FRO's FAVORITE FIVE Top Five NFL Moments - Week 5

FRO's FAVORITE FIVE
Top Five NFL Moments - Week 5
by Jon Wagner, Sr. Writer-At Large, Football Reporters Online

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Kyle Orton’s 35-48, 330-yard, 2 TD, 1 INT game, which included Orton’s second 11-yard TD pass to Brandon Marshall of the day, to force overtime, in the Broncos 20-17 big extra session win over New England… Donovan McNabb’s 16 of 21, 264-yard, 3 TD, 0 INT day, posting a 157.2 passer rating, returning from injury in the Eagles’ 33-14 win over Tampa Bay… only to be outdone by Eli Manning’s perfect 158.3 passer rating, as Manning showed his sore heel was healthy, going 8 of 10 for 173 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, while leading two other scoring drives, to put the Giants up 28-0 before being pulled for precautionary reasons before halftime in the Giants’ 44-7 rout over the Raiders.


#5: HASSELBECK BACK IN FORCE

It didn’t matter that Seattle quarterback Matt Hasslebeck was returning from broken ribs, nor that he was missing seven of his starting teammates, including three-fifths of the offensive line that usually protects him, or even that the Jacksonville Jaguars came into town with two-game win streak off a 20-point win. Hasselbeck still dismantled the Jags, throwing four touchdown passes, including 34-yard and 44-yard scores on successive possessions in the second quarter. He finished 18 of 30 for 241 yards, no turnovers, and a 125.1 passer rating, in the Seahawks’ 41-0 rout of Jacksonville.


#4: ANOTHER 300-YARD GAME, ANOTHER COLTS WIN
Peyton Manning has been so consistent this season, the milestones he’s been reaching have come rather quietly, since it’s well… Peyton Manning, and when it’s done by number 18, such achievements are expected as much as Colts’ regular season wins. Indianapolis rolled to its 14th consecutive regular season victory, a 31-9 win at 0-5 Tennessee, behind Manning’s 36-44, 309-yard, 3 TD, 1 INT performance. Ironically, the Colts haven’t lost a regular season games sine a loss to Tennessee last October. Just how good is Manning? Well, imagine you’re an NFL coach with a 14-9 lead on the road, the ball at your on 7, and just :57 left in the half. Most of you would likely opt to run out the clock or play it safe. Not when you have Manning leading your offense. Going a perfect 5-for-5, Manning took the Colts 93 yards in a ridiculous 40 seconds, for a 21-9 Indianapolis halftime lead. Manning has passed for over 300 yards in all five games this season. His first-quarter touchdown, the 343rd of his career, moved him ahead of Fran Tarkenton into sole possession of third place all-time behind only Brett Favre and Dan Marino. Manning also became the third quarterback in NFL history to have 70 games with a passer rating of 100 or better.
#3: FALCONS FLY HIGH IN FRISCO
When you beat a first-place team on the road by five touchdowns, your whole team deserves some recognition. It was supposed to have been a big NFC showdown between Atlanta, a 2009 contender looking to return to the playoffs after earning a wild-card berth last season, and San Francisco, who was only a Favre TD pass with :02 left in a Week 3 loss from being a perfect 4-0. Instead, the Falcons took apart the 49ers early and often, jumping to a 14-0 lead just 8:28 into the game. After allowing San Francisco to pull within 14-10 in the second quarter, Atlanta scored the final 31 points of the game putting it away, 35-14, by halftime en route to a 45-10 rout. Defensively, Atlanta forced three turnovers, had three sacks. Offensively, Matt Ryan threw for 329 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, going 22-32. Ryan’s favorite target, Roddy White, caught 8 passes for 210 yards, including touchdown receptions of 31 and 90 yards, while Michael Turner rushed for 97 yards and 3 TD’s on 22 carries. Very impressive way to follow the loss at New England and a bye.


#2: MILES FROM DALLAS, AUSTIN GOES FOR 250 YARDS

As big favorites, the Cowboys were struggling against the winless Chiefs. So, who bailed them out from being embarrassed in an unexpected overtime game in Kansas City? Undrafted wide receiver Austin Miles, from Monmouth College, making his first career NFL start in place of injured starter Roy Williams, with a huge game. With 10 catches for 250 yards, Austin broke Hall of Famer Bob Hayes’ Cowboys’ franchise record of 246 receiving yards, set nearly 39 years ago. That alone was enough to earn Austin the top spot among FRO’s Favorite Five for Week Five. However, Austin also had the two biggest Cowboy scores of the game: a 59-yard touchdown catch giving Dallas a 20-13 lead with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter, and then winning the game, 26-20, with a 60-yard touchdown catch and run 6:38 into overtime. “It’s a feeling that’s unbelievable,” Austin said. “It’s amazing. I never seen that coming today. I was ready today, but you never expect a huge game like that.” … Side note: Although it was due to both teams wearing their throwbacks, it was great to see the Cowboys in blue jerseys and the Chiefs in red ones, instead of the typical, boring thing we always see with one team wearing white. Let’s see more of that (as long the jersey colors would allow for easily telling the teams apart, of course).


#1: AFC EAST THRILLER ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

There had already been several entertaining national television games on either Sunday or Monday night this season, but the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins played the best of the bunch -- in fact, the game of the season -- thus far. In an absolutely fantastic NFL game, the Jets rallied from a 7-0 deficit to go ahead 13-10 entering a wild fourth quarter which saw five lead changes on five touchdowns -- only the second time in NFL history in which five go-ahead touchdowns were scored in the fouth quarter. But, it wasn’t just that such history took place, but how, in thrilling fashion, with lots of subplots, twists, and great plays. There was the physicality of two longtime division rivals, and the continued maturation of both Mark Sanchez (making some big throws in just his fifth NFL start) and Chad Henne (going 20-26, for 241 yards, 2 TD, and 0 INT in only his second NFL start). There was the chess match of Rex Ryan’s defensive schemes being surprisingly outmatched by Miami’s effective wildcat offense which helped to roll up 151 rushing yards on long, time-consuming drives. There was Braylon Edwards, playing as only the third NFL player since 1970 to start with one team in one week and start with a new team the next, having a good first game, with 5 catches for 64 yards, including his first TD as a Jet on nice catch in the back of the end zone, to tie the score at 7-7 in the first quarter. Later, Edwards made a sensational mid-air, spinning reception, barely getting both feet down inbounds at the Miami 1, setting the Jets up to go ahead 20-17 early in the fourth quarter. Sanchez said of his new receiver, “Braylon was just lights out. I’ve never seen anyone catch the ball like that.” But then, there was the answer to that play on the next drive, on which former Buckeye Ted Ginn caught an over-the-shoulder 53-yard TD pass from the former Wolverine Henne, with three Jets on Ginn’s back, for a 24-20 Dolphin lead. And then, with Miami trailing 27-24, there was one final, methodical, wildcat drive of 70 yards in 13 plays which included two great throws by Henne on consecutive third downs inside the Jets’ 30 within the final two minutes to set up Ronnie Brown’s wildcat, game-winning 2-yard touchdown run with just :06 left, giving the Dolphins a frantic and exhilarating 31-27 victory.

AFC South Wrap Up Week 5

                    AFC South Wrap Up Week 5
 
By Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer Football Reporters Online
Southeast Region
 
 
Indianapolis 31 Tennessee 9
Code Blue turned into Code Red in Nashville Sunday night. The game started well for the Titans as they played the Colts close. The crowd was into the game but when they had the chance to swing the momentum their way they kicked a field goal on fourth and one. This was a night that fans were hoping the team would turn things around. What they saw is a team that couldn’t run or pass. This is a team that shows no sign of playing with enthusiasm or determination. They were supposed to control the football with their running game and that never materialized. Chris Johnson finished with 34 yards and LenDale White had 51. With the Colts pulling away they had to abandon the run and switch to the pass. Well that didn’t go any better.  Kerry Collins continues his struggles but he is not the only problem. Titan receivers are dropping balls in their hands. They are not finishing routes and still do not have that go to receiver. Rookie Kenny Britt dropped a pass and Collins over and under threw passes too. The defense is a really big mess right now as they are making average quarterbacks look like stars. With Peyton Manning at the table with a carving knife the game went as expected. It’s not like he had a slew of veterans catching his passes. He had the likes of Austin Collie catching eight for 97 yards. There were also names like Donald Brown and Pierre Garcon. We see what is means to have a top tier quarterback who can get the ball to his receivers no matter who they are. The Titan defense has rookies trying to get the job done as well as veterans that can’t at this point. Then there is the argument about Vince Young or Kerry Collins. Head coach Jeff Fisher is still standing by Collins and fans and some media members are starting to ask why. Young finally got some playing time, but if you saw him on the sidelines when he was asked to come in, he looked like he didn’t want to. He looked up at the clock and later said that he was not expecting to come in. Some would say words like that hurt him because you should always be ready to play as the backup. Still you have to wonder when they will decide to play him. Next year he will make almost $15M if he is on the roster. Don’t you think its time to see what your investment can do before you find out too late?
 
Seattle 41 Jacksonville 0
See, this is the thing about this division after the Colts. You never know what team is going to show up in Nashville, Florida or Texas. Here in this one the Jags showed their low side. Just last week they looked like a playoff team against Tennessee. Ok, it was just the Titans. David Garrard looked nothing like last week and receiver Mike Sims-Walker was a scratch for violation of team policy. Matt Hasselbeck returned for the Seahawks and was fantastic going 18-30 for 241 yards and four touchdowns. He did this with most of his offensive line out and after a hard week of practice. Nate Burleson and T. J. Houshmandzadeh each caught two scoring passes and Nick Reed returned a fumble 79 yards for another touchdown. The Jags looked like they were in shock as they had one three and out after another to open the game. Maurice Jones-Drew had 12 carries for just 34 yards and the Jags were held to 199 yards of total offense. Pretty darn bad for a team that can look so good at times. Garrard finished 18-31 for 188 yards and two fumbles he lost. They had a total of 10 first downs and nine penalties to go with that. At the end of the day you could say they failed in all facets of the game including red-zone opportunities. They now stand at 2-3 and the only thing the other teams are fighting for now is who will end up second behind the Colts.
 
Arizona 28 Houston 21
This was a game of two halves, and then a fantastic finish. The first half belonged to the Cards as they jumped out to a 21-0 lead behind the arm of Kurt Warner and his two touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald. It was beautiful to watch these two quarterbacks as they threw to some of the best receivers in the game. In the second half it was the Texans turn to score and they did when Chris Brown ran in from one in the third to make it 21-7. In the fourth Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson went to work connecting twice from 11 and 17 yards to tie it at 21. Schaub had a huge day going 35-50 for 371 yards and the two scores. Johnson and Owen Daniels each had eight catches for 101 and 94 yards respectively. So it came down to one last big play. Kurt Warner had fizzled in the second half after a huge first but had one last chance. It failed miserably, and Houston got the ball back, but on third and seven, Schaub missed intended receiver Kevin Walter and Arizona’s Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie picked off the pass and high stepped it to the house for the winning score. So as was noted before, the teams in this division don’t show up all the time. The Texans sit at 2-3 and share second place with Jacksonville. Not much competition for the Colts at this time huh?
 

Rush Limbaugh in NFL = Modern Slavery

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Right wing Radio talk show blowhard Rush Limbaugh wants to own at least part of the NFL's St. Louis Rams and has joined St. Louis Blues owner and former Madison Square Garden CEO Dave Checketts to do so.

But with Rush Limbaugh comes baggage and a lot of it in this case. Given his statements about African Americans, Rush Limbaugh's even partial ownership of any NFL team is akin to (deliberately capitalized) Modern Slavery.

Rush Limbaugh's record ads up to a view of blacks as alien, second class citizens that are to be feared, held in check, and watched. So imagine Rush owning a team mostly black? What would he say if the St. Louis Rams drafted a black quarterback in the 1st round of the NFL Draft? Would he complain that 'while the league's desirous to see a black quarterback do well, I'm not'?

Rush, with all due respect to his incredible business acumen in securing a $400 million radio contract, has made a ton of statements that put blacks down. For example, he twice used the term "spade" in talking about President Barack Obama in 2008, even though he thought he could get away with it because then presidential candidate and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used the term "spadework" in a talk about Obama.

NFL and Rush?  No!

Rush is quick to point to a crime where (sadly) black youth were beating up a white young man on a bus (and it wasn't even because he was white), but turns a blind eye to any news of a hate crime against blacks.

He's compared NFL players to the gang members the crips and bloods, using the time worn code words for "black gang member".

Rush has made so many anti-back statements, there's a "top 10" list complied by Casey Gane-McCalla of Newsone in 2008:

1. I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.


2. Zennie's note: There is some question over whether Rush actually said this comment but it's all over the Internet. This entry is mine, not that of the original blogger.


3. Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?


4. Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.


5. Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.


6. The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.


7. They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?


8. Take that bone out of your nose and call me back(to an African American female caller).


9. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve.


10. On Obama : a ‘halfrican American’, an ‘affirmative action candidate.’ Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for black a man who many Americans are supporting for president.

It's obvious Rush Limbaugh doesn't like any African American person save for Bo Snerdley, who works for him. If working for Rush is the price blacks have to pay to gain respect from him, I say forget it. Please don't let Rush Limbaugh own any NFL organization.

Jamie Foxx right about Roman Polanski

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Jamie Foxx has the right idea about Roman Polanski, who's in a Swiss prison as of this writing after being on the run from U.S. authorities for 27 years for raping a 13-year-old girl who's now a 45-year-old woman.

Jamie Foxx

According to MSNBC and Parade, Foxx said that had she been his daughter, Polanski would have been "missing". And..

“If it had been my daughter who was barely a teenager — my daughter is 15 — Roman Polanski would be missing ... period,” Foxx stated in an interview with Parade magazine. “It wouldn’t even get to the court case. But, that’s me and I wouldn’t want anyone else to follow that because you should let the justice system work it out.”


Foxx went on to explain that while his perspective might have been different had he known the director personally, as do many of his Hollywood peers, ultimately he believes “this whole issue is bigger than Roman Polanski.” So big, it forces Foxx to confront his own complex sense of revenge.

Same feeling for me; awful is the term for Polanski's actions and I'd have certainly took some action against him if she were my kid. The legal issues around Polanski are a Gordian knot; the victim should have final say on his fate.

Some people don't read or listen; I wrote and said that the victim's rights and wishes were being ignored. She - who's name or photo I will not use or present - said repeatedly she did not want to be contacted by the media or have the matter brought up again. 

Someone wrote that is was because she got a $500,000 payout.  It's not clear she ever saw that money at all.  When I read her heartfelt request to be left alone I took it to heart and didn't think about money; others should to.

But to then even think I sympathize with Roman Polanski in any way is the musing of a total nut case.

I'm thinking about the victim; I'm not one who sides with mob rule or crowd desires. I just believe the masses are just a little beyond the pale at times. It's about them and what they want and not the victim; that's the reason for my reaction.

In my view, if the victim wants him punished, then do it. If not, then we go with that. A hard call it is, but again, that's the victim's right in my view.

But that said, Polanski's in jail. I'm sure the victim feels some measure of relief from that news.

Someone wrote that it's not the victim's call in general. That's wrong. If I'm hit in the jaw by a pissed off stalker and the police asks me if I want to have my assailant arrested for assault, the ultimate say is with me as the victim.

Look at Oakland Raiders' Head Coach Tom Cable's situation. If now-former Assistant Coach Randy Hanson had said he didn't want to file a complaint in the alleged assault case, that matter would have been over.

But the Raiders fired Hanson with pay (well the team gave him that option) and so he's retaliating by going ahead with the legal charges. (Read my Cal Buddy Mike Silver's incredible interview with Hanson at Yahoo! Sports.)

The Marin County District Attorney's going to determine the next move soon.

Sand sculpture celebrating Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Jimmy Kimmel says he didn't joke about David Letterman

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As some of you may know I blogged that Jimmy Kimmel, the host of the talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC" has been dating Molly McNearney, a co-head writer for the show for over a year.

Jimmy Kimmel

The Associated Press originally reported that, prior to the now widely spread news of his relationship in the wake of the David Letterman / Stephanie Birkitt sex scandal, Kimmel made a joke about Letterman on that matter.

Jimmy Kimmel says this isn't the case. In fact, he contacted SF Chronicle TV expert Tim Goodman via email - with whom he has a personal relationship - to explain that.  Then Goodman emailed me.

While research indicated conflicting reports, and finding a good show transcript is hard as heck to do, there was nothing to explain directly in a title that Kimmel himself said he didn't tell a joke about Letterman.

I can understand why Kimmel would take time to clear the air on the matter; it's good he did.  This blog post should clear the air for him.  It also means that Kimmel wasn't talking against Letterman as some other talk show hosts, with the exception of Craig Ferguson who works for Letterman, have done.

That's why Tim Goodman's "the man" when it comes to television in the Bay Area and Northern California! Follow him on Twitter at BastardMachine.

Healthy Manning & Giants Rout Raiders, Head To New Orleans 5-0

Healthy Manning & Giants Rout Raiders, Head To New Orleans 5-0
By Jon Wagner
Sr. Writer at Large Football Reporters Online
(photo: Steve Smith had another big day, while only catching 3 passes, one was his carer long of 43 yds. By Tomasso DeRosa
At a perfect 5-0, the New York Giants have begun 2009 on the right foot.

However, it was a certain right foot -- or more specifically, a right heel -- which concerned the Giants most on Sunday.

That is, the sore right heel of Giants’ star quarterback Eli Manning, who made his 83rd consecutive start.

As if following a script that Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin couldn’t have written better himself, Manning tossed two touchdown passes while leading New York to touchdowns on each of its first four offensive possessions.

The fast start allowed Coughlin to pull and rest Manning for precautionary reasons before halftime, with the Giants very comfortably ahead of the woeful Oakland Raiders at The Meadowlands on Sunday.

Manning said, “It was just a… team domination from the start, and it gave us a big lead, and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Big Blue wasted no time in sending a clear message to the rest of the National Football League that with their offensive leader of sound health, the Giants intend to remain a legitimate Super Bowl contender this season.

On the first play from scrimmage in the Giants’ 44-7 rout of Oakland, Manning took a normal drop from under center, made a routine plant on the right heel that he injured in the Giants’ win in Kansas City last week, and off a play-action fake, completed a solid pass to tight end Darcy Johnson for a 9-yard gain.

As Johnson was tackled, 79,012 fans in attendance plus millions of other Giants’ fans watching on television or listening on the radio, breathed a collective sigh of relief.

With Manning’s plantar fasciitis question apparently answered on the game’s initial play, the Giants used more than half of the first quarter during a 14-play, 77-yard game-opening drive which took 8:03, to grab a 7-0 lead. Manning completed four passes to four different receivers in five attempts, for 36 yards on the drive, immediately quelling any doubts about the condition of his heel.

Manning later confirmed that he felt fine, saying “It felt great during the game, it felt like I could do everything, run the offense… I could do everything we had to do.”

New York capped the possession with a 4th-and-1 touchdown plunge by running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who led the Giants’ rushing attack with a game-high 110 yards on just 11 carries. Coughlin evaluated Bradshaw’s performance with high praise, saying, “He’s run the ball very tough, very physical, he makes a lot of people miss. He had a very, very good game.”

For further convincing, after an Oakland three-and-out, Manning began the Giants’ next possession placing the ball over the shoulder of Raiders’ cornerback, seven-year pro Chris Johnson, hitting wide receiver Steve Smith, who led all receivers with 70 yards on three catches, for a 43-yard pass to the Oakland 36 yard-line. Bradshaw then finished the three-play, 79-yard drive, which took only 1:37, with a rush of 17 yards, before going untouched on a 19-yard touchdown run, putting the Giants up 14-0 with 3:15 left in the first quarter.

After another Raider three-and-out, Bradshaw turned a Manning screen pass on third-and-24 into a 55-yard romp to the Oakland 30 yard-line on the final play of the opening quarter, a period in which the New York outgained Oakland 219-18 while controlling the ball for 11:07 to the Raiders’ 3:53.

On the next play, Manning threw a nice 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mario Manningham in the far right corner of the end zone, giving the Giants a 21-0 lead just seven seconds into the second quarter.

Only three plays later, the Giants got the ball back on the first of three Oakland fumbles, all by quarterback Jamarcus Russell, who was just 8 of 13 for 100 yards. Cornerback Terrell Thomas sacked Russell, the first of six New York sacks, forcing the ball loose. Defensive end Justin Tuck recovered at the Raiders’ 13 yard-line. After two rushes, Manning threw a 3rd-and-6, nine-yard bullet in the end zone to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (4 receptions, 49 yards) for the rookie’s second career touchdown (Nicks made his first career touchdown reception last week). The Giants led 28-0 with 12:37 remaining in the half, and the rout was on.

The Raiders’ only points came on only their fourth touchdown of the season -- as many touchdowns as the Giants had in Sunday’s game alone, to that point –- after Sinorice Moss fumbled a punt which Oakland recovered at the New York 15 yard-line. Running back Michael Bush cut the Giants’ lead to 28-7 on a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:19 to go in the first half after it appeared that the Raiders got a break when a Giants’ fumble recovery was negated on a questionable forward progress ruling on the previous play.

At that point, having completed 8 of his 10 passes for 173 yards (49 more than the total yards Oakland managed for the game), Manning was lifted for the remainder of the day in favor of backup David Carr.

Russell’s second fumble set up a Lawrence Tynes 25-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half, as the Giants took a 31-7 lead into the break.

On the Giants’ opening possession of the third quarter, Carr capped a six-play, 53 yard drive with a 12-yard run into the near left corner of the end zone, for a 38-7 Giants’ advantage with 10:01 left in the third quarter.

Tynes added a 33-yard field goal with 6:52 left in the third, and closed the scoring with 11:38 remaining in the game on a 37-yard kick.

The Giants’ dominance of the Raiders was of an equal opportunity variety for both the running and passing games. New York, which outgained Oakland 483-124 yards overall, held advantages of 220-64 on the ground and 263-64 through the air.

The win marks the third time the Giants have started a season 5-0. The previous times, they lost in the 1941 NFL championship game, and the 1990 Giants won Super Bowl XXV.

In a showdown of arguably the top two teams in the NFL right now, the Giants, who have beaten up on a soft schedule of Tampa Bay (0-5), Kansas City (0-5) and Oakland (1-4) over the past three weeks, will travel to New Orleans to face the 4-0 Saints on Sunday, at 1:00pm EST.

Though Sunday’s game will foremost be a big regular season matchup with possible big playoff seeding implications, it will also be an emotional homecoming for Manning, who was born in New Orleans. For the first time ever, Manning will be playing in The Superdome, where his father, Archie Manning, a former two-time pro-bowl selection who still makes his home in New Orleans, played for the Saints from 1971-1982.

Tom Hayes: Will the next wars be fought over water?

Over two billion people do not have adequate water to address basic sanitation needs (according to the World Health Organization/UNICEF report, “Meeting the MDG drinking water and sanitation target: the urban and rural challenge of the decade,” Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment, [World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund, 2006].)

Here are three questions:
1. Do you know how much water it takes to put a pound of beef on the table?
   
2. Is there much difference in the water content between a cup of coffee and/or a cup of tea?
   
3. How many people don't have access to clean drinking water?
   

answers below

In the United States and elsewhere a number of local governments now rely on "privatized" water systems.  The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy [IATP] has produced a map and a report on the impact of water privatization in the U.S.  Links to those documents and other related materials can be found at "Helping Local Communities Thrive" at the henoticworld blog.

Water "Remunicipalization"

Nonetheless, some communities have insisted on returning water and sewage treatment services to public management -- "remunicipalization" -- forcing water multinationals to pull services out of communities world-wide. Do you know how many communities in your state are buying their water from for-profit multi-national corporations?  Is it the end of water as we know it? I know this: it's enough to make Lewis Black curse. (The following clip contains strong language that may not be appropriate for some readers.)

The answers:

1. It requires 1500 gallons to raise and deliver a pound of beef to your kitchen (over six times more than a pound of chicken!)
2. It takes roughly 4 times as much water to make a cup of coffee compared to a cup of tea.
3. Over 1 billion people do NOT have access to clean drinking water.

Read more...

Columbus Day in America - I'm so confused!

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Today's Columbus Day and for that I'm, well, kinda pissed off because my bank's closed by state government offices are open and I need to go to both. So, considering that I work seven days a week the idea that this is a holiday's almost meaningless but even more so because the State of California doesn't see it as a day of relaxation but the Feds do!

I remember when I was little we learned "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492" and had to say that again and again and again. But no one told me there were no black folks working as crew on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (see, I had to memorize that too).

If you asked me as a small boy was anyone that looked like me sailing with Columbus, I'd have said "yes" because we were learning about him. That's how it goes when you're a kid: you think the subject matter has something to do with you in some way and that, in this case, there's no way Columbus would reject me.

Oh, how wrong I learned I was latter in life.

Discovering that Christopher Columbus was just another racist butthole who's first idea would be to enslave me was jarring. The first awakening to the fact that nothing is as it seemed to me as a boy. It also really caused me to take a second look at how we as a people seem to denounce critical thinking, but far more so then than now.

Today, we have blogs and vlogs!

The reality is Columbus Day is a celebration of the discovery of the new world for Italian Americans, and since I'm one step from joining Oakland's Columbo Club, I will certainly celebrate that, just as these folks are having a good time in New York City.

But Columbus Day also a time when all of us should take moment to reflect on how wonderfully diverse America has become and how we take steps to insure the development of a more perfect union.

Academy Awards news - eight films for Documentary Short Subject

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reports that eight films have been selected to compete for the award of "Documentary Short Subject" at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

The films, selected by the Academy’s Documentary Branch which viewed this year’s 37 eligible entries, are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

"China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province," Downtown Community Television Center, Inc.
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner," Just Media
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant," Community Media Productions
"Lt. Watada," Chanlim Films
"Music by Prudence," iThemba Productions, Inc.
"Rabbit a la Berlin," MS Films
"Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak," Outside Productions
"Woman Rebel," Women Rebel Films

From this group, three to five will earn Oscar nominations. The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

As to the early favorites, it's hard not to think it's got to be "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant", given the economic times, and "Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak" which is about the creator of the popular "Where the Wild Things Are."

Stay tuned.

Blogger says NY Times uses misleading photo to blame Chevron in Ecuador case

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Two bloggers, Carter Wood of ShopFloor.org and Jeff Poor of Business & Media Institute are pointing a finger at the New York Times for using a photo and a story that seems to blame Chevron for environmental damage from oil production in Ecuador. Chevron has not operated in Ecuador since 1992. It turned over its production to the state-run company Petroecuador.

A murky photo to say the least

Chevron has been fighting Ecuador - who would get 90 percent of the estimated $27 billion in the lawsuit if Chevron lost - in this case. The photo was used in a NY Times story called "Ecuador Oil Pollution Case Only Grows Murkier."

The problem with the photo, Wood and others claim, is that the photo applies to Petroecuador. But I will go a step beyond that. There have been over 100 oil spills in the Ecuador Amazon region which includes the town of Lago Agrio since 1992, so a combination of firms including Petroecuador are to blame, but not of them American.

Ecuador kicked Occidental Petroleum out of the country in 2007 and took over Chevron production in 1992. So the finger points to the state-run oil company.

Wood explains just who's really behind the lawsuit from his point of view:

The lawsuit is being financed by the Philadelphia law firm of Kohn, Swift and Graf, directed by New York trial lawyer Steven Donziger, and marketed by the Amazon Defense Coalition, which would receive the money from any settlement. And the legal/activist lawsuit is indeed a shakedown intended to force a settlement from Chevron for pollution supposedly left by Texaco, which Chevron purchased in 2001. Texaco operated in Ecuador as Texpet in a joint exploration and production venture with the government-owned oil company, Petroecuador, up until 1992. (See this Texaco history, “Chevron in Ecuador.”)


1992. 1992. 1992. 1992. We stress the year because any oil now appearing as liquid in Ecuador is the responsibility of Petroecuador. First, TexPet remediated all the sites assigned to it for clean-up by the government of Ecuador, which released the company from future claims. Second, oil doesn’t stay liquid on the surface for 17 years!

I will go a step further because someone must be paying Kohn, Swift and Graf for that law firm to be able to pay Donziger, and the Amazon Defense Coalition, and Amazon Watch. Remember law firms do not have to disclose their clients.

Who would be interested in arranging a deal to keep this money flow going from law firm to lawyer to anti-American-oil-company activist to sue an American company?

Well, think about it. While Amazon Watch and the Amazon Defense Coalition may claim to represent the "indigenous people" of Ecuador, why haven't they filed a lawsuit against Ecuador? After all, to this day, 65 percent of the Amazon is zoned to allow oil production.

That's no accident.

Sarah Palin "Going Rogue" will keep her out of office

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Let me start by sharing that I like Governor Sarah Palin. Yes, I know she's no longer governor of the Great State of Alaska, but I was raised that you call a person who was a head of state by their former title, hence I will refer to her as Governor Sarah Palin. But it's the "former" tag that will keep her out of office for a good long time.



As Governor of Alaska, and the GOP Vice Presidential Candidate, I firmly believed that Governor Palin was a political star of the future but as an independent. I fully expected Palin to resign from the GOP in the middle of the presidential campaign because of all of her problems, but she stuck it out mainly by fighting with McCain Campaign elites.

Sarah Palin 

Gov. Palin was treated terribly by the staff of the McCain Campaign and it's really because she was not cut from the elitist cloth that Americans have come to expect from their elected officials.

Her new book "Going Rogue" is proof of what I've expected all along: that Governor Palin didn't want to learn how to be an effective politician at the highest levels of office. Like any member of the masses who obtains a little power and attention, it overcame the larger responsibility of governing and so she jettisoned being Alaska's leader.

By contrast, elite elected officials rise to power because they have an overarching sense of purpose that involves true social change focused more on helping people than a party or a group. The lynchpin idea of Ronald Reagan's assent to power was that government had become too large and inefficient at a time that America didn't need goverment spending to supercharge the economy.

Reagan tapped into an idea that Americans were overtaxed and bullied. He caught that political lightening in a bottle and used it to form a conservative revolution that lasted 25 years. But over that time the offshoring of industry weakened America's economy and now we're in a position where without government spending the country's financial system would have collapsed.

Exactly the wrong time to call for "smaller government." No elite is asked for this. No Republican or Democrat in power will tell you that we don't need the stimulus program, but will tell you that money's not getting our fast enough for their areas. That's an elite agreement on the policy direction for America to repair its economy.

It's exactly what Governor Palin's advocating against and why Alaskan's were angry with her for rejecting about 30 percent of stimulus money. At first Palin's "logic" was that Alaska's oil revenues would help make up the difference, but that over $2,000 per Alaskan check reduced to about half that in 2009.

Palin's other message in rejecting the money was that it was to go to "grow government" but that's where the Governor showed that she flunked Economics 101.

In Economics 101, we learn that Gross Domestic Product equals spending from Consumers, Investments, Government, and Exports, minus Imports. So what happens when the "C" or "Consumers" can't spend as much? We have a weaker economy and the "G" - that's Government - is used to make up the difference.

That's where we are today and why so many Alaskans thought Governor Palin lost her mind when she threw back part of the stimulus money. Again, her attempt to channel Ronald Reagan - who had the voice of elites because economic conditions in the 80s favored his message - failed because his ideas are wrong for today.

Elites understand this and are interested only in solving the economic problem. Ideologs like Palin certainly tap into a point of view held, frankly, by a group of the masses that are not elite, but that's the problem.

Gov. Palin has become a kind of repository for the hopes and fears of the undereducated mostly white American masses. And that is why Governor Palin will never be taken seriously as a political candidate in the near future, even by her own supporters. Elites form policy direction and have done so. Palin's message is outside of that of the power elite because it doesn't help solve the problems they're dealing with.

So what happens? She's caractured. Made fun of. Her family issues take center stage with former future son-in law Levi Johnston posting nude and talking to everyone with a TV camera. All of this, but no real talk of Palin as the serious GOP Presidential candidate. If Palin remained as Governor, and learned to play the elite game, she would have been a shoe-in.

Now, Palin's best chance to be take seriously is an an independent party candidate. But the minute that parade of Ralph Naders and Lyndon La Rouches comes out of the gate, her value will diminish yet again.

When the words "kook" and "fringe" are written in the same paragraph as your name, and that becomes a constant Saturday Night Live punch-line, your chances of really getting elected are toast.

"Going Rogue" has made Palin a millionaire, but it's also rendered her unelectable and out of touch with America's problems and the Power Elite. Governor Palin would be happy not to be associated with the last group, the Power Elite , but that is why she's failed as an elected official.