Mac Gs World: 8/19/07

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Lost Year

My man Dan Froomkin could not have summed it up any better in his column today.

A new national intelligence estimate concludes that President Bush's troop surge shows no signs of accomplishing its goal of encouraging political reconciliation in Iraq.

An influential Republican senator and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff now favor a troop withdrawal. (Sen. John Warner wants Bush to demonstrate that the commitment in Iraq is not open-ended; Marine Gen. Peter Pace argues that the military simply can't keep this up.)

These and other developments take us back in some ways to December 2006. It was then, in the wake of the November election and the report of the Iraq Study Group, that the debate in Washington finally appeared to be shifting away from how to achieve victory and toward how to cut our losses.

Instead, Bush ignored public sentiment, overruled his military commanders and opted for escalation.

And now it appears that the only thing the surge has bought him is time -- nine months or maybe a year, during which he was able to postpone the inevitable.

What has that year cost America -- and Iraq? For starters, a year in Iraq translates to over 1,000 more dead American soldiers; over $100 billion more in direct appropriations; over 15,000 more dead Iraqi civilians; and countless grievous wounds and shattered families both here and there.

In light of the costs, having bought a year of time may not seem like much of an accomplishment. But if Bush can drag things out another year or so, he can wash his hands of the whole mess and leave it for his successor to deal with.

Mac Gs World

I Cut Myself

Gruesome pictures of an alleged fight between Amy Winehouse and husband Blake recently hit the Internet. According to Amy, there was no fight and Blake actually saved her life. Amy defended her husband in text messages sent to celeb gossip peddler Perez Hilton.

Blake is the best man in the world. We would never ever harm each other... I was cutting myself after he found me in our room about to do drugs with a call girl and rightly said I wasn't good enough for him. I lost it and he saved my life.

I am glad she cleared that up. WOW.

This Rolling Stone cover story a few months ago pretty much predicted some drug induced crazy event was bound to happen between these two.

Sucks Winehouse is such a junkie because she is an amazing singer. And the paparazzi thinks Lohan has a problem? Winehouse is Kurt Kobain, circa female/2007. I guess that would make Blake, Courtney Love. Perfect.

The Fight
Their Crazy Night in SoHo
Text Messages
Rolling Stone Cover Story

Mac Gs World

City Boyz Inc. Part 2

My original post on the City Boyz Inc. was picked up by a few blogs out there. Major Props to everyone for the coverage. I felt the need to update the story since new developments have taken place.

Another Day in the Life of the C B I.

Two days after my CBI post, The Des Moines Register, Iowa's largest newspaper, followed up by printing the CBI's pictures from Dominique Douglas's(Dougie Fresh) Facebook page. This could this be the first time a paper has actually published pictures that originated from a social network site in their print edition.

The MSM media is ALWAYS late to the party.
See Mike Vick and ProFootball Talk, See US Attorney firing scandal and Talking Points Memo

I am sure this action by the Register could be debated in a J school ethics class somewhere. Then again, Friday afternoon class? That is a good one. Right now, students are still recovering from their Thursday night booze back to class booze binges and realizing that the only way to cure their hangovers will be to hit up a bar for some FACing. (Friday After Class)

Damn, I really miss cheap beer and dumb hot coeds.

Back to the CBI, the Iowa Athletic Department announced they would investigate the pictures. Some Hack writer named Brian Morelli from the Iowa City Press Citizen newspaper (ICPC) dug up dirt on other Hawkeye football players Facebook profiles.

For those of you not informed on Iowa City, the student newspaper, The Daily Iowan, blows the Press Citizen out of the water. Its not even close and the ICPC is probably the 3rd most read paper in the city, behind the CR Gazette.

Mr. Morelli's invigorating tabloid research turned up, get this, are you ready? Brace yourself, College kids in pictures with alcohol! S T F U!

Two photos show players drinking shots of alcohol. Another photo shows a player "shotgunning" a beer. In another, a player and a group of friends are posing in front of someone vomiting. One shows a player posing next to a table of liquor bottles. Two photos show players holding someone up during a keg stand. Another photo shows a player sitting beside four pitchers of beer.

Shotgun? NO WAY! Suspend that dude immediately! Beer Bong is the way to go. If only John Kerry could go back in time. Since there will not be one fan drinking alcohol outside a college football game this fall (YEAH RIGHT!), no players age 18-20 are allowed to EVER drink any alcohol. They can vote or serve in Iraq but no one can drink a PBR.

All right, can you handle one more ground breaking nugget from this potential Pulitzer winning scribe ? Cool. The players Facebook profiles contained these immature tasteless quotes.

"She can't say no if her mouth is taped shut. If you send me back to jail, I'll rape your family."

Football players act like meat heads? Really. I see no real harm in college kids putting dumb quotes on their Myspace and Facebook pages at futile attempts at humor. Lighten Up.

Mr. Morelli not only soiled the literary world with more trash journalism, he also tried to bust the players by sending the pictures he found to the Iowa's AD department. I echo the sentiments of the Hawkeye Compulsion. F U DUDE!

Head Coach Kirk Ferentz responded to the arrests in an interview on ESPN's college football live. Basically Ferentz wants the legal things to play out and the players have told him a different version than what the authorities have charged. Hawkeye Compulsion reads between the lines of Kirk's words to decipher that Ferentz does not believe them but wants a court to decide.

I have no idea what the 2 accused players' version could be other than the cards were not stolen and they were authorized to purchase the merchandise. It is a possibility but 2K seems pretty excessive for some dorm nerd to allow a few ballers to charge up some new gear. Lucky for them that this is not Guantanamo and they will have their day in court.

An article in the Cedar Rapids Gazette sheds lights into the fact that most of these type of fraud cases have a low conviction rate. This is good legal news for the 2 members of the CBI.

Spanning a six-year period ending in 2006, 39 people were charged with the same crime, but only two were convicted of it. Almost half - 19 - were acquitted or had charges dismissed, and nine were convicted of lesser charges. The other nine were not convicted or tried for the crime.

Dougie Fresh left a comment about his recent arrest on his facebook page before it was shut down.

"Domo Cbi Dougis realizing who his fam is n who's not, its been speculations going around n alot people dont no nothing....but its cool he no he gon b str8..."

I am reassured 2 no that Domo Cbi Dougis gon 2 b str8. Enough Said. Next Saturday can not come fast enough. GO HAWKS!

UPDATE: Press Conference from Today. Ferentz wishes his players looked at their game plans as much as facebook. Some player met his fiance on Facebook and still no word if she was first poked. Mr. Morelli can you investigate?

City Boyz Inc. Part One
Register Prints Facebook Pictures
Awful Cheap Journalist
PC Hack
Ferentz interview on ESPN
Reading Between the Lines on Ferentz Quotes
Fraud Charges Easy to Beat
Ferentz Press Conference
Hawkeye player might have Facebook poked his way to a lifetime partner
The pure existence of Guantanamo spits on our Constitution and loses us needed world respect/credibility.

Mac Gs World

"Is the Camera On?"

I need a robe and this awesome video proves that it is required to be a dirty old man.
Thanks to The Big Lead for the tip. I have similar feelings towards Rupert Murdoch.

Mac Gs World

I heart the 90s

One of the main focuses of this blog was to highlight the pop culture of my favorite decade, the 90s! I heart the 90s will become a regular feature.

The historic disaster known as Iraq has distracted me from this endeavor. SEND OUR TROOPS HOME PLEASE! The SURGE IS NOT "WORKING," and REPEAT, WE WILL NEVER, EVER "WIN" AN OCCUPATION! All the PR Spin is not going to change anything or keep the Sunnis/Shiites from blowing each other up. This is all about protecting GBush's legacy/ego and kicking the can down the road until January 09. This is not about what is right for our country/military.

Real leadership is recognizing when you made a mistake, cut your losses and move on. Bush should stop throwing good money after bad. Bush and Cheney are like 2 compulsive gamblers at a casino, constantly going to the ATM, thinking their luck will turn on the next hand or roulette spin. This type of behavior never works out well for gamblers. Too bad with our foreign policy, the money is ours, the tax payers, and the casino chips are American lives.

Sorry for the caps and rant, I feel much better. It had to come out, just like about four of my bullets need to fire away. WINK, WINK, Miss So Bell.

Back to the 1990s. The 90s brought us cheesy dance music, great movies and TV shows(Seinfeld, Pulp Fiction, etc.), and mainstream birth of the Internet/email. The best decade EVER fueled the explosion of the Hip Hop and Alternative/Grunge scenes. No more sappy love ballads of burnt out 80s big hair bands.

Doc Martens, Capri/Zubaz pants, Super Nintendo, High Fade Haircuts, Starter Jackets, Overalls, Wearing hats with the tags still on them and the Fanny Pack. I have plenty more 90's cultural references but I need to save them for later.

The 90s slang included: "Fresh, Tight, Wicked, Who's Your Daddy, Chill Out, and
every teenage girls favorite, "Whatever." I like using, "the Shit or the Shiznit."

Got it, Mofo? I love NeoCons, NOT!

Check out these videos to get your Friday started. I gotta Bounce. Mac G.

PS. Yes, I am a dork. Happy Friday Fockers.

Mac Gs World

Thursday, August 23, 2007

America to the Resuce

My main man Jon Stewart brings it again in this video. He sums up America's historic WAY Fd up policy in the middle east. The so called foreign policy experts sure know how to continually contradict themselves in messed up policy decisions. OVER and OVER. It makes you wonder why the Arabs hate the West/America?

He forgot to mentioned that the CIA took over Iran's democratically elected government in 1953 and put in its place a monarchy ruled by the Shah.

In 1979, the Iranian Revolution over threw The Shah led by Ayatollah Khomeini. The new Iranian government took 55 American hostages. The 444 day crisis not only put a dagger in to any chance of a Jimmy Carter 2nd term presidency but the Iranian/US relations have been frost bite chilly ever since. Pretty much non existent. America's support of Saddam's Iraq over Iran in their 8 year war did not help things either.

My favorite part is the subtle dig about the 9/11 Saudi hijackers. 15 of the 19 hijackers responsible for the 9/11 attacks were Saudis. This fact gets overlooked by the media time and time again.

Almost half of the attacks US troops currently face in Iraq are caused by Saudis entering Iraq. Saudis make up the majority of the suicide bombers as well.

When was the last time that you heard the Bush Administration mention that? It is always Al Queda and Iran. Al Queda and Iran, repeat rinse.

Where is the pressure on the Saudi government to crack down on their own citizens killing US troops? I guess the pressure is called giving them 20 billion dollars in weapons. Watch and Enjoy.

Mac Gs World

Sports Link Whore

Brevity or sobriety have never been strong points of mine. Here are some links that have been rattling around in Mac G's World.

NBA and NHL could soon be located a team in Vegas as plans for building 20k seat arena are moving award. I was always told that big time Casinos did not want sports teams in Vegas because it would take time away from people gambling. I hear they give free drinks away on purpose(Awesome), pump oxygen into casinos floors and bust people for counting cards. I love a good casino conspiracy story as it shifts blame away from my shitty luck and gambling ability. (100% Injury Rate)

One of the few things that the 4 Letter does right is cover college football. I think ESPN's 25 hour college preview show is a move in the wrong direction. Its about as dumb as having 3 channels dedicated to one game with different camera angles as they did with Miami/FSU last season or 2 seasons ago. I forget because I am still dizzy just thinking about it. (Foul Balls)
This could not be a blog without ripping the 4 Letter. Did you happen to catch the ESPN fantasy draft? More stupid programming I could care less about but at least be able to draft right. Shaun Alexander at 13? Moronic. He slides to 5-8 at WORST! Do not look for advice for these guys about anything in fantasy. They are just jumping on the popularity wave and have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. Awful Announcing and Winning the Turnover Battle have break downs of the draft debacle.
Porn is equated into the Baseball playoffs race. NOW, MLB has my attention. SPANK BANKALICIOUS! (Doberman on the Diamond)
Golf enthusiasts read this carefully, a blind woman shot a hole in one! She performed this accomplishment in a steady rain too! Pardon me while I go torch my clubs! (Lion In Oil)
The Little League World Series has been growing on me over the past week. I love when the kids get so amped instantly and in a flash will be super sad over one play. You rarely get either of those emotions in sports. As a sports fan, I am just either super pissed my team lost or relieved they did not choke the game away. It is very rarely that I am really happy or sad. Aside from ogling for sideline announcer eye candy, my favorite part has been the pregame introductions where the kids state their favorite MLB player. AROD, Jeter, Ichiro, Vlad, Pujols, Manny, Ortiz were the players most frequently mentioned, regardless of where the team was located. Even the Maryland team had more kids listing Yankees as their favorite players over the Orioles. Thanks Angelos. Creating a generation of Yankee fans in your own back yard! I did notice the tremendous lack of minority players on the US teams. Only 1.5 out of 100 players. Can I get Gary Shefflied's thoughts on this? (Say Hey Blog)
Obviously my sports fan emotions of anger combined with benevolence displays the total lack of enjoyment one will get following the teams that I do. One of my favorite baseball teams, the Baltimore Orioles(Thanks Dad for the Brainwash!) just gave up 30 runs last night! Most runs allowed in 107 FN Years! I turned on the game just in time to see a 3 run shot to make it 30-3.This was the first game of a double header and they lost 9-7 in the nightcap. 39 runs in 2 games and swept by the lowly Rangers. Quick name me 5 Rangers? Exactly. This was the first official game for the Orioles' manager Dave Trembley, who just had his interim tag removed by signing for the 2008 season. Another crazy note is in the 30 run debacle, the Rangers pitcher recorded a save because he finished the last 3 innings. Complete Orioles Coverage of the Futility. (Oriole Post) (Camden Chat) (Oriole Magic) (Orioles Hangout) (Mister Irrelevant)
Dreamboat is now a proud Baby Daddy of a Boy. Actress Mom and future HOF QB dad, man this kid has a rough future ahead of him. (The Big Lead)
This blog compares the SEC to Characters on Arrested Development. One of the best TV shows ever and of course no one watched. I would insert my usual joke about Dixie's lack of racial and progressive openness, poke fun at their low educational scores, and highlight their unusual combination of loving Jesus Christ and Nascar. I will pass, this blog is too damn funny and they are pretty good at college football. STEVE HOLT! "I've made a huge mistake!" "Let me give that oatmeal some brown sugar!" "It aint easy being white, It aint easy being brown." Franklin RULZ! (The Joe Cribbs Car Wash)

Mac Gs World

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Breaking News: Maria Sharapova is NOT a Dead Frog in the Sack and Adam Levine is Still a Raging DBAG

I was scanning one my favorite sports blog yesterday 100% Injury Rate (actually pimping my CBInc post too, thanks dude!) and I almost cried when reading this headline:

"Maria is not good in bed."

Noooooooooooooooooooooo WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!

Not my Maria!! NO NO NO!

A bolt of SHUT THE F^&$ UP went through my body. It was like I was an uber religious person and someone had proof that the bible was made up. Or I had the same feeling that a dog loving Mike Vick Falcons fan must have had when they read Monday's "Vick to plead guilty" headline. I do not know. I was too distraught to come up with any more weak A$ metaphors. Not my Maria. NO Fn WAY!

Here are the reported quotes from Maria's ex-lover, Maroon 5 front man, Adam Levine.

"She wouldn't make any noise during sex," Levine said. "I can't tell you how disappointed I was. I really thought, like a lot of guys, that she'd be the loud screaming type. But instead, she just lay there like a dead frog. She even got angry if I started to moan, said it 'ruined her concentration.' It was so disillusioning that I went on Paxil for a month afterwards. Really, it was much more of a shock than when I found out there's no such thing as the Easter Bunny."

All of my fantasy dreams had just been erased. Similar to the time I had Best Buy fix my computer screen on my laptop and they ended up erasing my hard drive. I still boycott them and Circuit City gets most of my techie coin.

Anyway, not only is my Maria screwing some B-rate garage band loser, she now sucks in bed? Why smear frogs and the Easter Bunny too? Leave them out of it. Levine is going to pay for his vicious sour grapes!

I was ready to pull out some GOP Dick Cheney/Karl Rove style GOP attack on Levine's credibility. When you do not like the facts of the message, just attack the messenger and SMEAR AWAY BABY! CIA Agent what? Handicap Veteran Senator Who?

Levine was going to pay. As soon as could I type Levine and douche into a google search, I came upon this site.

It turns out the Russian website did a parody on Levine's quotes and it is not true!!

I was so willing to trust US magazine on this one and I guess the "I went on Paxil" line was a dead give away.

However, Levine is still a dbag and his band sucks. Besides his shitty radio music, some 11 year old playing in the LLWS said Maroon 5 was his favorite band. Enough said. Levine has the Nickelodeon demographic down pat!

As for the Maria scare, WHEW!! Please resume Maria fantasies and afternoon Spank Bank deposits in 1.....2.......3.

Vicious Maria Rumors
Russian Gossip Mag
Cele Bitchy
US Magazine made me REALLY excited again

Mac Gs World

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

City Boyz Inc.

(Anthony Bowman and Arvell Nelson)

I had an awful case of the Mondays after news broke that 2 players of my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes, Freshman All American WR Dominique Douglas and backup WR Anthony Bowman, had been arrested and suspended from the football team. These morons are accused of using a stolen credit card from a resident in their dorm to purchase merchandise online from stores Hat World, C&E Fashions and Sneakerhead .

The 2 thousand dollars worth of goods were then shipped to an address in Detroit, the hometown of both players. The illegal activity was traced back to them because they had made the purchases from University computer labs, which they had logged into with their individual IDs to use. UNBELIEVABLE! How stupid are these guys?

Of course the story does not stop there. Pictures from Douglas's Facebook profile soon circulated to online Hawkeye fan message boards and they clearly did not assist in their potential PR/legal battles whatsoever. The pictures showed the 2 accused, along with other teammates, QB Arvell Nelson and WR James Cleveland, flashing large amounts of "straight cash homey" around and empty bottles of vodka. These players are part of a self titled group called, "City Boys Inc."

Unsubstantiated rumors started to fly that other members of the CBI would be implicated in the scandal and could face suspension. This had the possibility to wipe out a majority of the Hawkeyes' WR core and the promising freshman backup QB(Nelson).

My Hawkeye sources have confirmed that no more players will be charged in the crime. Authorities are satisfied with charging just the 2 main orchestrator's and not CBI members, who might have ended up with a 30 dollar green camo Yankees lid!

Other players in the CBI have still been practicing and might face internal discipline by the coaching staff. This is all speculation but after you see these photos, I am sure there has to be some guilt by CBI association from Coach Ferentz.

My thoughts on this:

2 thousand dollars? That's it? I could have reached into the depths on my Hawkeye alumni connections to come up with that scratch in no time. Especially for the one of the team's biggest offensive play makers in Dougie Fresh(Douglas). Ohio State and USC players must be laughing at this story.
Facebook and Myspace are pure evil. I have recently read about employers checking these social sites before hiring potential employees and a teacher not getting her education degree because of a photo she had on her myspace page. DO NOT put incriminating photos on the Internet period. College athletes at a major school flashing money around is going to naturally raise suspicion. I believe the drinking age is BS and we have far greater problems in this country/world than 19-20 year olds drinking alcohol (Iraq war comes to mind) but it is still illegal and do not advertise it on the web!!
This column on Hawkeye Nation argues for a second chance under the "boys will be boys" argument. I agree that young adults make dumb decisions in college, usually under the influence on alcohol. I made too many to count. These guys do deserve second chance at furthering their education and possibly allowing them to play college football again. However, if they plead guilty to these charges, their football careers at the University of Iowa should be over. It sets a bad precedent to the other players on the team and this type of behavior has to have severe consequences. Have fun playing Juco and MAC ball!
I wanted to purchase a 88 Douglas jersey and he was one of the few players that I was excited to watch this upcoming season. Douglas now becomes the 4th expected contributing player for the 2007 season that has recently left the program.(Bain, Wilson, Greene). Has Iowa football now become Iowa Hoops with their usual player exodus? Can I still blame Super Steve Alford?

Hawk fans, See Ya at Solider field for the opener. In heaven, I am going to need a keg of beer!

UPDATE: Iowa's AD, Garty Barta, is going to investigate these photos to see if they have been photoshopped or not. Um, OK? They were taken directly from Dougie Fresh's Facebook profile and posted on to this fan message board from one of his facebook "friends." The message thread has since been deleted by the administrators of the board. Its back up!

Are people in power really this out of touch with simple computer programs? The photos below are obviously members of the City Boyz Inc. No one has doctored them.