The State of the Red Wings: Non-sensationalized edition.

Wings fans are in panic mode and it shows. There is no intellectual debate here about hockey, the team, the CBA, and what is said almost nothing but mis-attribution or highly emotional.  It is almost like polarized politics when talking to Wings fans; making links between things that don't exist and blaming everything on the thoughts you don't have.  Saying debt destroys jobs, or appealing to your constituency is flip flopping is as ignorant and illogical as saying the Wings need to make a blockbuster trade or miss the playoff. 

I appeal to you all just to actually look at the sport and notice the common threads, instead of making threads on here to further your blinder viewpoints.

One last appeal to logic.

1. Defense wasn't an issue last year under a new systems coach.

2. Under this new system, the top time on ice player was Ericsson and not Lidstrom or Stuart.

3. Stuart and Lidstrom are huge losses and no player is going to step in and equal them, even the ones we missed out on.

4. Assuming a step down on defense, we have to look at what roles the players had and how we can mitigate the losses. 

5. Lidstrom was a positional player who was peerless. with great puck moving skills and a power play specialist.

6. We have many puck movers, but might be lacking in the power play specialist.

7. The system improved the positional play of everyone, and perhaps will allow a committee replacement of Lidstrom.

8. Every other team is lacking of a Lidstrom caliber player.  Every SINGLE OTHER TEAM.

9. The Wings were never successful relying on one player, nor was any team, including when we only had Yzerman.

10. The team roster right now has 4 proven top four defensemen, a rookie slated to be a top four defenseman, and a first round pick who has experience in the system as a number 7 guy.  There is a clear number one guy, and three guys that seem capable of being the number two dman based upon their past numbers.

11. There is nothing more that can be done to improve this team, even if we wanted to tear apart the roster.  No one wants to trade us anyone that is an upgrade.  Deal with it.

12. we can still sign a couple of depth guys with upside that could surprise people.  

13. The roster on paper is still better than the rosters of the teams that finished 9-15.

The flip side of the argument.

1. The defense wasn't the issue, the offense was the issue and it was not addressed, if anything it was made worse.  (I think Tootoo is completely worthless and a scumbag who isn't classy enough to be on the team, let alone for the money paid to him.)  Though I would not be quick to say how much worse it is, but we clearly focused on the wrong type of players. They needed a puck hound, high energy guy who could fix chemistry issues on the top two lines. I feel there were three of those available and the Wings missed out on all three of them.

2. Stuart will be the bigger loss, just because there is only one person on the roster with the size to clear the front,which was our biggest problem to begin with, and it is Ericsson who hasn't shown the will to do it.

3. There is a ton of farm skill on offense, not much on defense for a few years, and there is no way to adequately exchange in trade on a 1:1 ratio to fix this divide. 

4. the age of free agency as a major component is ending.

Now compare these things... you should notice that if we cannot fix things via free agency, trade seems unlikely at a 1:1 value, the team has playoff caliber as is, and developing players is becoming more important.  It makes sense to put those together and determine these logical outcomes.

1. The Wings will be competitive, though will take a significant step back.  

2. The step back might be out of the playoffs, but it isn't wise to assume that will be the case.  This is based upon the fact that there are unknowns, but the quality of the players left behind isn't one of them.

3. Patience and safe moves will prove to be the most effective when you cannot make mistakes disappear with ease.  

4. Holland is a cautious guy and all of this means inaction will be common for now.

5. We don't know what Holland will do if the Wings are on the outside looking in, what kind of emergency mode he would go into.

6. Why don't we just enjoy the games until we have a concept of what we are left with, and what needs to be done rather than making wild accusations.

7. If they play in the fall, thanks Bettman.  WHY AREN'T YOU FIRED!!!

Gun control v. That second amendment

Hi, have to put my two cents in about the "discourse" about guns... STOP MAKING FOOLISH ARGUMENTS! Guns are not inherently bad, but they are EXTREMELY easy to use tools that provide far more negative than positive. I am not saying people cannot handle guns, I just have to admit because I have some logic in my head that if guns are easily available then people die more often. Nutjobs with knifes don't kill dozens at a time.
By your logic about guns not being the issue, would you allow everyone to have nuclear weapons??? They are no worse inherently than guns, but we can recognize that if they fall into the wrong hands that many people could die senselessly. How many people have died senselessly from guns? Far more than from nuclear weapons. It just makes so little sense to defend the second amendment. The purpose was to appease those who thought their guns provided safety. This was before the age of professional around the clock security/policing, before the age of the massive federal defense spending, and certainly it was before the point where guns became useless of defending the rights of men against the government.
No weapon in the hands of any citizen will do anything to the U.S. Armed forces if it was necessary to fight the government. (please don't let me try to stop you if you want to test this...) The only practical purpose guns have is hunting, and we don't even need to do that anymore. The second Amendment didn't even help right after it was created! Check out Shays' Rebellion, though I will refrain from citing WIKIPEDIA in my argument and leave it up to you to check it out as I know that is where you will go. Stop the red haring fallacies folks. I guess guns do make you look pretty cool and can make you feel like a big action star. Yet Batman, Wolverine, Superman, and Spider-Man is way cooler than the Punisher.  Hell, even Legolas and Hawkeye were better than Punisher.  I guess you lose all the debates gunners.

The Dark Knight Rises.

Here is how you know the newest Batman is great art. The fact that it was a very good film and it became even more by being a mirror. When it became a meta film via the corresponding and coexisting tragedy, the film covers itself and the shooting by having a philosophical conversation about the audience while drawing them into an entertaining experience.However, this is ultimately lost on almost everyone.  I was sad to say that people booed after there was no post credit clip.  I overheard one say, "This is why Marvel is better than DC."

Interesting, because while Avengers is far and away the better action film, it doesn't hold a candle to the The Dark Knight Rises because of the true substance of the film.  Avengers was about working together and was an allegory for the greatness of America.  The Dark Knight Rises was about the darkness of society being vanquished by hope while paying hope the respect as a poison for the hopeless.  I would have like them to explore the class warfare a bit more, but in a three hour film I can't imagine them succeeding in tying together such a controversial component no matter how important to the reality of life.

In the end it was a story about meritocracy offering a light to some and darkness to others, those who look back and regret as they can't learn the lessons of the past, and those who look forward ready to lose everything for a simple and good act.  I am glad there was little humor or action to it, as it was something that spoke to me.  I hope that I can rise up, and I know that I am not alone in such a feeling.  The emotions and rewards for this are only that which I expect, and like the most humanized Batman ever it really is about finding someone who wants to give you a chance.  Beyond that I don't think there is any reward you shall ever receive that would be greater.  Even if society deserves to be tore down, the act of hope can kill one person and lift another up.  I hope people remember this, because I can't think of any way more memorable to share this than through another Nolan masterpiece.

I think you should see this film and put out of your mind that people died while watching this movie. Put it out of your mind and digest this film.  After you have watched it all, watch it again.  Think about your life, and how you felt during this movie.  Then I want you to think about the people who died just wanting to watch a film of this nature.  After all, there is a good chance that the people who were murdered in Colorado had similar problems as you.  It is likely that they enjoyed Batman because he was a superhero that had no powers except the power of money.  That they could dream they could rise to such heights of money and power and that they would, like Bruce Wayne, remain above corruption.  That they could hope for a few hours and escape, watching the greatness that is a story of one man with the power to affect positive changes.  Those who died, did so hoping for a good time, and without ever saying anything I would wager they were hoping for a better world.

For those of us left behind, let's hope for a better world and actually take some action.  I am especially looking at you Billionaires, you better take notice at what bad and good you can do via your actions. The rest of us should also remember mob mentality isn't only a violent thing, and can be used for good.  Let us all start thinking about the consequences of our actions on each other and remember that we can stand together to push others down, or we can stand together to help others up. While certain people have much more power than others, we can all stand together and create hope.  Hopefully.

Wings should think outside of the box.

The Wings biggest problem right now is lack of chemistry. Much of that has to do with not having the right guys going to the net to take advantage of the skills we already have.

Cleary, Bertuzzi, Franzen, Homer... they all go to the net. None of them mesh well in the top two lines to make it work. Mostly because only Cleary is fast enough to get there in time, but not big enough to push his way there. Combine that with the fact that Val, Hudler, Zetter, and Pavel all are players who can't push their way there and are better suited away from the net., and you have problems.

I think Brown and Morrow fit this build of having that combination...

Now you can also add a sniper to find soft spots away from the front and make it work. Once again, they need to mesh with the passers. I think Semin, Vanek, Pomminville, and Selanne fit the bill...

I kind of doubt anything is going to happen with either of these routes.

The big problem here is who ever could be had will be costly, and at the same time you have to make sure, you would be able to make both top lines work.

I think if we were to add Semin, we could find him working well with Pavel on the top line, but then you really have the same problem on the second line. If you put him on the second line, who would you move to the top line? Bert, Franzen, Hudler, Cleary, all have issues. Anyone you add, the second line STILL has the same problem of having unworkable or at least inconsistent, chemistry.

I believe the best set up would be Zetter, Pav, and Brown or Franzen on the top line. Getting a player who can shoot from the outside and go at the net while allowing the second line to have the other guy. Bert, Fil, and Franzen have all shown an inconsistent but workable scoring touch. Really if Bert would pick up some speed, all of our problems could be solved without any moves, and the same goes for Franzen.

They both act like anchors for the top two lines. That is why I would put them both together perhaps with Abs, Helm, or Fil and hope they can manage to keep up enough not to allow so many scoring chances. Yet, they need someone to make the Euro Twins finish. I would kill to have a Hull type show up.

I would like to say, that if Holland was really smart, (and he has been so often) he would find someone who isn't a big name and that can fill a role such as what I described.

You should be able to find a “nobody” whose style of game would fit in. I mean look at how some other duos in the league can add anyone and they become point producers. Mikael Samuelsson did that with the Wings once and the Canucks once. We should be able to find someone like that, but not him as he has his faults, which are well known.

We could fix the top two lines by adding people that go to the net, or just adding people whom might have the right mix of other skills to compliment what we do have.

Brown would be the best addition.

Others that might work well include:

Jason Pominville

David Clarkson

Scott Hartnell

T. Plekanec

Milan Michalek

Drew Stafford

Kris Versteeg

Michael Ryder

Blake Wheeler

Matt Cullen

Shrewd moves would include:

Justin Williams: He might be a great add if not Brown. He has an affordable contract that will last for a few years but is only 30 years old and brings almost everything the Wings are missing. Quick and gritty in the traffic areas, shoots first and has hit 30 goals before in a similar system in Carolina. He would fit in extremely well on the top line or the second line freeing up Johan to go up top for a power line with Pav and Hank.

Daniel Winnik: This guy has a ton of shots on net, 151 at time of writing this and fits the right handed big defensive depth role we were supposedly looking to acquire. Winnik, with his size and grit and the fact he shoots the puck a ton, could be put on the top line with Dats and Zetter to form at the very least form a shutdown line. My hunch is that he could at the best turn into a huge goal scorer the same way Bertuzzi did when getting a shot with a couple of elite players a while back in Vancouver.

Bryan Little: Younger and better than Hudler, even if he plays a similar game. Yet has a better shot, which makes all the difference in the world. He would score more goals in the same role as Hudler. Has two years on the contract, and could be flipped next year in a deadline deal. If you doubt it, check the scouting report. "Is a good playmaker who can be employed on the wing, as well as his natural center position. Owns a good wrist shot and sound defensive instincts. Is a tireless worker. Can snipe, too." The problem here is Winnipeg most likely would not trade him. I would at least inquire.

Milan Hejduk: Right handed with quick release. He could be a Hull type fixture with the Euro Twins while coming cheap. He might not fit in though with our past history with the Avs, and he is one of the only players on their roster left you can say that about.

PA Parenteau: I really like the look of this kid, and think his game is on the rise. UFA and therefore could be cheap. Parenteau is a right-handed player who will shoot the puck and is ready for a bigger role offensively. The problem is he is a pass first type and would be a better addition to the second line with Val. I still believe if you added him next to Val, that you would have a similar set up to the top line with the Euro Twins. Then, perhaps, you can use Franzen on the second and Bert on the first and have two top lines that are balanced. Unfortunately, each will be streaky.

Kyle Brodziak: His contract is friendly though long, so he likely would not be moved from Minnesota. Described as a checking line center, we could be shrewd and use him in a bigger role as he will shoot before he passes. He is defense first, and on the top line with Zetter and Pav, he could focus more on offense. The problem is he would contribute to the poor skating problems of the top two lines. If he didn't pan out, we make the logjam at the bottom problem worse while taking money away from resigning our major players.

Ray Whitney: Yeah, we all know what he does not bring. I just think he is one of the cheaper major point producers available while adding a righty. We could do worse out of a rental.

Patrik Elias: Okay, getting him would mean taking ourselves out of the Parise sweepstakes next season, and would allow NJ to keep them. Now here is why it would be a shrewd. One, the move it allows us to make the Devils happy, and create a stronger trading partner in the future. Two, it would give us a PPG player for two seasons that would mesh extremely well on either top line. Three, it would make it easier for Bert and Franzen to produce more by creating balance in the top six. Four, it would allow Hudler someone to emulate his game upon in a countryman. Five, he also would help the power play. Elias would be the biggest star we could add at the deadline, and would actually help the leadership of the strongest leadership team in the league. His contract would expire in time for our hardship year at the cap, and he could return on a vet level cheap contract afterwards. He provides the best opportunity to add a PPG player the Wings have without sacrificing the future.

This is just some ideas, to think outside of the box. Unfortunately, it seems as if these moves are less likely than the world ending at the end of the year. Instead, the Wings will add Paul Gaustad who will not bring anything to the team, but some bad penalties and less ice time or a lost roster spot for players like Emmerton and Mursak. I still say if we are to lose either of those players, I would rather it be a part of a trade for someone with a bigger impact than Gaustad or Moen. I would rather keep what we have than force something stupid. I would rather think outside of the box and take a run at someone like I described.

Favourite memories

This is my favourite memory of all time. It seems tarnished now, but in time I will polish it back up and remember it fondly. Her on the other hand…

I am not sure I will ever forgive her. Though I feel she made a bad decision based on faulty information. I think she listened to a snake and I hope she doesn’t get hurt.

At least we were truly in love once.

I am trying to be optimistic. Realistic too.

I know that I need a ton of work, so I am going to make an entry very soon saying exactly what I want to say but cannot because I have no choice but to wait and pray. Since those are my only options, I am trying to find God and a job so I can make time move and get my prayers answered.

Regret.

I have no life left in my soul because I have loved and lost. I gave her it all and now I have nothing left but the effort I didn't give.

All my life I believed that to love someone was admirable and noble, something to be proud of and be rewarded for with the same. Now I know to love someone without doubt is to be tortured beyond any means. To love someone is to vulnerable forever.

I still think the sun shines out of her ass. I still know that I am better than what I was. I still think we can reconcile. However, the realist in me says optimism is great but you have to change your sails and go where the wind is blowing. The pessimist says there is a tornado.

Overall, I just want to sail back to that harbor where I fell in love, then sail back out bravely with you by my side. I was always going to make the shore, but sharing the journey was going to be the best part. There is nothing unnatural and nothing to be ashamed, about having regret. I don't regret loving you.

The NHL might be on the road to more controversy

I think the suspension on Brendan Smith for his hit on Ben Smith, given out by Brendan Shanahan, was further proof that the league does not know what it is doing. Even with best intentions they prove to make mistakes that seem small now, but set themselves up for bigger and costlier blunders down the road.

The worst part of this, besides too many of the same names closely together, is that Brendan Smith had EXCELLENT LEGAL FORM IN HIS HIT!!! The only thing illegal about this hit was under the new rules; he made contact with the head. We all know that there was no way for him to avoid making contact with the head because he aimed at the shoulder of a moving target that moved out of the way but left his head there. When a player dekes with 2/3rds of a second left there isn’t a person on the planet that can avoid making contact when you are going over 20 miles per hour and have a third of a second to move. Even if he did move out of the way, then why does the player get to play chicken and force the defenseman to let him go unabated to the goal? It seems as if the defenseman Smith is taking too much heat on this one.

I don’t put 100% of the blame on Ben Smith, but I refuse to put more than 50% of the blame on Brendan Smith either. I will get to what Smith deserved in a minute, but first let us think about what happened in another situation. When I play hockey, there are times where I put my head in a similar position to try and move the puck, and I have been elbowed. I never once got up and said, hey mother f@#&-er why did you have your shoulder or elbows at their natural level!!!! HOW DARE YOU KEEP YOUR EXTREMITIES WHERE THEY BELONG!!!

If you lower your head, you are taking the risk of it making contact with lower body parts. It is just plain negligent to do so when you know a hit is coming. It could even be considered cheating in the future if you do it to DRAW SUSPENSIONS AND FIVE MINUTE MAJORS!!! We know people dive, so why wouldn't people dive like this?

Smith deserved punishment under the letter of the law, and I just want to make sure that these punishments remain proportional and fair. I will say right of the bat, that I do not believe injuries are required to make a suspension occur nor should they be ignored in lengthening the sentence. I believe the five minute major was a big punishment in and of itself, and I expect that to be called routinely. I just don't want the likely outcome, where the only time the five minutes is called is when the player embellishes or is legitimately hurt. If you are going to call the major for contact to the head, you better do it 100% of the time. The NHL has proven conclusively that they will never be able to do this with any rule.

Therefore it is my opinion that if they use a five minute major that they should count this as a significant part of the suspension. This obviously goes even further with game misconducts or match penalties. Unless they allow clubs to sub in a player for Smith, they are penalizing the team a game right there and giving such a momentum swing that the majority of the time the receiving team will lose. The games the player misses will be easier to win than the one where they get tossed without some sort of adjustment there, so I hate the idea of taking them out of the game. I would rather leave the guy in, and if they have an enforcer on the other team, well the problem will take care of itself. After that you suspend the player for his hit. Otherwise the penalty is proportionally upon the club and fan base for the act. This is heinous when the hit is the fault of the other player.

In Smith's case, he basically received a one game suspension right then and there and cost the Wings a meaningless game. Because of this, I am okay with the punishment being delayed to the regular season for him because the meaning is heavier, but five games is an absurd for a first time offender. This first time offender also had his only offense be that a player zigged when he should have zagged. I would have been fine with a two game suspension of the regular season on par with the other preseason suspensions or a five game preseason suspension. Five games at the start of the career is pretty insane. I know I would never ask for that if I was the one hit. I know, because I have had head injuries do to similar circumstances.

I think the league is once again going overboard to start and most likely will ease off of it in time for the playoffs. The fact that he was punished is not the issue; the fact that he was punished so severely for something I could see embellished in the future is the issue.

I still think of how Marian Hossa received no match penalty in the playoffs for a hit that was identical to Ovechkin’s hit on Brian Campbell just a few weeks prior in the regular season, then went on to score the winning goal that turned a series around. It can be argued that if they called that consistently then Nashville would have made it harder for Chicago to get out of that series, if at all, and the Blackhawks might not have won the Stanley Cup that year. That proves that issues of consistency can have the biggest impact on the outcomes of the entire history of the sport. I do not want another way for inconsistent suspension or match penalty calls to further tarnish the sport.

The league took another step towards mockery while taking a step towards player safety. Can we please move towards a safer league without making it impossible for teams to deliver a good effort? Can we do it taking into account the possibility of equal fault? Can we do it without costing any team from making the playoffs or going further on, due to misjudgment of an incident? Can we please just do it consistently, and not change from situation to situation?

I don't think this first group of suspensions and calls prove that we can. I love you Shanny, but I think you need to go back to the drawing board and figure out a better framework so you don't make more disproportional mistakes.

Addendum: Shanahan explains, that his (Ben Smith) head position did not significantly change. I would like to point out that his head position did change in relation to his left shoulder, which was the target. His head was protected by his left shoulder until he dropped it back and opened his body allowing the natural and pre-chosen trajectory to follow into his head instead of his shoulder. He still put himself into a vulnerable position by moving his shoulders.

A sports one- Happy!

There is some question as to what Nick Lidstrom should have done in regards to a final years salary for a team that needs to sign players to become a contender again. Many believe that taking the same salary as you age makes you selfish, while others say it is a great deal for an all star player. There is so much that you can dissect when looking at this issue.

The idea that if there is a cap, the size of the pie you get is relative and far more important than the actual payment. That is the team will do better if your cap hit is smaller compared to the total roster. Here is Lidstrom...

2005-06 - 7.600 million cap hit - 39.0 million cap - 19.5% relative cap impact.
2006-07 - 7.600 million cap hit - 44.0 million cap - 17.3% relative cap impact.
2007-08 - 7.600 million cap hit - 50.3 million cap - 15.1% relative cap impact.
2008-09 - 7.450 million cap hit - 56.7 million cap - 13.1% relative cap impact.
2009-10 - 7.450 million cap hit - 56.8 million cap - 13.1% relative cap impact.
2010-11 - 6.200 million cap hit - 59.4 million cap - 10,4% relative cap impact.
2011-12 - 6.200 million cap hit - 64.0 million cap - 9.7% relative cap impact.

We could stop right there and say he is doing his part, as he could go to the free agent market and then get the same 20% type contract and just keep getting richer. He didn't therefore he is loyal and a team player.

If this is his last year....
I would have been happier if he said I will come sign after Holland is satisfied with his roster, no matter how much is left for me. However, I never expected that to be the case. It would have been something I would have done because I love this team. I am sure the same sentiment is echoed by a few fans.

However we often forget that Lidstrom loves his family. That has to be a bigger love, and would most likely lead to me wanting to build the biggest nest egg ever.

I am not going to get into a class warfare mode here, but either way we should be happy. One last shot for Lids, whom we owe as much to him as anyone.

I would point out that American money inflates at about 2.2% a year. There is another way he is making less real purchasing power for his efforts.

For him to have the same value that he was making with 7.6 million in 2005, he would need roughly...

$8,850,541.91 to make the same money.

Or... let us just say we talk about his 6.2 contract....

$6,336,400 would be an estimate of how much his contract should have been worth given a COLA or cost of living adjustment.

His money in 2011-2012 will be worth

$6,066,536.20 in last years money...

Just shows you that the NHL is greatly outpacing normal inflation... much like Gas.

Don't feel bad for Lids though, he could easily be making 8% on his money if he is well invested. Which means when he was making 10 million back in the day he should be making at least league minimum of 750k just in capital gains... and the tax rate for that is even lower than his original earnings.

You can take two viewpoints from that, either he should have taken less because enough is enough, or he is taking less for certain and we should be quite happy. The truth is at this point it doesn't hurt the team as much as it hurts the fans who pay for the seats. If you don't mind then who cares. I am happy Lidstrom will be back.

With the cap going up and Lids in place, I want us to get the best players in the world.

I don't care if people scoff.

Bieska, Wiz, and Brad Richards.

I will take that in a heart beat. Sign people now and trade them next year for all I care, let us go at the cup.

Stanley or Bust.

A juxtaposition, Monday.

A juxtaposition, Monday.

I cannot understand how writers write with life happening all around them... Problems have been aptly, and might I add ironically, verbose in nature leading to an apathetic or just plain pathetic effort by my part.

Perhaps the drinking is the only way to escape dealing with everything when it comes to writing; though my money is still on the, the narcissistic rock-star-writer complex for the root of drinking-writing paradigm. I will consult Californication and report my results later.

It is indeed the lifeblood of any writer named by my name to get the zealous me-too itch after any encounter with faux genus. When confronted with the real world pragmatics that accompanies those in search for success and cliché, I rarely find such inspiration. Brutally, though, I cannot expect to find any drive without such a muse of disgustingly simple and suburban sentiment. There in lies the catch-22. Happiness is what I want- yet there who can be happy when there are ass holes doing genius in the most beautiful of forms of art and dreary jerks doing genius in the commonality of everyday life, leaving me bereaved of each in totality.

I can do simple acts of each, getting close but never committing everything to one and worse still is my desire to do both interferes with one another. Drugs, alcohol, waste, adventure, these things will lead to genius and art but ultimately will destroy my life. As much as I would love to have stories that conclude, “so that transsexual prostitute helped me get out of North Korea with my life and all it cost me was a bootleg DVD copy of Equilibrium starring Christian Bale…” ultimately those cannot foster the life where I wake up content next to a smiling girl who knows I will go fix breakfast for the rug rats because I feel guilty we watched my movie last night.

Perhaps instead it will come down to being more about spending the time comparing rather then spending the time working. I still place my money on the hours in the day. I start to think that one cannot have it all, and if they do they pay for it with their health or soul. I would rather just pay for it with a good deed and an IOU, but that rarely works. At least it didn’t for the Drugs, alcohol, waste, and adventure. I doubt it works for the mundane life either, otherwise would we have had a housing bubble collapse?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I need a drink.

An excerpt of insanity.

The Link is above.

When a friend make the question if this guy was wrong or not in the basic point he was making, pointing out the distinction first that his ranting was indeed absurd, I made this response. If you want a laugh listen to what he said. If you want to keep laughing, walk the top of the fence with me and see if I trip and fall, metaphorically smashing my nuts. I think I just scored a metaphore with ironical implications in the last sentence. Do they give awards away for blogs?

He is crazy because he is using his logic sparingly, denying it where it should be accepted at will. Then using it as some sort of flimsy pretense for conspiratorial bunk that is contradictory to his initial claims.

The guy is right that people have a lot of phony shit they worship, but Bieber is actually cooler to kids than Magellan for a few good reasons.

Bieber didn't die (yet). The kid did go make shit happen for himself. Also, he succeeded in the phony and important at the same time. Magellan might have been it for the chicks, and failed the phony bit but succeeded at the important. I say his logic is misapplied.

Do I think that Bieber beats Magellan? No, of course not. His logic is stupid though and he needs to be torn apart.

In no way is this some international plot to subvert the youth and brainwash them into compliance. ALL OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION IS THAT!!! The beauty of it, is that it all really is just corporate capitalism. Bieber is a tool, literally. A tool of mass consumerism. Does that placate the masses? Undoubtedly. To claim it is some sort of conspiracy is pretty crazy, but if you are going to wouldn't Occam's razor at least apply to say choose the least complex conspiracy?

Honestly, the only thing here is to allow people a distraction through things like sports and celebrities. If we didn't have that our lives would suck. I have come to the realization that it is endemic and institutionalized in our societal system. Just ignore it sir, you would be more convincing if you just said people today should be more impressed with those who achieve breakthroughs, and not breakthrough pop hits. Those who score advancements in the lab, and not score on the grid-iron. Those who lead, not in sales but people. An amazing concept that could be brought to the discourse without sounding like you should be in a sandwich board.

Furthermore, the way to convince people should never be yelling AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

This is our world.

http://9-eyes.com/

All iteration.

I want to die in the miraculousness myriad of magnificent Modest Mouse minutes, meanwhile my manuscript meanders the markets making masterpieces of my mostly meaningless manifests.

A quote

"I'd rather be used constantly than loved occasionally"-me

Eskmo 'We Got More' (Official Video)

Short synopsis of what I may write about wikileaks, a fresh disturbing take.

I foresee this Wikileaks scandal becoming a big aid to special interests in the upcoming legislative battle over net neutrality. The short version of what I want to write about is this is going to be like 9/11 for the Patriot act. They are going to argue the FCC splitting the internet into two tiers is going to help them prevent the flow of damaging information such as these leaks, and they will be partially right.

The horrible side effect of this good event is that it could contribute to the END of the internet as we know it. This could help the telecommunications company get their way, making it more expensive for all people involved, greatly reduce the amount of information available, create censorship capability for businesses and the governmental through the right of server restrictions, and make the archived information on the internet dwindle greatly in size. All of these things are not in the interest of humanity. Soon free service sites will become a thing of the past and the internet will be made to be privatized and conform to the free market. The internet might be the best thing in spreading information and allowing the masses to gather the knowledge to fight the establishment.

We really need to get people aware of this, because it is coming soon. AT&T was one of Obama’s biggest supporters in money and they want this BAD. He will sign that legislation if it comes to his desk, and now I doubt any congressmen will stand up to it thanks to Wikileaks, The poster child for net neutrality.

Reaffirmed through the great friend loss of 2010. A.K.A. The midterm election.

I often try things with social medium in order to gauge the reaction of others and play the role of freelance social scientist. I often think there will be some epiphany or proof gleamed from my efforts that will bring a new light to how people operate within our world. The funny thing is Facebook and Twitter are designed to make you feel more special by having people recognize every component of your mundane life and reward you for wit and class by comments and likes. Even when I am experimenting I tend to hope for positive responses, but am often surprised by how my efforts are taken.

I go through trends of attempting to be very inclusive, kind, and engaging in order to improve my responses. This does not seem to work for me as my rates of response are at an all time low statistically. I keep tabs on what people do in response to what I say in public forums such as threads and Facebook. The results are pretty similar. In fact the only responses I tend to get are negative or at least in disagreement. Even more interesting is how much more responses I receive when I am negative myself. I think Glen Beck and the like have it figure out.

Just be as crazy and negative as possible and you will get about one third of the people enthralled with you, one third will hate you and fight you, and and the rest will straight up ignore you. My status updates seem to follow that when I am negative, and when I am witty and intelligent or supportive and kind I get nearly a sixth of the responses.

It pays to be an ass, if your preferred payment is attention. Coincidentally, (and NOT ironically, people ought to learn dey english) this is exactly the method used to win the midterms for the Republicans. They just went and threw a tantrum and would not do anything constructive. They dealt in negativity and a pompous level of insanity previously reserved for the street corner prophets adorned in sandwich-board. These opinion makers and policy procrastinators created a discourse of doom and an attitude of the bully-victim. In reality these people were acting out to get attention and it worked well. A third of the population (the Democrats) were outraged, a third (the Republicans) were enthralled with them, and a third (moderates and independents) just got apathetic.

Just like on Facebook when I made a ton of very negative comments about all the people who were friends that not in support of my approved agenda for America.

my comments received skyrocketed via this same ratio. I received attention both positive and negative for my actions. A lesson any boy in the sixth grade already knows, relearned thanks to the internet. A class clown is popular, hated, and ignored by different groups of the micro-society around them. This is no different for society on the whole, whether it be the society of Facebook, Twitter, Fox News watchers, or voters. The negative discourse always garners more attention.

197 Trillion reasons, none of them good.

‎"Would taking such a stand be politically risky? Yes, of course. But Mr. Obama’s economic policy ended up being a political disaster precisely because he tried to play it safe. It’s time for him to try something different."- PAUL KRUGMAN NY Times November 4, 2010

Exactly, this is my biggest gripe with the current administration. I did not want someone to reach across the isle, I wanted revenge. Not only did he not do that, but when republicans did the equivalent of a sit-down strike in congress the democrats continued to try and play nice. I wanted them to say, you know what act like babies about this but you had your time and now is our time. Instead of shoving things down their throats they attempted to gather support and input, which is a pretty big thing to do.

After all of that the Red fools still acted like all the Dems did was shove things down their throats.

Only in America can you get blamed for doing too much and too little at the same time.

I have said this many a time without anyone believing me. Perhaps I should have spent my collegiate career learning the art of sophistry in order to be believable like the NY Times.

I currently am reading how the economic free market fails us, with a lot of help from policy makers across the world and their center in Washington.

Wages and salaries in the United States now make up the lowest share of the nation's GDP since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits as a share of national income have climbed to their highest ration since the 1960s. (Jeter Flat Broke in the Free Market.)

There are a hundred million of such quotes I could just take right out of this book, instead I suggest you read it. I will give you one more that illustrates some of the Democratic angst with the Democrats.

"Consider, as one example, that the Democratic Party- once the party of the American working class - rasied $340.3 million in campaign contributions from big business in 2000, compared to $52.4 million from organized labor."

Arena Woes: Why Ilitch should not buy the Pistons in order to build a stadium

All of the talk about the Pistons potential new purchaser has peaked the interests of the paper writers. All of the talk flying around seems to do nothing more than hurt my head. Drew Sharp has written that no owner could own three teams without one of those teams hurting. First off, he fails to recognize that the Pistons previous owner accomplished just that in the last decade! Davison owned the Detroit Shock, Tampa Bay Lightning, and of course the Pistons. Each of these teams has won a championship in the 2000s, so in what way can an owner not successfully manage three teams? If Ilitch has the passion, which he does for two of his teams already, and the money then he can do a good job.

Secondly, Drew then complained that it would clearly be the Pistons and not the Red Wings that would suffer, while leaving the Tigers completely out of the mix. Personally I believe that in terms of management, the only thing Ilitch will do is hire the person he believes can best put things together and then sign checks. This is why the Wings are so good and the Tigers can be up and down, it is because of the people he put in place. In terms of running the team, I still put that more in the hands of the front office then in the owner.

However the three teams could suffer in other ways, and I find that the pistons are the least likely to suffer from these ways. The Tigers could end up seeing their budget drop off in a way the other two sports teams would not. The highly structured cap of the NBA makes the contracts default to set maximums within a hard cap. If Ilitch owned the Pistons this off season, the money spent on the Tigers and Wings would make no impact on the size of contract he could have offered LeBron, Wade, Bosh or Darko for that matter. With the soft cap and the way the team is built currently they would still be spending the same amount of cash.

The Wings have always played up to the cap and have little wiggle room, so it is possible they would suffer, but not as likely given our history. The Tigers however have moved players because they did not want to pay a lot of salary, and they have gone into the luxury tax, meaning if they do again it will cost them even more money. If there is anywhere to cut salary it would be the sport with the highest cap, highest costs, and highest repercussions to going over. Sure it is Mike’s greatest love, but perhaps not as much as his love of money. If salary is going to come into play I would bet on it affecting the Tigers.

The Wings are the only ones this seems to really impact negatively in a realistic manner. A shared arena between basketball teams and hockey teams really equates to squeezing a hockey rink in to a basketball arena whenever there isn’t the more popular sport of basketball being played. This means the Wings would have to schedule their games around the Pistons, which could lead to tighter schedules where our superstars would be more exhausted or rusty depending on the nature of the schedule, both of which could lead to injuries.

The Wings would also have to play on much inferior ice, ask any player when they keep switching back and forth between hardwood and ice, the ice surface suffers while the court remains the same. This would highly affect the Red Wings puck possession-crisp passing style of play. It makes the game slower and leads to bad bounces, both things have hurt the Wings in the playoffs before and neither are things I want to see more of. The boards would be drastically different from night to night if they were rushed to be reassembled constantly which would take another home-ice advantage out of their pockets.

Not only would the Wings suffer, but the fans would too. Have you ever been to a hockey game in a basketball arena? I have not only seen NHL games in other arenas, where you are so far away from the action it feels as bad as when they put hockey games into Ford Field, but I have seen the Vipers play at the Palace and shutter at the prospect that this is our future. That doesn’t even bring into account that ticket prices will skyrocket to pay for this new arena so a ticket in the back row could be 3 times higher while being 50% farther away from the action. All of this without brining into account of midlevel suites. Often first row seats in the corners would be at awkward angles several feet above the ice like at Madison Square Garden, leaving fans in the corners incapable of seeing the action in the corners. Good thing nothing ever happens in the corners at a hockey game!

I have read several times how this could be such a game changer for Detroit. How a new dual stadium would make our town more of a destination, and revitalize the city. I just wonder where that logic comes from. If the Pistons and the Wings get a stadium together, all that would mean is that we have three arenas downtown. Let me think a second so I do not make a mistake while counting. Ford Field… Comerica Park… Joe Louis Arena… three. Yep, we already have three arenas, so how would this be any different?

Maybe they mean a new arena would make people come downtown. Wait a minute though, they already come downtown for the Wings, Lions, and Tigers games anyways, even in this poor economy. I guess if it was built next to the Fox… but then you would just have a higher concentration in one spot and we would be revitalizing an area of downtown that is already been revitalized… I just do not see how that would help. Maybe it would create revenue for the city of Detroit… no Rosenberg correctly points out that this could cost the city of Detroit over $400 million when the city is already beyond broke.

The only benefits I could see are for the Ilitch bottom line. The city builds him a new arena that would make his land skyrocket in value, allow him to hog all the profits, and have a building that could be booked every night. I do not like the prospects of doing all of this to make the richest amongst us better off. I would rather see ticket prices stay low, the quality of all games remain high, and the city be less centralized and more vibrant.

The Pistons deserve to be downtown as well, but I don’t think it wise to force the issue. I surely am a Wings fan first and believe that the sports franchise that is amongst the oldest in the sport and most successful in Detroit should have the honor and right to have its own building. The Phoenix Suns and Coyotes do not share a stadium and they pale in comparison of the Pistons and Wings in history and success. The Joe needs a facelift for sure or maybe even to be rebuilt, but not to the point that the Pistons should be sold to get this accomplished. If the Wings were to move away from that spot it NEEDS to be to a spot of their own. The Pistons could always get more out of the Palace which is in good shape, or find a place of their own downtown.

Best case scenario is that there are two separate new buildings both east and west of the Renaissance building so the city can grow again in every spot. Or maybe Wayne State deserves some revitalization, or perhaps around eight mile. Macomb County just had suffered a massive loss in economic terms according to another Free Press article based on census data, maybe the Wings would fit in there better? The point of all of this is that this issue is not a magic bullet that will solve everyone’s problems and if we treat it like that we are going to as a city, sports teams, and fans suffer because of it. Ford Field and Comerica worked because they are dedicated complexes with dedicated owners for dedicated fans. The Pistons and Wings deserve no less, if Ilitch isn’t that owner willing to have dedicated complexes, then I say the Pistons owe it to the city to sell to someone else who is in it to win it. “It” not being money from the downtrodden people of Detroit.

Happy Get Your Stereotypes Wrong Day

We decided, me and my two oldest friends Dave and Tom, that today would be a day dedicated to making as many completely confusing stereotypical statements. That is right, it is get your stereotypes wrong day!

Over a fun lunch, we just continued to say over and over again about how the Chinese were lazy, how much Brazilians steal, how Norwegians couldn't drive with their slanted eyes, how there are only black CEOs, or how perverted Canadians are.

Stereotypes are always pretty much a bad thing to say, but they seem even more retarded when they are perplexing AND wrong. Almost as retarded as French people! Like we all know all black people are not good at basketball., it is a wrong statement inherently with it's logical flaws and spiteful motives. It seems to become even more apparently wrong when you do not back it up with specious empirical data. Indeed who cannot laugh at the silly nature of saying you are sick of all policemen being Columbian. This is so ridiculous, that I hope we all start celebrating August 9th as Get Your Stereotypes Wrong day.

I decree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton

Yeah I want to be this guy when I am older.

Conversations with a friend on labour-Capital relations.

I was having a conversation with my friend about the research he was doing on a strike that happened over 100 years ago. We were brainstorming and it got me excited for my ideas, so I thought I would put a bit up for reading. The ideas may be expanded upon in the future on my blog and in my writings.

10:07pmMe

The blame for the violence fell on the homestead strikers and public opinion swayed back. The government moved harshly against them, and the mill simply shut down ending unionization on that particular plant.

10:09pmMe

Not surprising as Marx himself had the viewpoint of Government that coincided with this.

Pretending neutrality to maintain order, but serving the interests of the rich. Not that the rich agreed among themselves: they had disputes over policies. But the purpose of the state was to settle upper-class disputes peaceably, control lower class rebellion, and adopt policies that would further the long-range stability of the system. -Howard Zinn in The People’s History of the United States

While many unions continued successfully with their struggles, in this steel business area the combined might of capital, and the politicians they owned, proved too much for Steel workers.

The gap is growing still. The recent court decisions, union membership, and trends of southern states to become right to work states, has lead to a realization. The government still seeks to settle disputes between capitalists, not workers and business. Giants such as wall-mart crush the unions before they form all the same. In many parts of the country to speak of unions, is to speak for socialism, a word looked at with disgust.

10:14pmMe

The government does nothing to aid labor in making a place as equals to capital, instead it is always the subjugated to rich white men.

10:15pmMe

You know what

I have to stop

I could actually see writing a good paper on this myself...

Untitled.

I'm hungry, hurt multiple times, sick, procrastinating, battered bruised, hardly ever amused, thinking of migrating, the heats to thick cannot move without perspirating.
I'll eat some crackers and wash my mouf outwit listerine. That stuff is harsh but now comes in tangerine.

Drive full blast the stereo and air please, down to the doctor to help with my disease. He said I cannot help you with the voices in your head, or the feeling that you'd be better off dead. I can give you four pills, one to help your dick up, one for the dizzy spells, two more to ease the chills. So what if you are underemployed, or hardly like the company of those who you once enjoyed, you can still beat off, and stand up in the breadline.

Only I can do a double bypass.

Did you ever have something so great that you could not hold onto. You search to replace it, you find a way to and you squeeze even tighter to hold on to the replacement only for it to slip through even faster. Each time you try again it becomes harder to hold onto. Pretty much everything you hold onto begins to have the feeling of Crisco to it. Then you are just left with slick empty hands.

No good for heart surgery.

I try to wash my hands of the whole thing. There unfortunately is blood in the water.

Our Normalcy Bias

I woke up sick. The head on my neck was a soaked rag falling apart at the seams trying to cover up a grinding stone. My body is so tired and sore, it worn thin from the previous day and the work of laying still. I rolled onto the shores of my bed as oil, with twice the consistency and half of the attention. Still as damaging. The day before a hurricane, I moved things around in my life with bluster, just trying to make it closer to the mainland and someone who would look me in the eye and smile. Instead, emotions flooded and the citizens fled.

There is a war or two, at least where I use the big guns. I blow things up, watch them blow things up, and then try to rebuild so we can blow things up together. Collaterally speaking, the casualties are low, by comparison. This is our war and not your war, the goals are fuzzy and we cannot begin to consider victory with lips silent or functional. No one can relate but those with nothing in this moment but a battered, empty, and used flak jacket. Don't give me any flak.

I hear shouting in the distance, hushed by the fireworks. There is no hope. There is hope, just not here. I can hope, but it is no change. What is there to believe in? What about the markets? We need some jobs.

The men scurry like ants, carrying grains of sand to build a mound. They do this for no reason of the queen, nor of drone, nor of army ant. They work for that tunnel, and even though it can collapse under foot of that kid and his sticky shoes, they want that to be their own.

When the poison rains down upon them and the landscape is tore asunder the chaos continues. They scatter, and will rebuild, if they can. What value is an ant then? What value in a tunnel? I never once heard an ant scream.

I do not build tunnels, I do not build anything. I just listen for the scream of an ant. Hope that we all wake up better, or at least wake up concerned about what has happened and why it continues to happen.

Disaster is the new normal. 24-hour coverage will continue until someone shuts off the channel. If you wait in the fallout shelter, you will die just the same.

I woke up worse than when I went to bed.

I cut myself on puzzle pieces that would not fit. I hurt my back hanging my head, and my neck by holding my head high. The shoulder from trying to slap that puck too hard, and my ankle was rubbed raw just like my emotions. My heart was inside so I could not survey the damage. I imagine it was like an earthquake in Haiti. Those who lived in there, now live on the rubble in tiny shacks waiting for the rich to care enough to actually give them some tools. It is your misfortune I hear them say.

If the ice melts, we will have more water but fewer beaches. No one cares about the bears or the penguins. Why should they have a place to stand when I have nothing to stand for? They can always live on the continent of garbage.

Maybe the drug addict you love needs to be put on the street, maybe the depression will kill him or at the last second, they will turn towards salvation.

I just tend to think disasters will never happen, because we already live in tornado ally. We shall all get our bailout but can we ever rebuild? As those memories get scattered across the counties I wonder what memories can we make by making another home here.

Disaster is the new normalcy. I seem to have a bias towards it, and you do too. I say fuck anyone who tells you it will change with vague words. There is no wisdom for those who live in a desert and cry of thirst besides leave. If they can leave they might not, if they cannot they will not. We all trade the beach for our lives when the coast falls into the ocean. That will never happen except it already has and will continue. In 2012, it will be worse, as it was in 2000 and it was every time the moon blocked the sun. A moments notice, a disaster, and then it is back to normalcy. Disaster is the new normalcy. Sometimes we have to have a service for the survivors. I would cry for you, if you would survive me too.

Time for a lunch break... eww pimento loaf.

Disaster is the new normal.

Normally I would never let this hurt so much, but the people that understand me are fewer still after the last plague. Swine flu did them in. I hate to see you leave, I hate to have another person not read my words or talk to me with less enthusiasm until they drift away, kidnapped perhaps on some pirate ship. Truth is there are too many things going extinct to worry about the rare species of creature that can put up with all of this and all of me. The sky is falling chicken little but you told us too soon. We developed a normalcy bias, now what do we do?

Chicken Little said, "we must go tell the president!!!" Foxy Loxy said, "dude, fuck that guy he won't do anything but steal from you, that commie bastard."

"Just as well", said Chicken Little, "what is the point now that she left me, and every girl I try to replace her with is flawed. Even worse is the parts where they are better than here are far between, and when I get settled for less it is on these few qualities I build my excitement for. Of course they leave and now I don't even get that.. So the next girl has even more to live up to... I think the last one at least understood me even greater than the first girl I loved..."

"Maybe I should cut my wrists," said Chicken Little.

"If you cannot pull yourself up, then fine. But your parents will be hurt and you will go to hell," Said Foxy Loxy.

"Oh, well, I suppose I should read a book or something."

"Why don't you get a job, you lazy ass. I hear they are looking for construction workers in New Orleans."

"I wonder what is on the internet..."

What a disaster.