystery of Wang. Before the game Joe Girardi said Wang, who threw 69 pitches last week against Texas, was on a pitch count of 80 to 90, and he was on pace to reach that by the third inning. He threw 58 in the first two innings, 29 in each frame, with almost zero command. He walked three, all in the first, and left after 22/3 innings, like A.J. Burnett the night before. Girardi said he would need to "sleep" on the decision of whether Wang would get his next start. Perplexed didn't begin to describe pitching coach Dave Eiland. "His arm slot's all over the place," Eiland said. "One time it's in the right place, one time it's too high, next time it's too low. You can't command the baseball when you have that." Wang's next turn would be Tuesday against the horrid Nationals. If he can't go, the nod would likely go to Phil Hughes, who allowed two runs - on Kevin Youkilis' fourth-inning homer - in 32/3 innings. "It's definitely frustrating for me," Wang said. "I haven't thrown a good ballgame in a while. It's definitely frustrating." Against the Red Sox this season, that emotion in the Yankees clubhouse has been a constant. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=84&title=Yanks Cannot Beat Sox; Wang Just Fails&body=Chien-Ming Wang's ERA speaks for itself. It currently stands at 14.34, which is ridiculously high at this point in the season. His record doesn't sing anything either, showing an 0-4 record. Historically, Wang can really pitch the ball. In 2006 & 2007, Wang tallied 19 wins and had an ERA under four.  So, what is wrong with Wang?!... You've got me. I've been wondering that all season. Maybe he just hates the Yankees, like I do. That'd be nice. Speaking of failing, the Yankees cannot beat the the Red Sox. This article from NewsDay.com explains the details:   Wang fails as Yankees fall to 0-7 vs. Red Sox BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com12:33 AM EDT, June 11, 2009 Boston Red Sox's J.D. Drew slides safely into home as New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada (20) gathers in the throw from the field during the first inning (AP Photo / June 10, 2009)   BOSTON - There was the comeback after their starter, for a second straight night, failed to get out of the third inning, and mostly solid relief pitching. It certainly ended better than it began for the Yankees, but inescapable was this ugly statistic: The Yankees are 0-7 this season against their archrivals. Chien-Ming Wang, in his second start since being put back in the rotation, was pulled after 22/3 innings, and after falling behind by four runs, the Yankees fell, 6-5, to the Red Sox last night at Fenway Park. The Yankees (34-25) dropped one game behind the Red Sox (35-24) in the division.   Related links Ken Davidoff: Yankees must put an end to Wang disaster What's next for Wang? What should the Yankees do with Chien-Ming Wang? Let him start against the lowly Nationals and hope for improvement.Send him back to the bullpen and give the ball to Hughes.Make up an injury and DL him again.Release him. Eat the $5 mil. View current results   Blog: What to do with Chien-Ming Wang Red Sox sweep Yankees at FenwayPHOTOS CC Sabathia to face Fenway intensity as Yankee Balls flying out thanks to stadium, not weather Red Sox not gloating over 7-0 record vs. Yankees   New home of the Yankees Yankee Stadium Guide Video, photos, nearby dining, directions, transit info, seating chart, 360-degree tour and more. Erik Boland's Yankees Blog Yankees fan forum 2009 Yankees Season Tracker PHOTOS Buy Yankees tickets! See the new Yankee Stadium PHOTOS Ken Davidoff's baseball blog   Give us your best shot Your Yankees Photos Submit your photos and view pics taken by other fans. • Upload your photos! Newsday's Fantasy Baseball blog "A lot of little things," said Mark Teixeira, who was 4-for-5, including two doubles and a home run. "They're doing the things to help them win and we're not. They add up, and they've added up seven times." Jonathan Papelbon earned his 15th save, though the Yankees had a late chance. Alex Rodriguez, 0-for-7 in the series, worked a one-out walk, and pinch runner Ramiro Peña stole second with Robinson Cano at bat. But Cano struck out and Jorge Posada, who homered off Tim Wakefield, flew out to deep left. The Yankees entered this series having won seven of 10, and they said they were a vastly different team than the one that went 0-5 against Boston. But nothing has changed as the Red Sox extended their second-longest winning streak to start a season against the Yankees, behind the 14 in 1912. "It's two games," Johnny Damonsaid. "The unfortunate part of it is it's against the Red Sox. It's a big deal to us, it's a big deal to the fans. We had our chances tonight and we didn't take advantage of them." Damon and Teixeira hit back-to-back homers (Teixeira's AL-leading 19th) against Ramon Ramirez to start the seventh to make it 6-5, but lefty Hideki Okajima and Papelbon finished the Yankees from there. The Yankees left 10 on base, though the side story to the night is the mystery of Wang. Before the game Joe Girardi said Wang, who threw 69 pitches last week against Texas, was on a pitch count of 80 to 90, and he was on pace to reach that by the third inning. He threw 58 in the first two innings, 29 in each frame, with almost zero command. He walked three, all in the first, and left after 22/3 innings, like A.J. Burnett the night before. Girardi said he would need to "sleep" on the decision of whether Wang would get his next start. Perplexed didn't begin to describe pitching coach Dave Eiland. "His arm slot's all over the place," Eiland said. "One time it's in the right place, one time it's too high, next time it's too low. You can't command the baseball when you have that." Wang's next turn would be Tuesday against the horrid Nationals. If he can't go, the nod would likely go to Phil Hughes, who allowed two runs - on Kevin Youkilis' fourth-inning homer - in 32/3 innings. "It's definitely frustrating for me," Wang said. "I haven't thrown a good ballgame in a while. It's definitely frustrating." Against the Red Sox this season, that emotion in the Yankees clubhouse has been a constant. http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=83&title=The Great Communicator Speaks&body= In 1961, The AMA organized a campaign to block Medicare. Titled "Operation Coffeecup," the effort insisted that the government-sponsored system would lead to a varying form of totalitarianism. For a spokesman, the group turned to Ronald Reagan, who lent his famous actor's voice to a 10-minute plus recording. http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=83&title=The Great Communicator Speaks&body= In 1961, The AMA organized a campaign to block Medicare. Titled "Operation Coffeecup," the effort insisted that the government-sponsored system would lead to a varying form of totalitarianism. For a spokesman, the group turned to Ronald Reagan, who lent his famous actor's voice to a 10-minute plus recording. http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=91&title=It's the Stupid, Economy!&body= http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=91&title=It's the Stupid, Economy!&body= http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=110&title=Sarah Palin Quits&body= http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=110&title=Sarah Palin Quits&body= http://www.failurisms.net/religionTemplate.php?url=81&title=Cutie Falls From Grace&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/religionTemplate.php?url=81&title=Cutie Falls From Grace&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=80&title=Three Balks?!!&body= From NYTimes.com: Marvelous Marv, Lovable Mets and Embracing Inner Ineptitude By GEORGE VECSEY Published: May 19, 2009 All spring, Mets fans have been whining that their glorious Metsian tradition is not being sufficiently honored at the new ballpark in Flushing. Enlarge This Image Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Starter Mike Pelfrey became the first Mets pitcher since Don Rowe in 1963 to commit three balks in a game. He was the loser Sunday against San Francisco.   Keep up with the latest news on The Times’s baseball blog. Go to the Bats Blog »   M.L.B. Scoreboard Schedules: A.L. | N.L. Standings: A.L. | N.L. Stats: A.L. | N.L. Team Reports Yankees 2009 Schedule Individual Stats | Team History Times Topics: The Yankees Mets 2009 Schedule Individual Stats | Team History Times Topics: The Mets Enlarge This Image Associated Press Mr. Met has been the club’s ubiquitous mascot since 1962, but Marv Throneberry, above, lives on as its bumbling symbol. Enlarge This Image Corbis Fred Merkle’s base-running faux pas cost the New York Giants the N.L. pennant in 1908. Readers' Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (9) » Tradition? You want tradition? The Mets’ long lineage of bumbling seems to be having a major renaissance out in California in recent days. On successive days, the Mets lost games, first because a pitcher, Mike Pelfrey, committed three balks in San Francisco, then when a runner, Ryan Church, forgot to touch third base while scoring the apparent go-ahead run in Los Angeles. It didn’t stop there — Daniel Murphy was picked off in the first inning Tuesday night and then made an error in left field in the bottom of the inning. No less an observer than Vin Scully watched the Mets fumble away Monday’s game and chortled that the Mets had reverted to the bad old days of Marvelous Marv Throneberry. Monday’s blunder seemed reassuringly retro. Church seemed to have scored on Angel Pagan’s hit but was called out for missing third — a throwback to that magical day in 1962 when Marvin Eugene Throneberry appeared to have lashed a triple, only to be called out for missing second base. When Casey Stengel hopped out to complain to the umpires, his trusted first-base coach, Cookie Lavagetto,whispered not to make too big a fuss, because Throneberry had also missed first. This one play was probably the essential Marv, who gave his initials and his bumbling soul to the first-year expansion franchise. Marvelous Mets nostalgia also kicked in Sunday, when Pelfrey was called for the three balks. My wife and I were driving back to New York, and Howie Rose on the radio said no Met had been called for three balks in a game since 1963. I turned to my wife and said, “Al Barlick.” I was there. It was an April night, and Barlick, one of the best umpires in the league, was seething about early-season instructions from the home office to enforce the balk rule, the kind of bureaucratic interference that umpires loathe. Barlick diligently called three balks on Don Rowe, the starting pitcher, and he later gigged Tracy Stallard for a balk. After the game, Casey ranted and raved, reminding us of the Mets’ awful karma with umpires. “They get us because we’re rotten,” Casey sort of said. California was always a special place for the wandering Mets. One day, Rod Kanehl called for the ball in windswept left field at Candlestick Park, only to chase it all the way to right field, where it dropped at the feet of a giggling Duke Snider. One night in Los Angeles, Jerry Grote got himself thrown out for yapping at the ump, forgetting that he was the only catcher left. Tommie Reynolds, a spare fielder, had to catch for the first time in his career. The Mets lost — on a passed ball, naturally. Those hideous days and nights made the franchise so lovable, so human, so flawed. Mets fans used to get it, but I am not sure they do nowadays. All that cable swag has raised expectations, gone to their heads. They think likeYankees fans, for goodness’ sakes. Besides, other teams make mistakes. Only the other day, Joe Maddon, the manager of the Rays, gave himself two third basemen on his official lineup card and lost the use of the designated hitter, which forced the pitcher to hit. But the Rays won anyway. The Oakland Athletics still have not recovered from the ghastly moment in the 2001 postseason when Jeremy Giambi chose to saunter home standing up, only to haveDerek Jeter acrobatically retrieve the ball and toss out Giambi. The A’s had a two-game lead on the Yanks — and lost the next three games. The 2006 Dodgers lost a postseason game to the Mets after two runners were tagged out at home on the same play. But that has happened before. Yankees fans still fume about the day Carlton Fisk tagged out Bobby Meacham and Dale Berra on the same play. But I bet Yankees fans don’t know it also happened to them in 1933 — and the two runners were none other than Lou Gehrig and Dixie Walker. Current Mets fans grumble because the open space behind home plate at New Shea is named the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, after the American hero. The new breed of upscale Mets fan does not like to be reminded of the wonderful Brooklyn blood in the franchise’s veins — like the time Dazzy Vance, Chick Fewster and Babe Herman were all caught on third base on the same play, which is not easy. Old New York Giants fans say their team is not given a fair shake by the Mets. They have a point. Look at the grand heritage the Giants left behind at the rusty old Polo Grounds when the Mets were shocked to some semblance of life in 1962: Fred Merkle’s monumental failure to touch second base on an apparent game-winning single turned into a force play that effectively cost the Giants the 1908 pennant. Grand moments from Marvelous Marv and Babe Herman and Fred Merkle are in the Mets’ DNA, and they impel them to commit balks, to neglect to touch bases, to muff fly balls and to make wild throws home. The players cannot help themselves. The sooner the new breed of Mets fan acknowledges the inner Marv, the sooner the players can get back to producing that one glorious and unexpected miracle every generation or so, at the new place, which should, of course, be called Throneberry Field Forever. E-mail: geovec@nytimes.com http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=80&title=Three Balks?!!&body= From NYTimes.com: Marvelous Marv, Lovable Mets and Embracing Inner Ineptitude By GEORGE VECSEY Published: May 19, 2009 All spring, Mets fans have been whining that their glorious Metsian tradition is not being sufficiently honored at the new ballpark in Flushing. Enlarge This Image Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Starter Mike Pelfrey became the first Mets pitcher since Don Rowe in 1963 to commit three balks in a game. He was the loser Sunday against San Francisco.   Keep up with the latest news on The Times’s baseball blog. Go to the Bats Blog »   M.L.B. Scoreboard Schedules: A.L. | N.L. Standings: A.L. | N.L. Stats: A.L. | N.L. Team Reports Yankees 2009 Schedule Individual Stats | Team History Times Topics: The Yankees Mets 2009 Schedule Individual Stats | Team History Times Topics: The Mets Enlarge This Image Associated Press Mr. Met has been the club’s ubiquitous mascot since 1962, but Marv Throneberry, above, lives on as its bumbling symbol. Enlarge This Image Corbis Fred Merkle’s base-running faux pas cost the New York Giants the N.L. pennant in 1908. Readers' Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (9) » Tradition? You want tradition? The Mets’ long lineage of bumbling seems to be having a major renaissance out in California in recent days. On successive days, the Mets lost games, first because a pitcher, Mike Pelfrey, committed three balks in San Francisco, then when a runner, Ryan Church, forgot to touch third base while scoring the apparent go-ahead run in Los Angeles. It didn’t stop there — Daniel Murphy was picked off in the first inning Tuesday night and then made an error in left field in the bottom of the inning. No less an observer than Vin Scully watched the Mets fumble away Monday’s game and chortled that the Mets had reverted to the bad old days of Marvelous Marv Throneberry. Monday’s blunder seemed reassuringly retro. Church seemed to have scored on Angel Pagan’s hit but was called out for missing third — a throwback to that magical day in 1962 when Marvin Eugene Throneberry appeared to have lashed a triple, only to be called out for missing second base. When Casey Stengel hopped out to complain to the umpires, his trusted first-base coach, Cookie Lavagetto,whispered not to make too big a fuss, because Throneberry had also missed first. This one play was probably the essential Marv, who gave his initials and his bumbling soul to the first-year expansion franchise. Marvelous Mets nostalgia also kicked in Sunday, when Pelfrey was called for the three balks. My wife and I were driving back to New York, and Howie Rose on the radio said no Met had been called for three balks in a game since 1963. I turned to my wife and said, “Al Barlick.” I was there. It was an April night, and Barlick, one of the best umpires in the league, was seething about early-season instructions from the home office to enforce the balk rule, the kind of bureaucratic interference that umpires loathe. Barlick diligently called three balks on Don Rowe, the starting pitcher, and he later gigged Tracy Stallard for a balk. After the game, Casey ranted and raved, reminding us of the Mets’ awful karma with umpires. “They get us because we’re rotten,” Casey sort of said. California was always a special place for the wandering Mets. One day, Rod Kanehl called for the ball in windswept left field at Candlestick Park, only to chase it all the way to right field, where it dropped at the feet of a giggling Duke Snider. One night in Los Angeles, Jerry Grote got himself thrown out for yapping at the ump, forgetting that he was the only catcher left. Tommie Reynolds, a spare fielder, had to catch for the first time in his career. The Mets lost — on a passed ball, naturally. Those hideous days and nights made the franchise so lovable, so human, so flawed. Mets fans used to get it, but I am not sure they do nowadays. All that cable swag has raised expectations, gone to their heads. They think likeYankees fans, for goodness’ sakes. Besides, other teams make mistakes. Only the other day, Joe Maddon, the manager of the Rays, gave himself two third basemen on his official lineup card and lost the use of the designated hitter, which forced the pitcher to hit. But the Rays won anyway. The Oakland Athletics still have not recovered from the ghastly moment in the 2001 postseason when Jeremy Giambi chose to saunter home standing up, only to haveDerek Jeter acrobatically retrieve the ball and toss out Giambi. The A’s had a two-game lead on the Yanks — and lost the next three games. The 2006 Dodgers lost a postseason game to the Mets after two runners were tagged out at home on the same play. But that has happened before. Yankees fans still fume about the day Carlton Fisk tagged out Bobby Meacham and Dale Berra on the same play. But I bet Yankees fans don’t know it also happened to them in 1933 — and the two runners were none other than Lou Gehrig and Dixie Walker. Current Mets fans grumble because the open space behind home plate at New Shea is named the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, after the American hero. The new breed of upscale Mets fan does not like to be reminded of the wonderful Brooklyn blood in the franchise’s veins — like the time Dazzy Vance, Chick Fewster and Babe Herman were all caught on third base on the same play, which is not easy. Old New York Giants fans say their team is not given a fair shake by the Mets. They have a point. Look at the grand heritage the Giants left behind at the rusty old Polo Grounds when the Mets were shocked to some semblance of life in 1962: Fred Merkle’s monumental failure to touch second base on an apparent game-winning single turned into a force play that effectively cost the Giants the 1908 pennant. Grand moments from Marvelous Marv and Babe Herman and Fred Merkle are in the Mets’ DNA, and they impel them to commit balks, to neglect to touch bases, to muff fly balls and to make wild throws home. The players cannot help themselves. The sooner the new breed of Mets fan acknowledges the inner Marv, the sooner the players can get back to producing that one glorious and unexpected miracle every generation or so, at the new place, which should, of course, be called Throneberry Field Forever. E-mail: geovec@nytimes.com http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=78&title=A Pretty Girl&body= I have no idea what she's talking about but she sure is pretty. http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=78&title=A Pretty Girl&body= I have no idea what she's talking about but she sure is pretty. http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=79&title=Glenn Beck Fails To Get GM CEO To Bash The U.A.W.&body= Glenn Beck Fails To Get GM CEO To Bash The United Auto Workers  ~From HuffingtonPost.com In an amazing interview on Thursday afternoon, Glenn Beck consistently attempted to goad recently-promoted GM CEO Fritz Henderson into bashing the automaker's partners: the United Auto Workers and the federal government. Throughout the interview, Henderson sat there and gamely deflected Beck's rants and calmly explained how his company works. From the start, after praising the company and proudly describing his ownership of a Saturn, Beck lashed into the government and the unions, telling Henderson: "You're now in bed with the federal government... What kind of nasty K-car are we going to be getting in the future?" Henderson talked down Beck, telling him that the government was not GM's master, saying that "we're appreciative of the support we've gotten from the administration, starting with financing. Frankly, we wouldn't have made it had we not received the support." Granted, Henderson is smart enough not to knock his federal benefactors - he added that the government has not been meddling in the automaker's business, such as their advertising budget. When Beck claimed that the unions are "strangling" GM, Henderson shot him down: "They've been more part of the solution than the problem... yes, we have significant legacy costs that we're trying to address. Frankly, they're trying to help us address those issues at the same time... I view the unions are more part of the solution than the problem. Me personally." All Beck could say in response was, "Wow, OK."   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=79&title=Glenn Beck Fails To Get GM CEO To Bash The U.A.W.&body= Glenn Beck Fails To Get GM CEO To Bash The United Auto Workers  ~From HuffingtonPost.com In an amazing interview on Thursday afternoon, Glenn Beck consistently attempted to goad recently-promoted GM CEO Fritz Henderson into bashing the automaker's partners: the United Auto Workers and the federal government. Throughout the interview, Henderson sat there and gamely deflected Beck's rants and calmly explained how his company works. From the start, after praising the company and proudly describing his ownership of a Saturn, Beck lashed into the government and the unions, telling Henderson: "You're now in bed with the federal government... What kind of nasty K-car are we going to be getting in the future?" Henderson talked down Beck, telling him that the government was not GM's master, saying that "we're appreciative of the support we've gotten from the administration, starting with financing. Frankly, we wouldn't have made it had we not received the support." Granted, Henderson is smart enough not to knock his federal benefactors - he added that the government has not been meddling in the automaker's business, such as their advertising budget. When Beck claimed that the unions are "strangling" GM, Henderson shot him down: "They've been more part of the solution than the problem... yes, we have significant legacy costs that we're trying to address. Frankly, they're trying to help us address those issues at the same time... I view the unions are more part of the solution than the problem. Me personally." All Beck could say in response was, "Wow, OK."   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=77&title=Splitting Pennies or Fuzzy Math?&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=77&title=Splitting Pennies or Fuzzy Math?&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=74&title=A Scout is skinny&body=    Be Prepared. That's the motto of the Boy Scouts. "Be prepared for what?" someone once asked Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, "Why, for any old thing." said Baden-Powell. The training you receive in your troop will help you  live up to the Scout motto. When someone has an accident, you are prepared because of your first aid instruction. Because of lifesaving practice, you might be able to save a nonswimmer who has fallen into deep water. But Baden-Powell wasn't thinking just of being ready for emergencies. His idea was that all Scouts should prepare themselves to become productive citizens and to give happiness to other people. He wanted each Scout to be ready in mind and body for any struggles, and to meet with a strong heart whatever challenges might lie ahead. Be prepared for life - to live happily and without regret, knowing that you have done your best. That's what the Scout motto means.   Are the Boy Scouts prepared for this? Too fat for the Boy Scouts? Julie Deardorff May 11, 2009 The Chicago Tribune  The Boy Scouts of America has been criticized for not openly embracing gays, atheists and agnostics. But now the Scouts may rankle another group: The obese. 

Under new requirements set to take effect next January, children and adults must meet height and weight standards for certain "high-adventure" or extreme events, such as a 15-mile trek, for which medical care might be more than 30 minutes away. That means a 6-foot-tall Scout or volunteer, for example, must weigh 239 pounds or less. 

Some say the guidelines, which are designed to protect the health and safety of participants, are long overdue. It's an effort to "watch out for the health and safety" of the Scouts and volunteers, not to restrict participation, said BSA spokesman Deron Smith. Moreover, the policy won't affect most regular activities.

But some self-described obese volunteers feel betrayed by the standards, according to comments on scouting Web sites.
 And at least one weight-loss expert questions the logic. 

"Why not insist on ... something that would actually measure cardiovascular fitness?" wondered Dr. Daniel Kirschenbaum, clinical director of Wellspring in Chicago, which runs weight-loss camps, after-school programs and academies throughout the country. "Studies on obese adults show about 9 percent are in pretty good shape from a cardiovascular standpoint." 

Scott Tollefson, who said his 6-foot, 3-inch son weighs 265 pounds (5 pounds over the limit) with 5 percent body fat, has a better idea: Hold the national leaders to the same standard.

"There would be a lot fewer pudgy SUV riders in attendance [at the National Jamboree] if we did," he posted on boyandgirlscouts.com.              http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=74&title=A Scout is skinny&body=    Be Prepared. That's the motto of the Boy Scouts. "Be prepared for what?" someone once asked Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, "Why, for any old thing." said Baden-Powell. The training you receive in your troop will help you  live up to the Scout motto. When someone has an accident, you are prepared because of your first aid instruction. Because of lifesaving practice, you might be able to save a nonswimmer who has fallen into deep water. But Baden-Powell wasn't thinking just of being ready for emergencies. His idea was that all Scouts should prepare themselves to become productive citizens and to give happiness to other people. He wanted each Scout to be ready in mind and body for any struggles, and to meet with a strong heart whatever challenges might lie ahead. Be prepared for life - to live happily and without regret, knowing that you have done your best. That's what the Scout motto means.   Are the Boy Scouts prepared for this? Too fat for the Boy Scouts? Julie Deardorff May 11, 2009 The Chicago Tribune  The Boy Scouts of America has been criticized for not openly embracing gays, atheists and agnostics. But now the Scouts may rankle another group: The obese. 

Under new requirements set to take effect next January, children and adults must meet height and weight standards for certain "high-adventure" or extreme events, such as a 15-mile trek, for which medical care might be more than 30 minutes away. That means a 6-foot-tall Scout or volunteer, for example, must weigh 239 pounds or less. 

Some say the guidelines, which are designed to protect the health and safety of participants, are long overdue. It's an effort to "watch out for the health and safety" of the Scouts and volunteers, not to restrict participation, said BSA spokesman Deron Smith. Moreover, the policy won't affect most regular activities.

But some self-described obese volunteers feel betrayed by the standards, according to comments on scouting Web sites.
 And at least one weight-loss expert questions the logic. 

"Why not insist on ... something that would actually measure cardiovascular fitness?" wondered Dr. Daniel Kirschenbaum, clinical director of Wellspring in Chicago, which runs weight-loss camps, after-school programs and academies throughout the country. "Studies on obese adults show about 9 percent are in pretty good shape from a cardiovascular standpoint." 

Scott Tollefson, who said his 6-foot, 3-inch son weighs 265 pounds (5 pounds over the limit) with 5 percent body fat, has a better idea: Hold the national leaders to the same standard.

"There would be a lot fewer pudgy SUV riders in attendance [at the National Jamboree] if we did," he posted on boyandgirlscouts.com.              http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=75&title=The Science of Sex Appeal&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=75&title=The Science of Sex Appeal&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=76&title=Hitler's 401K &body=  http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=76&title=Hitler's 401K &body=  http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=73&title=Hannity relishes in Obama's mustard&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/healthTemplate.php?url=73&title=Hannity relishes in Obama's mustard&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=71&title=Emu Catching?&body=This man just may have found a new sport to enjoy: http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=71&title=Emu Catching?&body=This man just may have found a new sport to enjoy: http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=72&title=Swine At the Petting Zoo?&body= http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=72&title=Swine At the Petting Zoo?&body= http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=67&title=Why did the chicken cross the road?&body=  Oprah's KFC Catastrophe   By dan.mitchell - The Big Money   Oprah Winfrey's decision to put her name on KFC's online coupon promotion turned quickly into a "PR nightmare," as described by QSRweb, which covers the quick-service restaurant industry.   The nightmare isn't, as you might think, due to Oprah's hypocrisy in lending her name to one of the worst chicken-abusers in the food business, but rather to the overwhelming response of consumers demanding their promised free food. Gawker spread a rumor that there were "riots" breaking out on Wednesday at a Midtown Manhattan KFC outlet.   There weren't, but there were a lot of angry people who thought they would get a free two-piece Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal but didn't because the store had run out. The coupons were promoted both on The Oprah Winfrey Show and at Oprah.com.   A spokeswoman from KFC owner Yum Brands (YUM) told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the promotion created "extreme" demand nationwide.   So extreme that KFC President Roger Eaton had to write a note of apology to would-be freeloaders who flocked to Oprah's Web site to download their coupons. "We are so sorry," he wrote, "but due to the overwhelming response to our FREE Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal coupon, we can no longer redeem the free coupon at this time." The company would offer rain checks, along with a free Pepsi, to those who already had coupons, he assured.   Advertising Age called in a "crisis expert" to assess the situation. "The combination of free food and Oprah is a tsunami," said Robbie Vorhaus. "Clearly KFC wasn't ready."   Have KFC executives ever watched Oprah give stuff away on her show? What did they think was going to happen?   Meanwhile, almost lost amid all the hoopla is the question of why Oprah would lend her name to KFC, which is a primary target of animal rights activists who say the chain uses suppliers—chiefly Tyson Foods (TSN)—that house chickens in deplorable conditions before killing them in a deplorable manner.   Oprah has repeatedly railed against factory farming and was once targeted by the meat industry for her on-air avowal to avoid burgers.   Paula Crossfield of Civil Eats wrote that because "Oprah has marketed herself as one who cares about animals, even getting a 'Person of the Year' award last year from PETA, this KFC campaign is a serious disappointment to say the least."   Not that we should be shocked. Oprah has repeatedly shown that her principles are flexible.   © Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=67&title=Why did the chicken cross the road?&body=  Oprah's KFC Catastrophe   By dan.mitchell - The Big Money   Oprah Winfrey's decision to put her name on KFC's online coupon promotion turned quickly into a "PR nightmare," as described by QSRweb, which covers the quick-service restaurant industry.   The nightmare isn't, as you might think, due to Oprah's hypocrisy in lending her name to one of the worst chicken-abusers in the food business, but rather to the overwhelming response of consumers demanding their promised free food. Gawker spread a rumor that there were "riots" breaking out on Wednesday at a Midtown Manhattan KFC outlet.   There weren't, but there were a lot of angry people who thought they would get a free two-piece Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal but didn't because the store had run out. The coupons were promoted both on The Oprah Winfrey Show and at Oprah.com.   A spokeswoman from KFC owner Yum Brands (YUM) told the Louisville Courier-Journal that the promotion created "extreme" demand nationwide.   So extreme that KFC President Roger Eaton had to write a note of apology to would-be freeloaders who flocked to Oprah's Web site to download their coupons. "We are so sorry," he wrote, "but due to the overwhelming response to our FREE Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal coupon, we can no longer redeem the free coupon at this time." The company would offer rain checks, along with a free Pepsi, to those who already had coupons, he assured.   Advertising Age called in a "crisis expert" to assess the situation. "The combination of free food and Oprah is a tsunami," said Robbie Vorhaus. "Clearly KFC wasn't ready."   Have KFC executives ever watched Oprah give stuff away on her show? What did they think was going to happen?   Meanwhile, almost lost amid all the hoopla is the question of why Oprah would lend her name to KFC, which is a primary target of animal rights activists who say the chain uses suppliers—chiefly Tyson Foods (TSN)—that house chickens in deplorable conditions before killing them in a deplorable manner.   Oprah has repeatedly railed against factory farming and was once targeted by the meat industry for her on-air avowal to avoid burgers.   Paula Crossfield of Civil Eats wrote that because "Oprah has marketed herself as one who cares about animals, even getting a 'Person of the Year' award last year from PETA, this KFC campaign is a serious disappointment to say the least."   Not that we should be shocked. Oprah has repeatedly shown that her principles are flexible.   © Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=66&title=FOX NEWS: Fair & Balanced?&body= 100 Days of Fair & Balanced http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=66&title=FOX NEWS: Fair & Balanced?&body= 100 Days of Fair & Balanced http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=63&title=Feds weak on Stress tests?&body= Major Banks Negotiate, Spin, Chafe at Stress-Test Results By David Cho, Tomoeh Murakami Tse and Brady Dennis Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, May 8, 2009   Some major banks managed to wrest concessions from the government in closed-door negotiations over their “stress tests” that helped them put the best face on their results, financial analysts, industry officials and sources said. The banks were intent on sending a message that they were strong enough to weather the economic storm and didn’t need additional capital infusions from the government that could all but nationalize their franchises. Citigroup successfully pushed to lower the amount of common equity it needs to raise to $5.5 billion by applying $52.5 billion from capital it has not yet reworked. It also was able to get a credit for the sale of a unit that has not been completed. The stress tests showed that despite a deepening recession, the government will require only two of the nation’s 19 major banks to raise new capital totaling $9.5 billion, far less than what many analysts had projected. The government also is requiring 10 of the largest banks to increase their capital reserves by raising $74.6 billion in common equity, which can be generated by the sale of common stock. Investors initially were relieved by the generally benign results. But executives were still chafing in conference calls yesterday that their banks didn’t end up looking better. Some acknowledged intense negotiations that began after they had learned of their preliminary results about two weeks ago. Several banks were displeased with the amount of capital the government concluded they must raise and lodged their complaints with Fed leaders. When asked in a call with reporters about its seeming success in the negotiations, Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Edward Kelly said the firm still had issues with the tests. He said the principal difference of opinion centered on revenue the bank would generate if the economy worsened. He declined to discuss the specifics, saying talks with regulators were confidential. “I can’t really tell you how they came up with [their] number. I couldn’t tell you even if I knew, which I don’t,” Kelly said to laughter. Several banks used the spotlight on the stress tests yesterday to announce plans to sell stock to raise money from private investors. Among them were Wells Fargo, the largest bank in the Washington region by market share, which said it would offer $6 billion in new stock, and Morgan Stanley, which intends to sell $2 billion. Banks can also increase their common equity levels by converting the government’s preferred shares to common shares, but that would dilute existing shareholders and make the Treasury the largest owner in their firms. The department, using bailout funds, has already injected $209 billion into the capital reserves of the stress-tested banks, excluding MetLife. Officials at Wells Fargo said the company’s conclusions were at odds with those of the Fed. They called the government’s findings that the firm needs to raise $13.7 billion “excessively conservative.” Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf said the company does “not want to be in a position” of seeking to convert the government’s preferred shares to common shares, which would give the government a hefty ownership stake. “There’s plenty of capital in this company,” Stumpf said. As for the $25 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program that Wells Fargo received last year, he said, “We will pay back TARP as soon as it’s practical for us to do so.”   Richard Bove, an analyst with Rochdale Securities, said Wells Fargo got an especially rough deal, considering that it stepped in to take a struggling Wachovia off the government’s hands last year. Wells Fargo raised more than $11 billion so that it could buy Wachovia. “They did the government a massive favor,” Bove said. “And the government returned it by saying: ‘Screw you. Go out and raise more capital.’ “ The firm identified as having the biggest capital needs, Bank of America, said it would seek to avoid government aid at all costs. In a conference call with analysts last night, Bank of America officials said they would sell businesses to help raise about $10 billion and swap preferred shares held by private investors for common shares to raise an additional $17 billion. The firm’s performance in the next few months will provide an additional $7 billion, said Joe Price, Bank of America’s finance chief. Capital One, which has the most bank branches in the Washington area, said it won’t need to raise more capital. The firm said it is working toward repaying the $3.6 billion in taxpayer money it received last fall.   Chief executive Richard D. Fairbank said in a statement that he was content with the stress-test results. They “confirm the strength and resilience of our capital,” he said. The firm would not make company officials available to comment. Officials at Regions Bank did not return calls for comment. It and GMAC were the only two firms that do not have enough funds to meet the capital needs cited by the Fed. Regions Bank said in a statement that it remains “strong and stable,” and that while it “disagrees with the assessment” of the Fed on the need for an additional $2.5 billion in common equity, it is committed to meeting the requirement. Staff writers Renae Merle and Zachary A. Goldfarb contributed to this report   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=63&title=Feds weak on Stress tests?&body= Major Banks Negotiate, Spin, Chafe at Stress-Test Results By David Cho, Tomoeh Murakami Tse and Brady Dennis Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, May 8, 2009   Some major banks managed to wrest concessions from the government in closed-door negotiations over their “stress tests” that helped them put the best face on their results, financial analysts, industry officials and sources said. The banks were intent on sending a message that they were strong enough to weather the economic storm and didn’t need additional capital infusions from the government that could all but nationalize their franchises. Citigroup successfully pushed to lower the amount of common equity it needs to raise to $5.5 billion by applying $52.5 billion from capital it has not yet reworked. It also was able to get a credit for the sale of a unit that has not been completed. The stress tests showed that despite a deepening recession, the government will require only two of the nation’s 19 major banks to raise new capital totaling $9.5 billion, far less than what many analysts had projected. The government also is requiring 10 of the largest banks to increase their capital reserves by raising $74.6 billion in common equity, which can be generated by the sale of common stock. Investors initially were relieved by the generally benign results. But executives were still chafing in conference calls yesterday that their banks didn’t end up looking better. Some acknowledged intense negotiations that began after they had learned of their preliminary results about two weeks ago. Several banks were displeased with the amount of capital the government concluded they must raise and lodged their complaints with Fed leaders. When asked in a call with reporters about its seeming success in the negotiations, Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Edward Kelly said the firm still had issues with the tests. He said the principal difference of opinion centered on revenue the bank would generate if the economy worsened. He declined to discuss the specifics, saying talks with regulators were confidential. “I can’t really tell you how they came up with [their] number. I couldn’t tell you even if I knew, which I don’t,” Kelly said to laughter. Several banks used the spotlight on the stress tests yesterday to announce plans to sell stock to raise money from private investors. Among them were Wells Fargo, the largest bank in the Washington region by market share, which said it would offer $6 billion in new stock, and Morgan Stanley, which intends to sell $2 billion. Banks can also increase their common equity levels by converting the government’s preferred shares to common shares, but that would dilute existing shareholders and make the Treasury the largest owner in their firms. The department, using bailout funds, has already injected $209 billion into the capital reserves of the stress-tested banks, excluding MetLife. Officials at Wells Fargo said the company’s conclusions were at odds with those of the Fed. They called the government’s findings that the firm needs to raise $13.7 billion “excessively conservative.” Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf said the company does “not want to be in a position” of seeking to convert the government’s preferred shares to common shares, which would give the government a hefty ownership stake. “There’s plenty of capital in this company,” Stumpf said. As for the $25 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program that Wells Fargo received last year, he said, “We will pay back TARP as soon as it’s practical for us to do so.”   Richard Bove, an analyst with Rochdale Securities, said Wells Fargo got an especially rough deal, considering that it stepped in to take a struggling Wachovia off the government’s hands last year. Wells Fargo raised more than $11 billion so that it could buy Wachovia. “They did the government a massive favor,” Bove said. “And the government returned it by saying: ‘Screw you. Go out and raise more capital.’ “ The firm identified as having the biggest capital needs, Bank of America, said it would seek to avoid government aid at all costs. In a conference call with analysts last night, Bank of America officials said they would sell businesses to help raise about $10 billion and swap preferred shares held by private investors for common shares to raise an additional $17 billion. The firm’s performance in the next few months will provide an additional $7 billion, said Joe Price, Bank of America’s finance chief. Capital One, which has the most bank branches in the Washington area, said it won’t need to raise more capital. The firm said it is working toward repaying the $3.6 billion in taxpayer money it received last fall.   Chief executive Richard D. Fairbank said in a statement that he was content with the stress-test results. They “confirm the strength and resilience of our capital,” he said. The firm would not make company officials available to comment. Officials at Regions Bank did not return calls for comment. It and GMAC were the only two firms that do not have enough funds to meet the capital needs cited by the Fed. Regions Bank said in a statement that it remains “strong and stable,” and that while it “disagrees with the assessment” of the Fed on the need for an additional $2.5 billion in common equity, it is committed to meeting the requirement. Staff writers Renae Merle and Zachary A. Goldfarb contributed to this report   http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=64&title=She Can Dance&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=64&title=She Can Dance&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=65&title=Gun Safety Class&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=65&title=Gun Safety Class&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=55&title=Travel Alert&body= http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=55&title=Travel Alert&body= http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=54&title=What is Pooh to do?&body=The Winnie the Pooh books were always sort of sad. Eeyore was depressed, piglet was a ball of anxiety, Owl wasn't as smart as he thought he was, and Pooh himself was a compulsive over-eater. But now, via the Daily What, we've found the saddest part of Winnie the Pooh ever: The story in which Pooh contemplates killing piglet because of the swine flu...   ~From HuffingtonPost.com http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=54&title=What is Pooh to do?&body=The Winnie the Pooh books were always sort of sad. Eeyore was depressed, piglet was a ball of anxiety, Owl wasn't as smart as he thought he was, and Pooh himself was a compulsive over-eater. But now, via the Daily What, we've found the saddest part of Winnie the Pooh ever: The story in which Pooh contemplates killing piglet because of the swine flu...   ~From HuffingtonPost.com http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=53&title=Ducks Over Sharks?!&body= Well, that was one exciting first round for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We should take a look at which teams will be going on to round two in the Western Conference. Let’s see…. the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, and who?... Wait...?! ….What? The San Jose Sharks aren't going to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs?! That's right, the winners of the 2008-09 President's Trophy will not take to the ice in the Stanley Cup Finals, or even the second round for that matter. The Sharks fell to the young talented eight-seeded Anaheim Ducks in their embarrassing six game series. The biggest upset in NHL playoff history.     “Every one of us should be uncomfortable. There comes a time when this group needs to grow up and deal with what's in front of them.”  -- Sharks general manager Doug Wilson http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=53&title=Ducks Over Sharks?!&body= Well, that was one exciting first round for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We should take a look at which teams will be going on to round two in the Western Conference. Let’s see…. the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, and who?... Wait...?! ….What? The San Jose Sharks aren't going to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs?! That's right, the winners of the 2008-09 President's Trophy will not take to the ice in the Stanley Cup Finals, or even the second round for that matter. The Sharks fell to the young talented eight-seeded Anaheim Ducks in their embarrassing six game series. The biggest upset in NHL playoff history.     “Every one of us should be uncomfortable. There comes a time when this group needs to grow up and deal with what's in front of them.”  -- Sharks general manager Doug Wilson http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=51&title=From Elephant to Ass&body= If ya can't beat 'em,  join 'em! http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=51&title=From Elephant to Ass&body= If ya can't beat 'em,  join 'em! http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=52&title=Media Hog&body= This little piggie made the media squeal all week long.  http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=52&title=Media Hog&body= This little piggie made the media squeal all week long.  http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=50&title=Bull Market?&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=50&title=Bull Market?&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=46&title=Failure to Communicate&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/recessTemplate.php?url=46&title=Failure to Communicate&body=   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=45&title=Chicago's Past Time&body= The year was 1870. And, only one team existed in the great city of Chicago: The Chicago White Stockings. Today, those teams are separated by: the loop, Soldier Field, the Sears Tower, and all the tussle of the “Windy City.” If you don’t know the names of those two teams you are in fact an alien. With that being said, the two mighty ball clubs of Chi-Town are: the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. When I was really small (I’m talking like one or two years of age), I was apparently forced to be a White Sox fan. My mom and dad would dress me in black and white threads with the words: “Chicago White Sox” printed on the forefront. I will burn any of those pictures. To this day, my entire immediate family (mom, dad, brother) are all loyal to the Black and White. Myself, however, am extremely, almost obsessively (correction: literally obsessively) loyal to the Red, White and Blue. Not just the American flag, but in fact the Cubbies. Yup, those “Lovable Losers,” “The Boys in Blue,” “The North Siders.” Truth be told, I bleed the color blue. How did this happen, you ask? Honestly, I do not exactly know. I guess I’m just that much smarter. Kidding… nothing against Sox fans. As long as you’re not a Cardinals fan. Then, we have problems. But, overall, anyone who is a fan of the American Past Time is a friend of mine. Getting back to me becoming a Cubs fan, and how my family affected that. It all started in 1992, when I was roughly three years old (I don’t know the exact date; I would have to dig through my things under my bed to find the ticket). I believe it was the first time I had ever been on the “El” train in Chicago. My dad, uncle, and I all headed to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Obviously, I do not remember who any of the players were or what team we were playing, but I do remember that horrid “El” ride and a faint picture of a 1992’ Friendly Confines. At that time, I was so short my face was at butt-level with all the other folks on the “El” train, maybe that’s what kept the memory in mind, the fact that I was enveloped with asses. Or, maybe it’s the atmosphere and beauty of Wrigley Field; the true reason Cubs fans exist. That ballpark will always be a symbol of what it means to be Cubs fan. It’s a way of life. It makes Chicago the great city it is. Wow, I love the Chicago Cubs. Sure, it’s been 101 years since the “North Siders” won the World Series, but once that drought is cured, it will be the best win in sports history. Maybe it’ll be this year, maybe it’ll be next year, nobody knows, but we do know it will happen. And, when it does, I’ll be there (or watching on TV, depending on my financial status at the time). So, why does Chicago have two ball clubs? Maybe due to the large population of the city and the surroundings areas. Or, maybe because it separates two different people: those who yell “CUBS SUCK!” and those who shout “SOX SUCK!” But, in the end, we have one thing in common, we both cheer for a team that exists in the greatest city on Earth: Chicago!   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=45&title=Chicago's Past Time&body= The year was 1870. And, only one team existed in the great city of Chicago: The Chicago White Stockings. Today, those teams are separated by: the loop, Soldier Field, the Sears Tower, and all the tussle of the “Windy City.” If you don’t know the names of those two teams you are in fact an alien. With that being said, the two mighty ball clubs of Chi-Town are: the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. When I was really small (I’m talking like one or two years of age), I was apparently forced to be a White Sox fan. My mom and dad would dress me in black and white threads with the words: “Chicago White Sox” printed on the forefront. I will burn any of those pictures. To this day, my entire immediate family (mom, dad, brother) are all loyal to the Black and White. Myself, however, am extremely, almost obsessively (correction: literally obsessively) loyal to the Red, White and Blue. Not just the American flag, but in fact the Cubbies. Yup, those “Lovable Losers,” “The Boys in Blue,” “The North Siders.” Truth be told, I bleed the color blue. How did this happen, you ask? Honestly, I do not exactly know. I guess I’m just that much smarter. Kidding… nothing against Sox fans. As long as you’re not a Cardinals fan. Then, we have problems. But, overall, anyone who is a fan of the American Past Time is a friend of mine. Getting back to me becoming a Cubs fan, and how my family affected that. It all started in 1992, when I was roughly three years old (I don’t know the exact date; I would have to dig through my things under my bed to find the ticket). I believe it was the first time I had ever been on the “El” train in Chicago. My dad, uncle, and I all headed to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Obviously, I do not remember who any of the players were or what team we were playing, but I do remember that horrid “El” ride and a faint picture of a 1992’ Friendly Confines. At that time, I was so short my face was at butt-level with all the other folks on the “El” train, maybe that’s what kept the memory in mind, the fact that I was enveloped with asses. Or, maybe it’s the atmosphere and beauty of Wrigley Field; the true reason Cubs fans exist. That ballpark will always be a symbol of what it means to be Cubs fan. It’s a way of life. It makes Chicago the great city it is. Wow, I love the Chicago Cubs. Sure, it’s been 101 years since the “North Siders” won the World Series, but once that drought is cured, it will be the best win in sports history. Maybe it’ll be this year, maybe it’ll be next year, nobody knows, but we do know it will happen. And, when it does, I’ll be there (or watching on TV, depending on my financial status at the time). So, why does Chicago have two ball clubs? Maybe due to the large population of the city and the surroundings areas. Or, maybe because it separates two different people: those who yell “CUBS SUCK!” and those who shout “SOX SUCK!” But, in the end, we have one thing in common, we both cheer for a team that exists in the greatest city on Earth: Chicago!   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=44&title=Spicoli Speaks&body= Smiles for Smirks By Sean Penn Once again the simple-minded media and its pundits are confused about the nature of Americanism and language. When President Obama today inferred consideration of holding former administration officials accountable to law, he was immediately accused of violating his belief that we should "look forward." Had President Ford "looked forward" in his decision as to whether or not to hold Nixon accountable, he perhaps would have seen the Bush administration abuse of power coming and chosen to be genuinely tough on crime -- you know, "tough on crime" -- sending Nixon to jail and deterring this recent avalanche of abuse. Further, the criticisms of President Obama's warm greeting toward President Chavez of Venezuela have been the posturing of our nation's most bitter and humanly impotent voices. Why is anyone listening to former Vice President Cheney? He's the one person alive proven wrong on virtually every topic. Then there's Newt Gingrich, who commented on the Chavez greeting as being approached wrong. He suggested that the meeting itself may not be improper, but that it should have been handled with a cold demeanor. This is a pattern of bad acting advice from bad actors. (All wimps think playing a tough guy is done in one-note coldness.) With a friend, or an enemy, our president will gain greater strategic position with a smile. I know President Chavez well. Whether or not one agrees with all his policies, what is certainly true of Chavez is that he is a warm and friendly man with a robust sense of humor (who daily risks his own life for his country in ways Dick Cheney could never imagine). To treat such a man coldly is akin to spitting on him. As a country we've done enough of that. Say what you will, but it has only resulted in the self-celebration of our smirking spitters, while costing us international respect, American lives, and left wounds in the hands of our children's future. The Cheneys, down to the O'Reillys and Hannitys and Limbaughs, effectively hate the principles upon which we were founded. They are among the greatest cowards in all of American history. I applaud an American President who's tough enough...to smile. http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=44&title=Spicoli Speaks&body= Smiles for Smirks By Sean Penn Once again the simple-minded media and its pundits are confused about the nature of Americanism and language. When President Obama today inferred consideration of holding former administration officials accountable to law, he was immediately accused of violating his belief that we should "look forward." Had President Ford "looked forward" in his decision as to whether or not to hold Nixon accountable, he perhaps would have seen the Bush administration abuse of power coming and chosen to be genuinely tough on crime -- you know, "tough on crime" -- sending Nixon to jail and deterring this recent avalanche of abuse. Further, the criticisms of President Obama's warm greeting toward President Chavez of Venezuela have been the posturing of our nation's most bitter and humanly impotent voices. Why is anyone listening to former Vice President Cheney? He's the one person alive proven wrong on virtually every topic. Then there's Newt Gingrich, who commented on the Chavez greeting as being approached wrong. He suggested that the meeting itself may not be improper, but that it should have been handled with a cold demeanor. This is a pattern of bad acting advice from bad actors. (All wimps think playing a tough guy is done in one-note coldness.) With a friend, or an enemy, our president will gain greater strategic position with a smile. I know President Chavez well. Whether or not one agrees with all his policies, what is certainly true of Chavez is that he is a warm and friendly man with a robust sense of humor (who daily risks his own life for his country in ways Dick Cheney could never imagine). To treat such a man coldly is akin to spitting on him. As a country we've done enough of that. Say what you will, but it has only resulted in the self-celebration of our smirking spitters, while costing us international respect, American lives, and left wounds in the hands of our children's future. The Cheneys, down to the O'Reillys and Hannitys and Limbaughs, effectively hate the principles upon which we were founded. They are among the greatest cowards in all of American history. I applaud an American President who's tough enough...to smile. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=42&title=Natinals?&body= What's the excuse for that? Majestic apologizes http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=42&title=Natinals?&body= What's the excuse for that? Majestic apologizes http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=43&title=Chien-Ming Wang's ERA&body=Wang's ERA rings to the tune of 34.50 Yet, another reason why this year is a good year for baseball. Any failurism linked to the Yankees is good news for me.   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=43&title=Chien-Ming Wang's ERA&body=Wang's ERA rings to the tune of 34.50 Yet, another reason why this year is a good year for baseball. Any failurism linked to the Yankees is good news for me.   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=37&title=The Boo Crew&body=On Sunday, April 14, 2009 the Milwaukee Brewers walked a total of ten Chicago Cubs in an entire game at their home of Miller Park (Wrigley Field North). Failure. Not only did they walk the aforementioned ten Cubbies; four of those walks came during a bases loaded situation for Chi-Town. So the Brew Crew (or Boo Crew) gave up four RWIs (Runs Walked In)? Failure. That's all for now. http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=37&title=The Boo Crew&body=On Sunday, April 14, 2009 the Milwaukee Brewers walked a total of ten Chicago Cubs in an entire game at their home of Miller Park (Wrigley Field North). Failure. Not only did they walk the aforementioned ten Cubbies; four of those walks came during a bases loaded situation for Chi-Town. So the Brew Crew (or Boo Crew) gave up four RWIs (Runs Walked In)? Failure. That's all for now. http://www.failurisms.net/religionTemplate.php?url=36&title=US no longer a Christian Nation?&body=     http://www.failurisms.net/religionTemplate.php?url=36&title=US no longer a Christian Nation?&body=     http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=35&title=Phone texting takes 6 years.&body=REDDING, Calif. (April 4) - A woman who crashed into a line of stopped vehicles while text-messaging on her cell phone has been sentenced to six years in a California prison for killing a woman in one of the vehicles. Deborah Matis-Engle was sentenced Friday by a judge in Redding, Calif. Investigators said Deborah Matis-Engle was speeding and text messaging when she slammed into the vehicles stopped at a construction zone in August 2007. Shasta County prosecutor Stephanie Bridgett said the 49-year-old woman had paid several bills by cell phone in the moments before the crash. She was in the middle of one of those transactions when she struck a vehicle that burst into flames, killing 46-year-old Petra Winn. Defense attorney Jeffrey Stotter said he will appeal. ~Associated Press   http://www.failurisms.net/scienceTemplate.php?url=35&title=Phone texting takes 6 years.&body=REDDING, Calif. (April 4) - A woman who crashed into a line of stopped vehicles while text-messaging on her cell phone has been sentenced to six years in a California prison for killing a woman in one of the vehicles. Deborah Matis-Engle was sentenced Friday by a judge in Redding, Calif. Investigators said Deborah Matis-Engle was speeding and text messaging when she slammed into the vehicles stopped at a construction zone in August 2007. Shasta County prosecutor Stephanie Bridgett said the 49-year-old woman had paid several bills by cell phone in the moments before the crash. She was in the middle of one of those transactions when she struck a vehicle that burst into flames, killing 46-year-old Petra Winn. Defense attorney Jeffrey Stotter said he will appeal. ~Associated Press   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=21&title=The Real Reason for the Current Crisis&body=  -{12389465203190}-->  I heard a man on the radio the other day. He said some very scary things. I am truly frightened for my country. Dr. Ravi Batra is a professor of economics at Southern Methodist University and best-selling author. If you want to have nightmares, read some of his stuff. I'll try to make a brief summary of his ideas. Basic Econ: Economies run on supply and demand. Supply is driven by production and demand is driven by wages. During normal cycles, as productivity goes up, so do wages, thus keeping up demand for the increased production. It wobbles a bit, but it's simple and it works. It worked up through the late '70's. Then, real wages stagnated while production kept going up. This was because Reagan's deregulation and union busting had a depressing effect on wages (That's a whole other rant). Since someone “needed” to buy the excess production to keep things running, rules on credit were relaxed. The advice of our grandparents to pay cash for everything was ignored and Americans gorged themselves on debt financed lifestyles. Many households needed a second income in order to maintain the standard of living they had become used to. When the credit cards got maxed out, the bankers started giving out what used to be called second mortgages, now known as home-equity lines of credit, and making loans to anyone with a pulse. The borrowing wasn't limited to individuals, businesses and governments borrowed heavily as well (35-1 leverage positions in derivative markets, anyone?). The American economy has been using debt to fuel its expansion for thirty years while good jobs went offshore in search of cheap labor and were replaced by lower paying service-sector jobs. Here is what made outsourcing a smart move for corporations: it used to be that if it cost $1.00 to make something here and it only cost $0.20 to make it somewhere else, there was an appropriate tariff to bring the price up so the domestic company stood a chance of keeping the market share and staying in business. Tariffs and other restrictive trade policies helped keep the playing field level so that a guy who made $15.00 an hour to run a machine tool in Detroit could fairly compete with another guy running the same machine tool in Juarez who gets paid $1.50 an hour (a big part of wage disparity can be linked to associated infrastructure costs: it simply costs more to live in Detroit than in Juarez). So-called “free trade” agreements simply made tariffs disappear and tilted the playing field hard toward lower cost, offshore workers, causing a vicious circle of lowering wages and shipping jobs overseas. I believe the American Dream is dead. We used to be proud of our ability to increase productivity and rewarded our workers accordingly. Someone with a high school diploma could get a decent job, support a family and maybe send their kids to college. We had the most leisure time of any country in the industrialized world. Now, Americans work more hours than anyone. Now, if production rises, instead of a raise, you might just get to keep your job. The reasons behind this might be seen as greed gone mad, but that's not (entirely) the case. If you look at some of the writings of the early “neo-cons,” there is a theme that a comfortable middle-class is a danger to good social order. If people aren't afraid of losing their job for taking a day off to go to a protest, they will. If people aren't afraid of losing their homes, cars and a chance to send their kids to college they might pay closer attention to what's going on at the macro scale. The American worker is so distracted and baffled at why it's so damned hard to pay the bills, they have no energy to spare to give particaptory democracy the time and attention it needs to florish. The combined effects of these policies are now coming home to roost. When the housing bubble popped, the breeze was more like a hurricane through the economy. It's still blowing and as the storm told the palm tree 'hold on to your nuts, this is gonna be one hell of a blowjob.' I've seen a lot post-apocalyptic fiction. There are myriad ways for a society to collapse: climate change, bio-hazard – man made or natural, asteroid impact, or even the old chestnuts atomic warfare and alien invasion. I'm more afraid of what the results of a failed America would do to the world. Author's note: This is one of my first posts for Failurisms and I will occasionally come back and link to newer columns dealing with topics discussed here.   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=21&title=The Real Reason for the Current Crisis&body=  -{12389465203190}-->  I heard a man on the radio the other day. He said some very scary things. I am truly frightened for my country. Dr. Ravi Batra is a professor of economics at Southern Methodist University and best-selling author. If you want to have nightmares, read some of his stuff. I'll try to make a brief summary of his ideas. Basic Econ: Economies run on supply and demand. Supply is driven by production and demand is driven by wages. During normal cycles, as productivity goes up, so do wages, thus keeping up demand for the increased production. It wobbles a bit, but it's simple and it works. It worked up through the late '70's. Then, real wages stagnated while production kept going up. This was because Reagan's deregulation and union busting had a depressing effect on wages (That's a whole other rant). Since someone “needed” to buy the excess production to keep things running, rules on credit were relaxed. The advice of our grandparents to pay cash for everything was ignored and Americans gorged themselves on debt financed lifestyles. Many households needed a second income in order to maintain the standard of living they had become used to. When the credit cards got maxed out, the bankers started giving out what used to be called second mortgages, now known as home-equity lines of credit, and making loans to anyone with a pulse. The borrowing wasn't limited to individuals, businesses and governments borrowed heavily as well (35-1 leverage positions in derivative markets, anyone?). The American economy has been using debt to fuel its expansion for thirty years while good jobs went offshore in search of cheap labor and were replaced by lower paying service-sector jobs. Here is what made outsourcing a smart move for corporations: it used to be that if it cost $1.00 to make something here and it only cost $0.20 to make it somewhere else, there was an appropriate tariff to bring the price up so the domestic company stood a chance of keeping the market share and staying in business. Tariffs and other restrictive trade policies helped keep the playing field level so that a guy who made $15.00 an hour to run a machine tool in Detroit could fairly compete with another guy running the same machine tool in Juarez who gets paid $1.50 an hour (a big part of wage disparity can be linked to associated infrastructure costs: it simply costs more to live in Detroit than in Juarez). So-called “free trade” agreements simply made tariffs disappear and tilted the playing field hard toward lower cost, offshore workers, causing a vicious circle of lowering wages and shipping jobs overseas. I believe the American Dream is dead. We used to be proud of our ability to increase productivity and rewarded our workers accordingly. Someone with a high school diploma could get a decent job, support a family and maybe send their kids to college. We had the most leisure time of any country in the industrialized world. Now, Americans work more hours than anyone. Now, if production rises, instead of a raise, you might just get to keep your job. The reasons behind this might be seen as greed gone mad, but that's not (entirely) the case. If you look at some of the writings of the early “neo-cons,” there is a theme that a comfortable middle-class is a danger to good social order. If people aren't afraid of losing their job for taking a day off to go to a protest, they will. If people aren't afraid of losing their homes, cars and a chance to send their kids to college they might pay closer attention to what's going on at the macro scale. The American worker is so distracted and baffled at why it's so damned hard to pay the bills, they have no energy to spare to give particaptory democracy the time and attention it needs to florish. The combined effects of these policies are now coming home to roost. When the housing bubble popped, the breeze was more like a hurricane through the economy. It's still blowing and as the storm told the palm tree 'hold on to your nuts, this is gonna be one hell of a blowjob.' I've seen a lot post-apocalyptic fiction. There are myriad ways for a society to collapse: climate change, bio-hazard – man made or natural, asteroid impact, or even the old chestnuts atomic warfare and alien invasion. I'm more afraid of what the results of a failed America would do to the world. Author's note: This is one of my first posts for Failurisms and I will occasionally come back and link to newer columns dealing with topics discussed here.   http://www.failurisms.net/religionTemplate.php?url=22&title=The End of Religion?&body=  Here's a good one for ya! The United Nations General Assembly voted for a resolution to ban "defamation of religion," and "blasphemous" speech.  This is truly an epic failure. This resolution, if taken seriously and to the extreme, would outlaw most supernatural belief systems because they have at least one central tenet in common: This is Truth- all other systems of belief are Not True. The cure for "bad" speech isn't less speech, it's more "good" speech. How's this one gonna play out? I'll keep one eye on it for ya, OneEyeChuck       http://www.failurisms.net/religionTemplate.php?url=22&title=The End of Religion?&body=  Here's a good one for ya! The United Nations General Assembly voted for a resolution to ban "defamation of religion," and "blasphemous" speech.  This is truly an epic failure. This resolution, if taken seriously and to the extreme, would outlaw most supernatural belief systems because they have at least one central tenet in common: This is Truth- all other systems of belief are Not True. The cure for "bad" speech isn't less speech, it's more "good" speech. How's this one gonna play out? I'll keep one eye on it for ya, OneEyeChuck       http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=23&title=Student Loan Blues&body= You can't get a decent job with a high school diploma anymore. Careers in fields like transportation, construction and manufacturing are either dead ends and/or no longer pay enough to support a family. The Conservative point of view on this is, “Well, they just need to go back to school and they can get a better job.” The problem with this is that most students graduate college with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, if they can qualify for the loan in the first place; if they have never had the misfortune to run afoul of the War on Drugs. It used to be that the American dream took hard work and brains to achieve, now it takes that and access to funds to finance your education and enough savvy to keep your footing in the economic shitstorm that is currently gripping the world.. In the past you could actually “work your way through college” with a crappy job. It was part of paying your dues. Now, our new President paid off his and his wife's student loans with money from his best-selling books! He was a state legislator, she was a successful lawyer and they were still making payments on their own education, while trying to raise a family and have something left to pay for their kids' college. WTF? America is the only industrialized nation that does not provide free or cheap higher education to it's citizens (or health care, but that's another rant). It makes no sense, especially when the “global economy” is so competitive. People with degrees simply make more money than those without one. If they make more, they can then spend more and keep the expansion model economy chugging along. They can also pay a little more in taxes, which is not an entirely bad thing. The cynical view is that “the Man” is trying to continue the dumbing down of America to the point where jingoism and propaganda take the place of practicality and critical thought on the big questions like “Should we go to war with x ?” and “Where are we going and why are we in a hand basket?”   Keeping one eye on the powers behind the powers, OneEyeChuck http://www.failurisms.net/humanitiesTemplate.php?url=23&title=Student Loan Blues&body= You can't get a decent job with a high school diploma anymore. Careers in fields like transportation, construction and manufacturing are either dead ends and/or no longer pay enough to support a family. The Conservative point of view on this is, “Well, they just need to go back to school and they can get a better job.” The problem with this is that most students graduate college with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, if they can qualify for the loan in the first place; if they have never had the misfortune to run afoul of the War on Drugs. It used to be that the American dream took hard work and brains to achieve, now it takes that and access to funds to finance your education and enough savvy to keep your footing in the economic shitstorm that is currently gripping the world.. In the past you could actually “work your way through college” with a crappy job. It was part of paying your dues. Now, our new President paid off his and his wife's student loans with money from his best-selling books! He was a state legislator, she was a successful lawyer and they were still making payments on their own education, while trying to raise a family and have something left to pay for their kids' college. WTF? America is the only industrialized nation that does not provide free or cheap higher education to it's citizens (or health care, but that's another rant). It makes no sense, especially when the “global economy” is so competitive. People with degrees simply make more money than those without one. If they make more, they can then spend more and keep the expansion model economy chugging along. They can also pay a little more in taxes, which is not an entirely bad thing. The cynical view is that “the Man” is trying to continue the dumbing down of America to the point where jingoism and propaganda take the place of practicality and critical thought on the big questions like “Should we go to war with x ?” and “Where are we going and why are we in a hand basket?”   Keeping one eye on the powers behind the powers, OneEyeChuck http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=24&title=A Distracted Population&body=   We are a throughly distracted people. While the conditions that led up to our latest economic shitstorm were obvious to anyone who took the time look around, we were distracted by any number of things; what celeb-u-tard is going into rehab or getting a boot camp haircut, how our fantasy football picks did on Sunday, the latest Twitter (notice the root word is twit?) from some one who is famous for being famous,  over 500 teevee channels, the boundless pages of the Internet, specialty magazines for just about any hobby you can think to name, et cetera- ad nauseum. We are distracted from our seeming inability to pay our bills, afford an education, see a doctor or even get a real two week vacation by all sorts of fluff. Most Americans are more interested in who Lindsay Lohan is dating than in what corporation has which elected official in their pocket. When the people bother to look at politics, they are distracted by idiocy like the abortion fight or gay marriage. Any attempt to improve the commons gets stalled out until the politicians figure out how their constituents (not the people who voted for them, but the people who funded the campaign) will benefit. Even those we entrust to be our watchdogs are falling down on the job. The Founders of our Republic though a free press was so important that they made it part of the First Amendment to our Constitution. Today, some poor j-school grad gets to do a stand-up in front of an Apple store about the latest edition of the iPod or a heart warming story of how a dog was rescued from a storm drain and they call it news, while ignoring the collapse of the middle class and the massive upward shift in wealth that has gone on for the past thirty years. It's not surprising given that five companies own most of America's media outlets. Teevee news departments are no longer viewed as a required cost to uphold the broadcasters' end of their FCC license agreements (a leftover from the days when teevee came over the “public” airwaves, not a coaxial cable), but as a division that needs to produce revenue. It is also in these companies own best interests to uphold the status quo. Political discourse is reduced to 5 or 10 second sound bites that can be picked up by the echo chambers of talk radio and the blogosphere and lead to more distraction. It then gets all extreme and screamy in order to attract more viewers and raise ad prices, but does nothing to actually inform anyone about why and how these things have come to pass. The problems our world faces today require multi-faceted solutions, not just “Well, We are not Them and Their ideas suck.” We need bold action to truly level the playing field for workers around the world. We need to examine the American lifestyle and figure out how to get and keep it sustainable – economically and environmentally. We need to realize that freedom is not free and that blood is sometimes a necessary fertilizer for the Tree of Liberty, although it can also be a feeding frenzy for the greed of unscrupulous corporations. There is a reason we are so distracted. It keeps us from taking to the streets in outrage over what has been done in our name. It keeps us from going apeshit and climbing a clock tower, high powered sniper rifle in hand. It keeps us from waking up, realizing what the fuck is going on and just pulling the covers back over our heads. Peeking one eye out from under the pillow, OneEyeChuck   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=24&title=A Distracted Population&body=   We are a throughly distracted people. While the conditions that led up to our latest economic shitstorm were obvious to anyone who took the time look around, we were distracted by any number of things; what celeb-u-tard is going into rehab or getting a boot camp haircut, how our fantasy football picks did on Sunday, the latest Twitter (notice the root word is twit?) from some one who is famous for being famous,  over 500 teevee channels, the boundless pages of the Internet, specialty magazines for just about any hobby you can think to name, et cetera- ad nauseum. We are distracted from our seeming inability to pay our bills, afford an education, see a doctor or even get a real two week vacation by all sorts of fluff. Most Americans are more interested in who Lindsay Lohan is dating than in what corporation has which elected official in their pocket. When the people bother to look at politics, they are distracted by idiocy like the abortion fight or gay marriage. Any attempt to improve the commons gets stalled out until the politicians figure out how their constituents (not the people who voted for them, but the people who funded the campaign) will benefit. Even those we entrust to be our watchdogs are falling down on the job. The Founders of our Republic though a free press was so important that they made it part of the First Amendment to our Constitution. Today, some poor j-school grad gets to do a stand-up in front of an Apple store about the latest edition of the iPod or a heart warming story of how a dog was rescued from a storm drain and they call it news, while ignoring the collapse of the middle class and the massive upward shift in wealth that has gone on for the past thirty years. It's not surprising given that five companies own most of America's media outlets. Teevee news departments are no longer viewed as a required cost to uphold the broadcasters' end of their FCC license agreements (a leftover from the days when teevee came over the “public” airwaves, not a coaxial cable), but as a division that needs to produce revenue. It is also in these companies own best interests to uphold the status quo. Political discourse is reduced to 5 or 10 second sound bites that can be picked up by the echo chambers of talk radio and the blogosphere and lead to more distraction. It then gets all extreme and screamy in order to attract more viewers and raise ad prices, but does nothing to actually inform anyone about why and how these things have come to pass. The problems our world faces today require multi-faceted solutions, not just “Well, We are not Them and Their ideas suck.” We need bold action to truly level the playing field for workers around the world. We need to examine the American lifestyle and figure out how to get and keep it sustainable – economically and environmentally. We need to realize that freedom is not free and that blood is sometimes a necessary fertilizer for the Tree of Liberty, although it can also be a feeding frenzy for the greed of unscrupulous corporations. There is a reason we are so distracted. It keeps us from taking to the streets in outrage over what has been done in our name. It keeps us from going apeshit and climbing a clock tower, high powered sniper rifle in hand. It keeps us from waking up, realizing what the fuck is going on and just pulling the covers back over our heads. Peeking one eye out from under the pillow, OneEyeChuck   http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=27&title=What I Believe&body=   There is not currently a bio section here on Failurisms, so let me introduce myself. I drive a truck for a living, sing and try to play music and write for enjoyment. I love my Harley and I feel like I'm being forced into paying attention to politics for many reasons.   I am not a communist, more a Social-Democrat with a wide Libertarian streak. I know these ideologies seem at odds with each other, please let me explain. In an ideal world, the basic Libertarian idea that rights come with responsibilities would be universal and we could rely on our neighbors to live up to them. Ideas like ' it's in our own self-interest to help those less fortunate, because they'll turn into customers when they get on their feet,' aren't much different from 'we need to help those less fortunate because it's the right thing to do.' It's just a matter of who is doing the helping and why- the end result is the same.   Fortunately, I am a realist as well. My faith in human nature has been damaged over the years until it's just this pathetic little guttering flicker. Humans need government to keep a check on the idiots who still think that might makes right whether that might comes from a fist or a large bank account. Governments need the real threat of revolution hanging over their collective heads to keep them from infringing unnecessarily on its subjects lifestyles and rights.   I'm all for freedom of religion, but not to the point of someone ramming their ideologies down my throat with legislation. I'm all for a single-payer universal healthcare system, just as I'm all for the right of the populace to be well armed for self-defense against criminals – both those on the street and those in our houses of government. I'm all for paying taxes on fuel in order to maintain the roads, but I can see that the internal combustion engine may be the death of our ecosystem. I'm all for shrinking governments, but not to the point that they can no longer perform the very real job of governing. I'm all for property rights, but not if a river runs through your land and you decide it's OK to build an outhouse over it. I'm all for the end of the “War on Drugs”, but God help you if it can be proven that your intoxication led to someone else's injury. I'm all for making a profit, but not the expense of another's dignity or the health of our planet. I'm all for free education, but not if the recipient is only using it figure out how to game the system. My right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins, unless you've violated my nose already - then all bets are off and a can of whoop-ass will be opened. So that's the kind of wild-eyed radicalism you can expect from me, OneEyeChuck http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=27&title=What I Believe&body=   There is not currently a bio section here on Failurisms, so let me introduce myself. I drive a truck for a living, sing and try to play music and write for enjoyment. I love my Harley and I feel like I'm being forced into paying attention to politics for many reasons.   I am not a communist, more a Social-Democrat with a wide Libertarian streak. I know these ideologies seem at odds with each other, please let me explain. In an ideal world, the basic Libertarian idea that rights come with responsibilities would be universal and we could rely on our neighbors to live up to them. Ideas like ' it's in our own self-interest to help those less fortunate, because they'll turn into customers when they get on their feet,' aren't much different from 'we need to help those less fortunate because it's the right thing to do.' It's just a matter of who is doing the helping and why- the end result is the same.   Fortunately, I am a realist as well. My faith in human nature has been damaged over the years until it's just this pathetic little guttering flicker. Humans need government to keep a check on the idiots who still think that might makes right whether that might comes from a fist or a large bank account. Governments need the real threat of revolution hanging over their collective heads to keep them from infringing unnecessarily on its subjects lifestyles and rights.   I'm all for freedom of religion, but not to the point of someone ramming their ideologies down my throat with legislation. I'm all for a single-payer universal healthcare system, just as I'm all for the right of the populace to be well armed for self-defense against criminals – both those on the street and those in our houses of government. I'm all for paying taxes on fuel in order to maintain the roads, but I can see that the internal combustion engine may be the death of our ecosystem. I'm all for shrinking governments, but not to the point that they can no longer perform the very real job of governing. I'm all for property rights, but not if a river runs through your land and you decide it's OK to build an outhouse over it. I'm all for the end of the “War on Drugs”, but God help you if it can be proven that your intoxication led to someone else's injury. I'm all for making a profit, but not the expense of another's dignity or the health of our planet. I'm all for free education, but not if the recipient is only using it figure out how to game the system. My right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins, unless you've violated my nose already - then all bets are off and a can of whoop-ass will be opened. So that's the kind of wild-eyed radicalism you can expect from me, OneEyeChuck http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=20&title=Baseball!&body=Baseball is just around the corner (two days and counting!) (the day after tomorrow!) The first game is actually Sunday night, but who cares... it's the Braves and Phillies. The dawn of the Major League 2009 season will bring many failurisms to each and every team. Let's have a great year! Go Baseball!   http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=20&title=Baseball!&body=Baseball is just around the corner (two days and counting!) (the day after tomorrow!) The first game is actually Sunday night, but who cares... it's the Braves and Phillies. The dawn of the Major League 2009 season will bring many failurisms to each and every team. Let's have a great year! Go Baseball!   http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=17&title=Inflation ~ Dr. Seuss&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/economicsTemplate.php?url=17&title=Inflation ~ Dr. Seuss&body=  http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=2&title=A Failure In (Girls) Hockey&body=Everyone knows about bad seasons in sports history. *cough* ...Detriot Lions! The Lions' first 0-16 season in NFL history completed a 10-year freefall, where they were undone by one bad personnel move after another. More on that at another time (once football season roles around of coarse). For now, let's stick with hockey and baseball. With that being said, did you know about an 82-0 defeat by Slovakia against Bulgaria? No, that's not a typo. I don't faile at typing (yet). There's the "agony of defeat." And then there's this women's ice hockey score from the European Olympic pre-qualifying tournament: Slovakia 82, Bulgaria 0. The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) spoke about the result as a record score for a women's IIHF-sanctioned event. It was not the all-time record for futility, however; that is still held by Thailand, which lost 92-0 to South Korea in the 1998 Asia-Oceania U18 Championship (another failurism) (this post is two-in-one!). Don't believe me? See for yourself: ' http://www.failurisms.net/gymTemplate.php?url=2&title=A Failure In (Girls) Hockey&body=Everyone knows about bad seasons in sports history. *cough* ...Detriot Lions! The Lions' first 0-16 season in NFL history completed a 10-year freefall, where they were undone by one bad personnel move after another. More on that at another time (once football season roles around of coarse). For now, let's stick with hockey and baseball. With that being said, did you know about an 82-0 defeat by Slovakia against Bulgaria? No, that's not a typo. I don't faile at typing (yet). There's the "agony of defeat." And then there's this women's ice hockey score from the European Olympic pre-qualifying tournament: Slovakia 82, Bulgaria 0. The IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) spoke about the result as a record score for a women's IIHF-sanctioned event. It was not the all-time record for futility, however; that is still held by Thailand, which lost 92-0 to South Korea in the 1998 Asia-Oceania U18 Championship (another failurism) (this post is two-in-one!). Don't believe me? See for yourself: ' http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=1&title=Rant&body= On November 4th, 2008, the people of America perpetrated a failure that will echo down the halls of history. It was the failure of hatred, fear and prejudice. It was the failure of almost 400 years of institutionalized and societal oppression of any person whose skin tone was darker than a sun tanned Anglo-Saxon. It was the failure of the legacy of lynch mobs and the KKK. It was the failure of Jim Crow laws and segregation. It was the failure of the idea that America has any second class citizens. It was a failure of the American people to continue to follow a failed political and economic ideology. It was the failure of voters to continue to swallow any more of the fear mongering, jingoistic,corporatist propaganda conservatives continued to spew. It was the failure of John McCain to convince America of his knowledge of how to “get bin Laden” or that “The fundamentals of the economy are strong,” or that even he had any real faith in that spectacular, idiotic failure, Sarah Palin. We must not fail to do more than just hope that the 44th President will be able to lead us out of these desperate times; we can take an active role in helping each other. We must not fail to urge our Representatives and Senators to work on solving the myriad problems facing our faltering country. We must not fail to demand that former officials be held accountable for their illegal actions. We must not fail to show the world and future generations that we a nation ruled by law and not by men. The health of our nation demands that we pay attention to more than the full-contact “sport” of elections. We must not fail to hold up our own end of the social contract. We must not fail to live up to Benjamin Franklin's answer to a question regarding what kind of government the Constitutional Convention gave us: “A Republic; if you can keep it.” http://www.failurisms.net/socialStudiesTemplate.php?url=1&title=Rant&body= On November 4th, 2008, the people of America perpetrated a failure that will echo down the halls of history. It was the failure of hatred, fear and prejudice. It was the failure of almost 400 years of institutionalized and societal oppression of any person whose skin tone was darker than a sun tanned Anglo-Saxon. It was the failure of the legacy of lynch mobs and the KKK. It was the failure of Jim Crow laws and segregation. It was the failure of the idea that America has any second class citizens. It was a failure of the American people to continue to follow a failed political and economic ideology. It was the failure of voters to continue to swallow any more of the fear mongering, jingoistic,corporatist propaganda conservatives continued to spew. It was the failure of John McCain to convince America of his knowledge of how to “get bin Laden” or that “The fundamentals of the economy are strong,” or that even he had any real faith in that spectacular, idiotic failure, Sarah Palin. We must not fail to do more than just hope that the 44th President will be able to lead us out of these desperate times; we can take an active role in helping each other. We must not fail to urge our Representatives and Senators to work on solving the myriad problems facing our faltering country. We must not fail to demand that former officials be held accountable for their illegal actions. We must not fail to show the world and future generations that we a nation ruled by law and not by men. The health of our nation demands that we pay attention to more than the full-contact “sport” of elections. We must not fail to hold up our own end of the social contract. We must not fail to live up to Benjamin Franklin's answer to a question regarding what kind of government the Constitutional Convention gave us: “A Republic; if you can keep it.”