Welcome back...

Hey Tiger, welcome back to golf and remember that the first rule of the golf swing is to keep your head down.

Don't forget to keep your head down, Tiger, because the sports press and the media are already trying to take it off.

Anything but "Free"...

Avoid like a plague Freecreditreport.com, regardless of their "hip" ads. They are anything but "free."

They advertise that you can access information you are entitled by law to access, they call themselves "Freecreditreport" (note the word "Free" in the name), then they charge you for the privilege of membership giving you one of three reports for free (this is the way they get around it; "freecreditreport" singular, as in one) and charging you for the other two. Only after you register via a somewhat confusing process do you see a message that tells you that truly free (as in no charge whatsoever) credit reports can be had via another organization not affiliated with them.

What's that odor you ask? You say it smells like bait and switch to you?

I made the "free" mistake, but I won't make it again.

I'll go to annualcreditreport.com instead.

They just need to shut up...

On both sides of the political isle, the most extremely partisan ends of both fringes just need to shut up!

On any given issue we all know what position they'll take and, therefore, what they'll say about it, so... why do they need to say it? Answer: they don't need to say it.

As far as getting anything done is concerned, they don't do anything worthwhile (aside from keeping dust off of chairs), so they can just shut the hell up and let more reasonable people speak, people who might actually have some interest in being fair-minded, positive, and conciliatory in doing work that matters.

Examples of the partisan hacks who need to learn to zip it are way too easy to find. They are the folks who will take a completely partisan, hard party-line position on every issue, regardless of its merits, its shadings, its subtleties, or its nuance, and they'll usually couch what they say within some quasi-nationalistic ("it's patriotic") framework. Cutting off our noses in spite of their faces is what they do best.

We would all be much better off if they just remained silent and allowed the reasonable people to speak, the people who sincerely want to advance what's good and proper and who only wish to speak with one another rather than always having to be the ones to speak at or over everyone else.

These biased bozos just need to drink a nice hot cup of shut the hell up, sit on the sidelines, and let the real work get done, because they certainly aren't doing any work by constantly flapping their lamely partisan lips.

And the media folk who flock to these fools as if they actually have something new and amazing to say need to stick to covering the real work that is can actually get done well between and within the two fringes.

Wow... I really do feel so much better for ranting, so now I'll shut up.

Name game...

Is...

• Retief Goosen
• Janet Yellen
• Christopher Walken
  
• Helen Reddy
• John Wooden
• Bobby Knight
• Otis Day
• Alonso Mourning
• Jim Rome
• Phillip Glass
• Natalie Wood
• Marvin Gaye
• Barry White
• Bobby Blue Bland
• Al Green
• Jim Brown
• Clint Black
• Phyllis George
• Jon Stewart
  
• Lowell George
• Dave Barry
• Andy Dick
• Daniel Craig
• Luke Donald
• Vince Gill
• Anthony Kim

...to be continued.
Hey! I had some free time.

Ari F-F-F-F-F-F-Fleischer?

Various sports writers are reporting that Tiger Woods' camp is hiring (or has hired) Ari Fleischer (Dubya's first press secretary) to help with Woods' PR during his return to golf.

WHAT?!?

Are they kidding?

If there's anyone who can drive the last coffin nail into Tiger Woods' career, it's Ari-Freaking-Fleischer.

What a tool this guy is! He's the kiss of death for anyone's credibility. Even his own.

Say it ain't so Tiger; say it ain't so.

UPDATE, 3/21: Ari Fleischer has withdrawn his services from the Tiger Woods inner circle because he feels his presence is having the opposite effect. I have to say it: good for you Ari, good for you.

Dennis Kucinich will Oppose Obama in 2012...

I like Dennis. He's a smart guy who, I think, honestly speaks from his heart.

Sometimes he is way too far left for me, but I do like Dennis a great deal. His politics and positions are consistent and always clear. I respect him for this. You always know where Dennis stands. Always. He seems like a good man and shouldn't be maligned by anyone for his beliefs, because he always speaks so honestly and forthrightly. Remember, Dennis was one of the first people to come out for universal health care, which would be the most meaningful "public option" possible, and remains one of its staunchest defenders. Full stop. No "buts" here.

This said, you watch: he's running for president again in 2012 and is setting himself up for it with his Afghanistan vote today and with the "Nay" vote he'll cast for the health care bill when the senate version comes to a vote in the house in preparation for the proposed budget reconciliation changes.

Yup... Dennis will force a presidential primary and pull his own version of a Nader-v-Gore a la November 2000. Mark my words. I could be wrong, sure, but mark my words.

Name change for the Democrats...

I said a couple of weeks ago that I thought the Democrats are pussies. I'd like to amend that; the Democrats are pussies who are about to demolish themselves as a force for change.

If they continue on as they have, the losses they're going to suffer in the 2010 mid-term elections will be record setting in every respect and they'll have only themselves to blame for it. So far they've failed with any sort of bank and financial regulation reform, worthwhile mortgage reform, or meaningful health insurance reform for those who need it.

Demos! You have the majority; ACT like it!

You're behaving like complete morons, whiners, and, yes, pussies, you'll earn the crushing losses you'll suffer in the fall elections, and you'll truly become Demolitiocrats, deserving of having your a$$es handed to you in November.

Something's brewing in the Tea Party's tea pot...

OK, let's see if I have this straight.

John McCain is a moderate Republican who acts like a conservative when it's politically expedient to do so.

He's being opposed for his four-term senate seat by J.D. Hayworth, a conservative Republican, who is, according to Politico.com, the "supposed darling" of his Arizona's Tea Partiers and who is claiming their support. But, Arizona's four Tea Parties aren't endorsing anyone in that race, and that includes Hayworth and McCain (of whom the AZ TPs are absolutely no fans).

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin, yet another conservative Republican, who recently spoke at the Tea Party Convention and who unabashedly bashed the McCain campaign in her 2009 book, "Going Rogue," is endorsing, appearing with, and raising funds for John McCain.

Yikes. What a mess.

Someone left the Kool-Aid alone and is drinking the tea.

About the new missile defense agency logo dust-up...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!

Get over it!

You lost the election. Move on with your lives. There's nothing to see here.

Take a deep breath and fringe and purge.

Dear John...

Could you have looked any crankier, any lamer, any more impotent in Thursday's Health Care Summit? I can't imagine how.

What a crotchety weenie you were. Even when you smiled and laughed you seemed like a weenie.

You lost, John, get over it.

I used to really like you; I did. I was pulling for you against Bush in 2000 (but I probably would have pulled for a chimp that year), but you've become almost a bad joke with a worse punchline. Not that you care, but I feel badly for you. I feel almost sorry for you... almost.

I like your wife and daughter a whole lot more than you.

Good luck, John, in your campaign against a tea-partying Phoenix sportscaster, and not a very good sportscaster at that. It should be a nice closer to your political career, that and having given us all Sarah Palin.

Wow. Thanks again for that one, JC.

You're a national hero and that's the truth; you deserve everyone's respect and thanks, but you'd be far better off if you didn't speak anymore because when you do you garner anything but respect, and many of us would be far more thankful if you just buttoned it and moved on, if you just let the memories of you remain golden.

With kindest regards... a former fan

Imagine if you will...

For those who might have watched today's health care summit/debate, I'd like to play a thought game with you.

Put in your mind a room with an enormous square table.

Imagine a group of people sitting around that table, a group comprised of key members of the US Congress, including senators and congressmen and congresswoman.

Imagine the President of the United States and his Vice-President sitting at that same table.

Imagine everyone taking part, and for the most part contributing to moving things forward. A congressman speaks, a senator speaks, the president speaks, a congresswoman speaks, the vice president speaks; everyone speaks.

Got the images?

Now, imagine that the President in the room is George W. Bush.

Jarring, isn't it.

This summit obviously didn't happen when he was in office, but the truth of it is this: a summit like this never would have happened under President Bush even if members of his own party asked for it. This could only happen with someone like Barack Obama. Bush simply didn't have the tools, the skills to pull something like this off.

Even if nothing comes of this, you'd have to be a complete jerk if you didn't see and admit how hard Obama's trying, how hard he's working to get this done, to get real health care reform. The cynics will say it's a stunt, but fortunately the cynics aren't POTUS.

After watching the health care summit...

...I have one word for the Democrats: Reconciliation!

Do it. Do it now. Pass the public option with reconciliation. Extend Medicare to people 55 and over.

The Republican'ts don't give a flying f@ck about anyone or anything but their talking points. They don't. They want to obstruct. They want to block Obama. That's all.

The Democrats need to stop acting like a bunch of pussies and just get this thing done and move things forward, because the Repos don't care about real reform. This is obvious to anyone who pays attention for even 5 minutes.

The Repos just want Obama to fail. Full stop.

Hey bass players, here's a tip for saving big money!

If you're a bass player who appreciates excellent, thoroughly playable instruments, and you're considering purchasing a collectible "vintage" Fender Precision Bass or Jazz Bass, you can expect to spend from $4000 to as much as $15,000, depending on condition, OHSC, etc.

And if your plan is to play out with it you'll have to deal with the ravages of time, which do not treat all bass guitars equally or necessarily well: the truss rod might be at its tightest setting; the OHSC will have broken hinges or a broken handle or worse; the neck might have a warp; the frets might need simple dressing or complete replacement; the pickup might be dead or dying; all manner of things might be at issue with your new prize.

And, if your plan is to play out with it, you'll then have to insure it, but considering its rarity, it'll be virtually irreplaceable, so insurance will be dear if you want to insure it for what you paid for it.

So, instead of going that route, consider this one: buy a Sadowsky Ultra-Vintage P or J Bass*.

What you'll get for less than $4,000 is an incredibly playable and great-sounding bass guitar that is hand-built to original Fender specs, in any "vintage" Fender color you want (including Fiesta Red, Olympic White, or Lake Placid Blue), and a bass which I would argue sounds way better than a 45-plus-year-old, fragile, belt-rashed and battle-scarred warhorse that's potentially on its last legs, in need of expensive and collectibility-killing work, and that you'd be afraid to take out of the closet let alone the house.

No, you're right, a new Sadowsky Ultra-Vintage Bass won't give you the gravitas, the collectible appeal of a "vintage" Fender, but this is entirely subjective and relative: something is only worth what you paid for it, or more, if someone else is willing to pay that amount. You were, but will someone else be?

And who knows? Roger's Ultra-Vintage basses might find their own "ultra-vintage" niche in 20 or 30 years or so, and until then you'll have a spectacularly fine and completely playable instrument that you bought at a fraction of the cost of a "vintage" Fender, and Sadowsky's insanely good build quality will help assure your Ultra-Vintage Bass will handle that two or three decades in style and emerge in fine shape.

Heck, you could buy two Ultra-Vintage Basses and still be ahead of the game.

For what this might be worth.

*I am in no way affiliated with Sadowksy Guitars. I'm simply a bass player who plays and loves their great basses.

G-Nope-P...

According to a recent Associated Press article, some in the Grand Nope Party are "wary of pitfalls" in President Obama's call for a health care summit.

The AP writer, Charles Babington, reports these Republican'ts are concerned that Obama might be "laying a trap for" them, that this trap might expose their lack of ideas, might "portray their ideas as flimsy."

Seriously? They're only concerned about this because of a proposed sit-down with the President?

This odd concern once again proves the cluelessness of the Repos. Their lack of ideas is already exposed and they don't even realize it.

Hey Repos! Wake up! Everyone can see you're wearing no clothes and it isn't pretty; no amount of TV exposure is going to make it any worse for you.

Super Bowl certainly was...

I'm listening to the sports media yack today about yesterday's Super Bowl, but especially all the Peyton Manning bashing that's going on. Instead of bashing him, and talking about his interception, they should be talking about how good New Orleans was as a team, from quarterback to kickers to coaches.

Wow.

I'm sure Manning and his Colts feel lousy. Maybe if their receivers had caught more balls. Maybe if Freeney and Wayne had been healthy. Maybe if their kicker had put that field-goal through the uprights. Maybe if their special team had secured the on-side kick. Maybe if Manning had not thrown that late interception.

All these maybes. But Indianapolis didn't lose this game: New Orleans won it. And to say anything else is unfair to both teams.

Rather than talk maybes, talk certainties, and the greatest certainty from that game was that New Orleans played like a team and won the game, and deservedly so. And if anyone wants to extrapolate a larger point from the metaphor of New Orleans-the-team that overcame disaster, that came back, that worked together toward a common goal, well feel free.

But here's one last certainty: the Super Bowl certainly was a great football game, the Saints should be proud of themselves, and the city should be proud of its team.