Thanks To All; One Year Anniversary Of The LFR

I began writing the Lunatic Fringe Report not so much as a hobby but as a challenge to myself to write on a daily basis. I had previously attempted two blogs of dubious distinction a few years back--"Steve's Sports Report" and "10th Avenue Freeze-Out". One was devouted to sports and the other attempts at comedy. Both were failures because the will to write was non-existent then.

One of the deals I made with myself during my exile in Oakland was to write religiously. On a Friday, after work, I sat down and wrote some comments on an article regarding John Kerry's work as an altar boy in his youth and proceeded to write two additional postings (the blog also debuted with this same template). Two hundred-two postings and over 75,000 words later I believe this blog has served its purpose and created an atmosphere in my mind where writing is foremost in importance. With that, I am announcing that I will increase my production of postings with two new blogs--a sports comedy blog in collaboration with my friend Jay Tray entitled Like Kobe on a White Chick and a fiction and long form commentary blog called Hobo John Stories.

In addition, I would like to announce that my continued education will be devouted to gaining a degree in Journalism. It's taken me many years to believe writing was a "real" job or that I was cut out for it. My stated goals are clear and precise. I wish to known in the future as a journalist and an author. I wished to be trained as a sports reporter and feature writer. The ever-changing nature of reporting is very appealing for two reason. Writing about a season is like a novel that writes itself and far more than reporting the score and what transpired. That will be the challenge that I'll happily encounter everyday.

I've gained much experience from this blog. From the start, the basic premise was to put in words the random thoughts and quips that travel through my head daily--hence the title, Lunatic Fringe Report. I wrote extensively on last year's election and falsely predicted its outcome. I fared a bit better in predicting a Atlanta-N.Y. Jets Super Bowl. Whether Barry Bonds ever suits up in a baseball uniform is yet unknown--I still say, he won't--and recently predicted a playoff berth for the A's (fingers crossed).

I wrote of numerous encounters with my former neighbor, Raider Doug Gabriel, and my curse that ended his season. There was an infamous catfight in the comments section of a few postings regarding last years softball game and a few tear-jerking essays on my Mom, Dad and sister.

I interviewed the sun and found him racist. Posted a few pictures of my cousin Anna flipping off the camera. Claimed Prozac makes kids suicidal. Watched two Raiders eat six chicken and a vat of mashed potatoes at Boston Market. Announced a run for President. Withdrew after pictures revealed my past terrorist ties. Caught heat for joking that black people should wear white masks to have their votes count in Florida and hopped on a soapbox at every chance when it came to Barry Bonds's use of steroids.

I would like to especially thank my fiction writing teacher, Steve Woodhams. I enrolled in his class because I sought to dabble in every type of writing. From Steve, I learned far more than the mechanics of fiction writing but found in those weekly sessions a sense of belonging to the art of writing. I was someone who thought I was alone but Steve began talking about the writing process; finding a quiet place and writing consistently and learning that it was completely okay not to write if you don't "feel" it that day. These were all feeling that I have felt for many years but discounted how natural they felt inside. I received an "A" in that class and formulated the idea of a story called "Hobo John" but what I learned about myself and being a writer is immeasurable.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this endeavor with every click of their mouse and I'll see you in your local newspaper soon--I mean, as an author, not the purpetrator of a crime or the victim of a car-jacking.

Steve

Picking Ultra-Conservative Would Do Bush Well

Picking the most ultra-conservative for Sandra Day O'Connor's justice seat would be the most politically expedient move for the President.

In practical terms, picking a judicial nominee as close to Jerry Falwell as possibly would quickly shift attention away from the Karl Rove crisis while, at the same time, give Christian conservatives--Bush's most devouted followers--exactly what they crave; a vote closer to overturning Roe vs. Wade.

This equation is nothing new to the Bush administration, just a new wrinkle in the method of shifting the public's attention during heady situations to stories capable of dividing the American people. Gay marriage was the last time this principle was used in addition to every single terrorist attack around the world.

Fearless Prediction: A's Ride Bullpen Duo To October

A's reliever Huston Street
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

More than a month ago, the LFR was demoaning the fact that the A's were swept by the lowly Devil Rays in such a fashion that surely portended for an excruciating summer. What difference a month and some first class baseball makes.

In hindsight, the A's poor play could just be attributed to an influx of rookie pitchers merely straightening out the kinks or, most notably, the dreaded injury bug that bit so many key players like Bobby Crosby.

I'll offer this simple equation. If the rotation continues to produce at this pace or a bit under, the A's bullpen will be able to shorten games to seven innings. The A's will ride the duo of Huston Street and Justin Duchsherer to the wildcard.

Astonishingly, the A's are a better pitching staff without Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. The two-headed monster in the bullpen will significantly reduce the stress that the other members of the bullpen will feel in addition to the notion that the A's starter need something short of a quality start and the lead to guarantee a victory most nights.

Street is lights out. His wicked stuff is evident everytime he makes quality major league hitters look baffled and Duchscherer has been sensational this first half and solid for the better part of his A's career.

In the A's recent run the past five years never before have they had such immense potential in the bullpen. Could this possibly have been the missing ingredient?

Hit The Road, Byrnsie

Eric Byrnes f@#$% up, again
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

The A's GM, Billy Beane, was back to improving the A's from the bargain rack by trading Eric Byrnes, Chad Bradford and a once highly-touted minor leaguer for pitchers Joe Kennedy, Jay Witasick and outfielder Jay Payton. We'll get to the trades in a moment.

Despite overwhelming support from most A's fans for Byrnes I have disliked his baseball acumen ever since the 2003 playoffs against Boston when he clearly missed touching homeplate and proceeded to play it off. Here's how ESPN's Jim Caple recounted the event that year:

Begin with the Eric Byrnes play in Game 3 of the Athletics-Red Sox series, when the Oakland rookie made Fred Merkle look like Derek Jeter. Everyone involved in the play screwed up, but none more so than Byrnes. He failed to touch home plate on a close play. But rather than go back and touch it while catcher Jason Varitek chased the throw to the backstop, he decided to limp after Varitek and deliver a petulant, blindside shove. You rarely see such a blatant display of idiocy and poor sportsmanship at one time, at least not unless Mike Tyson is involved.

And where were his Oakland teammates? Why didn't on-deck hitter Eric Chavez yell at him to touch home plate? Why didn't anyone in the dugout notice? Were they all too busy reading "Moneyball''?

Varitek, meanwhile, was alert enough to tag Byrnes but not alert to actually tag him with the ball. Replays showed that Varitek had the ball in his right hand while he swiped Byrnes with his empty glove. Home-plate umpire Paul Emmel completed the trifecta by calling Byrnes out anyway, which I guess is a good thing, because otherwise Byrnes and Varitek would still be scrapping around home plate.

Pete Rose was a simple blue-collar type player. What is Eric Byrnes then? A mininum wage type player?

Granted, Byrnes did not have Major League talent when he slowly rose through the A's system, but he is a testament to hard work and where it can lead you. He's also one of the dumbest players I've ever watched daily.

I once heard Ken Korach, the A's radio announcer, tell the perfect Byrnes story. He was so wild in college that he dived into a swimming pool without any water.

Sure, Byrnes constantly hustled on and off the field and on the basepaths, but he's mind-blowing outfield acrobatics had more to do with poor reads on flyballs and hustle than skill. He may well thrive in the thin air of Denver, but again he may wilt in a clubhouse that is far more stringent and where accountability is more pronounced than it is in Oakland.

THE DEALS
When the Payton trade was announced this morning, everyone had a sense that the other shoe would soon drop. Either Byrnes would finally be traded or despite the new contract, Kotsay might find himself in pinstripes.

This trade may end up being a wash or a way to fill an outfield spot. Think about it. Boston traded Payton for a guy coming off the 60-day disabled list.

The Byrnes trade is far more substantial and revealing to Beane's current thoughts.

With Joe Kennedy, the A's picked up the perfect fifth starter. With a rotation of Zito, Harden, Haren, Blanton, Kennedy and Saarloos shuttling between the rotation and bullpen, the A's have a legitimate strength over the other teams vying for the playoffs.

As for Witasick, I agree with Blez from AthleticsNation.com. The addition of the former A's reliever gives the impression that Beane is thinking as much about '05 as he is '06.

With Huston Street, Justin Duchscherer, Kiko Calero, Ricardo Rincon, and Witasick, the A's just may boast the best bullpen they've had since the late 80s with Dennis Eckersley, Rick Honeycutt, Gene Nelson, Todd Burns and Matt Young.

Osama Rides BART

Is BART trying to aid the terrorists? The San Francisco Examiner reported Wednesday that BART is courted several giant cellphone companies to wire the most of their stations including under the transbay tube.

Does BART remember that terrorists from al-qaeda detonated the bombs in Madrid last year via cellphone or that the recent bombings in London were initially attributed to the same technique? The fear was so prevalent last week that Verizon remotely disabled wireless coverage in the subways of New York City folling the July 7th bombing in England. Verizon didn't even take that step after 9/11.

The article briefly mentions that BART officials downplayed this possibility, yet it clearly exists. Where's is the outcry when we are allowing this sort of breach in security for the sake of killing time on the train by calling your friend.

Oh, how I hate to support the Republicans and their homeland security propaganda.

Questions Galore; If Rove, Then What?

Story Reads Like An Old Fashioned Whodunit

A highly regarded journalist is behind bars, a Time magazine correspondent weaseled himself out of jail time and Robert Novak--the guy who actually wrote the inflammatory article in the first place--is sitting comfortably at home tonight.

Washington is besides itself. Who was the source of the CIA outing of Valerie Plame? How wide a net is the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, casting? If it's Karl Rove, then what? Will the President relieve the man who is widely regarded as the reason for Bush's two terms? So many questions. Makes a man wanted to trot out the ol' "What did he know and when did he know it" axiom.

David Paul Kuhn in salon.com reported that Karl Rove was fired by George H.W. Bush in 1992 for leaking information from an advisors meeting to none other than Robert Novak. Did Rove's connection to Novak re-open and involve outing Plame, who was then a covert CIA informant, which is a federal offense. This, of course, was viewed as retaliation for her husband, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Joseph Wilson's Op-Ed piece during the run-up to war in Iraq that vehemently denied the Bush's charge that Iraq attempted to buy uranium from Niger therefore squashing Bush's attempt to link Saddam Hussein to his then-core assertion that Iraq was trying to build nuclear weapons.

But what about the New York Times' Judith Miller?

Miller seems an unwitting casualty of all this. She is looking at jail time for not revealing her source to the grand jury, yet she never wrote one word on the story. Miller isn't the innocent idealist she tries to be. She has cozy relationship with the administration.

Miller was the New York Times reporter who was systematically spoon-fed propanganda from the Bush administration during the period when the president was doling out dozens of false reasons and accusations in favor of war. Miller's work was revealed to be so shoddy that the Times eventually printed an apology on page one.

The case of Time magazine's Matt Cooper is even more vague. Cooper, like Miller, faced jail time, until his source relieved him of his journalistic burden. Time subsequently handed over his notes to the grand jury. Some in Washington believe Rove's name is in those notes.

MSNBC contributor, Lawrence O'Donnell, said unequivocably on "The McLaughlin Group", Friday, that he knows firsthand that Rove is, indeed, Cooper's source in the outing of Plame. He also reasons that Cooper and Novak follow the same leads and sources. This maybe true since Cooper followed the Bush campaign and Novak is part of the old guard in D.C. The question is: if Cooper's source allowed him reveal his source and if Rove, then why isn't Miller or Novak talking now?

The answer: conspiracy; not in the Mel Gibson movie connation but in a criminal sense.

The feeling is that the special prosecutor's net is widely cast. He may pull up an old boot, a soda can or maybe a couple of sharks named Rove and Bush. The question then becomes, is this Bush's Iran-Contra or even Watergate? This investigation should go far into revealing just what damage the Bush administration has wreaked on the press in this country.

If the blame reached only to Rove and some underlings, would Bush call for his resignation? Bush has shown himself to be a very deliberate but predictable president. The answer is no. Rove is too important to the ship of Bush's state. Conservatives would find either a patriotic angle to keeping Bush's loyal servant or more likely conjure up some ridiculous argument against the whole scenario.

Tucker Carlson, the bowtie-wearing conservative pundit, has been floating around the idea that Plame wasn't actually that covert of a CIA agent afterall. Other conservatives will pick up on the hokey argument and before you know it another of our pillars of democracy is taken down a notch.

Now we wait for the answers.

Fall Of The Phony Slugger

"The Boone" sulks
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Seattle Columnist Leaves Out Boone's Indiscretion

I suppose there nothing wrong with a sports columnists to wax sentimental when a local hero leaves his team, if not, unceremoniously like the Mariners Bret Boone was this week.

Steve Kelley, a columnist for the Seattle Times, detailed Boone's exit in funeral tones:

The tears kept coming. Each hug with each player, each coach, each broadcaster, trainer and clubhouse attendant brought more tears.

After the crying and hugging ceased, the mourners shuffled by the coffin of a baseball career Boone is sure to lead

Players, many of them dressed in their traveling sport coats, stood like guests in a formal reception line, waiting to hug him and heartily slap him on the back.

Steve Kelley is a homer. He knows that all of his readership is Mariner fans and Boone is beloved in the northwest, but how could you fail to mention the true reason of Boone's demise and Bariod Bonds you better be watching!

The Boone is off The 'Riods.

Is it coincidence that Boone's homerun and sluggling totals shot up considerably the same year as Bonds's?

Before 2000, Boone was a definite talent. Having played first for Seattle, Cincinnati, Atlanta and then back to the Mariners--the team that drafted him from El Cajon as the son of big league greats Gus and Bob Boone (Note: I still have my Bob Boone model catchers mitt in the garage).

In his 13-year career, Boone hit 50 percent of his homers from 2000 to this weekend. His sluggling percentage rose more than 130 points higher than at any point in his career. Since his return to Seattle, many have wondered aloud whether Boone was on the juice. In his tell-all book, "Juice", Jose Canseco wrote of an account where he questioned Boone on the field during a spring training game when Boone reportedly winked at Canseco, playfully covering his dirty little secret.

In addition to his noticeably larger physique he has other things in common with Bariod; mind-boggling statistics that go beyond believability, the child of baseball superstars and an ego spilling all over the sides.

He may have seemed like an anomaly back in 2000; a secondbasemen free-swinging and nearly leading the league in homers. Today, he's seen as a steriod-injecting, pompous ass, ballplayer who can't rely on the syringe that once contained hundreds of tape-measure homers and loads of RBI's.

Kelley ended his column by saying:

Time passes and gives birth to a new double-play combination. It's the business of baseball. Still, it is sad every time it happens.

In this case, time had nothing to do with it. Boone's career ended because a former colleague wrote a provocative book and some senators in Washington called a committee meeting.

Rogers Is Deserving Despite Assaulting Cameraman

Kenny Rogers (right) tags out the Reds' Jason LaRue
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Washington Nationals Are Due To Fall

Granted, Kenny Rogers is quite a boor, but when did All-Star representation ever include citizenship? Sure, baseball writers--the people who vote for the MVP--routinely talk about their choices all-around performance, including whether their behavior is beneficial to the game, but the All-Star Game? I've never heard such a thing,

The Mid-Summer Classic is all about the fan's favorite players and those who have excelled in the first half. All would agree, that Rogers' half-season numbers clearly merit inclusion. Columnists can complain, but the fact of the matter is that the true problem is not with including an excellent, but bad boy pitcher in the All-Star Game, but why can a suspended player manipulate the appeal process? It happens all the time and not for its intended reason--to give a second look at the ruling. Instead, teams and the players choose whether or not to appeal based on who's next on your schedule.

ROGERS ONCE TRIED TO REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
There have been many reports about poor past behavior from The Gambler including one when he played for the A's. Back in the early days of interleague baseball the A's traveled to Candlestick Park to meet the Giants. Kenny Rogers, who proved nearly unbeatable when pitching at the Coliseum, had a rough outing during a game the A's would eventually win.

Then A's manager, Art Howe, pulled Rogers out of the game and the volatile lefty responding angrily and stomped off the field. Reports later told that while walking from the dugout to the clubhouse Rogers tore out a payphone from the wall. Apparently, the Giants weren't very happy about this and wanted Rogers to pay to fix the phone.

I NOW HATE THE NATIONALS
The Montreal Expos used to be the little engine that could, the deaf-mute with the heart of the lion. Now they're the Washington Nationals, I've gotten to disliking their rise to the top of the National League East standings. Suddenly, they're the best team in the National League. With their cute, little uniforms, retro caps and ill-conceived logo, the Nationals are now everything you hate about baseball. The Yankees without World Series championships.

News Flash!: the Nationals are not the best in the N.L. The San Diego Padres could take them and definitely the defending N.L. Champs--the Cardinals have plenty more power than Washington, despite equal pitching.

Fortunately, the Nationals' run will end soon. They're basically one of those half-season wonders. Washington is led by a Kenny Rogers-like lunatic, Jose Guillen and a second-year closer due to fall back to earth.

Aside from the field, the once downtrodden Expos are now the fancy-eating, yacht club members of the Majors. After averaging barely 8,000 a game they now average nearly 32,000 tickets paid. But here the problem: nearly a quarter of the paid tickets go unused. Many attributed this to Washington's elite and lobbyists gobbling up high price seats and not using them. The novelty of a new team in the nation's capital will subside but the Nationals are due to be sold for around $350 million and are being courted by high-profile statesman such as Secretary of State Colin Powell and billionaire philantrophist, George Soros. They also have a new municipally-funded stadium due to be built on the riverfront

I hate them.

MY NEW FAVORITE PLAYER
Ryan Langerhans. I like Philly's Chase Utley and the Cubs Sergio Mitre, but this week my new favorite player is the Braves' leftfielder. While he's only hitting .250 with six homers; this guy is quick and fearless in the field. I've seen him steal homeruns, but more importantly, he's the type of outfielder who uses the dive correctly. Others like Oakland's Eric Byrnes who the dive to either correct a poor route to the flyball or for show. Langerhans reads the ball well and uses dives in the correct way--to get to a ball when you have no businesss getting a glove on it.

BOOM! The War Is On!

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Justice O'Connor Retires; Setting Off Firestorm

Just as the British attacked the colonists at Lexington and Bunker Hill and the Southerners fired the first shot at Fort Sumter; the war is on in Washington. Unlike those famous American military firsts, this war will be fought in your checkbooks, on the job and weirdly in the womb of every women in this land.

It was a semi-surprise that the first female Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor would retire from the bench rather than the ailing William Rehnquist or even the 85-year-old, liberal judge, John Paul Stevens. So, as it stands, the tenious balance of the court will, very likely, shift dramatically to the right.

Although, a conservative, O'Connor was typically the linchpin moderate that kept the court was shifting radically to the right. Talk of a moderate successor is pure folly. Never in five years of the Bush presidency has he shown any penchant for appeasing the wishes of the electorate. With the court so close to overturning Roe vs. Wade on numerous occasions, Bush will stop at nothing to feed his zealous conservative base with a pre-approved nomination straight out of the Bible.

Twice during her term on the Supreme Court, O'Connor acted as the crucial swing vote that upheld the landmark 1973 case that made abortion in the United States legal. In 1989, she sided with the left when the question of whether granting states the right to abolish abortion when her conservative brethren vowed to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Again, in 1992, she led a five-justice majority that reavowed the court's stance on the earlier 1973 decision.

Aside from the huge social ramifications this retirement may pose, the court may now be in the hands of a conservative, pro-business cartel. Here's what the TalkingPointsMemo had to say:

The end of Roe v. Wade is likely to be the most immediate and conspicuous result of today's resignation. But don't forget the effect in the workplace and the economy at large. The decision on who will to appoint is in the hands of those who would turn the US economy back to what it was in the latter part of the 19th century, a world in which state and federal legislative action to insure the common good was hamstrung by court decisions that left everything in the hands of the marketplace.

What this in practical terms will mean is that the likelyhood that any pro-worker questions will be stricken down by any future court or rolled back to pre-1960s rulings. Forget the rights of the handicapped, overtime pay, or any help regarding worker's rights.

The future may seem bleak, put the Democrats will be undaunted in their quest to shoot down any and all nominees who's idealogy strays too far to the right. The war is on and we can only hope that Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid is again up to the task of fending off another phantom menace.

REHNQUIST RUMORED TO RETIRE, ALSO
There are rumors, already, in Washington of a potential double whammy, where Rehnquist will announce his retirement soon. The rumor mill also states that Bush appoint his counsel, Alberto Gonzales, as Chief Justice. This firebomb of a nominee could send Washington over the edge.

Gonzales was appointed the Texas Supreme Court by Bush and has been special counsel to the President in Washington. He well known for his briefs that seemed to uphold the Bush administration's policy of torturing enemy combatants and found a legal stance for holding prisoners without a lawyer or without charging them for a specific crime.

A's Stadium Architects Prosper From False Rep

With the constant discussion of building the A's a new ballpark at the Oakland estuary, presumably a retro-looking, waterfront edifice, the very informative blog Field of Schemes, which is devouted municipally-funded stadiums; has this new take on the supposed genius of Baltimore's trend-setting park, Camden Yards:

Philip Bess, who was a Chicago-based stadium consultant at the time, tells FoS that "the White Sox always wanted a Chicago version of Royals Stadium," and hired HOK because they'd worked on that 1970s modernist stadium. Moreover, as Peter Richmond made clear in his book Ballpark, about the building of Camden Yards, the Baltimore park's since-imitated "retro" design wasn't even HOK's idea. As then-O's (and now Red Sox) president Larry Lucchino told Richmond of HOK's work on Camden Yards, "[New] Comiskey would have been the stadium they'd have built, given free rein."

Since its construction in 1990, the new Comiskey has been villified for just missing the retro ballpark craze that unfolded after Camden Yards opened three years later. It's interesting that because of external change in the Camden's design, the architects at HOK have subsequently prospered by this false reputation.

Aside from Camden Yards and SBC Park seven years later, has HOK designed a truly substantial retro park? It should be noted that both those stadiums gain much of their quirkiness and intimacy from pre-existing factors like a wherehouse in rightfield and a large body of water.

Bush's "Facts" Can't Sway Americans

Age Of Reason Never Existed In Bush's World

Listening to George Bush Tuesday night reminded me of a parent referring to Santa Claus as real to their 16-year-old child.

Finally, everybody knows and sees the entire Iraq adventure was a pure ruse. Unfortunately, this reality failed to hit a majority of Americans back in November.

Bush offered nothing new in the form of foreign policy or news, at all. For a man who contends to never peek at polls, this primetime chat with America seemed concocted to quell astonishingly low approval ratings for the President and the war in Iraq.

Wednesday's USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll on whether Americans support the war in Iraq (that's some major corporate synergy going on) revealed some odd, but clear numbers. While left-leaning and educated American have been steadfast in their opposition they now have some interesting bedfellows. The poll, which was compared to similar polls in February and March, show large swings in opposition among young, uneducated, conservative males. These are the bedrock of Bush's country boy, NASCAR, Joe Sixpack set.

Do you favor the war in Iraq?
Men 52% +9 pct chg from Feb/Mar
18-29 56% +13
No college 58% +12
Conservative 32% +9

What is becoming clear is that more Americans have seen the light and, possibly, have dropped their nationalistic fervor that was so evident after 9/11 and so masterfully stoked by the Bush administration.

One after another: the (delayed) finding from the CIA that weapons of mass destruction did not exist in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the Downing Street Memo that revealed that the decision to go to war was made months before Bush claimed, even while duping the public into believing he was favoring a more diplomatic route. And to top it off, despite Bush's proclamations, Iraq was not a training ground for terrorists until well after the invasion.

With all of this well known to the public, why did he repeatedly pull out the 9/11 card and presupposition that Iraq was a threat to America and a direct cause of the attack, Tuesday?

Bush is a leader, despite his protestations, devoid of hubris and unfettered in his blind loyalty to the will of God. By bidding their loyalty to a deity rather than the country, Bush has left the success of his presidency and military action up to the whims of probability rather than sound logic and reason.

By their logic, a plan without a plan will suffice because it is God will, unfortunately, both muslims and christians pray to the same God.

Jesus Loves What? Oh, Lordie!

The Brazilian national soccer team proved today why their recent success is due to the selling of their souls to the devil.

After defeating Argentina in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Frankfurt, several of Brazil's players celebrated on the field wearing t-shirts that read "Jesus loves You" and "Jesus loves Toi".



Lucio (left), a defender for the German club, Bayer Leverkusen, was seen on television wearing a shirt that either said "Jesus loves Dich" or, unexplicably, "Jesus loves Dick".

This is further proof that God, indeed, has more to do than watch sports. Brazil pummelled Argentina, 4-1.

Beware The Handicapped

Some wiseguy in a wheelchair must have rolled up
on me and tacked this sign behind me.

Sheffield Goes Deep!

Love is in the air
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

The Yankees had an awkward way of celebrating their "come from behind" 20-13 win versus Tampa Bay Tuesday. This comes a week after Chicago White Sox outfielder, Carl Everett, claimed he has played with two homosexual ballplayers and found their lifestyle "unnatural".

Let's see, Everett has never played with Derek Jeter, Gary Sheffield or the San Francisco 49ers.

Here's a little New York-style mood music while reading this posting. Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight".

Honest Stats Overshadowing Steroid Fakery

Lanky Cubbie Thriving In Post-Steroid Majors
The Chicago Cubs firstbaseman, Sacramento raised, Derrek Lee, has been this season's relevation. Lee has never hit for an average higher than .282 in six seasons, never hit more than 32 homers or knocked in 100 RBI's in a single season, yet, as of today, he's on a pace to be the first Triple Crown winner in the majors since Carl Yastzremski in 1967.

Lee's statistics through today:
AVG: .389
HR: 20 (he did hit a homer today vs. Milwaukee)
RBI: 61

Sure sounds like numbers that would make steroid watchdogs salivate with accusastions. Except in this new era of conspicuously slimmed down sluggers like, and particularly, Sammy Sosa; there may be an alternative theory.

With the demise of artificially produced numbers truly talented and athletic baseball players like the tall and thin Lee are being allowed to shine. We're are seeing the return of the baseball player this season. In addition to Lee, who, by the way, was already a solid firstbasemen, the American League's version is sweet fielding Baltimore Oriole, Brian Roberts, who leads the league in many categories, but fails to make a mockery of the game with video game-like power numbers.

Most likely, Lee's stellar performance is a half-season anomaly that will even out to a very good season for the Cubbie firstbaseman, but it should allow for more likely statistics to occur rather than the unbelievable 73 homers that emanated from Baroid Bonds in 2001.

MACHA AN ALL-STAR?
Terry Francona, the manager of the Red Sox and American League skipper for next month's All-Star Game choose his former boss, A's manager, Ken Macha as one of his coaches.

That kind of like your do-nothing, know-nothing, dithering boss being named Employee of the Month.

PROMOTING THE PROMOTIONS
Did somebody in the A's advertising department say, "We need to come up for a promotion to promote our promotions."

I'm not one of those marketing geniuses, but I understood a baseball promotion like bobbleheads or fireworks was meant to entice you to buy a ticket to the game.

The A's are advertising mini-season ticket package that includes bobblehead games and fireworks nights.

Family Blamed For Increasing Regional Pot Stats

A new government study on marijuana use in the United States revealed a possible correlation between high pot use and the proximity to college campuses.

In the study Boston and Boulder, CO, the home of the University of Colorado had the highest percentage of use.

Marijuana use is highest (red) in Washington,
Northern California, Boston, MA, and
Eastern Georgia--all places inhabitated by
the Tavares family.

While I haven't read the study, I would like to offer an alternative theory. In nearly every region where pot use was measured at five percent or more, a Tavares family member resides. Except for the state of Colorado, a relative lives in Western Washington, Northern and Central Valley of California, Massachusetts and Georgia where use registered moderately.

Keep your eyes open for these guys:

Rasta Herbie and Easy Eddie

Cruise Fails Comedy 101

Cruise gets doused
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Amidst the shock of being squirted with a fake microphone Sunday, Tom Cruise said, "What's so funny about [squirting me]"

Here are a couple reasons:

(1) You didn't expect it.
(2) We didn't expect it.
(3) The astonished look on your face was priceless.
(4) Your assistants were busting up inside.
(4) It illustrated your vanity
(5) The stark comparison of reality and your Hollywood world came crashing together.
(6) It was better than listening to you dodge a real question about your newest movie which you were attempting before being doused, "Uh, structurally it's the same." Whatever that means?
(7) A microphone, squirting, a face--get it--you're gay!

LFR Exclusive Interview: Saddam Hussein

All Tyrants are Yankee fans
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Dictator Loves Doritos

Deposed dictator, Saddam Hussein, loves Doritos and Raisin Bran, among other things according to two guards appearing on the "Today" show.

The LFR caught up with the "Butcher of Baghdad" today to discuss these revelations and other topics on his mind:

SH: Come on in, my friend. Sit. Sit. Let me clear some of my Maxim magazines. Really funny, you know. Who cares about the pretty girls? I buy them for the funny stories. Good camel dung!

LFR: I suppose, by now, you've heard that your former guards, Jonathan Reese and Sean O'Shea has been detailing your life in jail to the press.

SH: Ah, yes, Johnny and Irish Sean. Good kids. We had some good times together. Yeah. Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep, Yep. Good times.

LFR: Is it true?

SH: Of course not, I did not have weapons of mass destruction. Never. It was a lie perpetrated by the Bush family! I am still the legal president of Iraq.

LFR: No, no, no. Wait. Could you really devour a large bag of Doritos in 10 minutes?

SH: Oh! Of course, my friend, I love those chips, especially the nacho cheese flavor. The bag says they changed the flavor, but I don't taste such a difference.

LFR: I agree.

SH: As far as chips, as you know, I also had an affinity for Cheetos.

LFR: I'm wondering, which kind of cheetos did you enjoy?

SH: Oh, of course, the puffs. I just love the texture of the puffs.

LFR: Me too!

SH: You see, you've got good taste, my friend.

LFR: What about snack cakes?

SH: Oh, I adore them! Twinkies, Ho-Ho's and Hostess Cupcakes. They are truly to die for Allah!

LFR: Amazing! Me too! Listen, how do you eat your Hostess cupcakes?

SH: I split them in half and burrow my tongue in the delicious cream inside. Of course, is there another way, c'mon!

LFR: I heard you're a little picky with your morning cereal?

SH: Yes, I can't stand Froot Loops! I mean, I'm an adult. I don't want to eat candy for breakfast.

LFR: Exactly. The guards said you preferred Raisin Bran instead. Do you have any favorite brands?

SH: Oh, yes. Post Raisin Bran all the way, my friend. It's hard to describe, but the raisins are just so much more plump and plentiful in the Post brand.

LFR: Fascinating. Mini-Tacos? Any thoughts?

SH: Okay! Cut the crap, my friend! Have you ever spent time in the pokey? They call it the pokey for a reason as in what will happen to you if you don't make friends.

LFR: I'm not following.

SH: I'm 68 years old for Allah's sake. Do you really think I enjoy eating this junk food? I'm just trying to, like the kids say, hang. Do you know how a large bag of Doritos goes through a 68-year-old dictator? It's like pooping jagged shards of glass everyday!. You know, you're leaving a lot out, my friend. These kids aren't even talking about all other salty snacks like beef jerky we eat around here and, let me tell you, kids these days, they don't just drink regular beer. No. They drink Guinness. Have a couple of those. It's like sweet crude oil gushing out your ass. I could sell the stuff to the Saudis--easy.

LFR: Well, I'm truly sorry.

SH: No you're not. You Americans are never sorry. If you were, you'd bring me a few packets of Metamucil. No joke, bro.

A Corporate Crook Finally Pays

Look at this son of a bitch
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Tyco CEO Found Guilty

GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY,GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY,GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY,GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY,GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY.

This was the constant refrain from a court official today in New York at the trial for corporate scoudrel, Dennis Kozlowski.

Kozlowski was convicted on 31 counts of stealing over $600 million dollars from the Tyco corporation, infamously paying $6,000 for a simple shower curtain and living lavishly on the company's dime.

The poster boy of corporate crookedness, Kozlowski celebrated his wife's birthday in Sardinia, Italy in a bash that featured Roman clad servants and an ice sculpture that spewed expensive Russian vodka, again, with money stolen from Tyco and its stock holders.

Kozlowski's conviction should be a reminder that bad people actually pay for their indiscretions with jail time rather than skip away like recent entertainers like Robert Blake and just this week, Michael Jackson.

In reality, cases like Blake's and Jackson's pale in comparison to criminal activities like Kozlowski, WorldCom's Bernard Ebbers and the impending trial of Enron's Kenneth "Kenny Boy" Lay because while a person was murdered and a young boy allegedly molested, the victims of these executives raiding their company's vault is a crime that reaches a large swath of people from employees and their families to stock holders to the confidence of investors all over the country.

Unfortunately, we live in a time when these sort of shenanigans are condone by an administration that plays by the same game.

INSTANT KARMA'S GONNA GET YOU
A second helicopter crashed without incident in New York City, Friday.

On a day when justice prevailed regarding corporate gluttony, a chopper filled with high-ranking executves from the credit card company, MBNA, crashed into the East River.

Eyewitnesses say they saw men in business suits bobbing in the river. One executive reportedly yelled, "HELP!"

Beautiful. A credit card suit yelling "help". Imagine how many of his customers have yelled, "Help! I'm drowning in debt!"

Nader Says He's A N-Word

"What's up, my niggah"
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Speaking on Wednesday night, former presidential candidate and consumer activist, Ralph Nader, shocked a party he was hosting to retire debt from his fateful run for the White House by equating his alleged inability to be allowed on several southern states' ballot with Jim Crow laws in the 50s and 60s.

"I felt like a [n-word]," remarked the 70-year-old white multimillionaire graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

Washington gadfly Evan Gahr reported Nader's comments on his chimpstein.com Web site.

"If Ed Koch had said what Ralph Nader said, we'd be marching," Sharpton noted. "This [scolding] doesn't rise to the level of a march. It rises to the level of a wrist slap."

Yesterday, Nader told me he was using the word in the same spirit as the Black Panthers of the 1960s - "as a word of defiance."

But Sharpton retorted: "He's not a Black Panther."

The peculiar aspect of Nader's unfortunate comments is that he's of Lebanese decent, meaning a person could ignorantly call him an A-rab or possibly a sand [n-word]

Exclusive: Michael Speaks To The Fans

"You Are Not Alone" says Jacko

Portugal Loves Michael Jackson

Viva Michael Jackson!
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

The LFR, by no means, condones Michael Jackson's purported (possible?) criminal actions, the court case or the complete waste of media airtime and column space.

But watching television coverage of Michael Jackson supporters mingling outside of the courthouse, I've noticed fans backing the pop star by waving flags of their native countries or holding signs like, "Uzbekistan loves you, Michael".

I feel left out. Never have I seen a Portuguese flag, well, here's one.

Local Newspaper Gets Dirty

Shopping with Mom?
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Here are two blurbs from the current San Leandro Times' "Police Reports" section:

Go ahead opened it, there's a surprise inside!

A clerk at Longs Drugs on Washington Avenue received a call from a customer last Wedsnesday evening, inquiring about phots he had sent in to be processed.
When the clerk found the customer's photos, the customer asked the clerk to open the envelope to make sure they were the correct ones. When the clerk opened the envelope, she found, that they were phots of a naked man with a dildo in his hand.

Another incident involved some fishy burglars.

A loss prevention agent at the FoodMaxx on Lewelling Boulevard saw two suspects entering the meat department last Saturday morning. The suspects each took a bag of frozen shrimp and stuffed it down their pants as the walked around the aisles.

They were stopped by security as they tried to leave the store and arrested for petty theft

Is there any chance that these guys were on their way to Longs to pick up pictures of themselves holding their shrimp?

Bariod Bonds Hates White People

Poor Barry. He's getting it from all directions. This week, The New York Post reported an excerpt from the book of former Chicago White Sox slugger, Ron Kittle. Entitled, "Tales from the White Sox Dugout", Kittle writes of a confrontation with Bonds in the 1990s. To raise money for a charity caring for children with cancer, the awnry Bonds protested and said claimed he doesn't help white people."

I walked up to Bonds at his locker in the Wrigley Field visitors' clubhouse, introduced myself and said, "Barry, if you sign these, they'll bring in a lot of money for kids who need help."

Bonds stood up, looked me in the eye and said, "I don't sign for white people." If lightning hits me today, I will swear those were his exact words. Matt Williams and other Giants were in the room and they heard what Bonds said.

I stood there for a minute, and the veins in my neck were popping. I've only been that mad a few times in my life. I was going to beat the (heck) out of him, really kick his (butt), but Williams saw what was happening, so he came over and got between us. Matt said, "Ron, that's just the way he is."

I said, "White guys aren't the only ones who get cancer"

Everyone seems to have their own Bonds story. Could this story be true?

It's very likely that Bonds would say something to that effect since he has shown a propensity to lashing out against the anglo-Americans, somehow making his rage for caucasians shorthand for the press. This is ironic since he was born a child of privilage in San Mateo and attended some of the best private schools in the Bay Area. For him to imply a common bond with the plight of poor African-Americans is laughable, if not, disingenous.

This man is only 41 years old. How will he act when he's a cranky old man of 60?

I Think The Neighbor Is Dead, Part IV

The strip of grass near the street is easily neglected. Because it isn't near the sprinklers, it needs more personal attention than the main lawn.

I pulled the hose across the driveway. The hose caddy spun its wheels as I tugged. I dialed the nozzle to its customary gentle shower mode. The sidewalk grass is a mixture of grassy weeds and turf. Years of neglect have allowed the intruding grasses to gain a stranglehold of the area. The week before I broadcasted weed-killing fertilizer and it seemed to have cleared some of the grasses. Unfortunately, the war for the turf has been stymied because of the asbence of consistent water.

I pulled the trigger on the hose and drenched the right side of the grass. In the distance, I heard a car screech around the street corner. A silver convertible Mustang with its top down was ambling down the road. The stereo was blaring a type music not blared from an automobile since the late 1970s. Maybe it was Styx or even Air Supply. A-ha! Only one person on this street blasts Air Supply--it was, our boy, Geoff!

He was his regular unhealthy, gaunt self with overly large sunglasses in the vein of Sophia Loren. I stopped my watering and held the hose at my side and enthusiastically waved him down with the other. He abruptly stopped at my patch of dying sod.

"What's up, dude?"

"Hey," I said, "We thought you were d-d-d-d, You're alive! What happened to you the other night?"

Geoff turned down the music and toned down his flamboyant mood for a second.

He said that he had been feeling depressed over his illness and felt like he had hit rock bottom. On that Saturday night while there was a party across the street from his home, Geoff nearly took his life.

He mentioned that he washed down a handfull of sleeping pills with vodka that night and nearly killed himself. The sheriff, paramedics and fire department were dispatched around two in the morning. One part of the mystery was still unclear, though.

If Geoff wasn't dead then why were his friends rummaging around his house and hauling artifacts away? A few days later, Geoff returned to invite us to a party he was throwing. Evidently, his friends, while he was in the hospital, were cleaning up the place for him. Seems suspicious. Within a week of nearly kicking the bucket, he's planning a soiree of expensive sushis and boos?

Regardless, the case is closed. Geoff the Rocker is alive and kicking.

An Idea McDonald's Turned Down

Most probably wouldn't mind it tasting like ass as long as it was big.

To The Ghetto, Alice!

Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Former Cheaters Host Hopes To Return

Burt Reynolds once topped the marquee of "The Longest Yard". "Batman Begins" is a popular comic book that less than a generation ago received the Hollywood treatment. "Bewitched" was a nomally successful sitcom. Even H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" was famously remade as a hoax by Orson Welles in the 1930s.

Does Hollywood have any new ideas? Whether it's a lack of courage from movie executives or a true dearth of talented writers, it's no wonder movie receipts have been down for the last 15 weeks.

One upcoming movie seems to be the oddest of the bunch. The Honeymooners have been remade with Cedric The Entertainer and Mike Epps in the roles made famous by Jackie Gleason and Art Carney.

Nothing racial is meant by my critique, in fact, I find the transposition of the downtrodden and struggling white Ralph Kramden of the 1950s reworked as a movie with African-American actors portraying, presumably, below middle class characters, downright prejudicial. Is Hollywood saying black people are the only poor class in America?

How about "Dynasty" with black people, "Hogan's Heroes" with Iraqi prisoners, "A Raisin in the Sun" with white folks or even "Mary Poppins" with Chinese people?

I SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF MYSELF
I'll admit I'm a "Cheaters" junkie, but what happened to the former host, Tommy Grand?

Grand, aka Tommy Habeeb, created the show with producer, Bobby Goldstein. In 2003, Habeeb was ousted from the show by Goldstein. Habeeb has a pending lawsuit filed against Goldstein. According to Habeeb's website, he hopes to make a prodigal return to the tawdry latenight program. There is also an online petition calling for the manly host to return to stalking unfaithful lotharios.

The show was in the news last month for ambushing an on-duty Corpus Christi police officer during a romantic tryst. The policeman was driving an unmarked car at the time. Local authorities are investigating the potential misuse of public funds.

There is some question whether "Cheaters", primarily based in Texas, will enjoy the same leniency from the police department. There is no word when, if ever, the episode will air. As Tommy would say, "I think we need some closure. You should be ashamed of yourself."

WHY WE REVOLTED AGAINST THE BRITS
Watching Simon Cowell on "American Idol" and chef Gordon Ramsey of "Hell's Kitchen", both on Fox, reminds me why our founding fathers felf it necessary to revolt against the snobby British crown.

While Cowell has toned down his "bloody" barbs, Gordon Ramsey's in-your-face style reminds me what implored the citizens of Boston to tar and feather the British stamp sellers.

Mexican Machismo On Display in MLS

Thiago Martins scores
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

Testosterone-filled Mexican Owners New to American Sports scene

Chivas USA, the expansion Major League Soccer team affiliated with the world famous Mexican club of the same name, is anything but ordinary when it comes to male bravado.

The club's owners Jorge Vergera and Antonio Cue have exhibited a taste of Mexican machismo very rare in American sports. Mind you, that Chivas USA is currently in last place with a 1-8-2 record.

Nevermind that!

Vergera told the L.A. Times magazine that it was Chivas USA versus the gringos and the Mexican squad would come away victorious. Some divisive comments.

Could you imagine George Steinbrenner, the closest thing to a ballsy owner in American sports, challenging Canada and the Toronto Blue Jays. "We're going to demolish those dirty Canucks!"

The false cojones that Vergera and Cue are spouting are completely without any grounds for optimism.

The press has been hearing for some weeks talk of "reinforcement" as if this was some sort of war. In actually, the replacements for Chivas USA are non-existent. There are few suitable players under the radar of other MLS teams and next to none who could help with its league low 10 goals this season.

Who are these jugadores?

Despite the calls of reinforcements, which are really meant to tease their loyal base with fantasies of the Mexican Chivas sending some of their stars to the states. This would be a plausible solution, except that FIFA's tranfer window does not open until August 31st, by then, Chivas USA will be long down the drain.

Instead of bearing their chest hairs to all without a clue that their team is, by far, the worst in Major League Soccer. Chivas USA's ownership should cool its rhetoric before they stunt the growth of their infant club.

End Of The Dotel "Era"

Macha Reads LFR

Good riddance to the now former A's reliever, Octavio Dotel.

Dotel, battling arm tendinitis and eyeing ahead to next year's free agent market, abruptly shutdown his rehabilitation effectively ending his tenure in Oakland.

Ironically, on the same day of Dotel's announcement rookie reliever Huston Street notched his first Major League save. The shadow of the rookie righthander was clearly felt by Dotel a few weeks ago when he openly said the A's would not resign him the off-season.

It goes further than a player in a dead-end situation looking out for himself with the report that four doctors recommended he continue rehabilitation rather than season-ending surgery. Ever since he arrived in Oakland from Houston, he's been known to be stand-offish to his teammates and inspired few by his closing abilities. Let the Street era begin.

THE NEW ECK?
Was it just a figment of many imaginations or was A's announcer, Ray Fosse, on to something when he said Street's delivery had taken some cues from the great A's fireman, Dennis Eckersley.

Sure, he has a completely different demeanor and begins his windup with an exaggerated step towards first, but when he takes that first step towards home, Streets arm angle is definitely Eckersley-like. Unfortunately, he still has about 395 saves to catch up with Eck.

There may be some doubt as to whether Street's slight build and throwing motion might lead to a few arm injuries, but there is little doubt that he has above average Major League stuff. One thing I've learned watching baseball is that commentators will often use the term "great stuff" referring to a pitcher's effectiveness, but rarely can a person at home literally see it.

Street has some of the most wicked movement on every single pitch he throws. The proof is the box score. Street routinely makes everyone from rookies to seasoned veterans look bad on a daily basis.

NIKE SWOOSHES BY GIAMBI
A New York Post writer noticed that the steroid-laced slugger, Jason Giambi, is now wearing Mizuno shoes that belonged to teammate Hideki Matsui. Nike confirmed that Giambi's association with the shoe company was terminated. The fall of Giambi continues the steep arch of a classic Greek tragedy. Now, if only Speed Stick would relieve us of those stupid commercials of Giambi in a tuxedo swinging a bat.

DAVIES IMPRESSES WHILE MEYER SITS IN SACTO
Why didn't the A's include Braves' righthander Kyle Davies in the Tim Hudson trade instead of the sore-armed Dan Meyer. Meyer, a former #1 pick and lefthanded was shutdown after the A's found his range of movement in his shoulder to be alarmingly nonexistent. Meanwhile, Davies jumped from AAA to more than cover the injuries to Mike Hampton and John Thomson. Nevermind that he's 2-1 with a 1.15 ERA, but Davies has the look and physique of a more mature hurler. I've watched two of Davies' three starts versus Boston and Washington and while he did make some mistakes late in the game, you could see a toughness and confidence that may long endure that of Meyer.

SOMETIMES YOU JUST LEAVE BLOGS IN THE CAN
I have a lenghty yet-to-be posted blog demanding the firing of A's manager Ken Macha in favor of thirdbase coach Ron Washington. Just as soon as I saved it the A's ran off four straight wins and Macha finally made a change with the struggling Eric Chavez by moving down in the order. Either Macha reads the LFR or its just the nature of this game--anything can and will happen.

American Hero

W. Mark Felt
Originally uploaded by wonderbread74.

The famous Watergate journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein said they wouldn't reveal Deep Throat until he or she passed.

W. Mark Felt, the former second-in-command at the White House, would have been content dying without ever experiencing the acclaim and attention of being the world's most infamous anonymous source. In the end, this American hero at 91 was encouraged by his family, who thought, with his failing health, his cherished gift to the Republic should be finally recognized.

Mark Felt seemed to be the creation of a problematic anonymous source. In 1972, President Nixon passed him over for the #1 spot at the FBI to replace J. Edgar Hoover. Two years later, embittered by the snub and the dead end to his career he retired.

Felt had an axe to grind. Angered by Nixon's decision, he took what he know and slowly spoon-fed Woodward and Bernstein. Was he a snitch? Is it possible what he did was criminal? Sure, but his selfless character led him to act on behalf of his country.

It's quite ironic that Deep Throat was unmasked in the weeks following the Newsweek scandal and assuredly timed by these ideological heroes to combat the admistration incessant attacks on the media.

Mark Felt is undeniably one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century. America, today, needs many more Mark Felts. In a time of unprecedented secrecy in government can you imagine the criminal activities that are currently happenning in the Bush White House?

To this administration, the anonymous source has taken a full-brunt assault. They can easily paint it as a misused tool and shorthand for poor reporting. In fact, the clarity that Bush tries to extend to the Newsweek scandal is far more murky and because the media, in general, is staggering from too many blows, a retraction was issued but the end result was still the same.

Newsweek changed its story because the anonymous source pulled back from his statement that U.S. interrogators flushed the Koran down the toilet (Salon.com's Sidney Blumenthal reported that inmates at Guantanamo did not have flushing toilets, instead, had buckets that the Koran was inserted into). He didn't say he concocted the story or that it was false. It was followed by more reports of systematic abuse at Guantanamo Bay contained in hundreds of lawsuits by former detainees. Amnesty International followed with a report calling Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our time".

The stark criminality of the Bush White House and sustained attacks on the media has upped the ante for people like Mark Felt and whistleblowers all over government and business. Hopefully those people will find encouragement in the deeds of Mark Felt, who quite possibly saved our nation from catastrophic damage during Watergate. Felt alerted us to the dictatorial president who overstepped his authority and broke criminal laws

We must dearly believe that the role of the media in America is the weapon of the people and is still, despite what Bush says, healthy and vibrant. Without the power of the pen we cannot enjoy freedom.