Monday, July 13, 2009

Monday's musings

THAT "SECRET" CIA PROGRAM:
Here's what it was all about:
"Government officials say the secret intelligence program canceled by CIA Director Leon Panetta in June was meant to find and kill or capture al-Qaida leaders at close range rather than target them with air strikes."

And I say, good for them for trying. The reason for the secrecy, then, is obvious. Time for everyone to calm down about this...0

MEDIA WATCH:
Guess who's writing guest blog pieces on CNN.com in support of the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor--Anita Hill.
CNN must be desperate. What David Brock wrote about Ms. Hill years ago, when she tried to trash the candidacy for the Court of Clarence Thomas, still stands--she remains "a little nutty, and a little slutty."

BASEBALL DIARY: the Tigers won two of three over the weekend against Cleveland, beating the Indians yesterday 10-1. Tiger ace Justin Verlander dominated again, and recent minor-league callup Clete Thomas had a bunch of hits. Heading into the all-star break, the Tigers appear to be in decent shape. But as Jim Leyland says, they need to get their offense going...
But the Rangers struggled over the weekend, losing 3 of 4 in Seattle, including a 5-3 decision yesterday which was helped along by a number of cheap Seattle dribbler/hump-backed liner hits. But give the Mariners credit--their starting pitching, especially from Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, and Felix Hernandez is pretty tough.
Meanwhile the Cubs split a doubleheader, beating St. Louis in game 1 7-3 but losing the nightcap 4-2. In all, the Cubs remain at .500, 43-43...but only 3 plus games out of first. Given all their problems, injuries, and whatnot, if the Cubs can pull things together in the second half, they still have a good shot. And that's kind of amazing...

GOVERNMENT WASTE UPDATE:
"Last week the Social Security Administration flew approximately 700 of its managers from across the U.S. and Guam to Phoenix, Arizona’s posh Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort, for “organizational training.” The event, which included musical entertainment and dancing, skits, catered food, cocktails, and a “casino night” featuring “door prizes,” cost us lowly taxpayers approximately $750,000."
Oh, well, maybe it was part of the "stimulus" package...