This Year's Terps - A Cavalcade of Point Guards

I know it's only November, but after watching two out of Maryland's three wins so far, this looks like it could be a fun team this year. They've got inside scoring and rebounding from Jordan Williams, who looks to be in much better shape than he was last year, and could also be a year ahead of where Lonny Baxter was as a sophomore in terms of offensive skills. Cliff Tucker is probably their best defender not named Sean Mosley, and might also be the best outside shooter on the team. And then their are the point guards. Senior Adrian Bowie starts and has been solid thus far, but the freshmen behind him on the bench, Pe'Shon Howard (yes, that's actually his first name) and Terrell Stoglin, might both be better players. In fact, I'm betting that Howard starts over Bowie at some point this season. No matter who starts, ball handling shouldn't be the problem that it's been at times over the last few seasons.

Add what could be a deep but young (three more freshmen, one sophomore, one transfer) bench, and, well, we'll see what happens. Something else that's new for a Gary Williams team is its international flavor; one of the freshmen is from Iceland, and the transfer is a skinny Dutch guy. We'll know a lot more about this team once they face a top-five Pittsburgh team on Thursday night at MSG.

TSA Enters Fondling Business

The bad news is that if you don't want to be irradiated, or have your privacy invaded, by the TSA's new full-body scanners, soon you can get groped by a TSA "officer". The good news is, there aren't any additional fees or taxes associated with this! At least for now.

http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/tsa-experimenting-with-enhanced-patdowns.html?id=5396474&source=dealalert_test_b&value=2010-08-25+00:00:00&u=3E91EFB00D

I wonder whether the TSA will publish some guidance about how to tip your TSA officer for exceptional service. Slide the singles into his/her badge holder? The belt? In your belt or waistband (if they're any good at all, they'll find them!). And what happens if you opt for this perk in the middle of a raging erection? Will they wave you through the line, or would that provoke the Defenders Of Our Skies to take you into a back room and beat it out of you? Inquiring minds want to know!

The Wisdom of Buck

I know it's only three games into his tenure and they're still the worst team in MLB by a healthy margin, but so far I really dig Mr. Showalter's style, man. Not only are the O's 3-0, but we get post-game quotes like this:

"Part of playing, not only in the big leagues, but in the American League [is] big, strong, hairy guys here. They hit it where the grass doesn't grow. And that's part of playing in this division, this league. That's part of it. We've got some big guys, too. Maybe not as hairy."

More Guns? Great!

It seems that the group that's been knocking down gun regulations - first in D.C., then in Chicago, now has Maryland in its crosshairs (sorry, I couldn't resist). And so the literalism continues. Yes, the long-dead fellows who penned the Constitution were brilliant guys. But how did a "well-regulated militia", et cetera, morph into the right to head to the grocery store with a handgun on your hip? Yes, you can have the last Valu-Pack of strip steaks! No need to wave that thing around. By the way, you have some froth on the right corner of your mouth...there, got it. Good. By the way, I dig that American flag polo shirt.

If we want to be so damn literal, I have two proposals:

1. Continue to assume that Founders were infallible men - but not men who could see a future of semi-automatics and extended clips. That means no adapting the Second Amendment for modern times. Muskets for everyone! No complaining, especially from you right-wingers who are always whining about activist judges.

2. Find the nearest mad-scientist geneticist, and have him or her hook you up with the real deal. Who's gonna fuck with you once you're packing these babies?

Oil On Our Hands?

It's been broached many times since the beginning of the Deepwater disaster - how much culpability should we, the oil-drenched public, assume? I think that the answer is...some, but that the question misses the point. Why is any discussion of climate change coupled with a discussion of what kind of cars we should be driving? Most of our time is spent working in buildings with substantial energy costs, then we retreat to what are often energy-hog homes. The very practice of coal mining is an ecological disaster - not to mention the CO2 production - but makes for less compelling TV because nothing's on fire.

Standards for energy-efficient construction are improving for commercial buildings, meanwhile most of our homes are burning through coal using either old, inefficient appliances or newer, inefficient appliances chosen by a builder because they're the cheapest available.

Can we all stand to use less oil? Sure! But it's only a piece of a much bigger picture. I just don't see this particular catastrophe as the 'tipping point' that leads to real change, even if it does lead to more hybrids and EVs on our roads. Oil is a problem, sure - it's simply a smaller part of the overall problem than most people think.

The New Plutocracy: Now, With More Pluto!

I resolved to myself recently that I would try to limit new entries related to our beloved federal government & politics, and today's Supreme Court ruling that strikes down a lot of campaign finance limits, makes me feel so much better about that decision. I honestly don't know that it makes much sense to vote - in national/federal elections - anymore.

Not that corporations always have it wrong, or are inherently evil. Far from it. But once again, how is the Constitution interpreted so that corporation (legal entity) = citizen (human)? James Fallows is correct: our government, stagnated by corruption, dysfunctional as hell, is simply not keeping up with the rest of the nation. The only worthwhile national voting left is with our money - to appeal to those that really run the show, purchase (or abstain from purchasing) products and services that reflect the direction in which you'd like the country to go. Unfortunately, Congress & the Executive Branch are just middlemen now. You get the best deal by cutting out the middleman, right? Too bad that the private sector is really not that efficient/cost-effective/honest when it comes to providing some services (see: health care / military spending / Wall Street, respectively).