20060331

Red blogule to Bud Selig's National Pushtime

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig named George J. Mitchell to lead an investigation on steroids in baseball.
Even if former Senate Leader Mitchell did a nice job as the chairman of another investigation team (the Salt Lake City 2002 case for the IOC), many wonder how far he will go considering his position in the Bossox board and yet another chairmanship, that of The Walt Disney Company, owner of ESPN, owner of the MLB broadcasting rights*.
Mitchell should be under the fire of journalists, but let's not forget Selig himself.
He did a not so lousy job as a Commissioner, bringing the National Pastime back on the sports map. But at which cost ? MLB became hot again when Jose Canseco turned 40-40 seasons into a commodity, when Mark McGwire suddenly made ballparks look smaller, when Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds joined the ride, when good guys became big guys... when steroids became hot.

It took Selig too many years to start this controversial investigation. Meanwhile, the younger generations learnt what to do in order to make it into major league superstardom. Those who couldn't accept the idea of steroids turned to other competitive sports : athletics and Human Growth Hormone, business and cocain...

* ESPN will air "Bonds on Bonds" as scheduled - these 10 part series are not about Disney's value at the NYSE but about the rise and rise of Barry Bonds.

20060319

White blogule to David Gregory - Welcome to the House of Fun

NBC News' chief White House correspondent denounced Operation Swarmer in Iraq as a political show made up as a military action. 40 so-called Qaeda members were caught but released a few hours later, and witnesses doubt seriously about the violence of the offensive. I must confess I was a little bit surprised by the target (an area without any previous history of intense rebellion), the images of the Iraqi soldiers preparing for the battle (all smiles), the publicity made around the Operation and its timing. To me, this looks like vintage War Propaganda, Fallujah style*. Look how swiftly did the Red Army react, carpet bombing poor David "Stretch" Gregory with all their Weapons of Mass Disinformation and lobbying for his firing. For them, the mother of all battles since march 2003 isn't "Operation Swarmer" but "Saving Private Bush".
Just like Michael Moore, David Gregory can be a clown and his caricatural attacks can be used by the defense to turn around the proof of credibility gap. But I don't like the idea of the palace's buffoon being sacrificed as a scapegoat. The joke should remain on the Bush Administration.


* remember that old 2004 blogule "Red blogule to the bombing of Fallujah - Bombing, for image's sake - Bush is only targeting the US audience" (20040429) ?

20060316

White blogule to Sen. Feingold - Saving private eye Bush

Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) eventually dropped the "I" word. Impeachment, at last !
Senator Arlen Hannibal Specter countered and The Red Machine seized the opportunity to wake its gloomy base up : hey, you ! Something to fight for, don't let your majority lose, save private eye Dubya !
A noble cause worth the fight : your beloved Duce needs you. If you want your Administration to keep insulting democracy, vote Republikan. Don't listen to these no gooders who claim being Republicans but don't support Our Dear Compassionate Leader. You want to feel the same pride as you did while crushing that flip-flopping weasel ? You want to feel like a winner again ? You want to say "Mission Accomplished" one more time, even for a day ? You want to forget you elected the worst US president in History ? Vote Amerika. And oh, impeaching Dubya would send a wrong message to the world and to our Middle East friends. Instead, we should keep broadcasting snapshots from our Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib Club Meds, where people smile happily while playing Mr Hyde and Sick.
Far away from this noise, the Bush Administration keep doing their job, and mass destruction of the independance of justice remains at the top of their agenda : they intend to teach U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema how to do justice this side of the Rio Grande. The Law shouldn't work for that Zacharias Moussaoui guy ; the people wants blood, hang'im up !

Excuse my French, there is a word for what they're doing to your country and that's "fascism". Do you want the US to confirm the choice of infamy ?
Dear Americans*, don't let this happen, spread the word around ! And don't let the Dems flunk once again : that's a grassroot thing - if you leave it up to them, you leave it to Ken Mehlman and your beautiful country is lost for good. Speak out loud !!! Remind your fellow citizens which values they used to stand for.
This time, don't you dare miss the opportunity.


* ... or at least my dear hundred daily visitors from the US ! You come from 50 states, over 700 counties, and over 1,600 cities (including Midland, TX). That's a far cry from the RNC's e-mail to 15M supporters but hey, you have to start somewhere - anywhere and everywhere...

20060311

White blogule to Dr. Wafa Sultan - moderate Muslims, at last

She comes from Syria but lives in LA.
She spoke out loud but quietly on Al Jazeera.
The kind of words I've been expecting for 5 years (and calling from this excuse of a blog for 3 years) : the key war is waged by radical muslims against moderate muslims, Middle Age vs XXIst Century. Time for moderate muslims to wake up and make themselves heard.
She's been threatened but it may be too late : media must make this kind of positions mainstream. Radicals cannot keep overflowing airtime with their hatred while they just represent a minority.

Since she dared a parallel between Jews and Muslims, she's been invited in Israel. Good point, but beware of traps, be careful not to weaken your stature within the Muslim community.

20060306

Pink blogule to Hollywood - followers at best

Ang Lee truly was the best director around. To me, it means even more than the best picture award : he won on the human side, and anyway "Brokeback Mountain" has already become an all time great.
"Crash" won't reach that level. That movie reminds me of "Boyz n the Hood" : a "sign 'o the times" flick with a clear message and an interesting twist, but a little bit too much arranged and caricatural... just like Haggis' scenario for "Million Dollar Baby". You can enjoy it on the spot (good parts, great actors) but unlike Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", the effect doesn't last. I guess Hollywood voters* were touched by the painting of the L.A. clamors reaching almost the top of their Beverly Hill fences.
That was a nice year for indies, but Hollywood didn't go all the way for their 2006 Academy Awards. George Clooney nailed it quite well by saying Hollywood "reflect society, not truly lead it".
Hollywood was two years too late because the majors accepted a deal with the Devil : our Administration passes the laws you want, don't attack us before the elections. Last year, it was as if the majors offered more playtime to their independant arms. But come moneytime or the All Star Game, only the big names did get their chances.


* (as Jon Stewart put it) "the first time many of [which] have ever voted for a winner".

20060302

Red blogule to the imPOTUS - America vs Amerika class action lawsuit

Since nobody dares impeach the man who put the shame on his country, lied to his people, waged an illegal war, implemented illegal taping and abductions, promoted torture, replaced scientists with revisionists..., (and so on and so forth*), I suggest the good citizens of Louisiana to launch a class action lawsuit against George W. Bush.
As Michael Brown puts it, the tapes of the FEMA briefing about Katrina speak for themselves : thousands of people died and this man is guilty.
Let's not wait for the elections, nor for the Dems to wake up. The US citizens must stand up and right now. Let's call this case America vs Amerika.


* see
all previous blogules since 2003.
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