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This is a touchy topic, but it's one that needs to be addressed and we, as reasonable people, should be able to discuss respectfully (even though the motivation for this post is someone speaking rather disrespectfully). First off, something that I need to say that you should keep in mind as you read: I do not care what you believe in. Politics. Religion. Pizza toppings. Don't give a swat. But... I will ask that you be accountable for your views and what they mean on the whole. So... Franklin Graham, son of Rev. Billy Graham, is mad. You can read the entire piece, rather objectively written and in context, here . In this story, Graham says some things that I've heard other evangelical Christians say lately. And again, I don't begrudge anyone their beliefs... only ask that they be accountable for them. So, let's have at it with Mr. Graham: "If President Obama fails to intervene to allow controversial evangelist Franklin Graham to lead a National Day of Prayer e...

I don't want to blame the iPad . So I'll blame Glee . Blame for what? My ire. My frustration... I am more than done with hype deeming things the "best things ever." Ah, before you protest hear me out. I am all for guilty pleasures (I mean, anyone who has ever seen my iPod knows this). But, when something has obvious flaws - or worse, several obvious flaws - how does it suddenly become elevated to "legend" status? Or "revolutionary" status? Exhibit A - Glee . This could be a good show. Lord knows the acting talent is there. Is it used? Not so sure. What is glaringly awful? First, the show was written by a teenager. Or so it seems. Melodrama is lovely, but doing it the expense of truly becoming attached to any of the characters? That's definition bad TV writing. I do not simply need to be entertained by a show in a world with an Internet . Every time the show seems to do something that might make me care to turn in next week beyond hearing s...

I generally try to keep calm about the rancor of political debates. I've grown accustomed to pundit blather that fuels ratings-focus "news" channels. But this week, we have hit a level of ridiculousness that I didn't quite think possible. And I'm done. I'm letting it all out. The town hall meetings that are all the buzz right now are an atrocity. While I certainly think that our congresspeople have stopped doing anything to try and build a consensus among their constituents (which they should then take back to Washington), the people disrupting these meetings have pushed us into a theater of the absurd. The thing is, see, the Constitution that many of these folks say they are defending was not just the product of someone sitting down and drafting it. In fact, the Constitution was the product of an extremely partisan battle among several groups. The only reason we have a Constitution is because this group found several compromises - each giving something...

The announcement came out yesterday that The Freedom Tower will now be called One World Trade Center . I have to be honest, as a former New Yorker, this announcement has only come about 7 years too late. In general, I don't like anything that feels forced. I hate ESPN because they try to tell me what I should like. I like the new U2 album because it's the first time in 10 years they haven't been making music with the overt goal of convincing me how good a band they are. And with the World Trade Center, we've attached so much "importance" to what happened there that we had to attach symbolism. And patriotism! What always irked me when I lived in NYC was how it always seemed that the rest of the country had a lot more say about what happened on that site than the people who lived in New York and the people who had worked in the original World Trade Center. That's funny, see, because up until about 8 a.m. on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 - when I was walki...

I've mentioned this here and there before, but it's worth bringing up again since it is NCAA Tournament time... Fantasy sports can suck it. There, I said it. Why? Because it makes me mad Cleveland State beat Wake Forest yesterday. Some little school knocked off a team that was ranked #1 earlier this year. That's something that makes this tournament great. That's why people watch/follow this tournament . And I had picked Wake Forest to go several more rounds, so I'm screwed in the pool. The good news? This isn't costing me money. Never understood pay pools/leagues. I played in a fantasy football league for the first time in three years this past fall. My team, a typical case of looks-great-on-paper, quickly dropped to last. And I have to admit, I made a good decision... I stopped trying to care. The Steelers were playing well. And that's my thing, reality sports are always better than fantasy. Let me give you some examples of why I am pretty much ...

Today, we're starting a new category of posts called "Making My Readers Mad." This is reserved for posts I think will incite the furor of some fraction of the small audience reading this fine blog. I hate Counting Crows. I have never liked Counting Crows. They came to being at a time in my life where if it didn't involve heavy guitars I hated it. Even today, when I love all kinds of rootsy bands - a little bit of just about everything, really - I cannot bear this band. Why? Let's review: They are vastly overrated. In my high school, when they first came out, every kid who loved them was an ass. And they went on and on about how great Counting Crows is. And how I just don't understand. And how the bands I like aren't nearly the musicians that the members of Counting Crows are. And, how that even though I saw Pink Floyd, Beck, an entire flipping Lollapalooza , R.E.M. and many more before graduation, I had not yet seen a "good" concert bec...