I’ve been extremely sick and extremely busy lately, not a good combination for blagging. So, in lieu of a bunch of complete posts, here’s the abstracts for things I probably would write about.
1. A-Rod and steroids. I’m not really all that shocked. At this point, there are very few people where a steroid revelation would surprise me. If people want to pretend like this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and that A-Rod is Fredo, they’re free to do so. And if that’s what it takes to produce a coherent policy on performance-enhancers, then maybe it’ll even be worth it.
All that said, I have to admit I kind of feel bad for the guy. I’ve always thought he was treated unfairly over the years. Even when he went to the stupid Yankees I had a soft spot in my heart for him. He’s an amazing talent and it’s not his fault that GMs offer him outlandish contracts and then fail to construct a team good enough to win the World Series.
Not to mention the fact that the test which has come to light was supposed to be strictly confidential and anonymous (as in, they wanted to see how many people were doping – it was supposed to be impossible to even connect a sample to a particular player). It’s weird how little mention that gets, especially from the people I read who in other contexts find the notion of privacy to be pretty important.
2. Stimulus. The fact that I was busy during all the fights over this actually helps put it all in perspective. For all the freakouts, Obama is still on track to pass one of the biggest spending bills ever in the first month of his administration, which will help fund a ton of really worthy projects.
For the recond, the “compromise” in the Senate was beyond stupid. Cutting CLEAR stimulus like money for states and to do construction on schools, and then inserting this AMT business and incentives to get people to buy homes is just ludicrous. I mean, seriously, you think the problem in America right now is not enough people attempting to own their own homes??
Given that, it’s depressing how the meme of “compromise” can spread so effortlessly without the folks responsible actually being forced to defend the particular cuts they imposed. As Jonathan Chait says:
It’s not like there’s some firm cap that forced the Senate to cut helpful spending programs. The cap is there because Specter decided to put it there, an act that flies in the face of the very economic theory that justifies the bill in the first place. … Again, it’s the only bill with a chance because Specter is holding it hostage. If he announced his support for the House bill, then the House bill would very likely pass. Does this man think we’re idiots?
3. Uhhhhhh. You never like to read the phrase “within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed.”
4. Dollhouse debuts on Friday. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be all that good, and that it will get quickly cancelled.
5. Jamie went home on Top Chef, which is depressing. Especially since it makes it a near certainty that stupid Stefan will win now.
6. This new track from Butcher Boy is great. They had a record a couple years ago that I meant to review but never got around to. It was pretty good, but this song is better than anything on it. It comes from the tradition of The Smiths, but there’s a cleaner edge to the sound, and a freshness that has a lot more in common with the more recent stuff from Belle and Sebastian.
I’m also aware that comparing a Scottish band to The Smiths and Belle and Sebastian is about as anti-creative as you could imagine. I’m sick, though, so you have no right to complain. Anyways, just listen to the song.
Carve a Pattern – Butcher Boy