NONE OF THEM HAVE KILLED A YOUTH YET.

HOWEVER NONE OF THEM HAVE KILLED A BEAR EITHER.

IT IS A DRAW.

It's funny you should ask, actually. I just applied for a new job. However, barring some sort of miracle, I don't see myself getting the job. The hardest part is probably having actual experience and qualifications in a desired field.

Wrong. Both answers are wrong. Celebrities shouldn't have to protect themselves from the public. The public should not friggin care.

So tomorrow I go to Best Buy at 7 in the morning to learn about our new business model. This is my second week (the company's third; I skipped the second. Though, really, we covered it all in a different 7 o'clock meeting; apparently we just need to have it drilled in piece by piece) of, I believe, six weeks of 7-9 meetings. Of course, the new business model is insanely easy and something that our store has pretty much been doing anyway. Perhaps even more importantly, it is something I don't give a shit about. Why go then? Because I work at Best Buy and am required to go if I don't want to be fired. The funny thing is that I would not mind being fired because I detest Best Buy. So Tim, you fool, you hate the meetings, you hate the job. Why would you go to both when you could easily stop doing either.

It turns out that our world runs on a "money can be exchanged for goods and services" kind of philosophy and that money itself runs on a "you have to earn this shit" kind of philosophy. So I must work to earn money to buy things. So what things am I buying then that are so damn important? A house? A car? Food? Drink? Things I enjoy? Things that are useful?

No. None of those things. I am earning all this money so that I can pay off debt that I have already accrued (I am currently at roughly 34,000 dollars worth of debt including this year's debt) to earn an education. This education does not guarantee me a job. It does not guarantee me a future. What it does guarantee is that I will be in debt for years to come. Here's another funny thing: I don't particularly like being in school. It is not a path I would have chosen for myself if I had things my way. But I'm here. And I'm here not because I love debt. I'm here because college will eventually give me a slip of paper that says I'm intelligent (or at least as intelligent as an overwhelming percentage of Americans) and will hopefully at least get a future employer to look twice at my application.

So what does this lead to? A gamble. And it's not even a good gamble. I throw this much money at an education, come back with a slip of paper and hope that it proves worthwhile enough to get me a job where I can earn back the money that I spent on the slip of paper. End result? Another job for me to bitch about.

19 protesters were arrested at Notre Dame for speaking out against the college's recent push to have President Obama speak at commencement and to give him an honorary degree.

This is not why people are stupid. Protesting is fine, whatever (pick your protests well though people).

No, this is why people are stupid:

Bishop John D'Arcy said in a written statement, "President Obama has recently reaffirmed, and has now placed in public policy, his long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred."

Okay, yes. He is FOR stem-cell research (which, ideally, will SAVE HUMAN LIFE). He is pro-choice (I never got this from a political standpoint; Republicans generally want less government intervention in their lives, but something which, by name, puts the rights in the hands of the people is a bad fuckin' idea. Also, pro-life? Know what's pro-life? Peace. But you people seem to hate that shit). We get it. He is not Catholic.

So cool, protest. You don't think the Catholic school should give an honorary degree to someone who doesn't follow Catholicism to the later. But to say he doesn't hold human life sacred? He has a timetable to get us out of the war. He is investigating alleged torture practices. HE SHUT DOWN GUANTANAMO BAY.

I could talk all day about why abortion could or should or shouldn't be legal. I understand most sides of the arguments. I understand that some people think a potential life is the same as a regular human, without going into the ideas of sentiency or reactions or potential or anything like that. But to say he doesn't hold human life sacred SIMPLY because of all this extremely gray area and ignore the fact that he's holding indisputable human life more sacred than your ridiculous religious nut president is insane. Gimme a damn break.

I am very tired. Also, I cannot sleep.

I have a meeting at 7 in the morning that I will have to wake up at 6 in the morning to attend. I get out of that meeting by 10. Then I have work from 2 until 7 that afternoon. Also, I hate my job.

It's possible the tiredness and the non-sleeping have caused (or probably amplified) the hate of my job, but I'm not sure. I haven't slept well in days. Even when I sleep fairly well, I wake up exhausted. I'm beginning to worry that it's not just a lack of a regular sleeping schedule, but is actually something deeper, something subconscious. It is possible the hate of my job is causing the tiredness which is then causing me to hate my job in a vicious cycle of abuse to Tim.

Now what's the answer to this? Am I to develop a regular sleeping schedule? I think that's probably a good idea. But the underlying problem is still there. So then what? Quit my job? And do what to get money? The summer would be easy; I'm already signed on for another year at Wonder Mountain. After that though? I think part of the issue with Best Buy is that I'm not a salesman. Not in the least. Sure I can sell to people. Anyone could do that. People inherently want to buy, that's why they go shopping. But it's not where I feel right. I feel right minding my own business or helping people a lot less...capitalistly.

But then what would I do?

You have all wondered, at some point or another, what goes through my mind (I know you have, no reason to be shy about it. You're like "Wish there was a thought bubble over that guy's head." It's like what a dog's thinking. You know? Is it like, people thoughts or like dog thoughts?) and I'm here to give you a small glimpse. Here are 10 of the thoughts that have just come to my mind:

1. Who thought "Browns" was a good name for a sports team? Especially football. It doesn't imply fierceness, though their bulldog logo (for serious) kinda does, but it isn't called a brown. It's called a damn dog.

2. Why did I buy a mouse pad for a mouse I rarely if ever use?

3. I need to buy a bigger desk to have more space for my kickass Captain America mousepad.

4. Captain America's awesome.

5. Fuck the Nazis. No, you know what, fuck the nazis. They don't deserve a damn capital letter.

6. Dammit, do I really think in capitals? God I hate being an English major.

7. I'm going to name an episode of Hang Ten "The 13 Ghosts of Clint Storey." I'm also getting the music from the original Scooby Doo. The one where they're just walking/looking for clues that's all "Bum. Bum. Buuum. Badada da bum.

8. Bum. Bum. Buuuum. Badada da bum.

9. Is Clint short for something, like Clinton, or is it just Clint? I think I'd rather have Clint's name really be Clinton, but he's rarely called that.

10. Hillary Clint.

out2317: shit, did you see that there's a code book that assigns numbers to about 5000 chinese characters?

key2: i saw that chinese had one, but i didnt look at it

out2317: chinese telegrapher=worst job ever

key2: haha, probably

out2317: though i assume being chinese kind of sucks

key2: in general yes
any job dealing with an asian language sucks too

out2317: yeah
and like, the great wall is super cool
it's incredibly impressive
but let's face it
that country is known for a wall

key2: hahaha

out2317: if, instead of a fence, a family separated themselves from neighbors with a giant wall, they'd be giant douches
granted, those neighbors aren't generally the mongols
and that wall probably is harder to spot from space
i've heard that you can see the great wall from space
i want to know if it looks incredibly stupid
i bet it does and no one wants to tell china

key2: i don't think that's true though
i heard it's too narrow

out2317: yeah, i'd be surprised

key2: it's long enough obviously, but it's like seeing a really long grey thread on a dark green carpet from miles away
actually, thats what it literally is
it's actually a thread, but chinese people are really small
how else could they cram so many in such a small country?

out2317: that's true
even scarier that the mongols were attacking
considering each mongol was over 49 feet tall

key2: haha, i had heard 45
but close enough either way

out2317: genghis khan was 92 feet tall

key2: well, that's why he was in charge

out2317: damn straight
even if you're 80 feet tall, you don't fuck around with the 92-foot guy

key2: the guy on my can of corn couldn't take him

out2317: he was eventually felled by a temporarily united godzilla and mothra

key2: even then, it wasn't easy

out2317: yeah
very difficult
well khan had a 200 foot sword

key2: hahaha
that must have been hard to swing

out2317: and a 4000 watt lantern

key2: hahahaha

out2317: which, of course, took mothra out of the fight for a while

key2: i was just going to say tha
t
but, i mean, the sword wasn't that unwieldy

out2317: that was a big reason godzilla didn't want to pursue a team-up later on

key2: since his arms were 137 feet long

out2317: yeah
dude loped everywhere

key2: lanky kong style

out2317: which sucks even more for everyone else

key2: plus, it really beefed up those triceps

out2317: because not only do you have to contend with his feet (rather dainty, for his size), but now you have his arms and knuckles scraping the ground

key2: his scraping knuckles carved out the yellow river valley
which he filled with urine, hence the name

out2317: yeah, i was just going to say, by scraping i meant carving
i just assumed he filled it with chinese
ohhhhhhh
he went there

key2: wow, i didnt think you would go there
impressive

out2317: you know me
i didn't want to
but once it was in my head, it was sticking around

key2: someone had to

out2317: yeah
and you had already said urine, so i had no other choice
you couldn't contradict yourself

key2: mmmm
worst job ever is actually genghis khan's horse

Captain America is a goddamned hero.

A goddamned hero.

VETERAN'S DAY WERTHER'S ORGINALS.

PRINCE NAMOR, RULER OF THE SEA.

So a couple of months ago, a Home Movies 10th Anniversary set was released. I already owned all the DVDs, but Home Movies is more than a TV show to me. I felt I would be remiss as a fan and as a friend if I didn't go get it. It was okay, I reasoned, I would buy it at Best Buy, get 25 bucks off on it, sell my DVDs and break just about even (not really, but who cares about math anyway?).

The plan was to sell my DVDs to either my brother or my mother, who would both have taken them. After several months and a couple of offers, nothing was accomplished.

Today I overheard Home Movies in the living room from my room. I walked out and my brother was watching an episode on demand. I gave him my DVDs.

I don't know if I ever really fully intended to sell the DVDs. Granted, it's always nice to get money. Something felt wrong about selling it though. I probably wouldn't have gotten much money for them, so it's not like I could really have bought anything of worth for what I got. Is Home Movies equal to a couple of trips to Subway? Is it equal to some graphic novel bought on a whim? No. Had I gotten use out of those DVDs to justify the price I paid for them? Absolutely.

I couldn't have charged for them. Dan was watching Home Movies. He will watch those DVDs. He has borrowed and watched them before. I would rather they go for free to someone that will watch them than for a couple of bucks to sit on a shelf and gather dust. I couldn't bear that.

I, like several other people I've met, enjoy music. As a kid I would listen to a given album incessantly, perhaps even a given song on that album incessantly (still do that). Anyway, listening to an album has kind of faded, as I can just listen to ALL my music now at any point what with the invention of an iPod. However, there comes a time when everyone must examine his or her life and determine what 10 albums they like best. That time for me is now (under the CD description, you'll find my top three songs from those albums)

-a note before you continue or discontinue reading; this is a list of my favorite albums (at the time of writing this and probably omitting a few forgotten favorites). this is not a list of albums I think are best, just ones that I like best-

1. The Lonesome Crowded West-Modest Mouse
This is an all-around fantastic CD. There is nary a weak song on it (with the possible exception of Trucker's Atlas, which isn't so much bad as fucking long). It's packed with a ton of emotions and imagery and manages to pull off a nice mix of depressing sounding songs and upbeat songs so that you're never too depressed or too energetic. 'Tis wonderful. Forcing myself to listen to this CD after having it on the computer for several months was the best thing I could have done.
-Polar Opposites
-Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice On Ice, Alright
-Teeth Like God's Shoeshine

2. X/O-Elliott Smith
This CD struck me totally by surprise. I already loved Elliott Smith and was listening to a bunch of his CDs on shuffle once and song after song kept coming up that I loved. When I would check the name, I noticed that they all had the same album art. Funny, I thought, I wonder why that is. I realized later that it was because they were all the same album. X/O has another great mix of depressing and upbeat that really allows the album to be listened to repeatedly.
-Baby Britain
-Waltz #2
-Pitseleh

3. Abbey Road-The Beatles
Abbey Road just barely beat out Yellow Submarine as my top Beatles album. Abbey Road has a great mix of songs (including an awesome George song, hooray!) that flow really well together as an album, while Yellow Submarine has a bunch of songs that are great in their own respects and is, to my knowledge, the only Beatles CD to date that has Hey Bulldog on it, which is the best fucking Beatles song. Suck on that, everyone.
-Here Comes the Sun
-Come Together
-The End (for those taking notes and ready to say that Hey Bulldog is not number one, Her Majesty just barely didn't make the top three. Just barely)

4. Maybe You Should Drive-Barenaked Ladies
I would have felt a tremendous sense of shame and dickishness had I not put BNL on the list. BNL is interesting in that they often have a random section (generally it's even lumped together) of songs that just don't really enthrall me and thus break the total album appeal. There are far more good songs than bad on any BNL album (possibly excluding Maroon), but that little stretch of songs on each album really upsets. However, Maybe You Should Drive came in for a steal of favorite BNL album, as it is not the one (or even one of the ones) my brain immediately jumps to. However, it has the most full song list, I think, just edging out Stunt and Born on a Pirate Ship.
-A
-Life, in a Nutshell
-You Will Be Waiting (if just for the effigy line)

5. There is Nothing Left to Lose-Foo Fighters
Another totally great CD which doesn't miss a beat. Great energy behind the CD. It had enough energy to keep me constantly entertained as a kid and enough to keep me going back time after time as a 20 year old or whatever I'm at now. Great lyrics, great vocals, great guitar, great fucking drumming (Taylor Hawkins continually reaffirms his spot in my top 5 drummers, probably top 2, hanging out with Mitch Mitchell).
-M.I.A.
-Learn to Fly
-Gimme Stitches (funny that after I use breakout so frequently as a name for stuff after the song Breakout, but it doesn't even breach the top three. That's how good this album is)

6. The Broken String-Bishop Allen
Mostly upbeat, great music with pretty good lyrics. Helped get me through this past summer, especially listening to The News From Your Bed repeatedly from my cellphone while on security at Wonder Mountain. A fun album to listen to.
-The News From Your Bed
-Click, Click, Click, Click
-The Monitor

7. Guero-Beck
In my eyes, this isn't as complete an album as most of the others on this list thus far (who knows what's coming next?) but the songs that are good are REALLY good and I feel that both he and this album deserve some mention for their efforts. This is the Beck album I inevitably choose when in a mood for Beck (which happens to all of us eventually).
-Girl
-E Pro
-Black Tambourine

8. Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them-Murder by Death
To be entirely honest, I think that I probably like Like the Exorcist but More Breakdancing more as an album, in the Murder by Death realm, but I am an absolute sucker for concept albums and this is the best I've ever seen. Great music, great songs, comes right before their lead singer's obsession with sounding like Johnny Cash, they have an awesome cellist, they HAVE a cellist, great story behind the album, great album.
-The Desert is on Fire
-The Devil in Mexico
-Until Morale Improves, the Beatings Will Continue (really hard not to put End of the Line on this list. Or Killbot2000 for that matter).

9. Band of Gypsys-Jimi Hendrix
Who would have thought that my choice for Jimi Hendrix album would come with a short CD that doesn't even have the full Jimi feel, as he's not lead vocalist? No one would have. I surprised all of you. Suckers. It's really hard to pick a Jimi album as better than the rest (partly due to the fact that his albums are largely compilations and partly because he's just so fucking good), but this album, as a complete album, doesn't miss once. Great songs throughout the album, great singing from Buddy Miles, good drumming (not quite Mitch Mitchell, but good anyway) from Buddy Miles, great lyrics, amazing guitar as always.
-Changes
-Who Knows
-Message of Love (it's one thing to pick an album that doesn't have Jimi as lead singer, but to not pick the song that he does lead vocals on would be blasphemy)

10. Chutes Too Narrow-The Shins
Great CD, great imagery, good energy to it (except in the songs where energy is intentionally minimal), nice CD to just sit and relax to. Maybe write a paper. Maybe write a long-ass livejournal post chronicling your 10 favorite albums instead. Probably the latter.
-So Says I
-Fighting in a Sack
-Kissing the Lipless (definitely the latter)

(honorable mentions go to Is This It?-the Strokes, Weezer (Blue Album)-Weezer, Third Eye Blind-Third Eye Blind, Apologies to The Queen Mary-Wolf Parade, Pressure Chief-Cake and every other Modest Mouse and Elliott Smith CD)

(side note: bonus points to the Shins and Modest Mouse for appearing on Home Movies commentaries)

I think it is imperative that everyone get at least some amount of Elliott Smith music. He was an incredible songwriter and wonderful guitar player. You may know his music from movies like Good Will Hunting or the Royal Tenenbaums. There will be at least one point in your life where you will need to listen to him, as his style of music is perfect for certain moods. Many of his songs are calm enough to relax to and he can fit perfectly in to whatever funk you might be in. I think everyone should listen to him.

If you take my advice, here is a list of ten songs by him you should look into:

1. Angel in the Snow
2. Son of Sam
3. Say Yes
4. A Fond Farewell
5. Needle in the Hay
6. New Monkey
7. A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free
8. Twilight
9. Junk Bond Trader
10. Coast to Coast

If you go by album, here is a list of albums you should look into.

1. From a Basement on a Hill
2. New Moon
3. Elliott Smith
4. Figure 8
5. Either/Or

There is a kid in my health and fitness class whose name is Andrew. His last name, it seems, is something along the lines of "Phales."


Now question for you: Is it worse to have the name Andrew Fails or to have a name that is frequently mispronounced Andrew Phallus? Granted, this question is moot as Andrew has both, but which do you suppose is a worse problem for him?

"Now 'we can start the even more contentious debate about the source,' said Carnegie Institution astronomer Alan Boss, an expert on looking for life on other planets." (Martian methane belch: From rocks or microbes?)

How can you be an expert on looking for life on other planets if you haven't ever found life on other planets before? Know how I know that you haven't? Because we fucking don't know if there, do we? I think it's something we would have bloody well heard about. So Alan Boss, you should probably not quit your day job. Or night job, I suppose, since you're an astronomer.

I've been having some issues falling asleep the last few nights. It's not for lack of trying, nor is it for lack of desire. My brain just refuses to shut itself off lately, which makes me stay up wondering why the hell I'm still awake. Tonight's venture into sleeplessness has been, so far, a two and a half hour trek that has put me, at various times, very close to sleep but never quite delivered. Instead, it has convinced me that, in the next couple days, I may be spending a large amount of money to finally give my room what it deserves: the "coolest room ever" award. No details on that yet, I want to see if it's still a good idea tomorrow morning after, hopefully, a few hours of sleep. Of course, there's also the chance that my brain won't allow me to sleep at all tonight, which would turn that idea into absolute best idea ever, ensuring that I spend a large amount of money to receive a fake award (that you can bet I would print out, possibly frame, and hang on my door).

Instead of telling you what the future may promise in terms of my room, I want to talk about what the past has meant for my room. My room, lovingly dubbed Alcatraz by the uncle who helped paint it after it was designed, is a fairly small room, no wider than probably 7 1/2 feet through most of it and no longer than probably around 10-12 feet. These, sadly, are all estimates that I have to make based simply on my own (estimated) height and how many times I would fit into the room, as my family appears not to own a single damn tape measure, which is putting my room's future slightly on hold. My room has no windows and a pipe running through it, which runs from, I imagine, my house's plumbing to my house's sewage tank. I've made my peace with these shortcomings, even learning to embrace my windowless room as a haven for darkness, and had learned to accept my lack of space (though grudgingly) when a simple realization changed everything. My bed, which had been aligned against a side wall (one that spans the 10-12 foot range) could be moved to the back wall of my room, opposite the door, and take up that wall instead, which includes an entrance to a walk-in closet and a divit in the wall where the pipe runs. This way, I opened up the entire front of the room, side walls included. I only discovered this at the very beginning of this past summer, which meant that I had a TV in my possession as well. Suddenly, I could fit a TV in my room, a lifelong dream of mine. This realization and the subsequent remodeling have changed my life. I can only imagine what the potentially amazing future might hold.

I'll give a slight hint. Right now, I'm considering moving the bulky table my TV sits on out of my room and replacing it with solely a cabinet-esque end table thing I just bought from Salvation Army for 7 bucks (possibly best purchase ever), as I figure it's possible to simply place a TV on that. This comes in the same week that I moved my bureau (by the way, this word is easily the word that I have the most difficulty spelling in the English language) of the last...well...19 years out of my room and into the guest room, opening up another wall of space. I moved my TV and table against that wall and moved my Salvation Army cabinet against the side wall, instead of jutting out in the middle of my room, as it had previously been positioned. New plans would have me move the TV table out, move the cabinet into it's spot and move my desk from the guest room into the current spot of the cabinet. This solves a couple problems: I can now actually work at the desk on my computer without the hassle of continually moving my powercord (also, it's 80 dollars to buy another one, screw that), I don't have to go into the guest room (which seems to permanently smell like mildew) any more, and I might have the motivation to actually do more school work (which seems to be a worthy enough cause). Clearly though, the biggest change is yet to come.

Here's the thing.

John McCain has gone out and picked a vice presidential candidate that "embodies his maverick spirit and brings vitality and youth to the ticket." Read: he made a clear campaign move, not a presidential move.

Sarah Palin is fucking insane. She's completely against abortion (even in cases of rape or incest), for abstinence-only sex ed in schools, for gun control, for KILLING POLAR BEARS GODDAMMIT, for drilling for oil, and for all out gun control. She thinks that the Iraq war was a task from God. She doesn't think that man has contributed to global warming. Fox News tells us she has foreign experience because Alaska borders Russia.

At the convention, she mocked Barack Obama for being a community organizer (along with half of the other speakers) and said that she was a mayor which is "like a community organizer except that you have actual responsibility."

That's funny. While Obama was director of the Developing Communities Project in Chicago, the staff of the DCP grew from 1 person to 13, the annual budget went from 70,000 to 400,000 and the group's accomplishments included "setting up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens." (wikipedia)

When asked what executive decisions Palin had made in her time as mayor, McCain refused to answer and now, because of that question, refuses to do any interview (or allow his staff to do any interview) with CNN.

This is just a move to get elected. McCain wants to grab Hillary supporters by vetting a woman (who he had spoken to only once before asking her to be VP), wants to show youth to contrast his startling oldness by grabbing a 44 year old, and wants to appeal to his conservative base by picking someone insane. This is all well and good until McCain gets into office and dies of a severe case of Maverickitis (when his heart is so maverick, it refuses to do what its told) and Crazy McDouchebag gets in there.

Also, this move is a slap in the face to actually qualified women candidates, like Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Olympia Snow.

Brett Favre is the most overrated player in football today, if not the most overrated player in sports altogether. He has been in a steep decline, more or less, since the Packers beat the Patriots in the 1997 Super Bowl. Admittedly, he had a good year last year, most probably because of the addition of solid halfback Ryan Grant (who is hopefully going to have a good fantasy year this year too) and a deep man in Greg Jennings. Here's the key here: Favre needed a running back who could lighten the load and a guy who could run fast to make him good. Of course, in football, it is necessary for a quarterback to have a good supporting cast to succeed (see: Peyton Manning, with one of the best all-around supporting casts a few years ago). However, you need more than just this supporting cast to do something; you need that characteristic that sets you apart and makes you able to lead a team and manage to not crumble under the pressure (see: not Peyton Manning a few years ago). Your supporting cast can get you to the playoffs. You're the one who has to win there, especially if you're the veteran of the team (looking at you, Favre).

In the postseasons since 1997, Favre won 3 of 10 games. He had 2 wins and 3 losses in wild card games, the games that feature, generally, the teams lucky to make the playoffs, not the best teams. In those wild card games, he has nine interceptions and seven touchdowns. Don't forget; he threw a crucial interception in 2003 to Brian Dawkins against the Eagles that allowed for a game winning field goal, then an overtime interception last January to the Giants' Corey Webster. That's not what a leader, especially one with the reputation Favre somehow has, is known for doing. In playoff games at Lambeau Field, where the Packers were 13-0 in the postseason in the first 81 years of the franchise, Favre has lost three games and won two. The three he lost were to quarterbacks Michael Vick, Daunte Culpepper and Eli Manning. Not a great resume there. ESPN's Sal Paolantonio points out that if Eli had had a decade like Favre's he'd "be run out of New York." Phillip Rivers would be considered a "first round bust." Despite all this, Favre is seen as one of the top players in the game.

What gives him this appeal to people? Certainly he has had his moments. He has some talent. He's a gunslinger. He has the record for most career yards and career touchdowns. He also has the record for most career interceptions. The thing is, if you play as long as he did with the amount of talent he has (which is a considerable amount, not nearly the talent the media and fans grant him), you're going to break those records. It's inevitable. Still, what's his appeal? It seems to be his cowboy-esque attitude and appearance. He did a Wrangler jeans commercial. He's the kind of guy who you expect to be on the farm, or maybe you just want him on the farm. That's all well and good. He's not the best football player of his era, not even fifth best.

When Brett Favre retired, the Packers met with him to make sure he didn't want to play. He didn't. So the Packers moved on. Finally, the Packers first round pick of 2005, Aaron Rodgers, would be the starter. The Packers went through mini-camp with Rodgers and the team began to follow him. Then Favre wanted back in. The Packers said no, their QB was Rodgers, sorry Brett. But Favre kept pushing. As the weeks pushed on, Favre sent in his letter of reinstatement, the Packers offered 20 million dollars for Brett to stay retired, Brett declined, and Brett was reinstated. The president of the Packers said that with Brett back, there would be a QB competition to see who the starter would be. Coach Mike McCarthy said otherwise, telling Favre in a late-night conference that Rodgers was the starting quarterback and Favre could feel free to sit on the bench all year if he liked. Favre, of course, didn't and promptly left, saying "So they can say they welcome me back but, come on, the way they've treated me tells you the truth. They don't want me back, so let's move on." The best part of this is Favre bitching about how the Packers have been treacherous, in a way, in handling his case, and that they've told him one thing but indicated another. I don't know where he got that impression. Clearly Favre has only been hearing what he wants to hear, since the Packers have said from the beginning that they don't want Favre back.

So now it's official; the Packers have traded Favre to the New York Jets for a conditional fourth round draft pick (conditional meaning that, based on how the season turns out for the Jets, the draft pick might get better). In all likelihood, this means that former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington will be released to clear cap room. I admit, I have in the past, mocked Pennington for various reasons to a certain Jets fan. However, as she will tell you, I have never mocked his skill level. I think Pennington is a hell of a quarterback in a bad situation. If you watch some old Jets games, you'll see Pennington making good passes and the Jets receivers not making easy catches. However, Pennington has led the Jets at various points to good playoff appearances in a hard division (especially when Pennington led them there his first time where the AFC East housed the ever-impressive Patriots, as well as the stellar defenses of the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins). Pennington's been a leader, a team-builder, and a good quarterback. And the Jets are willing to sell him down the river for a washed-up douchebag with an ego problem that the media soothes and encourages.

The best possible scenario: the Packers have a great year, the Jets get shit on, and Pennington goes to a team that makes the playoffs with him starting (maybe the Bucs; they were going after Favre, maybe they'll go after Pennington now).

The worst possible scenario: the Jets receivers learn how to catch and save Favre's abysmal season, making the playoffs and doing some damage, Rodgers gets injured and the Packers fall under .500, and Pennington replaces Alex Smith of the 49ers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080718/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/argentina_nazi_hunt


This is very promising news. The best part of it, though, I'm sure we can all agree, is that there are such things as Nazi Hunters. I know my future!