Blogrophenia: The Reverend Aton's Site

Philo in Love and Blue blue and I'm still ho hum. . .

Well we certainly saw some action this weekend in the world of MLB. For Philo and his fellow Cubs fans things couldn't be better, their team essentially got future HoFer Nomar Garciaparra for basically nothing. For Mets fans things just went from bad to worse as Wilpon and the boys made a complete 180 degree turn with regard to their express philosophy of going with youth by trading away the future for two mediocre pitchers. Unless they know something we don't these trades look almost crazy. For a team that is sub .500 should not be trading prospects at the deadline, it should be collecting them. As for my Yanks -- yawn -- we didn't get RJ (which is just as well so I don't have to hear any bitching) and basically traded one guy you won't see start in the playoffs for another guy you won't see start in the playoffs. That said I think Loaiza has more upside than Contreras who I believe is in Ricky Henderson's age group (actually I think Ricky looks younger). It's a crapshoot come October to some extent and I don't see anyone taking the AL East besides New York. . . I feel good. . .

I LOVE having Paul LoDuca in SoFla (although I will miss Hee Seop a bit). We have a shot at another Florida-NY matchup this fall (although even I might give that up to see Chicago-Boston). Giddyup. . .

We Will Rock You,
Moses

Kerry's speech was very very impressive, this speech may give him the momentum that will lead him to a victory in November, I was thinking that going first was going to be a disadvantage, but now I no longer think so.  For a full text of the speech click on the below, here was my favorite part:

And let me say it plainly: in that cause, and in this campaign, we welcome people of faith. America is not us and them. I think of what Ron Reagan said of his father a few weeks ago, and I want to say this to you tonight: I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side. And whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country.

Marathon Training Update
 
Six miles Monday.  Two Tuesday.   Six Wednesday.  Thursday off.  Six miles Friday -- hopefully!!

DNC Review from last night: Obama has a  bright future maybe he could even be VP for Edwards's 2012 run?  Wishful thinking. . .

Teresa's a little weird in my opinion.  She made me nervous at first, I was worried about what she might say.  It was a little odd when she walked out and told her sons she loved them and that their father would be proud of them, but the speech ended up being ok. 

I look forward to hearing Edwards tonight.

Times are strange and times have changed;
Here I come but I ain't the same,
Moses

Clinton's speech was so powerful it practically brought me to tears. . .

For a laugh read Martha Stewart's letter to the judge. . .

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?
A nation turns it's lonely eyes to you, 
Moses

I promise that I will do a better job at posting this week than I did last week, but I continue to be swamped.  That said here are some thoughts:

- The fireworks in Boston this week were exciting.  A-Rod really showed me something there.  I love him even more now. 

- I am looking forward to the DNC this week and intend to follow it closely.  Clinton speaks tomorrow.  I hope his speech is better than his book which I have already put down.  It's sooooo boring. . .

- Went 3-3 at gay softball including the game winning walkoff RBI, even though it probably should have been caught by the RFer.  Made a few nice catches in CF. . .

- I want to do four six miles runs this week before the weekend and one long run during the weekend.  . .

- I can't believe how bad Ricky Williams is screwing the Dolphins.  Still it's hard to feel bad for So Fla fans who've beaten the Yankees in the last World Series and seen their Heat get Shaq.   I have been seriously thinking about moving to Miami. . .

- I haven't seen it yet but I have it on TiVo and I hear that the Gatti win was commanding. .

- Lance wins another (to quote SportsCenter: "Yes Sheryll he's tough enough to be your man". . .

- I may be waking a sleeping giant here (that means you Blue) but Reyes looked great on Sunday, including an impressive at bat in the fifth in my opinion because hit a foul balst to deep  left and then singled the other way a few pitched later.  Impressive for such a young kid. . .

- Saratoga starts Wednesday. . .

Exciting days ahead. . .

You never heard it;
Not a word of it,
Moses

Some thoughts:

Yet another reason to do as much as you can to get Kerry elected, several SC Justices are very close to stepping down. Three more Bush appointees would be an absolute disaster.  Imagine how much progress may be erased.   Brown v Board of Ed may be reversed. 

Kedwards is in NYC tomorrow. . .

The Clinton book is hard to get through.  And I am fascinated by the guy.  .  .

The last Jay Z album which I just got around to finally getting is great.

The Mets second half collapse may have begun, they just dropped two to the Marlins who have been slumping. . .

Yanks meet the Jays, for the first time this year tomorrow night. . .

Anyone notice how Seinfeld's girlfriends got hotter and hotter as the show went on?  On the episode on right now he's dating Amanda Peete, yeah right like that goon would ever score a chick like her.  Well, I guess if he threw his money around, but on the show he's supposed to be a middle class comedian. . .

Substitute, me for him,
Moses

I don't know if any of this is true or not but I got it in an e-mail and I thought I'd post it in the interest of equal time:
 
Fahrenheit Lie #1National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice is depicted in the movie telling a reporter, "Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11." The scene deceptively shows the Administration directly blaming Saddam and his regime for the attacks on 9/11 by taking her comments out of context. Now read the entire statement made by Ms. Rice to the reporter: "Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It's not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11. But if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that led people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York." (CBS News, November 28, 2003 Interview) Fahrenheit Lie #2 In the film, Moore leads viewers to believe that members of bin Laden's family were allowed to exit the country after the attacks without questioning by authorities. The September 11th commission, on the other hand, reported that 22 of the 26 people on the flight that took most of the bin Laden family out of the country were interviewed and found to be innocent of suspicion. (Sumana Chatterjee and David Golstein, "Analyzing 'Fahrenheit 9/11': It's Accurate To A Degree," Seattle Times, 07/05/04) The commission reported that "each of the flights we have studied was investigated by the FBI and dealt with in a professional manner prior to its departure." Fahrenheit Lie #3Moore claims that James Bath, a friend of President Bush from his time with the Texas Air National Guard, might have funneled bin Laden money to an unsuccessful Bush oil-drilling firm called Arbusto Energy. Bill Allison, managing editor for the Center for Public Integrity (an independent watchdog group in Washington, D.C.), on the other hand, said, "We looked into bin Laden money going to Arbusto, and we never found anything to back that up," (Sumana Chatterjee and David Golstein, "Analyzing 'Fahrenheit 9/11': It's Accurate To A Degree," Seattle Times, 07/05/04)Fahrenheit Lie #4The movie claims that the Bush administration "supported closing veterans hospitals." "The Department of Veterans Affairs did propose closing seven hospitals in areas with declining populations where the hospitals were underutilized, and whose veterans could be served by other hospitals" (Dave Kopel, Independence Institute, "Fifty-nine Deceits In Fahrenheit 9/11," http://i2i.org/ Accessed, 07/11/04) But Moore's film fails to mention that the Department also proposed building new hospitals in areas where needs were growing, and also proposed building blind rehabilitation centers and spinal cord injury centers (News Release, Department of Veterans Affairs, www.va.gov, 10/24/03) Fahrenheit Lie #5Conspiracy theories abound about the reasons for the War on Terror, but none is more outlandish than the one propagandized in Moore's film: that the Afghan war was fought solely to enable the Unocal company to build an oil pipeline (the plan for which was abandoned by the company in 1998). Moore "suggests that one of the first official acts of Afghan President Hamid Karzai ... was to help seal a deal for ... Unocal to build an oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan to the Indian Ocean. It alleges that Karzai had been a Unocal consultant." (emphasis added) (Sumana Chatterjee and David Golstein, "Analyzing 'Fahrenheit 9/11': It's Accurate To A Degree," Seattle Times, 07/05/04) Unocal spokesman, Barry Lane, says unequivocally, "Karzai was never, in any capacity, an employee, consultant or a consultant of a consultant," and Unocal never had a plan to build a Caspian Sea pipeline. (Sumana Chatterjee and David Golstein, "Analyzing 'Fahrenheit 9/11': It's Accurate To A Degree," Seattle Times, 07/05/04) Moore mentions that the Taliban visited Texas while President Bush was governor to discuss a potential project with Unocal. While Moore implies that then-Governor Bush met with the Taliban, no such meeting occurred. The Taliban delegation did, however, meet with the Clinton Administration on this visit. (Matt Labash, "Un-Moored From Reality; Fahrenheit 9/11 Connects Dots That Aren't There," Weekly Standard, July 5-July 12 Issue) Fahrenheit Lie #6Even readily available figures are exaggerated for effect in Fahrenheit 9/11. The claims have a basis in reality, making them believable, but are false nonetheless. In the film, Moore asks Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud, "How much money do the Saudis have invested in America, roughly?" to which Unger responds, "Uh, I've heard figures as high as $860 billion." The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy reports that worldwide Saudi investment approximated $700 billion - a figure much lower than Unger alleges the Saudi government to have invested in the U.S. (Tanya C. Hsu, Institute For Research: Middle Eastern Policy, "The United States Must Not Neglect Saudi Arabian Investment," www.irmep.org, Accessed 07/11/04) The Institute reports that 60 percent of that $700 billion - roughly $420 billion, less than half of what Unger "heard" - was actually invested in the United States by the Saudi government.Fahrenheit Lie #7"Moore's film suggests that [President] Bush has close family ties to the bin Laden family - principally through [President] Bush's father's relationship with the Carlyle Group, a private investment firm. The president's father, George H.W. Bush, was a senior adviser to the Carlyle Group's Asian affiliate until recently; members of the bin Laden family - who own one of Saudi Arabia's biggest construction firms - had invested $2 million in a Carlyle Group fund. Bush Sr. and the bin Ladens have since severed ties with the Carlyle Group, which in any case has a bipartisan roster of partners, including Bill Clinton's former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt. The movie quotes author Dan Briody claiming that the Carlyle Group 'gained' from September 11 because it owned United Defense, a military contractor. Carlyle Group spokesman Chris Ullman notes that United Defense holds a special distinction among U.S. defense contractors that is not mentioned in Moore's movie: the firm's $11 billion Crusader artillery rocket system developed for the U.S. Army is one of the only weapons systems canceled by the Bush administration." (Dave Kopel, Independence Institute, "Fifty-nine Deceits In Fahrenheit 9/11," http://i2i.org/ Accessed, 07/11/04) "There is another famous investor in Carlyle whom Moore does not reveal: George Soros. But the fact that the anti-Bush billionaire [Soros] has invested in Carlyle would detract from Moore's simplistic conspiracy theory." (Dave Kopel, Independence Institute, "Fifty-nine Deceits In Fahrenheit 9/11," http://i2i.org/ Accessed, 07/11/04) Fahrenheit Lie #8Not revealing relevant facts is dishonest enough. But to paint the Bush Administration as sympathetic and friendly to the Taliban prior to September 11, is not only dishonest, but maliciously so. Moore shows film of a March 2001 visit to the United States by a Taliban delegation, claiming that the Administration "welcomed" the Taliban official, Sayed Hashemi, "to tour the United States to help improve the image of the Taliban." But the Administration did not welcome the Taliban with open arms. In fact, the State Department rejected the Taliban's claim that it had complied with U.S. requests to isolate bin Laden. To demonstrate even further the Administration's contempt for the Taliban and its illegitimacy, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher - on the day of the terrorist regime's visit - said, "We don't recognize any government in Afghanistan." Fahrenheit Lie #9Moore does more than simply downplay the threat posed to the U.S. by the former Hussein regime in Iraq. He goes so far as to assert that Saddam "never threatened to attack the United States." If by "attack the United States" one interprets this claim to mean that Saddam never threatened to send troops to the United States, then Mr. Moore has a point. But Saddam Hussein clearly sought to attack the United States within his own sphere of influence, even though he didn't have the resources to attack U.S. soil from his side of the world: o On November 15, 1997, "the main propaganda organ for the Saddam regime, the newspaper Babel (which was run by Saddam Hussein's son Uday), ordered: 'American and British interests, embassies, and naval ships in the Arab region should be the targets of military operations and commando attacks by Arab political forces.'" (Dave Kopel, Independence Institute, "Fifty-nine Deceits In Fahrenheit 9/11," http://i2i.org/ Accessed, 07/11/04)In addition, "Iraqi forces fired, every day, for 10 years, on the aircraft that patrolled the no-fly zones and staved off further genocide in the north and south of the country," (Source: New York Times, 12/1/03). Saddam Hussein also provided safe haven to terrorists who killed Americans, like Abu Nidal; funded suicide bombers in Israel who certainly killed Americans; and ran the Iraqi police, which plotted to assassinate former President George Bush. 
 

Day Ten of Marathon Training

Just ran five and a half miles. I'm breathing easily and feeling good. I hate the rain.

A nuclear error, but I have no fear,
Moses

Day Nine of Marathon Training

Going to have to take another day off from running. My legs are killing me and I can hardly walk. I thought the subway stairs were going to kill me this morning. There is no way I can run, I am actually doubtful for tomorrow too.

So there's a lot of controversy aboutJadakiss's new song "Why?" check out the lyrics and judge for yourself. Let me know what you think my brothers and sisters. . .

Why they come up wit the witness protection
Why they let the Terminator win the election,
Moses

RIP Weezie

Moses on "The Jeffersons": One of my favorite shows as a kid and part of the golden age of the situation comedy. . .

Well we're movin on up;,
To the east side;
To a deluxe apartment in the sky,
Moses

Sad story out of Australia today of a surfer bitten in half. As a jet skier, a former part time power surfer, a swimmer, a boater, an avid fisherman and as a fellow man of the sea, I salute my departed friend.


you don't have to stray
the oceans away
waves roll in my thoughts
hold tight the ring...
the sea will rise...
please stand by the shore...
Moses

A Bronx Tale

(or Day Seven of Marathon Training)

Today as part of my marathon training, I decided to run the Bronx half marathon. At 6:15, I grabbed Yoko, to whom I dedicated my effort, and headed up the Bronics for my first ever official NYRR Race: The Bronx Half Marathon. At 13.1 miles it was much longer than any of the runs that I have been doing lately.

The race started at about 8:10 and by about 8:30 I was wondering what the Hell I had gotten myself into. I also cursed myself for having had partied lately a little more than I should have been knowing that I had this Bronx behemoth staring me down. I was feeling lousy, kinda dizzy and most of all I was wondering why the Hell I had decided to do any of this. And to make things worse the Greek guy at the diner across from my apartment clearly had no idea what the Hell "a lightly buttered toasted bagel" was consequently I had a butter bomb in my stomach on top of everything else. All of a sudden though, I looked up from run and was shocked to see the 3 mile sign. I was thrilled!! Three miles!! I was almost a quarter done and to make things even better I hear someone say that we're only about 25 minutes into it! I am making good time as well. I am happy but already tired and by little nicotine scarred lungs are burning. I run some more. At this point I at about 45 minutes and five miles into the race - I am reaching the outer limits of my training, I begin to walk. A few minutes after I start walking I feel an arm on my back, "Come on brother". I am encouraged. "How nice" I think to myself. One man helping his brother I begin running again, but shortly thereafter the thrill is gone. I start walking again. A few minutes after I start walking I am passed by a guy with long gray hair in a pony tail. I am tired now and very dizzy. "I like George Carlin" I think to myself. I am, by now, only capable of short thoughts. I then look down at the back of his shirt as he pulls away from me, "80 and still running" I am inspired I pick up the pace. I see Yoko and throw her my shirt. As I am picking up the I feel that same hand on my back, "Fight the pain brother". I nod at him. Who was this guy and why was he always encouraging me and yet ALWAYS coming up from behind me? "Bad man" I think to myself. I am approaching the seventh mile and Mr."80 and still running" is pulling away from me. I am angry and hurting. My lungs are on fire my right hip hurts and my left calf is tight. I then see a truly nasty sight. Some overweight guy in a wrestling singlet (basically a tank top connected to shorts and skintight) is gaining on me to my right. I find him appalling. "Bad man, ugly, gross" I think to myself in my primitive "all power from brain is being re-routed to my legs body" mustering and extra word or out of sheer revulsion. I speed up and ahead and away. I begin to wonder to myself why he is wearing that, but immediately reconsider and stop. Dumb brain: "Don't be mean. . . God". . . I then make a deal with God that if He can deliver me safely across the finish line that I will spend an hour that night praying and meditating. I see Yoko's friend lapping me, "HEY TOBY!!" I yell at her as she passes me at an obscene speed.

Suddenly, I hear someone say to someone else "About seven and a half". I am shocked. How is that I've only covered half a mile. Things slow down considerably. I begin to lose it by seven and three quarters I have no thoughts at all and begin to hear myself yelling strange things at the people watching and cheering. "Viva Puerto Rico!!!" I yell at some guys with PR flags, as I hear myself saying I realize that I am stirring them into a frenzy. I realize that I have lost it. I see the Eight Mile sign. I think of Eminem and later hear myself rapping his song "Square Dance" out loud. As I am rapping away and closing in on the ninth mile. I feel that arm AGAIN on my back. "Hang in there" I hear him say. "Get stuffed" I hear myself to him. He gives me a dirty look and speeds along. I am now swearing repeatedly and loudly. I turn my anger on an innocent bystander in a Red Sox hat, "Get a Yankee hat you're in the Bronx brothaaaaaaaaaaaa" I am closing in on ten miles. I am now keeping pace with a Rastafarian with dreads down to his waist. The rest is really just a blur, the next thing I know I am talking to Yoko and she's telling me how proud of me she is.

I feel good. I head home and then to gay softball. I end up going 4 for 5 with a walk. I make a nice play in CF but also bobble a few balls.

Life is good. I finish my first week of training with a respectacable 24.1 miles under my belt and I have run my first half marathon is an unimpressive, but not embarrassing 2:20ish. I am sore and tired but at least I get tomorrow off from running!

Believe it or not,
I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free-.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me,
Moses

As promised ladies and gentlemen, the following is special guest blog by the ultimate Blogrophenia guest blogger, the great Pete Townshend:

7 July 2004
Fahrenheit Moore or Less

Back to Diary Dates
Michael Moore has been making some claims – mentioning me by name - which I believe distort the truth.

He says – among other things – that I refused to allow him to use my song WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN in his latest film, because I support the war, and that at the last minute I recanted, but he turned me down. I have never hidden the fact that at the beginning of the war in Iraq I was a supporter. But now, like millions of others, I am less sure we did the right thing.

When first approached I knew nothing about the content of his film FAHRENHEIT 911. My publisher informed me they had already refused the use of my song in principle because MIRAMAX the producers offered well below what the song normally commands for use in a movie. They asked me if I wanted to ask for more money, I told them no.

Nevertheless, as a result of my refusal to consider the use, Harvey Weinstein – a good friend of mine, and my manager Bill Curbishley – interceded personally, explained in more detail to Bill what the movie was about, and offered to raise the bid very substantially indeed. This brought the issue directly to me for the first time. Bill emailed me and told me how keen Harvey and Michael Moore were to use my song.

At this point I emailed Bill (and he may have passed the essence of what I said to Harvey Weinstein) that I had not really been convinced by BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, and had been worried about its accuracy; it felt to me like a bullying film. Out of courtesy to Harvey I suggested that if he and Moore were determined to have me reconsider, I should at least get a chance to see a copy of the new film. I knew that with Cannes on the horizon, time was running short for them, and this might not be possible. I never received a copy of the film to view. At no time did I ask Moore or Miramax to reconsider anything. Once I had an idea what the film was about I was 90% certain my song was not right for them.

I believe that in the same email to my publisher and manager that contained this request to see the film I pointed out that WGFA is not an unconditionally anti-war song, or a song for or against revolution. It actually questions the heart of democracy: we vote heartily for leaders who we subsequently always seem to find wanting. (WGFA is a song sung by a fictional character from my 1971 script called LIFEHOUSE. The character is someone who is frightened by the slick way in which truth can be twisted by clever politicians and revolutionaries alike). I suggested in the email that they might use something by Neil Young, who I knew had written several songs of a more precise political nature, and is as accessible as I am. Moore himself takes credit for this idea, and I have no idea whether my suggestion reached him, but it was the right thing to do.

I have nothing against Michael Moore personally, and I know Roger Daltrey is a friend and fan of his, but I greatly resent being bullied and slurred by him in interviews just because he didn’t get what he wanted from me. It seems to me that this aspect of his nature is not unlike that of the powerful and wilful man at the centre of his new documentary. I wish him all the best with the movie, which I know is popular, and which I still haven’t seen. But he’ll have to work very, very hard to convince me that a man with a camera is going to change the world more effectively than a man with a guitar.

Pete

Some quotes from Kay Moravia's Guest Blog yesterday on Michael Moore:

"I'm not suggesting as some do that somehow moore shouldn't be allowed to criticize, ridicule, present in a documentary film whatever he wants...on the contrary he should not be censored and is exercising his 1st Amendment rights"

"Michael Moore is a talented filmmaker--creative and passionate."

"I respect Moore's talent, success, and ability"

"I have not yet seen F911, though. . .I'm sure the film brings up some interesting points and is entertaining, perhaps even powerful (for example, the clip of an Iraqi woman telling about how her young son was killed)"

"many of us are smart enough to watch a film of this kind and distinguish between fact, fiction, and outright propaganda"

On the Post's Jonathan Foreman who criticized F9/11 harshly: "I'm not a big fan of his. .."

Tomorrow: Pete Townshend on MM. . .

Some quotes from Kay Moravia's Guest Blog yesterday on Michael Moore:

"I'm not suggesting as some do that somehow moore shouldn't be allowed to criticize, ridicule, present in a documentary film whatever he wants...on the contrary he should not be censored and is exercising his 1st Amendment rights"

"Michael Moore is a talented filmmaker--creative and passionate."

"I respect Moore's talent, success, and ability"

"I have not yet seen F911, though. . .I'm sure the film brings up some interesting points and is entertaining, perhaps even powerful (for example, the clip of an Iraqi woman telling about how her young son was killed)"

"many of us are smart enough to watch a film of this kind and distinguish between fact, fiction, and outright propaganda"

On the Post's Jonathan Foreman who criticized F9/11 harshly: "I'm not a big fan of his. .."

Tomorrow: Pete Townshend on MM. . .

Some quotes from Kay Moravia's Guest Blog yesterday on Michael Moore:

"I'm not suggesting as some do that somehow moore shouldn't be allowed to criticize, ridicule, present in a documentary film whatever he wants...on the contrary he should not be censored and is exercising his 1st Amendment rights"

"Michael Moore is a talented filmmaker--creative and passionate."

"I respect Moore's talent, success, and ability"

"I have not yet seen F911, though. . .I'm sure the film brings up some interesting points and is entertaining, perhaps even powerful (for example, the clip of an Iraqi woman telling about how her young son was killed)"

"many of us are smart enough to watch a film of this kind and distinguish between fact, fiction, and outright propaganda"

On the Post's Jonathan Foreman who criticized F9/11 harshly: "I'm not a big fan of his. .."

Tomorrow: Pete Townshend on MM. . .

To sum up Kay Moravia's Guest Blog yesterday on Michael Moore, in his own words:

"I'm not suggesting as some do that somehow moore shouldn't be allowed to criticize, ridicule, present in a documentary film whatever he wants...on the contrary he should not be censored and is exercising his 1st Amendment rights"

"Michael Moore is a talented filmmaker--creative and passionate."

"I respect Moore's talent, success, and ability"

"I have not yet seen F911, though. . .I'm sure the film brings up some interesting points and is entertaining, perhaps even powerful (for example, the clip of an Iraqi woman telling about how her young son was killed)"

"many of us are smart enough to watch a film of this kind and distinguish between fact, fiction, and outright propaganda"

On the Post's Jonathan Foreman who criticized F9/11 harshly: "I'm not a big fan of his. .."

Tomorrow: The great Pete Townshend on Michael Moore (seriously!!)

Thank God for grantin' me this moment of clarity,
Moses

Guest Blog: Kay Moravia on Michael Moore

Today we have a very special guest blog by my good friend Kay Moravia. Kay and I met via in early 2003 through a group discussion with many others on the e-mail string. Eventually, we wore everyone else and it was just he and I. Over the last year and a half or so, I've had the pleasure of hanging out with him in person and twice and consider him a friend and an intellectual sparring partner, although he claims he's a Democrat, he feels more like a moderate to Republican to me (but hey maybe that's me). Recently I asked him to write a guest blog on Michael Moore, as I think I give my readers a one sided perspective on Michael Moore. Judging by this piece, I think he stands a very good shot at becoming a Blogrophenia regular guest blogger, anyway without further ado I present Kay Moravia on Michael Moore:

Let me begin by saying that Michael Moore is a talented filmmaker--creative and passionate.

Let me also say that I have not yet seen F911, though I almost feel like I have--countless clips on television, analysis on news programs, and so forth and so on.

People that know me have heard me say that while I respect Moore's talent, success, and ability, I am not a fan. Why?

First, as a former journalist and current freelancer in media, it irritates me when a film like this is shot as a documentary, and is fully intended to be considered as a documentary in the attempt to mislead. The definition of documentary is a production that is OBJECTIVE and FACTUAL, and we know F911 is seriously lacking in this regard. Any journalist, Bush fan or not, will tell you that it is completely disingenuous to the profession to pass this off as such. It's hardly surprising that Moore has refused to release full transcripts of interviews he conducted for his film, because it would be fairly obvious that he cut, spliced, and took quotes out of context at will.

Now I'm sure the film brings up some interesting points and is entertaining, perhaps even powerful (for example, the clip of an Iraqi woman telling about how her young son was killed) --but I think it is fairly sad, and pathetic, that tens of thousands of people will go and watch this film thinking everything presented is the truth. While many of us are smart enough to watch a film of this kind and distinguish between fact, fiction, and outright propaganda, it is unfortunate that there are plenty of people out there who are just as ignorant as those who follow every whim of the Administration and will blindly accept what they are told. Obviously, Moore knows this and is seizing upon their ignorance to promote his misguided perspective.

In general, I find that it is hypocritical for Moore to blast the Administration for its alleged lies and wanton deception when he is knowingly doing the same thing to promote his message.

Let me close by including some observations and commentary on the film from the Post's Jonathan Foreman...while I'm not a big fan of his either, he does bring up some very valid points.
* Moore's favorite anti-administration interviewee is former National Security Council aide Richard Clarke. Yet the film never mentions that it was Clarke who gave the order to spirit the bin Laden family out of America immediately after 9/11. Moore makes much of this mystery; why didn't he ask Clarke about it ?

* At one point of the film, he portrays GIs as moronic savages who work themselves up with music before setting out to kill. Later, he depicts them as proletarian victims of a cynical ruling class, who deserve sympathy and honor for their sacrifice.

* The film's amusing (if bordering on racist) Saudi-bashing sequences rely for their effect on the audience having forgotten that President Bill Clinton was every bit as friendly with Prince Bandar (or "Bandar Bush," as Moore calls him) and the Saudi monarchy as his successor. In general, the movie is packed with points that Moore assumes his audience will never check, or are either lies or cleverly hedged half-lies:

* Moore says that the Saudis have paid the Bush family $1.4 billion. But wait —the Bushes aren't billionaires. If you watch the film a second time you'll note Moore saying that they paid $1.4 billion to the Bush family and (added very quietly and quickly) its friends and associates.

* Moore asserts that the Afghan war was fought only to enable the Unocal company to build a pipeline. In fact, Unocal dropped that idea back in August 1998. Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are looking at the idea now, but nothing has come of it so far, and in any case Unocal has nothing to do with it.

* In a "congressmen with no kids at war" stunt, Moore claims that no one in Congress has a son or daughter fighting in America's armed services, then approaches several congressmen in the street and asks them to sign up and send their kids to Iraq. His claim would certainly surprise Sgt. Brooks Johnson of the 101st Airborne, the son of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). And for that matter the active-duty sons of Sen. Joseph Biden and Attorney General John Ashcroft, among others.

* The most offensive sequence in "Fahrenheit 9/11"'s long two hours lasts only a few minutes. It's Moore's file-footage depiction of happy Iraq before the Americans began their supposedly pointless invasion. You see men sitting in cafes, kids flying kites, women shopping. Cut to bombs exploding at night. What Moore presumably doesn't know, or simply doesn't care about, is that the building you see being blown up is the Iraqi Ministry of Defense in Baghdad. Not many children flew kites there. It was in a part of the city that ordinary Iraqis weren't allowed to visit — on pain of death. And if Moore weren't a (left-wing) version of the fat, bigoted, ignorant Americans his European friends love to mock, he'd know that prewar Iraq was ruled by a regime that had forced a sixth of its population into fearful exile, that hanged dissidents (real dissidents, not people like Susan Sontag and Tim Robbins) from meathooks and tortured them with blowtorches, and filled thousands of mass graves with the bodies of its massacred citizens.

Day Three of Marathon Training

Did four miles again today. Definitely sore and my bad hip is aching a bit, but generally I feel good and I got two easy runs the next two days and then an off day, followed by the half marathon on Sunday, which will be rough but I should be well rested.

I'm still Alive,
Moses

London Calling

In what little free time I have had lately my latest project has been reading and studying Jack London. I have been studying his interesting and brief life and reading what many consider his magnum opus: "White Fang". After I complete "White Fang" I intend to read "Call of the Wild" and some of his short stories. So far, about halfway into it, I am enjoying White Fang tremendously. London has a fascinating style that reminds me a bit of Hemingway and, at least with "White Fang" is original enough to write a book from the perspective of a wolf. Of the many passages in "White Fang" that have struck me, perhaps this one hit me in the most personal way:

"He held on to the wing and growled between his tight-clenched teeth. The ptarmigan dragged him out of the bush. When she turned and tried to drag him back into the bush's shelter, he pulled her away from it and on into the open. And all the time she was making outcry and striking with her wing, while feathers were flying like a snow-fall. The pitch to which he was aroused was tremendous. All the fighting blood of his breed was up in him and surging through him. This was living, though he did not know it. He was realizing his own meaning in the world; he was doing that for which he was made -- killing meat and battling to kill it. He was justifying his existence, than which life can do no greater; for life achieves its summit when it does to the utter-most that which it was equipped to do."

It made me wonder how we can most "justify [our] existence." Made me wonder what it is that we are most "equipped to do." While it doesn't come as naturally as it did to White Fang, hopefully it's considerably less violent. But what is it that comes as naturally to us as hunting did to White Fang? I pondered this question for several hours last night after coming to this passage and it occurred to me that in order to find our "thing" we must reflect on what it is that we do when we have nothing else to do. In order to consider that we need to look at what we choose to do in our free time, when money is not a factor. Obviously there are things that we all enjoy that we can remove: food, sex, etc. But for almost all of there are all consuming hobbies or interests that we naturally, when left to our own designs choose to pursue. It is here I believe that we enter a state most like White Fang's when hunting. Here where for us "life achieves its summit". It's behind the old adage "Happiness lies in making a living doing what we truly love." For in many ways, what London was describing in that passage was the joy life finds in being able to survive by doing what it loves.

The trick of course for us non-wolves is finding a way to make it happen because our lives are complicated by something that White Fang was free of: Money. Of course, you'll be spared the Marxist diatribe here, b/c fortunately I am now old enough to realize White Fang was never afforded the luxuries (a stocked fridge, AC, a roof over our heads, running water, antibiotics, etc.) that we enjoy. Still, I must say I found myself envying the freedom of White Fang until I realized that we are very lucky us homo sapiens, while White Fang has to fight tooth and nail for food and survival against predators, our only problem is find a way to earn a living doing something we enjoy. Perhaps easier said than done but still, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate what I have, and then move on to the gargantuan task of figuring out how to make a living doing what I love. It's cool though, like with most things, I'll do it with a smile. . . La vie est bon. . .

Forget it, brother, an' go it alone,
Moses

Day Two of Marathon Training

Yesterday was actually the first day but it was an off day. So even though today is technically the second day of training it is actually the first. All the training so far was just pre-training. Here is my routine for the week that will culminate in the Bronx half marathon on Sunday:

M off
T 4 miles
W 4 miles
T 4 miles
F 2 miles
S off
S 13 (Bronx half marathon)

Total: 27 miles

Felt lousy during my first four miles, b/c I am still sick. Gotta trudge through it though, it's only the beginning. . .

Sally take my hand, we'll travel south cross land,
Moses

I hate to brag -- who am I kidding? -- but I was exactly right in my prediction. I am very enthusiastic about this Kerry/Edwards ticket!!

and the sun is setting
the sun will rise another day,
Moses

BOLD PREDICTION:

As I write this, John Kerry has not yet chosen a VP but is rumored to have chosen one I predict here and now that it is none other than John Edwards. Much as I predicted Coach K would stay. It may not be that bold a prediction, maybe even it's an obvious one, but that's my story and I am sticking to it. So let's make Kerry/Edwards a reality just like Clinton/Gore (and for that matter like we made Gore/Lieberman, but this time let's not let them steal it!!)

It ain't me,
Moses

An Eventful Fourth of July Weekend: Coach K, Illness, A Sweep, Marathon Training (or lack thereof), ''The Tsunami'', the Jeter catch and getting yacked on. . .

OK, so there's plenty to talk about. First and foremost Coach K, possibly one of the greatest coaches of all time, has decided to stay where he belongs at Duke University as coach of the Blue Devils Hoops program. I say this not as a Duke fan and alumni but as an objective individual: This was the right decision.

The fact is there was no good reason for Coach K to go to the Lakers save one: To challenge himself. And on the other side there were plenty of reasons for him to stay, chief among those reasons was: To challenge himself.

The fact is this: The man is one of the greatest coaches of all time and almost certainly the greatest active coach. He is a god in Durham and his legacy is both pristine and extensive. His leaving for LA could only jeopardize that legacy and probably couldn't enhance it much. He doesn't need the money and there is no reason for him at this point to leave the town that his entire family resides in. The argument that going to the Lakers would challenge him is a decent one, but it's just that: decent. Is it a new challenge? Sure. Is staying at Duke still a challenge? Absolutely. First, it's damn hard to win a National Championship in men's hoops, secondly the game (as he had lamented earlier in the week) is changing. There are plenty of challenges awaiting Coach K right there in Durham. So what's the point of going to LA? There was none. Good call Coach K, we love ya!

So I went out to LI for a little Fourth of July celebration but fell ill and was unable to party as much as I would have liked. I spent most of the weekend resting and recuperating, in anticipation of beginning my official training schedule tomorrow (July 6). It's still touch and go and I am on some serious medication, the next week calls for a lot of rest for the Mo-man, but hopefully I can keep training. I -- very ambitiously -- am planning on running the Bronx half marathon this weekend. If possible I will do that and fish the rest of the weekend, otherwise it's up to swing state New Hampshire for a weekend of volunteer canvassing effort to hit the streets and spread John Kerry’s message door-to-door to get that monster out of the White House.

The Mets swept the Yankees in what miraculously manages to be not that a big a deal for the Yankees coming off a big sweep of their real rivals and a big week in general. I anticipate no hangover for the club.

I would like to take this opportunity however to discuss the Jeter catch: It wasn't that amazing.

Let me clarify my position on Jeter. I do not hate the guy. I think that he is a pretty good above average SS and that's it. Ok, so I think that's fair, now here are three of my issues with him

1. His Defense

Defensively common sense and statistics tell us that he is actually below average, but nobody wants to acknowledge this. Secondly, it is very obvious that he should cede the SS position to A-Rod. Which brings me to my second point. . .

2. He sells himself as a Consumate Winner but doesn't back it up
Jeter's whole thing is: "I am a winner and no one wants to win more than me". Simple question for you Jetes: If that's true why do you insist on playing SS? Why not cede the position to the man that everyone agrees is a better SS? He's won Gold Gloves. You haven't. His defensive stats dwarf yours. Everyone agrees he's better. Where is your winning spirit now? And why doesn't anyone call you on this? Which brings me to my third point. . .

3. He's totally hyped

The media loves to talk about his passion for the game. Well, of course he's passionate!! He's played ONLY under optimal conditions. Where's the love for A-Rod who: Played every single game in Texas putting up numbers you can only dream of while playing in an awful lineup on an awful team? Where's the love for Pudge Rodriguez who has turned the pitiful Tigers? Are these guy's "team players"? Do they "love the game"?


Look that was a good catch the other day, a lot of other guys make it btw, but come on media already. Enough. I was less pysched about the catch and much more pumped to see A-Rod at SS for a few innings, myself. . .

On to the other big sports news of the weekend. The continued domination of "The Tsunami" Takeru Kobayashi, his win this weekend in record breaking fashion was heartbreaking to me and thousands of other fans of Eric "Badlands" Booker of Long Island. I keep waiting for him to win. It's cool Badlands I got your back next year!!!

Finally, one of the few highlights of my weekend was spending time with my niece, who is a pleasure, but someone needs to explain to the world that it's not worth distinguishing between when a baby "throws up" on you or "spits up" on you. It's really just as nasty. Man, I am I getting old. I used to be the one throwing up at these parties, or was that spitting up?

I was Born in the USA,*
Moses

* I've starred this signoff b/c I would encourage everyone to actually look up the words to this song. It's a great song but possibly for reasons not all fans get. Go read the lyrics here, this song is incredibly moving: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bruce-springsteen/24969.html

Day Sixteen of Marathon Training

I am taking the day off today but yesterday I wound up running 6 miles. That was rough. Wound up tying one on with Philo, Andy Moon, PeeGee, Ganmoor, the Great Egg and some buddies in from New Orleans. Monster hangover. Anyway, that's it for the late nights until after the big race. Like a gift from the gods of booze I stumbled in to the OTB and pick the winning horse and the exacta in the first race at Belmont, won some nice cash and treated myself to some lobster. It's off to Long Island now for some Fourth of July festivities. I'm feeling better already.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
Moses

Brando Dead at 80

Hollywood great and true weirdo Marlon Brando is dead at 80. His peroformances in Streetcar, Godfather and Apocalypse Now rank very high in my all time favorite performances. Let's all pretend that flags are at half mast for him from now on until they go back to normal. . .

The Horror,
Moses

SERIOUS PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Re: Sudan

A major human tragedy is unfolding in Sudan, one that has reportedly claimed at least 30,000 lives, and could claim up to one million unless the world community works together, starting immediately, to end it.

One thing we can do is give to Oxfam's Sudan Crisis Relief Fund, which is providing urgently needed help to people there. You can make a secure, tax-deductible gift at:

https://secure.ga3.org/02/sudan04?source=mo

A gift will make an immediate difference, but we must also take action to stop the bloodshed.

Although Secretary of State Colin Powell has been in Sudan this week, he has yet to declare that the atrocities there constitute genocide [1]. Such recognition would make a huge difference, catalyzing the world community to help end the killing. Powell should also publicly condemn the genocide. But so far, he has stopped short of this.

This week, on NPR, Powell said: "Why would we call it a genocide
when the genocide definition has to meet certain legal tests, and
based on what we have seen, there were some indicators but there was certainly no full accounting of all indicators that lead to a legal definition of genocide, and that's the advice of my lawyers..." [2]

Please call Powell today at:

Secretary of State Colin Powell
202-647-4000 or 202-647-6607 or 202-647-6575

Urge him to:
- Immediately declare the atrocities in Sudan to be "Genocide"; and
- Publicly condemn them.

Please also call your, for you NY Manhattanites who share my Senators and Representative:

Senator Charles E. Schumer
Washington, DC: 202-224-6542

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Washington, DC: 202-224-4451

Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
Washington, DC: 202-225-7944

Urge them to demand that the United States recognize the genocide and condemn it.

Please let us know you're calling, at:

http://www.moveon.org/callpowell.html?id=3039-2987414-F0o1xCwFhuPtNn5eAMUWjA

Sudan's government is orchestrating a genocide against people
living in the country's Darfur region, who have challenged the
government's authoritarian rule. In addition to tens of thousands of killings, there is widespread rape, and poisoning of water systems. Up to one million people have reportedly been displaced from their homes. Andrew Natsios, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development says, "if nothing changes we will have one million casualties. If things improve we can get it down to about 300,000 deaths." [3]

More than 130 countries are obligated by the 1948 Genocide Convention to prevent and punish such crimes against humanity. So even if the United States sends no troops to Sudan, formally recognizing the genocide would enable the U.N. security council to authorize other countries, like Germany, France, and Spain, which don't have troops to Iraq, to help stop the killing in Sudan.

We could also take another simple step, and publicly condemn the
genocide. This would send a powerful signal that the world is
watching, not looking the other way. "Genocide is still calibrated to the international reaction," writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times.

Whenever genocide has occurred before, the world community has vowed, "never again." Yet today, it is happening again.

The Bush administration is failing so show leadership on Sudan. Is President Bush now so preoccupied with Iraq that his administration is incapable of action on emergent issues of the day? Sadly, the answer appears so far to be yes.

Please help stop this genocide, by making your calls today.

Coach K going to the LA Lakers would be disasterous for Duke University. I am praying that he does not leave. The man cannot be replaced and this blow to the program would be of gargantuan proportions. Coach K is to college hoops what Pete Townshend is to rock and roll. Please Mike, say it ain't so. . .

my lips are shakin' my nails are bit off
been a month and a day since i've heard myself talk,
Moses

Movie Review

Fahrenheit 9/11

I went to see F9/11 with Yoko tonight (you'll recall that we didn't get in on Monday b/c it was sold out). Simply stated: It was amazing. Is it propaganda? Yes. Is it slanted? Big time. Is is a quality documentary? Definitely. Are people who ask themselves questions and then answer them annoying? You betcha. . .

The reason the movie is so good is that it is 1) Often very funny 2) at other times very moving 3) at still other times downright disturbing 4) Dead balls on.

If there is one criticism that I have about the movie it's that he meandered a bit towards the end. His tangents are moving and often very interesting but it did come off a bit disjointed and unfocused.

Now personally I believe that this administration is borderline evil but beyond that this movie is just a generally well made documentary that manages to be entertaining while also informative. It's quite a combination. I don't even want to write much more, I will end this simply by saying: I would strongly urge you all to go see this movie.

Keep on Rockin in the Free World,
Moses

Day Fourteen of Marathon Training

Wound up taking the day off today. I'm a little disappointed in myself but I think it was the right thing to do after three straight days at 4 miles a day. I may shoot for six tommorrow.

You can’t start a fire,
Sitting around crying over a broken heart,
Moses