Oh, the shame...

The Redskins took part in a debacle on Sunday. There's no other way to describe the debilitating and disappointing loss that the Redskins suffered at the hands of the NY Giants. I don't know who showed up at that game, but it was not the Redskins that I know and love. They flat out sucked. They could not move the ball on offense (Brunell, Portis, Moss were all neutralized), and the defense could not stop the run to save their lives. In the NFL, and especially in the NFC these days, you cannot hope to win games if you can't stop the run.

It was just insulting. They lost by thirty six points. Thirty six points!! I mean, it was absurd. It was the first time that Gibbs has been shutout in the regular season ever.

The Redskins better pull it together. Next week they face the Eagles in what will be a defining game for them. If they lose, it's over. However if they win, the season can still be salvaged. They play the Giants one more time this year, and if they beat them then they'll be 2-1 against them which will bode well for the playoffs.

Blink

Malcolm Gladwell has come out with another compelling and interesting read in his second book. His first book, 'The Tipping Point', was an instant bestseller (and a book I finished in one sitting). With 'Blink' Gladwell has done it again, and while it's not quite as good as his first book, it is still well worth the read. If you're anything like me though, you're going to wait until it comes out in paperback, and I won't discourage you from that. I only read it b/c a friend let me borrow it for a weekend.

Blink is about snap judgements. In it Gladwell tries, through examining a series of experiments and real life scenarios, to figure out how and why human beings can often make very complex and difficult judgements in an instant. For example, how an expert marraige counselor can observe a couple talking for 15 minutes and guess with an amazing degree of accuracy if the marraige will last. Or how a tennis coach can watch tennis players he does not know and always know whether they will double fault before the second serve has even been hit. It is why experts, and amazingly often even laymen, can often make extraordinarily accurate and complex calculations in the blink of an eye.

Gladwell has a style of writing that is very conversational. His sentences are short and to the point, and he rarely engages in pretenses towards being overly intellectual or in using obscure references. It's extraordinarily easy to read. Gladwell also makes extensive use of examples and anecdotes, which he describes with great familiarity in such a way that you feel comfortable getting all your information from the short pages in which he describes year long experiments.

This does, however, lead me to the one glaring deficiency of this book, which is that it relies far too heavily on anecdotes and supporting examples to make a point that it pretty clear. He does not take the extra step to draw any conclusions, to advance an argument about human behavior based on his data, which is definitely possible and would have been a great way to tie the book together. Regardless, a good read, and certainly recommended.

PS -- yes, I have decided to continue writing book reviews. Let's see how long it lasts this time.

Redskins - Giants

We are faced with an unusual situation: a three way tie for first place in the NFC East. The Redskins, Eagles, and Giants are all 4-2 heading into the weekend. When the Redskins play the Giants this sunday, they play for the lead. One team will emerge with a huge confidence boost, and the other will have to try and regroup and not let the defeat shatter their confidence.

This really is a big game for both teams. The Redskins have had a rocky start, with lots of last second wins, a lack of forced turnovers, quarterback controversies, and more. But over the past few games they have gelled into a strong team, with a solid offense and defense. The return of LaVar into the lineup is huge, and who would've thought that Brunell-Moss would be the quarterback-receiver combination of the year? They're playing amazingly well together. However, the Redskins are starting a tough series of opponents, and none more significant than their division rivals.

On the Giants side of things, Eli is really stepping up to the plate and performing well. He's really mobile in the pocket, which is one reason why I'm glad we have LaVar back to help contain him. I don't see their rushing game being much of a issue, but we have to watch out for their passing game. Even when we blitz, they have the ability to dump a screen and still turn out some good yardage with that. The Giants will be playing with heart due to the recent death of their longtime owner, a man deeply respected by almost everyone in the league.

Of course, all that being said, I won't be able to watch the game since there's very little chance it will be broadcast out here on the west coast.

Backstreet Parody

On a lighter note....this video is pretty funny. Note: turn on the volume, but do it somwhere you won't be embarrassed having Backstreet Boys music playing on your computer.

Unacceptable Incompetence

The recent testimony of Marty Bahamonde in front of the Senate was truly incriminating. Marty was the only FEMA official on the ground in New Orleans during the hurricane, and his testimony flatly contradicted the former FEMA chief Antonio Brown.

Brown had clearly stated that he was not made aware of the situation in New Orleans and the superdome until days after the hurricane had hit. He said he was getting positive reports, and pushed the blame onto state/local officials. But the email thread that Marty brought out shows how completely wrong Brown was.

I'm just going to include excerpts below, as I think they speak for themselves.

Marty to Brown, August 31
"Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical. Here some things you might not know. Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water. Hundreds still being rescued from homes. The dying patients at the DMAT tent being medivac. Estimates are many will die within hours."

Brown's press secretary to FEMA officials, August 31 (hours after the previous email)
"Also, it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Gievn that Baton Rouge is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more that 20 or 30 minutes. We now have traffic to encounter to get to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc."

Marty responding to Browns' press secretary and other FEMA officials, August 31
"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! No won't go any further, too easy of a target. Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants. Maybe tonight I will have time to move my pebbles on the parking garage floor so they don't stab me in the back while I try to sleep."

Rosa Parks

The passing of a legend. Let it never be said that the actions of a single person on a single day cannot change the course of history.

Big Brother

You know, I've always been pretty wary of conspiracy theories. Most of them strike me as outlandish tales that could never actually happen in the real world. The most bizarre usually deal with secret societies that run the world, or hidden government spy networks in everyday good and services.

However, in the future I won't be so skeptical. It turns out that manufacturers of color printers, such as Xerox, have been placing a secret code on the page of each page printed from one of their printers. This code comes in a series of yellow dots that are printed on the page and only visible under a special blue light. These dots encode the serial number of the printer, as well as the date and time of the printout. In other words, every page you've ever printed on your home printer can be traced back to your machine at a particular date/time. And apparently they've been doing this for years.

Creepy.

The Secret Service claims that it's only used to stop those making counterfeit currency. And I don't doubt that was the original intention and the primary use of this tracking code. However, what distrubs me is that there are no safeguards to make sure this kind of technology is not being abused. Heck, an intern was able to break the code in under a week. It's not exactly reassuring.

It makes you wonder what else out there is being tracked without our knowledge. Can the government scan all your email? Does it do that routinely? Frankly, I would not be surprised, although I find the idea a little abhorrent. What about cell phones? Are those tagged to a person and tracked around the world? Think about it -- everyone nowadays carries one. It's a perfect way to track the movements of any individual around the country.

I could go on, but I won't. Suffice to say that I find this news story wierd, and also slightly offensive. Sometimes I think I'm turning into a libertarian.

PS -- Apologies for the lack of posting recently. I'm now back in force. Feel free to check in regularly for new posts.

It just gets worse

It appears the death toll that I reported earlier was drastically low. And everywhere people are still dying of hunger, thirst, lack of shelter, and disease.

Money, though it looks very pretty, really is nothing in comparison. Be careful however, if you donate for disaster relief. Research the organizations -- some waste the money in spectacular fashions. I personally like MSF.

Tragedy in Kashmir

As if the region has not suffered enought through half a decade of some of the worst violence and treachery in modern times, it now has to deal with this. An earthquake of devastating proportions has shaken Kashmir, killing over 20,000 people in Pakistan alone. The death toll for India has yet to be determined. Clean water and food are unreachable for the residents, as is the region to most of the outside world. Massive mudslides have made the roads all but impassable, many of them only recently being opened 3 days after the quake hit.

It is a tragedy that so many lives have been detroyed, so many children orphaned, and there is so little being done to help them. The way that realpolitik works to distribute money and medicines unequally is sometimes disgusting. The politics of poverty are on display particularly when tragedies like this one strike already poor and suffering areas in countries with limited resources, or other priorities (or both).

As you prayed for Katrina victims, pray also for Kashmir earthquake victims. As you donated before, donate again.

The Big Apple

Hi ho fans and friends. I arrived in Washington DC on Saturday, spent a few days with the parents, and am now up in NYC. I'm staying with my brother and just generally hanging out for a few days, and then will be attending a wedding on Thurs, Fri, Sat. Yes it's an Indian wedding, so it's all three days.

I've been pondering what it is about NYC, the Big Apple, the City That Never Sleeps, that attracts people like moths to a flame. Everyone I know has friends in New York. You ask a friend if know someone in LA, or Chicago, or DC, or Miami, and you never know. Sometimes you'll get a yes, sometimes a no. But with NYC, you always get a yes. Everyone knows someone here. And every year draws more and more people out from other cities, suburbs and rural areas to experience the magic of this giant mass of humanity, steel and concrete. What I want to know is why?

I'm reminded of less developed countries, such as in South America or Asia, where people from rural and suburban areas flock to cities. They've heard that they'll probably live in slums, have a worse standard of living as a result of the proximity of so many people without clean sewage or water, and that it's hard to find a job that pays anything. They've heard all this, and yet they still come. And not just a trickle mind you -- they come in droves. Why?

I think it's the possibility, the oppportunity, the promise of a chance. In these other countries, it's the possibility of a better life. A possibility of change. In many ways, it's reminiscent of the American Dream. The idea that if you work hard, you can get lucky and make it big. You could be that guy or gal in the mansion, on TV, sipping Champagne while lounging in your jacuzzi. And I think in a lot of ways that's what NYC is -- it's the heart of the American Dream. It's where a nobody becomes a somebody overnight (okay, that happens in LA too, but face it, LA is boring if you're not in Hollywood). But more than just that, it's where you can be in the middle of things. Walking down Broadway, through Times Square, you can almost feel the cultural center of the world around you. Walking down Wall Street you can feel, literally feel on your skin, the epicenter of the world's economy as companies die and new ones are born. It's addictive.

It's not the life for me, I can tell you right now. But I can understand why some are drawn to NYC, and why others swear they would live nowhere else.

PS - The Redskins are now 3-0, and I'm loving it. Brunell actually emerged as a leader, and he converted so many 3rd downs I was beginning to get flashbacks to his heyday. Moss was brilliant, and the O-line held. The defense was great up until Q4, when it broke down. They gotta nip that in the bud. Overall though, great football. I'm lovin it.