Imus Must Go

I woke up this morning and read an article, front-paged on the Boston Herald, about Imus's racist remarks about Rutgers women's basketball team. The manager of the local radio station that carries Imus said he hadn't heard any complaints. So I fired off this missive to Greater Boston Media:

Please direct this email to Phil Redo.

Dear Mr. Redo,

I read in today's Boston Herald that you have not received any complaints about the racist remarks of Don Imus about the Rutger's women's basketball team. Here's one.

I'm sick of hearing Imus's racist and sexist bits on the radio in the morning. It's 2007. It's time for the media to enter the 21st century. Racist jokes are not funny. Sexist jokes are not funny. They are destructive and hurtful to everyone. Calling the Rutgers women's basketball team 'nappy-headed hos' is not acceptable. What, they don't have straight white hair? They're prostitutes? Calling them 'Jigaboos' is especially offensive as that is out-and-out racist slang.

Not only that, this kind of racist, sexist crap is destructive of your business. When I hear Imus going off against some group, I change the channel. That hurts your business, and your advertisers. 96.9 is one of the AM radio presets on my car radio. On Monday, it won't be any more. I'm not going to support a radio station that supports racism and sexism. That's my bottom line.

I will be sad if you take no further action to ameliorate this situation. Fire Don Imus now. Take him off the airwaves in Greater Boston.

I mean really. It's about time for this 20th century pig to get sent out to the 21st century pasture. There's just no place for this kind of crap. And he does it over. And over. And over. I guess I'm not the only one still pissed off about this asshole.

NYTimes (AP): Despite Apology, Critics Want Imus Out

NYDailyNews: Imus spews hate, should be fired
BY FILIP BONDY
DAILY NEWS SPORTS COLUMNIST

WaPo: Sorry Excuses: MSNBC's Form Apology

Among the highlights from the MSNBC We Apologize for Don Imus's Show Which Is Not Our Production Hall of Fame:

In January 2006, Imus chatted with Chris Matthews on his radio show, simulcast on MSNBC, and discussed unprintable candy metaphors by way of describing the relationship of the male leads in the flick "Brokeback Mountain." MSNBC apologized for that one, too, saying, according to a report by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation:

" 'Imus' is produced by WFAN radio and is simulcast by MSNBC. The views expressed on the program are not those of MSNBC. Having said that, it was unfortunate that these remarks were telecast on MSNBC. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by these remarks."

Traveling further back, in December '04, MSNBC apologized for comments made on "Imus in the Morning" in which Palestinians were referred to as "stinking animals" and a suggestion was made that they all be killed.

That time, MSNBC issued the following statement: "The views expressed on the program are not those of MSNBC. Having said that, it was unfortunate that these remarks were telecast on MSNBC. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by these remarks."

We called MSNBC to ask whether the network had considered putting Imus on a several-second delay so as to avoid having to trot out its tired old "We're really sorry but it's not our responsibility" form-letter apology, in much the same way cousin network NBC puts "live" trophy show broadcasts on the air with a delay to be able to kill out words and exposed body parts the Federal Communications Commission has deemed offensive.

An MSNBC rep e-mailed back the comment:

"We take this matter very seriously. We find the comments to be deplorable and are continuing to review the situation."

We asked what "continuing to review the situation" meant. The TV Column did not hear back. We also asked for an explanation as to what MSNBC suits thought was the difference in responsibility between a program it aired that it produced and a program it aired that was produced by CBS Radio. We did not hear back.

Imus is a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame. His show is syndicated to more than 70 radio stations around the country. WFAN is owned by CBS. Yesterday CBS Radio issued this statement:

"We are disappointed by Imus' actions earlier this week which we find completely inappropriate. We fully agree that a sincere apology was called for and will continue to monitor the program's content going forward."

OrlandoSentinal: Public shouldn't give Imus a free pass after comment


PRNewswire: NABJ Appalled By Imus' Racist Comments, Calls for Boycott of Show
WFAN, MSNBC host calls Black student athletes 'nappy-headed ho's' during show

AOLSports: Don Imus Rutgers Controversy Not Going Away

Good Friday News Dump

Monica Goodling at a Regent Law School picnic
MSNBC reporting that Abu Gonzales aide Monica Goodling to resign -- tomorrow. Probably busy with some Good Friday reenactment today.

Goodling, graduate of the famed Pat Robertson law school Regent, has asserted Fifth Amendment rights to avoid testifying before Congress. Neither the Fifth Amendment nor this resignation will take the focus off the Bush Administration's relentless politicizing of the Justice Department.

Just today we learn that Rachel K. Paulose, the new US Attorney for the District of Minnesota, was BFF with Monica Goodling. Maybe that's why a 33-year-old with minimal legal experience (here's her resume, pdf doc, page 11) was appointed to this position, after the former US Attorney mysteriously resigned without explanation. And before she was appointed she was -- wait, wait -- a senior aide to none other than Abu Gonzales. Today the four most senior members of Paulose's office resigned en masse from their supervisory positions, bumping down to regular trial attorneys in protest of her management style.

Four of her top staff voluntarily demoted themselves Thursday, fed up with Paulose, who, after just months on the job, has earned a reputation for quoting Bible verses and dressing down underlings.

A Bible-quoting bitch. Must have been a real treat to work with.

Then there are the other US attorneys. Not the ones who got purged; not the young Christian zealots who replaced them. No, I'm speaking of the 85 or so US attorneys who kept their jobs. The ones who went along with the Bush Administration's demands for bogus voting rights cases. The ones who investigated Democrats, not Republicans. Like the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, U.S. Attorney Steven M. Biskupic, who brought a bogus case against a state purchasing supervisor (a woman) for steering a state travel contract to a political contributor of the Democratic governor. The Republican candidate for governor in 2006 hammered away on this case in political ads. (Fortunately for the citizens of the state of Wisconsin, the Democrat won anyway.)

And yes, this was a certifiably bogus case. Yesterday the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case and set the poor woman free. That's almost unheard of in appeals cases. On the very day they heard the arguments they issued their opinion that she was innocent. The three-judge panel ordered her set free immediately. The Seventh Circuit is no land of liberals. It's a strongly right-leaning circuit. And they found this case thin as tissue.

The Carpetbagger Report lists other US Attorneys who may have been bringing political hitjob cases for the Bush Administration.

The incompetence, the cronyism, and the corruption are now joined by the criminality of using the impartial justice system for partisan, political ends.

Imus Calls Rutgers Women's Basketball Team "Nappy-headed hos"

Racists-R-Us
Luckily I missed this yesterday or I would have spent the day in a rage. Imus and his white male crew called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos". On a cable news channel. In 2007. Racism ain't dead, folks. It's right there on your national TV.

IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between -- a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final.

ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night -- seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.

IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --

McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.

IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know.

McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.

IMUS: Yeah.

McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes -- that movie that he had.

IMUS: Yeah, it was a tough --

McCORD: Do The Right Thing.

McGUIRK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

IMUS: I don't know if I'd have wanted to beat Rutgers or not, but they did, right?

ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.

IMUS: Well, I guess, yeah.

RUFFINO: Only tougher.

McGUIRK: The [Memphis] Grizzlies would be more appropriate.

Classic racism. "Nappy-headed"; their hair is not white looking and therefore not as good. "Hos": Prostitutes. Jigaboo: According to the American Heritage Dictionary, this is defined as "NOUN: Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a Black person."

If you've ever watched these morons, you know that Don Imus and his team of white men are racist, sexist scumbags who should never have been given TV exposure in the first place. He and the show have a long, sad history of all kinds of racism.

If you'd like to let MSNBC know what you think about this kind of hate speech, Media Matters for America has links to all the relevant people on the right-hand sidebar. You can also watch the video of Imus's stupidity there.

Some of the biggest names in political "journalism" go on Imus all the time. Tim Russert was there today. Why not email some of those cretins and ask them to denounce Imus's comments?

Tim Russert: Tim Russertmtp@msnbc.com
Chris Matthews: hardball@msnbc.com, or chris.matthews@msnbc.com
Jeff Greenfield: jeff.greenfield@cnn.com
Jonathan Alter: letters@newsweek.com
Brian Williams: brian.williams@msnbc.com

Photo Links

Dice-K's debut
Dice-K delivered a pitch with Kansas City's David DeJesus on first base.
(Globe Staff Photo / Jim Davis)


Spent the day assembling my taxes, my least favorite task of the year. During the afternoon I watched Dice-K's stellar debut for the Red Sox. It was just Kansas City (though they've had the Sawx's number the past few years) but he looked pretty impressive. Dennis Eckersley was falling all over himself with excitement in the NESN studios afterwards. Move over, Curt Schilling. There's a new sheriff in town.

Boston Globe: Dice-K's Debut

Boston Globe: Zoo babies

Dependable Renegade: McCain visits the Lower East Side

Dependable Renegade: John McCain visits Indiana

Apartment Therapy: Tea Eggs for the Holidays

Combat Disinformation

MediaMattersforAmerica: Tell CNN to get the facts right on Pelosi trip

For much of the past week, CNN and its White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux have offered a steady stream of inaccurate and incomplete coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) trip to the Middle East and her April 3 meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Please join Media Matters for America in demanding that CNN and Malveaux stop misinforming viewers about Pelosi's trip and present all the facts. CNN's contact information can be found in our "Take Action!" sidebar on the right.

Since April 2, Malveaux has wrongly and repeatedly claimed that Pelosi had no "standing" and was not acting in an "official capacity," has attacked the trip as "political theater" and a "political stunt," and has parroted the Bush administration's attacks on Pelosi for going to Syria while ignoring the fact that a Republican-led delegation met with Assad on April 1. Most recently, Malveaux asked whether Pelosi's trip was a "big wet kiss to President Al-Assad."

Other CNN personalities have joined in as well. Lou Dobbs devoted an entire segment to "Pelosi's bad trip," while the April 3 edition of Anderson Cooper 360 featured a segment on Pelosi's trip titled "Talking to Terrorists."

After several days of inaccurate, one-sided coverage, it's time to tell CNN enough is enough. It's time to take action.

Use the contact information in our "Take Action!" sidebar to contact CNN, Malveaux, and Dobbs -- and be sure to tell your friends.

Here's my email to CNN:

I am writing about Suzanne Malveaux's attacks on Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria. Speakers of the House have traveled and held meetings with foreign countries before (Gingrich, China 1997); Republicans have met with foreign leaders throughout our history (Hastert, Columbia, 1997). Incredibly, five Republican members of Congress have met with Syrian leaders this week (Robert Aderholt (R-Al), Frank Wolf (R-Va), David Hobson (R-Oh), Joseph Pitts (R-Pa), and Darryl Issa (R-Ca), yet you choose to characterize the meetings of the Democratic leader of the House as political theatre. I must confess, hearing this right-wing tripe causes me to reach for the remote and switch to MSNBC or C-Span where I might hear the news, not RNC talking points. Please stop politicizing your coverage and report the facts.

Blogtopia* RoundUp, Wednesday April 4, 2007

US Vice President Dick Cheney watches as US President George W. Bush speaks on the "Iraq war supplemental" in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC. Cheney warned Monday the United States faced defeat in Iraq if Democrats succeed in imposing withdrawal.(AFP/Tim Sloan)
President Cheney-Hiding-In-Bushes appoints Swift Boat funder Ambassador to Belgium with a recess appointment, as well as a bunch of other rightwing fruitcakes who are unconfirmable. dailykos

New Hampshire House passes a civil unions bill to give same-sex couples the same rights as married couples. Towleroad

Did Purgegate discriminate against New Mexico US Attorney David Iglesias because of his military reserve obligations? One of the reasons given for his firing was spending too much time away from the office. (Tee hee -- that wasn't even the real reason! He wasn't a loyal Bushie! Karma's a bitch.) A federal watchdog agency is investigating. ThinkProgress

Bloggers have fun with Photoshop: Dependable Renegade, John McCain Visits Portland, Maine, Lower Manhattanite, Charlatan (on Steve Gilliard's News Blog), Art Pottery, Politics and Food, The Vice Petulant in the Bushes

*yes, skippy coined that phrase!


DDP

Tens or thousands of visitors would wear any baby bear out.


More Knut photos at der Spiegel.

Tell Your Momma Bout Obama

Tell her he raised $25,000,000 in the first quarter of 2007, from more than 100,000 donors.

$25 million is just short of the record $26 million raised by Hillary Clinton from about 50,000 voters.

Obama's 100,000 donors is by far the largest number of donors for any of the presidential candidates, and is considered important because many of those small donors presumably contributed less than the federal limit of $2300. So Obama can go back to them and ask for more. Hillary Clinton has many donors who are 'maxed out', having already given the federal limit.

Dick Likes To Watch

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

President Bush in the Rose Garden on Tuesday.

I prefer my headline, of course. Cheney in the weeds, watching his prize dummy crow.

NYTimes: Bush Blames Democrats for Impasse Over Iraq Bills

Tennessee Are National Champions - Again

University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers' Alexis Hornbuckle (R) celebrates with teammate Candace Parker (L) after they defeated Rutgers University Scarlet Knights in the NCAA women's championship basketball game in Cleveland, Ohio April 3, 2007. REUTERS/Ron Kuntz (UNITED STATES)
Ho Hum. I mean it. Really boring game. Lots of defense, lots of bad shooting, the taller team won. Tennessee had 8 million offensive rebounds, well, that's how it seemed (OK, only 23); since they missed 38 shots, there were rebounds to be had. So often the final is anticlimactic (as the men's final was last night) compared to the excitement of the earlier rounds. Despite all the shouting by the ESPN announcers (isn't it time for Mike Patrick to retire?) there wasn't much excitement on the floor. Candace Parker was named the MVP and she shot 5 for 15 from the floor. Ouch.

Congratulation to Pat Summit on her 7th national title. Only three more to tie John Wooden. She'll have Candace Parker for two more years. Why did the ESPN crew keep giving credence to the ridiculous rumor that Parker would leave school for the WNBA? Don't they realize that the WNBA limits salaries? As a rookie Parker would get paid $43,000 a year. What's that to jump at?

One reason many women elect to remain in college is that WNBA salaries are puny by pro athlete standards: $43,200 for rookies such as Parker and Fowles. The No. 1 NBA draft pick, by comparison, can expect to earn $3.6 million during his first season.

And congratulations to C. Vivian Stringer for taking her very young Rutgers team to the final. Kia Vaughn (only a sophmore) had a fine game, finishing with 20 points on 9 for 15 shooting, with 10 rebounds (7 offensive). She didn't get much help from her teammates. Epiphany Prince didn't take a shot. Prince, Carson and Ajavon combined for 18 points; against LSU the three totaled 38 points. But they're a young team, and this experience should prove invaluable next year.

Box Score

USAToady: Tennessee trumps Rutgers, nabs first title since 1998

WABC (NY): Rutgers fall short in championship game

McCain's Fantasy Revealed

John McCain took his heavily armored little walk in Baghdad's Shorja Market on Sunday then proclaimed:

“Things are better. There are encouraging signs,”

Yes, Johnny Mac feels safe while wearing a flak jacket, surrounded by 100 armed men and five combat helicopters.

The 21 Shorja Market workers who were ambushed and executed yesterday didn't feel quite so safe. They aren't encouraged at all. They're just dead, more wasted lives on the altar of the Madness of King George and all his preening sycophantic courtiers like St. John McCain and his Bullshit Express.

The 21 Shiites, together with six Kurdish colleagues still missing, worked in Baghdad's popular Shorja market where 60 people were killed in a double suicide bombing targeting Shiites last Thursday. Medics said their handcuffed and blindfolded bodies were found near a water-treatment plant in the village of Morariyah after daybreak.

Environment 5, Bush Administration 4

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the EPA must regulate greenhouse gases, pursuant to its statutory authority to regulate pollutants. Hurrah!

Already the decision has had ramifications, as today EPA reopened the state of California's petition for an exemption from the Clean Air Act so that it can reduce tailpipe emissions by 25%. The petition has been sitting in limbo for two years.

Massachusetts et al v. Envivonmental Protection Agency et al, No. 05-1120 (pdf file)

For the environment:

John Paul Stevens, writing for the Court [appointed by Gerald Ford]
Stephen G. Breyer [appointed by Bill Clinton]
Ruth Bader Ginsburg [appointed by Bill Clinton]
Anthony M. Kennedy [appointed by Ronald Reagan]
David H. Souter [appointed by George H.W. Bush]

For the Bush Administration:
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the dissent [appointed by George W. Bush]
Samuel A. Alito Jr. [appointed by George W. Bush]
Antonin Scalia [appointed by Ronald Reagan]
Clarence Thomas [appointed by George H.W. Bush]

The decision begins,

"A well-documented rise in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Respected scientists believe the two trends are related. For when carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, it acts like the ceiling of a greenhouse, trapping solar energy and retarding the escape of reflected heat. It is therefore a species--the most important species--of a "greenhouse gas."

WaPo: High Court Faults EPA Inaction on Emissions
Critics of Bush Stance on Warming Claim Victory

The Supreme Court rebuked the Bush administration yesterday for refusing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, siding with environmentalists in the court's first examination of the phenomenon of global warming.

The court ruled 5 to 4 that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act by improperly declining to regulate new-vehicle emissions standards to control the pollutants that scientists say contribute to global warming.

WaPo: The Case of the Term Goes Against the White House

Liverpool Crushes PSV 3-0

The strike is Gerrard's 15th in the competition, breaking Ian Rush's European Cup goalscoring record for the Reds (BBC)

Liverpool methodically destroyed PSV in Eindhoven this afternoon. Steve Finnan was my star of the game for the two crosses that set up Stevie G. and Crouchie's header goals. Riise's goal was a cracker. Alonso looked lost, and Kuyt worked hard to no effect as usual. With three away goals, Liverpool is all but through to the next round.

DailyMotion: Liverpool v. PSV Goals

SquareFootball: Champions League: Liverpool/PSV- Liverpool Player Ratings

Telegraph (uk): Brilliant Gerrard dismantles Dutch
PSV Eindhoven 0 Liverpool 3

TribalFootball (Aus): Liverpool thump PSV with superb display

Guardian (uk): Gerrard inspires as Reds throw caution to wind

GuardianSportBlog (uk): Europe better get used to emphatic English wins

Footbal365: RAMPANT REDS EYE SEMI SPOT

Shaquanda Cotton Free

WFAA-TV
Radio personality Rickey Smiley embraces Shaquanda Cotton.
Public outcry worked! The 15-year-old was released from prison on Saturday after serving a year for shoving a hall monitor. The release was ordered by Jay Kimbrough, a special conservator appointed to overhaul the Texas Youth Commission because of -- get this-- a sex scandal in which prison officials coerced sex from inmates. Child inmates. 400 kids may be released by the end of the week, according to Kimbrough. All of them had been approved for release but had their captivity extended by the Texas Youth Commission staff.

A local radio DJ who led a rally outside the county courthouse last week interviewed Cotton after her release. You can watch the dangerous criminal who had to be locked up for a year here. (sample: Q: What did you do when you got home? A: Hugged my brother.)

Best article on the case and the locale: The Age (Australia): 14-year-old girl in jail for shoving teacher's aide

Houston Chronicle: Black teen who pushed hall monitor freed from juvenile prison

BlackAmericaWeb: Lawmaker Who Hastened Shaquanda Cotton’s Release: ‘This Never Should Have Happened’

Opening Day

"People will come."
Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals, ESPN, 4:00 p.m. EST

Chickenhawk George W. Bush, our vaunted Coward in Chief, too scared (of being booed) to throw out first ball at opening day games for the second year in a row. Should make all those Rethugs wearing "W" caps at Washington Nationals games proud.

The CHB (Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe) sez the Red Sawx have become international rock stars. I wonder if he talked to Tony Massarotti at the Herald before he filed it? Because Tony wrote the exact same story in the Herald. Having the Herald and the Globe agreeing is like the planets colliding.

Everybody loves Big Papi. (Boston Herald version.)

McCain Takes A Stroll In Baghdad

ThinkProgress: McCain Strolls Through Baghdad Market, Accompanied By 100 Soldiers, 3 Blackhawks, 2 Apache Gunships



Two Apache gunships


Three Blackhawk helicopters



100 US soldiers standing guard

Keep that good news from Iraq coming, CrazyTalkDistress.

Tennessee Will Play Tuesday Night

North Carolina's Camille Little, foreground, and Tennessee's Nicky Anosike wait for the ball to fall during the first half of the women's semifinal basketball game at the Final Four Sunday, April 1, 2007, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Tennessee over North Carolina in the second semi-final, 56-50.

Not a pretty game, beginning with terrible officiating by the usual suspect refs, Dee Kantner, Eric Brewton, and Mary Day. Only 14 fouls called on Tennessee the entire game, while two of North Carolina's starters fouled out. Tennessee took 26 fouls shots; North Carolina took 8. Nobody came to the arena to watch the striped shirts, but they had a big negative impact.

The first half was an emotional roller-coaster. Both teams were over-pumped and out of control. Missed shots, turnovers, clashes. Early in the first half Tennessee was 1 for 12 and North Carolina was 1 for 13 (or vice versa). Both Parker and Latta sat out due to foul trouble. I must say, it's hard to root for Candace Parker. She reminds me of Reggie Miller, all snideness and attitude. When Latta got her third foul, Parker celebrated on the bench by holding up three fingers and dancing. Not classy.

North Carolina stormed back in the second half behind Latta and McCants and great defense; but when they got up by 10 they tightened up and stopped shooting. Then they lost two starters to fouls. Tennessee scored 20 of the last 22 points of the game. Ouch.

I'll be rooting for Rutgers in the final just so I don't have to hear that damned song Rocky Top any more this season.

Rutgers in NCAA Women's Basketball Final

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer yells to her team during the first half of the women's semifinal basketball game against Louisiana State at the Final Four Sunday, April 1, 2007, in Cleveland.(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Rutgers over LSU in the first semi-final, 59-35.

The ESPN announcers kept talking about sainted Bob Starkey and what a great job he's done taking over for Pokey Chatman at LSU, but that he doesn't want to be a head coach. However, they never mentioned the fact that his lack of desire to be a head coach was killing LSU in this game. Tale of the tape: Rutgers had two great head coaches (C. Vivian Stringer and Marianne Stanley, her assistant) and LSU had a head coach who didn't ever want to be a head coach. It shows in the final score.

NYTimes had a nice profile of Marianne Stanley this week. But how do they miss the most important part of her coaching history? She's the coach who got fired (by USC) for daring to ask to be paid equally to the men's coach. Women coaches never forget it. When she can't get a head job in the game, great coaches like Tara VanDerveer and C. Vivian Stringer hired her as their assistant. The New York Times ignores women's basketball 99% of the time; maybe they just don't have a reporter on staff who knows the game well enough to know this essential fact.

News Liverpool Fans Can Use

Highlights from Liverpool Arsenal yesterday. Bonus Scotsman commentary.

All hail Crouchie! Peter Crouch returned from surgery on his broken nose yesterday to score a 'perfect hat trick': Left foot, right foot, header! (Favorite headline: CROUCH OUTDRAWS GUNNERS AT HIGH NOON, Football 365)

The Independent sez, McLaren, use Stevie G. in the middle, drop Limp, you idiot. Or something like that. Stevie G., only #10 on the list of the Top Ten Highest Paid Footballers. No one is more valuable than Sir Stevie. Those in the know know Stevie G. should be England captain, too.

Also in the Independent, an article about Zenden and the Holland team.

John Arne Riise has been declared bankrupt by a court in Liverpool. Maybe that is why Bellamy went after him with the golf club? Apparently his former agent invested his cash in some bad deals. Riise was very young when he made all that money (he's only 26 now) and hasn't always had the best judgment.

Maybe Riise should have read more books before he hired an agent. The Premier League has a charity called "Reading Stars" (pdf link), and every year every team selects a player who selects a book. This year's Liverpool player is Jermaine Pennant, and his book is Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. A book about an English soldier in WWI. Doubt he chose it, but there it is.

Found a new Liverpool blog: The Offside Liverpool; and a new American soccer blog: Who Ate All The Cupcakes?

We Are Ruled By An Idiot Child

No, wait, that's an insult to idiots and children everywhere.

U.S. President George W. Bush drives Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, after he arrived for a meeting at Camp David, Md, the presidential retreat north of Washington in Maryland�s Catoctin Mountains, Saturday, March 31, 2007. First lady Laura Bush follows. The U.S. and Brazil are the world's biggest producers of ethanol and the two leaders are working on an agreement to boost production of the biofuel and reduce international dependence on fossil fuels. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
I wish this was an April Fool's joke. See what it says on the front of the golf cart? "Golf Cart One". To go with all his Member's Only jackets with the Presidential seal. Sheesh. I saw this on Dependable Renegade.