Sorry about last week, as my DSL was down all weekend and I couldn't put in my picks.  If it makes things any better, I picked every winning team last week.  Ha!

 - First things first; my Panthers are underachieving.  Ugh.  The secondary "upgrades" have been nothing but disappointing to me, we haven't established a decent running game yet, and it takes the second half before we start doing anything, which allows our opponents to break out to an early lead.  Playing from behind is not good.

Two years ago, if we kept the game close, we won.  Period.  Now our two losses have been by a margin of less than a field goal because of blunders.  In the New Orleans game, Fox played for the tie, not the win, and the secondary got burned on the last drive of the game to set up the game-winning field goal and subsequent media masturbation of the Saints.  In last Sunday's Miami game, Delhomme threw a pick - a pass very unlike him throw in such a situation - and that set up another game-winning field goal.  At least Miami is a good team, however.

The Panthers, regardless, isn't a bad team.  They can win 10 or so this season.  The problem is that we're in the most competitive division in the NFL.  Both Tampa Bay and Atlanta are at the top of the league, and while New Orleans isn't good, they'll still compete with most.  It's times like this that you pray for miracles, and hope Tagliabue sends Carolina to the NFC North or the NFC West in the middle of the season.  Carolina would win those two divisions in a walk.  However, we're seeing the NFC East get stronger.  I don't see three teams coming out of the NFC South for the playoffs, as I believe Dallas will get a wild card.  But all three teams will probably deserve to go.

- Did anyone see that great Pittsburgh/New England game on Sunday afternoon?  Now that's how football is supposed to be played.  Well, except for that stupid lateral by Antwan Randle-El.  What the hell was HE thinking?  Take the hit next time and stop trying to be greedy.  This isn't high school.

Regardless, I still think we saw the best two teams in football in that game last week.  The more I see Ben Rothlisberger, the more I like him.  Big, physical, fearless quarterback with a great arm and isn't afraid to take a hit (although he takes more shots from the Patriots, and they'll have to send his ass to the hospital).  And Brady is, Brady.  Although I'm not a wild eyed fan like Don Banks (who should have his MVP vote taken away from him for this column, as Brady hasn't done anything to deserve MVP talk this year.) he is a great player.

- Will someone tell the Saints to stop whining?  Be content with the fact that you're actually playing football, or, something like football but we haven't figured out exactly what that is just yet.

I'm sure it's taken Losman and Horn a while to figure this out, but New Orleans is a mess.  The Superdome is trashed.  There's a few more things that's more important than you guys playing a home game.  Be content with playing in the same town as the Spurs, because that's the closest to a world title you guys will ever get to.

Tom DeLay finally received his indictment by Travis County DA and long-time nemesis Ronnie Earle, for conspiring with members of his PAC to help corporations give money to state legislators 60 days within a general election.

Here's how it went down:  a number of corporations give to a PAC that's headed by Tom DeLay.  The guys that are actually running it takes the money, sends it to the RNC, and the RNC gives it to their state election campaign division, who gives it to state legislators.  Now according to Earle, the problem with this is that 1.  corporations can't give donations within 60 days of the election, and 2.  state legislators can't receive corporate donations, period.  And Tom DeLay was behind all of this.

First, here are the corporations that gave to DeLay's PAC:

1.  Diversified Collection Services - $50,000

2.  Sears, Roebuck, and Co - $25,000

3.  Williams' Companies - $25,000

4.  Cornell Companies - $10,000

5.  Bacardi USA - $20,000

6.  Questerra Corporation - $25,000

Next, the candidates for the Texas legislature that Earle says the money was to go to:

 - Todd Baxter

 - Dwayne Bohac

 - Glenda Dawson

 - Dan Flynn

 - Rick Green

 - Jack Stick (?)

 - Larry Taylor

I've read the indictment, and I think Ronnie Earle has a hell of a lot to prove.  First, he has to prove that the corporations gave the money to the PACs for the expressed purpose of funnelling the money to these state legislature campaigns, and that the PAC's handlers at the knowledge of Tom DeLay had followed their orders.  The RNC, through the Republican National State Elections Committee, then had to give the requested corporate donations to the candidates.  Earle will have to show an elaborate scheme of deception...only to funnel $190,000.

But the 64,000 question is, why weren't any of the corporations indicted as well?  Especially considering the whole idea was to funnel their money to the candidates?  Nor was anyone from the RNC, who was supposed to be involved in this alleged ruse.  Will Earle be able to show that the monies that the corporations gave was DIRECTLY given to these candidates, or will it just show that the PAC decided to give the money to these candidates after the fact? 

Earle falsely calls the RNC a political party.  Incorrect.  The RNC is a national PAC as well, and there are no time limits as to when PACs stop contributing to a party.  And another hole I see in this is that the money specified in the indictment only comes up to $155,000.  Where did the other $35,000 come from?  What was its purpose?

Now hey; maybe Earle is holding out on some evidence he has for all of this.  I dunno.  But considering Earle's obvious partisan holdings, and knowing how the Democratic Party will stoop to any low to take out their opponents, I'm not holding my breath.  DeLay will be exonerated, but the point is to keep this in the news long enough so that the Democrats can make it a rallying cry for the next Congressional campaigns.  More than likely, the trial will take a year to start, so they will get their wish.

You want to know why your medical bills and insurance premiums continues to skyrocket?  It's because of state lawmakers that pander to women's special interest groups, and the media who caters to them at every turn.  That's why I found an Associated Press article written by Susan Haigh that moans about a Connecticut law that forces insurers to cover infertility treatments. 

She wasn't fussing about the law actually being on the books, however.  The alarm bells were ringing because Connecticut had the nerve to place an age limit for the forced coverage!  Connecticut forces insurers to cover fertility treatments only through age 40, rather than the more "sensible" ages of 44 for New York and 46 for New Jersey.  Haigh reported on a couple who couldn't have children on their own.  After previously adopting a child that was eventually returned to the birth mother, the 42 year-old wife tried get their insurer to cover her fertility treatments, but alas, the insurer wouldn't.

Gee; I wonder why?  Could it be that Connecticut and other states throw all of these regulations and forced coverage on them to the point where they're simply not going to cover something they aren't forced to?

I sympathize with the couple, as I know it must be hard not to be able to conceive a child on their own.  However, the government should not act as a fairy godmother; making every wish come true at the expense of someone else.  If the government is going to force anyone to do anything, they first need to come up with a compelling interest as to why this measure should be enforced.  That compelling interest should be based on whether the bill will give their residents more liberty, or the action that is being taken now is depriving residents of their liberty.

In this case, Connecticut is not only hurting the medical industry by burdening insurers with more forced claims, but it is hurting other residents by helping to artificially raise their premiums.  Also, the personal factor comes into play; if the couple wants the child bad enough, they'd pay for the fertility treatments themselves.  After all; the child is not the state's responsibility, or the insurer's responsibility.  It's theirs.  That also means that the decision is theirs as well, and they don't have the right to force a business, individual, or government to pay for them to have a child.

The NY Post looked a little deeper into what has turned into a criminal investigation.  To recap, two staffers of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have admitted to "obtaining" Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele's credit report. 

The DSCC made it sound as if they immediately slapped cuffs on the two staffers, but it doesn't look like it from my viewpoint:

Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Schumer-headed Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said two staffers were instantly suspended — with pay — in July after admitting they obtained the credit report of Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, who is running for Senate.

Sources familiar with the situation said the committee's head of research, Katie Barge, and a deputy, Lauren Weiner, got the credit report by using Steele's Social Security number, which they say they obtained from public documents.

Records obtained by The Post show the two continued to be paid by the Democratic committee at least through Aug. 31.

Hence, all their "suspension" amounted to was a vacation of sorts, with pay, despite ADMITTING they did it.  And they paid them for two months.

As Captain's Quarters notes, Ms. Barge has been around the block in leftist circles.  Before working for the DSCC she also worked as a researcher for Media Matters (which probably explains the lack of scruples) and she also worked for the Edwards campaign.  Thus, it's not surprising at the least that this stunt was pulled, considering the illegal and unethical stunts they've pulled in the past.

Another note by Morrissey:  Charles Schumer, who heads the DSCC, introduced the Schumer-Nelson ID Theft Prevention Bill , which would have created a new government office to fight and prevent identity theft.  It calls for a $1000 fine per violation.  It's no wonder he's being called a hypocrite in this instance, considering he actually PAID these women after they ADMITTED they obtained the report through fraud.  They should have been fired immediately, instead of given the chance to simply resign.

From the Washington Times:

Two members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have resigned after admitting they obtained Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's credit report.

Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), said the two staffers told committee officials in July what they had done. He said the committee began an internal investigation and determined it was an isolated incident.

"The DSCC immediately ensured that Mr. Steele's credit report was not used or disseminated to anyone," Mr. Singer said, "It also reported this incident to the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C."

He said the employees, who were not identified, were cooperating with authorities.
A source familiar with the investigation said the employees were "senior staff" members in the research department of the DSCC.

And this is comical in more ways than one.

First, the background:  an independent school newspaper from the University of Florida, the Independent Florida Alligator, ran a political cartoon in it's editorial section on Tuesday, September 13th featuring Kanye West showing Condoleeza Rice a "race card".  Rice responds by saying "Nigga Please".  The cartoonist is Andy Marlette, who's white and, judging from his defense of the cartoon and praise of Dr. Rice, is conservative.  But it's created some noise on Florida's campus, which culminated into a protest on Friday afternoon.

This isn't anything new per se; the only difference is it's usually from the other end of the political spectrum.  Leftist cartoonist Ted Rall's cartoon trashing Dr. Rice was several times worse, with Rice being a "parrot" on Bush's arm and admitting that she was a "house nigga".  In the past year, Janice Rogers Brown and Colin Powell have been the targets of white liberals using racial stereotypes and insults in political cartoons.  For the most part, you wouldn't hear a peep out of anyone other than conservatives about those cartoons.

However, black folks are up in arms at Florida.  There's been the usual suspects, including the minority organization on campus, the school administrators, etc.  On Friday, 50 students protested outside of the paper's offices (they weren't there, as they don't publish over the weekends) along with school administrators.

But as I said earlier, this is an independent school newspaper...one that Florida administrators can't touch because they aren't using school funds.  They aren't affiliated with the University of Florida campus.  And thus, they can afford to be a little edgy, and tick some more people off.

Here's their response to the protest:

Friday is the newsroom's day off work.

You see, we don't print a paper on Saturday.

But the Editorial Board hears that more than 50 students marched to our offices in protest of Tuesday's cartoon and its use of the word "nigga."

Several UF administrators joined the effort.

We weren't there, but we get the point.

And we agree that "nigga" is a word that shouldn't be floating around in our society. We agree the word should never appear in a news story. We agree that it does not represent all African Americans, by any stretch of the imagination.

But we're not going to apologize.

Instead, we want the administration, which has taken such a strong stance on the situation, to take a look at its own policies.

UF President Bernie Machen calls on us to print an apology because the cartoon "poison(s) the ongoing struggle to overcome the racial barriers that divide our country."

If we're reading this right, Machen wants us to retract any political commentary that propagates the use of, in his words, "damaging stereotypes."

Fair enough. We understand and respect that position, even if we disagree on whether the cartoon accomplished that.

So now we want Machen and administrators to follow through with their grand ambition.

In less than three weeks, Wayne Brady will grace the stage as the main performer for Gator Growl. He will be paid $65,000.

Not familiar with his work? Brady is a black comedian who uses "nigga" repeatedly in his stand-up.

And the administration approved his appearance at a pep rally that is arguably the most well-known event at UF.

Will UF officials protest an artist they are bringing here themselves? An artist who uses "nigga" in the same context as our cartoonist?

If Machen was willing to prohibit all alcohol advertisements in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center because they encouraged drinking, he should be willing to pull Brady because he's propagating the same "damaging stereotypes."

But he can't stop there. Brady is part of a trend.

Charlie Murphy should have never stepped on campus. "Nigga" flows from his mouth like the Mississippi River.

Kanye West himself will perform at the O'Connell Center soon. His lyrics are riddled with the word.

We want administrators to prove they don't want this kind of racist commentary within the university. Instead, they seem to be encouraging it. How irresponsible.

We have received many letters from students who resent the way these black performers use racist words. This doesn't represent their culture or their feelings on the issue. The entire black community does not use the word "nigga."

But a part of the community definitely does.

In fact, the first letter we received on the issue was from Black Student Union Treasurer Jeremy Watson. It turns out he is one of those who spreads it throughout society.

He is part of a Facebook group called N*ggas that Pledge.

We doubt he is racist. But if we spread it, then so does he.

Protesting the Alligator for printing a cartoon that depicts an existing cultural norm does not rid the world of that flaw.

We are the opinion section of a newspaper. We comment on societal norms and politics by pushing the envelope.

So to UF administrators: We're glad you have taken this opportunity to open up a discussion on the danger of the casual use of "nigga" in Gainesville and in the nation.

It means we've done our job.

Now run with the idea and actually take a stance.

Rather than focusing on a depiction of society, why don't you actually go out and protest the real thing?

*chuckles*  Yanno, Gator fans love to say, "Either you're a Gator, or you're Gator bait".  Well I think Florida's administrators and minority dept should keep an eye open tonight for any gators traps on campus, because they got baited.

Don't mistake this for defending Marlette.  Simply put, he's an idiot.  I'm sure Dr. Rice would have some choice words for him too, considering the numerous times she's had to endure racial cartoons in the past five years, even if this was supposed to place her in a positive light, as Marlette alleges.  And a simple Yahoo search shows that he's had problems with both Jews and Muslims in the past over his cartoons.  The guy is just a low-class bombthrower.

However, the Alligator editorial board has now used this incident to place the ball in the court of Florida's administrators as well as the minority organizations.  Are they going to stand up and call for an end to the double standard? 

Doubt it.  They'll probably pretend as if the editorial didn't exist.

Photo:  AP/Yahoo


Yanno folks...

Any day that Tom Brady tastes the dirt...gotta be a good day.  Especially if it's by my Panthers.

You gotta love this sport.

Don't allow Week 1 to set the pace for who you think will be the top dogs within the NFL.  Week 1 essentially means nothing.  For example, the Eagles have gone 0-2 twice within the last four years, and ended up making it to the NFC title game.  The Pats went 0-2 a few years ago....and won the Super Bowl.  Thus, this won't mean a thing.

Week 2 will get us some more clarification, but once again, take it for a grain a salt.  Enjoy the games today for what they are:  good football games.  Maybe we'll get a shocker or two, but I doubt it.

Last week I went.....11-5.  Not bad, but a few I got wrong (Atl/Philly, Carolina/N.O., Jets/K.C.) were crucial ones.

Let's see if I can do better.  My picks:

Wow.  Football season is here.

Sorry I don't have time to give a little preview, which is all well and good considering that the first week of the regular season is always up in the air.  Anyway, here's my picks:

Chicago over Washington

Miami over Denver

My Panthers over the homeless Saints

Yeah; I heard about the little Kanye West stunt that was done during the Red Cross celebrity fundraiser on NBC.  And I definitely thought it was not only inappropriate given the fact that the Red Cross is not a political organization and was trying to do all they could to help, but West was terribly misinformed about what was truly going on there, especially with the internet consipiracy theory that the media simply depicts white people as finding and black people as looting.

But today Michelle Malkin reminded me on her blog that West is supposed to be a part of the opening night festivities for the NFL's regular season.  This will be broadcast on ABC in front of a national audience.  That's why the NFL would be well advised to boot West off the show.

This isn't a punishment for what he did on NBC.  ABC and the NFL would be well within their rights to tell Kanye he is no longer needed for the show, and I don't think I'm overreacting by saying they're obligated to do so.  The NFL should not give West a platform in which to turn a performance during an NFL event into a virtual political soapbox.  West has shown several times - the Red Cross, LiveAid, a recent meltdown at a Toronto radio station (Quicktime video here), the American Music Awards speech, and several others - that he will turn his appearance into what HE wants it to be rather than what the original objective was.

The NFL was burned two years ago when Janet decided to flash millions of people watching the Super Bowl.  Tagliabue needs to wake up before another non-football spectacle gives them negative press again, and on the heels of last weekend's fundraiser, he can't say he hasn't been warned about West's grandstanding.

Football fans deserve to keep the focus on football, not on some self-righteous, spotlight grabbing celebrity.  If West wants to do political rants, tell him to do it on his own time, and at his own concerts.  It shouldn't be done when people are trying to ring in the new football season.  Hence, get rid of him.