Big Gulps huh? Alright…Well see you later 2008!

2008 is about to be over…so sad.  It was a great year, but I have hopes 2009 will be even better.

I hope my 2009 starts much like my 2008, a little hazy….

Happy New Year!

Cheers!

All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all…

Lately

“Lately”
By: David Gray

That the sky would lift
That I’d find my place
That I’d see your face in the door
And the sun would glint
On a time well spent
On a time that ain’t no more

Takes the broken hearts
In the vacant lots
To see the fruit that rots on the trees
Had to turn my head
Leave it all for dead
But it’s in my mind always

Honey lately I’ve been way down
Load on my mind
Honey lately I’ve been way down
Load on my mind

Someone tell me where did it go
Darling I’m damned if I know
I seen that look in your eye
No one ever gave it a chance
I could have said in advance
You saw it all at a glance
And goodbye
Goodbye

Drag a salted kiss
From this cup of bliss
Watch a new lie twist on the breeze
You can paint it red
Or Leave it all for dead
But it’s in my head always

Honey lately I’ve been way down
Load on my mind
Honey lately I’ve been way down
Load on my mind

Someone tell me where did it go
Darling I’m damned if I know
I seen that look in your eye
No one ever gave it a chance
I could have said in advance
You saw it all at a glance
And goodbye

Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye

Now Honey lately
Yah Honey lately
Honey lately I’ve been way down
Yah Honey lately I’ve been way down
Yah Honey lately I’ve been way down
Honey lately I’ve been way down
Lately
Lately
Lately

The Blues

The WSJ had a great article today on the beginning of the blues.  Through the article they play to the fact that out of horrible times come some of the most beautiful things in our lives.  Especially creatively.

I love blues music personally.  I like the driving beat to it, the lamenting of hard luck, and passion with which it is played.  The amazing thing is out of it I think comes a lot of hope and optimism and a gratefulness for what one does have.

I think every great blues musician, while a masochist, can take the the most degradable circumstances and turn it into something beautiful that brings happiness to many.  Some might think misery loves company, but if you go to a blues performance misery will be the last thing you will find.

It’s a uniquely American form of music, that along with Jazz, has shaped our country as we know it today.  Every musician has been influenced at some level by a genre that has had the most humble of beginnings.  I think in that you find the American dream and the American spirit that makes our country so great.

How did everything go so bad so quickly?

Leave it to The Onion to simplify the toilet that is our economy.  Sometimes a lot of words aren’t needed.

I guess America doesn’t need Obama, we need Beyonce!

How to stop Terrorists

Terrorism is something that has become ingrained in American culture.  You would have thought with the Iran Hostages in the 70s or even the ‘72 Munich attacks that it would have been something we as Americans would have been more aware of and/or concerned about.  It wasn’t until September 11, 2001 that we took terrorism seriously because never before was there such a devastating attack on American soil.

Sure you can talk about the World Trade Center bombings in in 1993 or Oklahoma City, but those were different.  The World Trade Center bombings didn’t hurt a lot of people and the Oklahoma City bombing was perpetrated by an American.

So now that we are 7 1/2 years into taking terrorism seriously and 7 1/2 years into a failed ‘War on Terrorism’ (which I don’t understand how you can declare war on terrorists when many of them aren’t even linked to each other, wouldn’t it be wars?) and no closer to solving the problem of terrorism.

So first what are the causes?  It would seem to me that most people don’t hope to kill and injure others just for the sake of it.  Sure there are sadistic people out there, but not enough to comprise a movement.  Rather it seems obvious terrorists use violence as a way of spreading their message when they feel it is the only way their voices can get heard.  They aren’t part of the political process or they are discriminated against by the controlling majority.  To me these things start terrorist cells.  It’s not all that different to me as to why kids shoot up schools, except instead of revenge as a motive, they are wanting their cause to receive recognition.

So…how do you stop it?  Well Esquire published a story about how they think terrorism can be stopped.  Some interesting facts include:

• 40% of terrorists groups are defeated by police and intelligence operations.
• 43% of terrorists give up violence because they join the political process.
• 7% of terrorists are stopped by military force.

So what does this tell us?  Like most things, problems are better solved locally.  Communities are better equipped to stop terrorists because they live among them, know who they are.  When a government comes in and tries to forcibly stop a group it builds a deep resentment amongst the community members that end up protecting terrorists.  It is the typical ‘city slicker’ trying to tell the people of a small town what to do.

Therefore, if the US or other countries hope to end the violence they would be better served to shift their resources to local control and provide them support and training rather than come in there and try to do it themselves.

Also, a little democracy and liberty never hurt anyone either….

Did Texas get screwed by OU?

First I must clarify I’m an Aggie and since we got our asses handed to us by both teams I’m sure they are both deserving, BUT the question remains did UT get screwed?

It’s not an easy answer.  Longhorns will quickly point out they beat OU on a neutral field 45-35.  Sooners will point to the fact that UT lost to Texas Tech who OU throttled a few weeks later.

Each argument has its merits, but if you look at the facts the Longhorns have the bigger beef, no pun intended.

Why OU should go:

1. They averaged 53.3 points per game while only giving up 24 points per game.  That is more than doubling their opponents scoring.
2. They only had one close game and that was their loss to UT 45-35.
3. They beat 4 ranked opponents, including Texas Tech (the then #2 team in the country 65-21).
4. They have scored over 60 points in 4 straight games, including two against ranked teams.
5. They were leading UT most of the game even though they lost one of their star players early in the game.
6. They killed Texas Tech who had beaten UT just a few weeks prior.

Why UT should go:

1. They beat OU 45-35 on a neutral field.
2. They averaged 44 points per game while only giving up 18.6 per game.
3. They had the win against Texas Tech if their linebacker wouldn’t have dropped a sure interception.
4. They beat 3 top 11 teams in a row before losing to Tech.
5. THEY BEAT OU

I think OU’s strongest point is that they killed Tech who beat UT, however, UT lost on the road to Tech who was then destroyed on the road by OU.

So long story short, the Longhorns got screwed!  However, as an Aggie I can’t say it doesn’t make me a little happy to see them whine and complain