Agent Steinz and I in Rugby

Just signed up with the always fun DC Sports Bog for a Washington, D.C. fantasy rugby league.

Everyone who reads this should email him too (the info's in the post) and sign up.

I just want to go back to my Twickenham days, when I was watching the flyhalf for the Fijian team (is he still playing?) do the stutter step for like fifteen tries against Harlequin and Army and all those great teams.

And yes, now I'm going to spend the rest of the day yelling "Ruck Over, Ruck Over" in my worst British/Kiwi/Aussie accent. Way too much fun.

Anybody know what shirt I should get? A Springboks? An All Blacks? What?

And the GOP Looks Worse

I'm sure that I'm not giving anyone the news, but it looks like the Republicans might lose another Senator in Congress. I say might, but him pleading guilty ain't exactly a great thing in the run up to 2008 if you're a member of a party.

I don't know what's more disturbing about this: that the Republican Congressional Leadership keeps getting caught with its pants down (bad pun intended) or that this may have been a third or fourth time that it all happened. And at least one of those times probably happened under the Centurionss (figurative) gaze:

In 2006, a gay activist said he had spoken with men who had sexual encounters with Craig, including in the restrooms at Union Station.

I'm staying out of the restrooms in Union Station from here on out, or at least just using the urinals. Seriously people, do it at home.

And GOP, get your goddamn act together. 'Cause if Hilary wins in '08, I'm gone. Totally gone.

Remember Moby Dick?

This is just simply amazing:

An eco-tourist group got to see a whaling vessel haul in a whale, harpoon it and everything. It even made kids cry.

Don't get me wrong, I think that the International Convention on Whaling has a place and that some things need to be done. But the way that Greenpeace and other organizations like it go around telling me how I have to life and what I have to do galls. I do what I do because it makes economic sense. If it can't make economic sense, then I don't want to do it.

And whatever happened to limited war?

When do I get a story like these?

From ESPN.com, a must read.

You would think, with all the time I've spent golfing that this stuff would happen to me, but now. Best story I can come up with is Hillman and I drinking as we walk around the course.

Make Up Your Melons

New news from the movie studios is old news: they still don't get it.

After fighting for years and years to prevent piracy, two major movie studios, Dreamworks and Paramount, are both announcing that they will only release their new movies in the HD DVD format.

What does this do? Well, for one thing, it keeps sales of new players from going out the roof. I know for a fact that, while it's nice to watch sports in HD, I also like my movies. And since I don't know which format is going to win out, and they're incompatible with each other, why would I buy one so early?

That leads to depressing sales in the actual disks. Why bother to buy a new movie release when the old format is still around, and you don't know which format will win out? Do you buy two copies of each movie? I don't think so. So what happens down the road when one format wins out and the other loses, and you backed the wrong horse?

Lastly, the other big reason why it's great to upgrade your disks to the HD format is that it's harder to pirate. Except that it's pretty easy now since everyone is fighting back and forth ... If they're so worried about losing money, you'd think they'd get their own house in order already.

Metro Run-Ins

Most of the time I love Metro. Except when they make me wait on the platform for forever, like they did this morning to get to work. Oh well, since nobody is here, and since I never do anything all day anyways, it wasn't a big deal.

But yesterday was a big day for me on the Metro. On my way into work, I rode opposite Roy Hibbert of Georgetown. Let's just say that he was a big, big man. His calves were big old things, as big as my thighs. And anyone boarding the train had to walk on the opposite side of the pole from him. Because his knees stuck out all the way to it. I guess I had forgotten just how tall 7' was even though my boy Matt Slanika from the old Silver Spring Blue Devils Days.

Then on my way home, walking up the steps at Union Station, who walks by me, but the author of one of my favorite websites -- bobbyboswell.com. Of course I tell him, "Keep up the good work Bobby" which caught him off guard. He shook the hand, complimented me on the Bobby Boswell.com wrist bracelet from my night of heavy drinking and sleeping on the couch.

Of course, then he asks where I'm going, and I BLEW IT!!! I was going home. Totally should have tagged along with him on his Metro ride. Next time, I'll take the ride.

And Bobby, if you read this, give a shout out to section 131 tomorrow vs the Pink Cows and the drinks are on me next time. VAMOS UNITED!!!

Bizzare News Story of the Week -- No. 2

Sorry I was gone all weekend and on Friday. Friday, it was a hangover, and yesterday, just was still tired from the weekend.

But this week's bizarre news story comes from the Washington Post.

I too am fed up about an early termination fee, but if that's the case, I do'nt think I'd be this drastic.

After reading on a blog that wireless companies would cancel the contracts of deceased customers, "I thought, 'What have I got to lose, besides a cellphone I despise?' " Taylor said. The Chicago consultant fashioned a fake death certificate and had a friend fax it to Verizon Wireless, his carrier. He thought he was in the clear -- until the company caught on.

"In the end, I forked over the money," Taylor said. "But I bet I sent a definite message about how much people hate being strapped to a cellphone that doesn't work."

I hope actually that they hit this guy up with a lot more than $175, because it's people like that that make us have to pay more. And, as the industry points out, the cell phone that's sitting in my pocket now that I got basically for free, not to mention all the towers and fiber optic cables that make up the network, have to be paid for. It's either pay the cancellation fee or pay a higher monthly rate, and since I can live with an extra bit of time before moving on, I'll pay the fee if I have to leave.

I certainly won't fake my own death.

I Am Shocked, Shocked

Just found a really interesting article in today's Washington Post. Talking about the market for Carbon offsets and how exactly it is that you're willing to pay and what exactly you're paying for, when you buy them.

Here are the opening three paragraphs that summarize what the article is going to be about:

Sites such as this one, offering absolution from the modern nag of climate guilt, have created a $55 million industry that once would have been beyond the greenest of imaginations. The market for "voluntary carbon offsets" now encompasses dozens of sellers and thousands of buyers, including individuals and corporations.

But in some cases, these customers may be buying good feelings and little else.

A closer look reveals an unregulated market in which some improvements bought by customers are only estimated, extrapolated, hoped-for or nil. Some offsets support projects that would have gone forward anyway. Others deliver results difficult to measure.

It's a question that I've been wondering about for myself for awhile. For instance, what exactly do you get when you buy an offset? How is it that by spending more money, you're able to cancel out your own problems? Isn't this just shifting the blame for carbon problems that lead to "man-made" global warming?

But in a way, as a capitalist, I have to like the idea of carbon offsets. I mean, I love futures markets for commodities, I love the stock market and what it does, what's wrong with carbon trading? I think I, and other free-marketers would love to see an actual commodity develop that could be reliable traded back and forth. That would solve my problems.

But how do you create this commodity? Who's going to oversee it? The article asks that question.

But it also asks some of these other questions:

Some of the money paid for these certificates stays with the offset vendor or with a middleman. The rest usually winds up with the energy project's builder or the utility that buys its electricity. In some cases, this can amount to something like a donation to a for-profit company: American Electric Power, which sold an undisclosed amount of certificates from wind farms last year, earned more than $1 billion in profit.

Some environmentalists balk at this. If the certificate is bought only after the energy is produced, they wonder, how can an offset vendor know the energy wouldn't have been produced anyway?

Now, I don't have a problem with that at all. In fact, if a company is doing something the right way, and their service has value, then they should profit. That's the way the economy works. That's the way the system works.

Just something I've been thinking about a lot. I'd like to see it develop, but I'd like to see a whole heck of a lot less governmental subsidies in general. Lose the ones for oil too while we're at it. I'm willing to pay a little more for wind power.

And if a hydrogen fuel cell car ever comes along, I'm buying it immediately ...

Becks Beats Us

Well, he did it. David Beckham got it done last night, and was by far the Man of the Match as DC United crashes out of the Superliga 2-0.

If you want to see one of his patented, Bend it like Beckham freekicks, watch the highlights here.

The freekick that Beckham took was just fantastic. An amazing take, and one that completely fooled poor Troy Perkins.

It all started when he picked up a Caution for being late to the ball in the 18th minute. Up to that point, United was by far the better team, and only good goalkeeping had kept them off the board. But when Beckham went in hard, studs up, and took out two DC United players, I was watching the reaction. And man, but while he rubbed the ankle, then got up and kept going, you could see his confidence level rise real fast. Real fast. From then on, it was just a matter of time until he got one or set up a goal.

All of Beckham's balls were played right to where they needed to be, he was all over the pitch, sideline to sideline, going after the ball and winning it. And when Wolverine (Benny Olsen) went in and got Beckham hard in retaliation for his yellow, the Golden Boy popped back up and was smiling. And I knew we were in trouble.

He is by far the best player in MLS right now. It was clear, very clear last night. His technical ability and his tactical awareness are head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Case in point, the perfectly weight through ball he put Donovan in alone on (although without the McTavish deflection that ball is saved by Perkins). If he keeps going out, jumping up to try when he was excited that Kyle Martino should have had a goal in the 66th minute.

That said, United looked awful. My player ratings (since I watched this game sober and alone on my bed) with 10 being the highest:

Troy Perkins - 4; Bobby Boswell - 4; Devon McTavish - 3; Bryan Namoff - 5; Greg Vanney - 3; Fred - 4; Brian Carrol - 4; Ben Olsen - 4; Josh Gros - 4; Jaime Moreno - 6; Luciano Emilio - 6. SUBS Christian Gomez - 5; Guy-Roland Kpene - 3.

As you see, pretty much everyone was below average last night. Only Emilio and Moreno did anything really good, and Gros would be a 3 except he almost snuck in that great drive about 10 minutes in.

Let me just quickly say that I think that Kpene has a lot of work to do. Feet like bricks, checks back too much and doesn't know how to lay off the ball quickly or turn himself. Does he have a goal yet?

Now we just have to focus on Copa Sudamericana and getting either the Supporter's Shield or the MLS Cup. Vamos United!!!

If I Only Had a Heart ...

I don't get PETA. Not at all.

Their most recent cause celebre has to do with a video clip that also meant to teach children how to protect and humanely treat animals in Palestine.

Now, I've read some things that are out there from the folks at PETA and the ASPCA, but this one is pretty high up there. The clip shows someone throwing rocks at lions and swinging cats by their tails. Except the whole reason they're doing this is to show kids just how animals hate to take things like that. I agree, sadism and torturing helpless animals, like caged lions or snakes, is just sick. So what's wrong with showing it happening once if it's a one time thing meant to be educational?

Here's the real kicker though:

"Teaching people to respect the most defenseless of animals helps people respect each other," Mersereau said.

Uhh, what? That's a new one. I guess I just missed the logical jump made there.

If PETA focused its outrage and money on helping people, not animals, maybe we'd all be in better shape. How much money do they waste worrying about lions in a zoo in a country in which daily gun battles and suicide bombings still happen? Where is PETA's outrage there? Oh wait, a a couple house cats and a zoo-bred lion, who will never see the wild, is more important than the fact that these kids are about to get killed? And don't get me started on the cruelty to domestic animals stuff ... that's another post.