Won by cheating, lied to America and the World

Both won by cheating, both lied to America and the World:

George W. Bush - Commander in Thief (2001-2008)

Lance Armstrong - Yellow Jersey Tour de France (1999-2005), Orange Jersey Tour d'Alcatraz (2013-2023)

Gone Stars we won't miss.

blogules 2012
Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
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Paul the Octopus

Again, that World Cup post-partum blues.

That sense of emptiness, the brain progressively training itself to intercept signals involving other things than soccer balls, the effort even tougher this time because of those damned vuvuzelas (time difference ? I kind of got used to it after my tenth World Cup).

The embarrassing realization that I've been outsmarted by a squid in my predictions.

The embarrassing realization that 2010, a great year for African soccer, started with shootings at Togolese players in Angola, and continues with the murder of fans in Uganda. A Christmas tree at the DRC Soccer Federation ? Thanks, but no thanks.

The embarrassing realization that, while players tried to understand the tricky aerodynamics of Jabulani, our small planet kept moving in its very predictable way :
- The First Scrabble Wars ended with a draw between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
- Again, Barack Obama welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu who, again the previous day, promised that this time, he would be a nice guy.
- As videos of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest rocked the web, Haiti's Daily Eating Challenge only got a few clicks.
- US citizens let Tony the Octopus spill as much ink as he could in the Gulf of Mexico. As if Tony Hayward had a clue about what was at stake if BP picked this well instead of that one.


blogules 2010

Ronaldo's Yogi Berra moment (or is it Forrest Gump ?) : goals are like ketchup

Lucky you : it's that period when I don't spill many blogules on this lousy blog.

If "blogules" sucks most of my energy during US elections, "footlog" sucks most of my energy during FIFA World Cups*. Mercifully, both events happen every four years, with two years between each period of apnea. But as you already know, both blogs suck 24/7/365...

Anyway. Since last Friday, I've been on World Cup mode, trying not to miss a single game in spite of time difference... and failing for some of those scheduled at 3 AM Seoul time (I could do that back in 1986 but that was the previous millenium).

So today, I will only deliver you this pearl of wisdom from Cristiano Ronaldo, a 25 year-old Portuguese striker : goals are like ketchup because when ketchup comes out, it all comes out at once.

From a 5 year old kid, it could have been cute. Here, it sounds more like an artificial Forrest Gump line than a genuine Yogi Berra moment.

Thierry Henry could join the MLS and the New York Red Bulls after the World Cup. Even past his prime, the man is able to give more to the beautiful game than nice dribbles and stupid statements. Maybe because, unlike Ronaldo, Henry loves the game more than himself.

blogules 2010

* note that footlog is in French.

Seoul National University : a league of their own

Korea's most prestigious university, "Seoul Dae", has always been a laughing stock as far as sports are concerned : Seoul National University never leaves the bottom of national rankings in collective sports, and a ten goal deficit in soccer or a twenty run loss in baseball are more than commonplace.

Chosun Ilbo Senior Editor OH Tae-jin nailed an hilarious tribute* to SNU's baseball team, but keeping one's seriousness is not that easy when you consider the bold facts : in 2004, SNU stopped a 199-game losing streak only to start a 56-game losing streak the next match, and personal statistics against this team have not been taken into account in the league standings since 1992.

Now this joke of a team just hired a prestigious coach : LEE Gwang-hwan won the KBO title (Korean pro baseball league) in 1994. Imagine Jose Mourinho taking over the perennial underdog of Portuguese university soccer.

To tell the truth, I find that a bit unfair and disrespectful to essential traditions. Seoul Dae may produce the Korean elite of tomorrow in a campus roughly the size of a small "gu" (Samsung founder's former golf club in Gwanaksan), it may boast an art museum designed by Rem Koolhaas, it still used to be the symbol of meritocracy. A lot of poor students, not much funding for sports, and a food so miserable you sometimes felt on the wrong side of the DMZ.

But the times they are a-changing. Meritocracy became hagwonocracy** nationwide, and SNU starts caring for its image as a sports powerhouse.

Well. "Powerhouse" at least in the meaning "equipped with electricity".

blogules 2010 - see the original on Seoul Village

* "서울대 야구감독 이광환" / "LEE Gwang-hwan Seoul National University baseball coach" (오태진 20100529 - Chosun Ilbo)
** hagwons are for-profit private academies, the clear winners in Korea's suicidal competition for the best universities

"Jesus vs Mahdi" Prophecy - Red blogule to Bush-Cheney's war on Iran

Lobby Dick has decided : the US must bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. W is almost ready, just making sure he doesn't need any agreement from the Congress, that ugly and totally unnecessary offspring of democracy.
Make no mistake : just like the invasion of Iraq, this attack has nothing to do with the official agenda. Preventing WMD proliferation, getting rid of a dictatorship, and even securing juicy contracts for big corporations... all these are mere alibis, the Bush Administration's usual sales pitch*.
The aim of the game is to accelerate the final showdown between Iran and Israel before the World's most important regime change : Lord Dubya's rule is bound to end by 2008, and this mad crusader has yet to fulfill his most important task ; the so called Bible Prophecy.
If you missed the previous episodes, here's the story : Bush believes Jesus Christ's Second Coming will be provoqued by the ultimate war between Israel and Iran. Crazy enough ? There's more : the Shiite sect to which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad belongs believes the Mahdi is coming this spring... which means Dubya's favorite philosopher will face another heavyweight messianic figure somewhere between the begining of the MLB season and the NBA finals. This definitely beats Rocky Balboa's return, Jason vs Freddy and even Alien vs Predator !
Both sides consider it The Clash between Good and Evil... without noticing they're talking about the same God. So make that "Good vs Good", or better : "dimwit vs dimwit".

It would be laughable if human lives and nuclear powers weren't involved.

If God does exist, I guess the time has actually come to pay us a visit and wipe all this crap out of the surface of the Earth.



* Don't get me wrong : Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a bad guy and potentially as dangerous as Saddam, and the Iranian theocracy is as dangerous for World peace as the US theocracy. I'm only warning you like I did four years ago : if you follow Bush on his crusade, you are doomed. And this time, we all could be doomed.

Red blogule to the World Cup Postpartum

Four more years without that silly soccer fever...
At least, without the utter humiliation of living under the English rule (thank Rooney for being a brat).


PS : vistit footlog, my blog on the beautiful game (in beautiful French)

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.

White blogule to the NBA Hall Of Shame - from indictment to impeachment

As soon as I mentioned ethic cleansing within the GOP, Tom DeLay joined the NBA Hall Of Shame (Nasty Bush Administration) : his fingerprints being all over corruption scenes (in favor of the then Governor Dubya), no new cast should be needed for his indiction into the Crawford based HOS.
All members of the President's closest circles enjoy a criminal record now : in an unprecedented series of controversies, they all had to testify before a commission - and for the weaker links, to quit. All smoking guns point to a man who owes his pristine criminal record to his Daddy. But 41 cannot erase anything anymore and at one moment 43bis* will have to pay. The sooner the better.

*For those who missed the news : Bush Jr hijacked Al Gore's presidency and crashed the country against his own two wins towers. Amerika's leaders are corrupt, America is financially, socially and morally bankrupt.

Red blogule to Lance Armstrong

"It's up to you guys". I've delivered my stuff (and certainly taken some other) and now I'm done. Even Indurain looks human compared to me. I've turned into a soulless machine to break the record and the next one will have to go even further.
Well Lance, I do respect you for your courage and will, but I don't think you did much for the image of cycling. And I miss Greg LeMond's boyish smile.

White blogule to "Paris 2020"

The year of the Trafalgar bicentennial, the year when Saint Tony reached the European throne, the year France said merde to Europe, how could Paris win over London for the 2012 Olympics ?
Paris has to wait at least after New York 2016 : (ex-) Europe can't possibly get two Olympic Games in a row and the Lords of the Rings cannot offer more than three consecutive gifts to non-US televorus popcornicum vulgaris. Dubya's successor is a sure winner in 2009, but he'll also need a second mandate to fully enjoy the show... and if Hillary is not that one, she can always claim part of the success (exhibit A : a token for attending Singapore 2005 board meeting).
If Paris were eventually awarded the 2032 Games, Chirac could be celebrated for the centennial of his birth as a turn of the millenium Coubertin breathing to his last gasp the spirit of Olympism : "the important thing in the Baghdad 2028 Olympic Games is not to win, but to participate", citius, altius, fortius, fabius...

White blogule to Park Chu-Young - take me to the ball, Park

As expected, Park Chu-Young and Park Ji-Sung led the Korean national soccer team to a qualification for the World Cup 2006. They even outscored another mediatic Park couple ; the former dictator Park Chung-Hee (strongly criticized in recently released books and movies) and his daughter Park Geun-Hye (now the successful ruler of the Grand National Party).
I wish Korean politicians were shining as brilliantly as the country's soccer players. Roh Moo-Hyun seems a fairly smart guy but he's been wasting opportunities with the same dedication as Jacques Chirac (whatever happened to the momentum following last year's failed impeachment / coup ?). Lee Myung-Bak, Seoul's Mayor and a former presidential favorite, is drowning in corruption scandals around his much acclaimed Cheonggyecheon project. The rest of the league looks like pre-Koizumi Japan's snake nest : conservative SIG representatives with dark blue suits.
Park Chu-Young will be 20 for Germany 2006, Park Ji-Sung was 21 during Korea-Japan 2002.
Bring us fresh blood in politics and, in order to motivate new candidates, get rid of this one-term-limit. The times of dictatorship are over in Korea. Let the new wave rule !

Red blogule to North Korea's hooligans

The small riot in Pyongyang's Kim Il-Sung Stadium yesterday (following the defeat of North Korea to Iran 2-0) could be considered as good news since it exposes the deliquescence of the ruling power. I don't think it should.
The problem is the same as for Iraq, only worse : a regime change is badly needed, but the changing itself means a highly dangerous situation and should be carefuly planned. The chaos in Iraq may look very peaceful compared to what could happen the other side of the DMZ and at the frontiers (especially with China).
Something big is definitely going to happen in North Korea, and much sooner than expected. A collapse by the end of the year wouldn't surprise me. Chosun's neighbors should get ready, and so should the UN, the only international body which could be accepted by Pyongyang or what's left of it.