FYIWDWYTM

So as part of my recent ‘rediscovery of music I listened to a few years ago’ series – made possible by a generous contribution from the Annie E. Casey Foundation* – I’ve been listening to a lot of Rage Against the Machine lately.

Hard to beat songs like “Ghost of Tom Joad” and ‘Renegades of Funk” but for me the all time classic Rage song will always be ‘Killing in the Name Of.”

Revisiting that catalogue, and in particular “KITNO” has been interesting.

One, listening to Rage in the olden days helped deal with the tepid liberalism of the Clinton years, but also complimented them.  At least we were kind of in charge back then.

Two, the left could use a band like Rage right now, to energize and piss off young people again.  It’s easy to forget that Rage wasn’t a fringe band like many lefty acts or punk rock band; they sold tens of millions of records, and their second album debuted at number one.

Three, funny to realize that the tea baggers would probably enjoy singing along with the chorus of ‘Killing in the Name Of,” at least the part where Zach repeatedly shouts “Fuck You I Won’t Do What You Tell Me!”

Four, what’s really funny is a 48-year old man listening to a song where you repeatedly shout “Fuck You I Won’t Do What You Tell Me!”  Who am I talking to?

Finally, I guess our 13-year old has been dipping into my iPod.  This morning as Ariadne got out of the car she said ‘Love you mom, love you Evan, don’t love you dad.”  At least she used the PG version of “Fuck You I Won’t Do What You Tell Me!”

* I'm lying about that.

I'm Not An Economist

But do you have to be one to admit that capitalism is not working?  This week's news that one in seven Americans - Americans, not Greeks or Mexicans or Chinese but Americans - live below the poverty line is the latest argument that the current incarnation of the free market simply does not work. 


The yutzes on the right will claim that 'government regulation blah blah blah' is killing capitalism, but can anyone point to a time when capitalism ever worked in building a stable middle class and democratizing capital without heavy regulation and aggressive, leveling taxation?


I'm not an economist but the golden age of the American economy, roughly the period from World War II until the middle 1970s, corresponded with heavy taxation of individuals (the upper rate during that time period was almost 90 percent for some income brackets), active and successful trade unionism (more than a third of workers were in a union) and massive government spending (in defense, roads and infrastructure, higher education especially science and math and engineering, and research and technology).  


America basically civilized capitalism via taxation, unions, and government spending, in the process transferring wealth from folks who hoarded it - rich people and corporations - to entities that spent it and hired workers: unions and government.


But that balancing act started to erode in the late 70s.  The oil crises of that decade ended the era of cheap gas, but that wasn't the main culprit.  Economic powers such as Japan and Germany, for instance, succeeded in spite of paying more for oil and energy.


As Robert Reich opined in The New York Times on Labor Day, the 70s also saw revolutions in global communications and shipping that allowed companies to cheaply manufacture goods over seas for export back into the U.S.  Capital followed, pouring out from the U.S., Europe and Japan into non-union third-world countries eager to join the global manufacturing economy. 

The anti-tax revolts launched in California in the late 70s culminated in the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.  Reagan slashed taxes for the wealthiest Americans; with less tax money, state and federal governments starting cutting back spending on education but also on infrastructure and other needs - with the federal government eventually spending money only on three things: defense, Social Security, and interest on our debt (debt of course built up after taxes were slashed).


And in my opinion the death blow for America's economy was the fall of the Soviet Union.  Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal started the process of humanizing and civilizing capitalism in the 1930s. Unions and the Democrats carried that on after the war.  But I think one reason corporations went along with that process was a shared goal of wining the Cold War.  Everyone was invested in defeating Communism and showing that the American way was better.  Everyone knew the best way to demonstrate that was by building a massive middle class, a middle class who's wages were set by unions, whose taxes would pay for public schools and universities, the common defense, government pension programs like Social Security and Medicare, etc. 


The nexus of: globalized communications, shipping and capitalism; the fall of the Soviet Union; reduced taxation for the wealthiest Americans; the new left's (hippies if you will, not the civil rights movement) attack on the American liberalism in the 1960s have now culminated in the sobering stat that 14 percent of Americans live below the poverty line.  


Of course, the wealth is still there.  The capitalist class is going great.  The stock market is thriving, but no one is working and one in seven Americans are living in poverty.   Banks get bailed out by the federal government then refuse to lend money to others.  No, the swells are doing great.  They're hoarding their money, or worse, investing it in emerging capitalist hell holes like China, India, Brazil, etc. countries where investment is thriving but trade unionism is not.  

And some how, in a nation where capitalism has resulted in 14 percent of our fellow citizens living below the poverty line, being labeled a 'socialist' is a negative? 

A few, non-economic random thoughts

• Last weekend I extolled The Replacements.  This week I urge folks to rediscover Elvis Costello, but from his 'angry' period of the late 70s and early 80s, especially 'Trust' and 'Imperial Bedroom.'  Hard to beat those records for distilled anger and wit.
• But if you're looking for a brilliant and forward thinking album check out 'Mind Bomb' by The The.  One of the most underrated and overlooked bands and records of all time.
• Like a car wreck, need to check in on the football Heels today at home versus Georgia Tech. I want the Heels to win at everything, but the football program just seems cheap now, tainting the finest institution of higher learning of all time.
• For the record, Jim Love is the sweetest man of all time.

Parental Shame

Most parents, at least at some point, have to admit that they are sometimes ashamed of their children (or often ashamed; for instance, my parents from the time I was about 11 until I got married).

But smart parents keep that shame/embarrassment threshold pretty high.  That's why I'm trying to play it cool with my recent twin - and silly - shames from Ariadne and Evan.

ARIADNE 

As the half-dozen readers of this blog know (my market research says it may be a dozen, depending if you count hits from inside of prisons), I am a punk rocker and conversely very anti-hippie.  But two weeks ago Ariadne announced that she is a hippie.  Not the drug-taking kind, she quickly added.  Nor has she stopped bathing, making things out of macrame, nor is she sitting around the house lazily complaining about how bad things are but getting high instead of working to solve those problems (the latter is my true definition of a hippie).  

I'm not reacting, similar to my non-reactions to claims of being an atheist - followed contradictory claims of being a Buddhist.   

And luckily she is not listening to old hippies or new jam bands.  One of my patented anti-hippie screeds is a complaint against the Beatles song 'Let It Be.'  Did Rosa Park let things be?  Did Abe Lincoln? Did Dean Smith? Did Paul Wellstone?  Did John Lewis?  No.  You can NOT let things be.

Not only does that song and sentiment stink, but it's not ever the best 'Let It Be' in music.  This morning I'm listening to The Replacements album of the same name, simply one of the best albums of all time, an album that shows a punk band using that attitude and energy to guide their often sloppy - which is so punk rock! - musical evolution into one of the best rock bands of all time.  You want sloppy brilliance?  'LIB' includes 'I Will Dare' a classic piece of songwriting that features a mandoline solo courtesy of  REM's Peter Buck, and ranging from 'Unsatisfied' to 'Gary's Got a Boner.' It sounds like a compilation album for an era, not a young punk band making their second full-length album.  The last best band on the planet.

The Mats' version "LIB" proves something that does not even need to be said, but I will to continue to keep the record straight - punk rock is better than non-punk rock (and the civil rights movement had better music than the anti-war movement, too).

EVAN

So I'm proud of playing it cool over my hippie daughter.  We'll see how I do with Evan, who last weekend timidly asked 'Is it okay if I become a Redskins fan?'

I haven't followed the NFL closely for years, since the year the players went on strike and he owners fielded replacement teams full of strike breakers at line backer.  Fans actually showed up and tuned in to watch the scabs play - hey, violence is violence, right?  The union quickly caved in the face of public support for the owners, and as a result football players - with the exception of uber-protected quarterbacks - have been treated like meat ever since: few guaranteed contracts, pretty limp pension and health benefits, longer seasons that turn a players body to pulp, etc.   

Anyway, during the baseball strike of 1994 I realized how much I missed baseball; I didn't and haven't missed the NFL since their strike and the owners' defeat of the union.

But one consequence of living in DC is you live in a Redskins town.  And all of Evan's friends, at least the guys he plays baseball with, are Skins fans. And I started the slippery slop by watching the Heels play on Saturdays, and taking him to Chapel Hill four out of the last five seasons to watch a game.

So even though they have the most offensive nickname is sports, are owned by a guy who makes George Steinbrenner look like Dean Smith, and the entire NFL is nothing more than 'right wing theater' we've got a Redskins fan in the house.

His room is next door to the hippies'.

Football is Hazardous

Interesting quote this morning from UNC Chancellor - and Fayetteville native - Holden Thorp: "Competitive, big-time football is a hazardous undertaking,

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/11/674980/davis-gets-modest-support.html#ixzz0zDxUO54r

Big Stages on the Horizon

The US continues to replay the 1972 Olympics this weekend as we take on Lithuania in the semi-finals of the FIBA World Basketball Championships.  

Earlier this week the US defeated Russia by 10.  I was hoping for a bigger, blow out win after Russia's American-born coach, David Blatt, opined that upon further review the Soviet Union was the rightful winner in the gold medal game of the 1972 Olympics in Munich.  What a moron.

For years and years Lithuania was kind of the New York City of the Soviet Union, producing most of the USSR's best players.  This year they are led by Linus Kleiza, who played for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets prior to spending a year in Greece with Olympiacos last season.  But Kleiza went to high school at Montrose Christian near the District.

Lithuania blew out Argentina in their quarterfinal game this week, an impressive achievement, but I can't imagine them hanging with the U.S.  With Argentina, Greece and Spain already eliminated our squad should have a pretty clear path to the U.S.'s first world basketball championship since 1994.  Game time for the tilt against Lithuania is noon eastern on Saturday.

Turkey takes on Serbia in another battle between Ottoman Turks and Byzantine-era Orthodox Christians.  

Champions League

On Wednesday, Greek soccer champion Panathinaikos travels to Catalonia to take on one of soccer's most famous and glamorous clubs, Barcelona.  Barca and PAO are in the same European Champions League group, along with two other teams.  The top two advance to the knock out round of 32.  

Barca features arguably the world's best player in Lionel Messi, and the game will be an interesting test for Pana and Greek soccer.  Game time is 9:30 am on Wednesday. 

Greece blows it against Spain

After being competitive the entire game against the defending world champs -  and then taking the lead in the 3rd quarter - Ellas lost their concentration and blew it against Spain this afternoon in the first leg of the knockout round of the 2010 World Championships in Constantinople.

Greece took a four-point lead late in the third behind the shooting and defense of Dimitris Diamantidis. But midway through the final quarter Greece turned it over 3 straight possessions to literally hand the game to Spain.  The turnovers were the result of incredibly sloppy passes, more unforced errors than turnovers.  

Down the stretch Greece looked uber-European in a basketball sense: no concentration, which manifested itself in a 7 for 16 night at the free throw line; and terrible decisions and bad passes, a simple lack of basketball sense that is the biggest difference between American and European players - we are just smarter and concentrate more than they do.

Greece bows out way too early, in the round of 32, instead of competing for a medal.  Both Greece and Spain underachieved in the group stage; that's why they met so soon. Greece ended up third in their group behind Turkey and Russia - a team they should have beaten.  Doing so would have meant a second place finish and more importantly avoiding Spain.

So instead of defending their silver medal from 4 years ago Greece goes home way too early.  It looks like Ellas really missed the back court play of Theo Papaloukas, a smart point guard who rarely made mistakes in leading Greece to the 2005 European championship and the silver medal in the 2006 world championships, including the semi-final win over the U.S.

The good news out of the world championships is the play of the U.S.  Spain may give US a  game, but the US has played very well and should win the gold in a walk.

Some good news for the Heels

It's not all bad news for the Heels.  It looks linebackers Bruce Carter and Quan Sturdivant have been cleared to play tonight versus LSU.  The other piece of good news is that the Tigers' offense had little ept last year, so even with a weakened defense the Heels could be okay.

On the offensive side the story is the same as last year. If QB T.J. Yates plays well the Heels should move the ball, even without Greg Little to throw to.  Besides Yates, pressure will be on third string running back Johnny White.  White has been more of a special teams player in Chapel Hill but now gets to start his last year as a Tar Heels running back as the starter.  Perhaps that Cinderella story line will result in a 100-yards plus game.  

Good news for the Heels football team but not so good news for the Hellas football team.  Playing their first game in the EURO 2012 qualifying round and under new coach Francisco Santos, Ellas could only manage a 1-1 tie against their Orthodox co-religionists from Georgia last night.  FYI, the game was moved to Pireaus to accommodate a U2 concert at the Olympic Stadium.

Greece is in a pretty underwhelming group.   Besides Georgia, Ellas is grouped with Malta, Latvia, Israel and Croatia. Israel is decent, but Croatia is good and should be Greece's only real competition.  Then again, we could only muster a tie at home.  

Croatia's talent, and the tie versus Georgia, makes Tuesday's game in Zagreb a BIG one for Ellas.  The good news is Greece thoroughly outshot and outplayed Georgia, and Santos appears to have them playing a more attacking style.  But it's only be one game.  

Stealing one on the road against their only real rival in the group will go a long way in determining if Greece will qualify for Euro 2012 in Poland/Ukraine (P/U?  Is this the 'incredible history of anti-Semitism Euro?).

•  In honor of TJ Yates' home state AND the EURO 2012 game last night this post is in Georgia font.

Wide World of Sports

Lots of post-Strasburg sports news to focus on, including a smorgasbord of baseball, world basketball championships and more bad news, this time from Carolina.

Nationals Notes

Another weird week for the Nats.  The up side for me was the pitching of Jordan Zimmermann.  In his second start after "Steven Strasburg" surgery (formerly known as Tommy John surgery) Zimmermann was dominant is striking out 9 Marlins in six innings of one-hit, shutout ball.  It's only one start, but some good ju-ju for Nats fans contemplating Strasburg's return from the same surgery.

With Zimmermann's return, the signing of Bryce Harper, the September call up of Danny Espinosa, the minor league progress of Cuban pitcher Yunesky Maya and catcher Wilson Ramos, the second half progress of Ian Desmond, Roger Bernadina, Michael Morse, and Drew Storen, plus Gold Glove/Silver Slugger/Face of the Franchise Ryan Zimmerman there is legitimate light at the end of the Dr. Yoakum's scalpel.  

In 2012 Nats, fans could have a young, exciting and legit line up of CF Carl Crawford (would love to sign that guy from Tampa Bay), SS Desmond, 3B Zimmerman, 1B Dunn/Someone Like Him, LF/!B Morse, RF Harper, CF Bernadina, 2B Espinosa, C Ramos, complimented by a starting rotation of Strasburg, Zimmermann, Maya, Ross Detwiler and John Lannan, with Storen closing with help from set up men Sean Burnett, Tyler Clippard, Garrett Mock, and Colin Balester.  

Of course, one name missing from that list of man of the hour, Nyjer Morgan. I'm all over the place with Nyjer.  

Frankly, he lost me on the inside the park home run he 'gave up' to the Orioles' Adam Jones by slamming his glove on the ground in disgust after missing a deep drive.  I say he gave it up because even though he failed to make the catch, the ball did NOT clear the fence.  But instead of finding the ball he slammed his glove down in a fit of pique. Morgan never found the ball, and by the time left fielder Josh Willingham came over to throw the ball back in Jones had an inside-the-park home run.  

Morgan's concentration and production seemed to go south shortly after than unprofessional play.  His on base percentage, base running, and fielding suffered but things really came unglued in the last few weeks.  First he was accused of throwing a ball at a fan in Philadelphia.  Of course, Phillies fans are pains in the Manasses, but a professional DOES not do that.  There have been a few eyewitnesses who exonerate Morgan, but MLB did suspend him 7 games.

That suspension was on appeal when Morgan collided with not one but two catchers. The first collision, against the Cardinals, was just odd.  He bumped the Cards' catcher Bryan Anderson even though there was no throw home. Of course, he connected with Anderson but missed home plate. Morgan was eventually ruled out after Ivan Rodriguez grabbed him and pushed him towards home so he could eventually step on the plate, which is against the rules. Morgan's play was at best odd, at worst stupid.

Instead of trying to bump the catcher, Morgan should have slid and scored.  But Morgan did not seem to learn that lesson; two nights later instead of trying to slide under a tag in the top of the 10th inning (of Zimmermann's gem) Morgan really slammed into Marlins' catcher Brett Hayes in an attempt to jar the ball lose.  It didn't happen.  Hayes made the tag but Morgan had separated the Marlins catcher's shoulder.  He's out for the season.

Morgan and Nats expected retaliation.  Nothing wrong with that as long as it's not at a player's head.  Morgan was plunked in the side, and it seemed like that was that.

But Morgan kept the flames going, at least to the Marlins, by stealing two bases and scoring on a sacrifice fly.  Though the Nats were down at the time 3-14, in Morgan's defense it was only the 4th inning and the Marlins were holding him on. The steals prompted the Marlins to do something you NEVER see - a player getting thrown at twice in one game.

The next time Morgan game up the Marlins threw behind him, and a massive fight ensued.

Like I said, I'm torn.  Morgan has been a below-average player this season, mainly due to mental errors and a lack of professionalism. In Miami, he is not solely to blame for the fight.  You don't throw at a guy twice in one game.  

But again, it goes back to the inside-the-park home run he game up.  A professional makes the smart play, and in this case it meant sliding in to home instead of trying to run over the Marlins' catcher.  Morgan does that - the Nats score and no one gets hurt - and a bean ball war does not start the next game. 

In each instance you can find a scapegoat - obnoxious Phillies fan, Ivan Rodriguez grabbed him, the Marlins threw at him twice in one game - but bottom line you need to be a professional and play with your head.  Perhaps a bad season - Morgan had been demoted to 8th in the Nationals line up - prompted him to take out his frustrations against two catchers.  But neither play made sense, and neither one was the smart baseball play.  

In firing obnoxious blow hard Rob Dibble from the booth and cutting malcontents like Elijah Dukes the Nats front office has demonstrated a willingness to fire employees who rhyme with pass moles.  We'll see how they deal with guys who are unprofessional and unfocused like Morgan has been the last few weeks.

Anyway, remember the good paragraph about the 2012 line up.

Time to Drop Football?

There is disheartening news out of Chapel Hill, too.  It's been hard to keep track of all the fires swirling around Carolina's football team.  Contact with agents, problems with tutors, and academic issues have plagued the Heels all summer.

My gut reaction is Carolina should stop trying to chase the fool's gold that is big time college football, which of course is incredibly impractical but does make sense.  For a great piece on the greed that dominates college football, and undermines a school's mission, check out today's John Feinstein column in The Post.  Ever since Mack Brown left football has suffered, but not from lack of trying. The Heels have never gotten over the hump despite spending millions on new facilities and expanding Kenan Stadium.  

And now 6 of the 11 starters from the famed Tar Heel defense are suspended, as are the Heels two best running backs.  College teams often rally in the face of this kind of adversity; it's almost a coaches dream scenario (at least for pre-game speeches).  But the Heels have so many top players suspended you wonder if there is enough depth to paper over the losses.  

Perhaps most frustrating is the contact with agents.  Why did these guys come back to Chapel Hill for another season - at least four Carolina defensive players were projected as high draft picks in the spring - only to allegedly start taking money and gifts from agents?  And now in addition to not playing they are tarnishing the reputation and embarrassing the university.  

But at least they did not try to steal a pass in the 4th inning.

World Basketball Championships

The U.S. has looked pretty good in the World Basketball Championships in Turkey.  Despite having Krzyzewski as 'our' coach Kevin Durant and Derek Rose have looked great in leading the US to a 5-0 record.  We play Angola in the knock out round tomorrow in what will likely turn out to be another 40-point rout.

Greece, on the other hand, has yet to get their groove back.  Ellas was blowing out teams prior to the bad-karma-inducing game and fight with Serbia a week ago in the Acropolis Tournament.

After winning their first three games - versus China, a good Puerto Rico team, and Ivory Coast - Greece lost to Turkey (no shame there; the Turks have 3 NBA players on their roster and are playing at home) and Russia by 3.  The greater shame is losing to two nations who WE civilized. 

Anyway, that two-game losing streak means Ellas has to play Spain, who also under whelmed in the first round of play, on Saturday in the knock out round.  Instead of playing - as expected - for a medal Greece and Spain are playing for their lives tomorrow. It should be a great game between two of the four best national teams (widely considered to be the U.S., Argentina, Spain and Greece), and I think it will be on NBA TV live at 2:00 pm eastern if you want to tune in.