SCATTERSHOTS

Quote of the Day

"...unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant guardians, the authority of so formidable a magistrate will soon degenerate into despotism."

--Edward Gibbon, The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire

Gibbon was speaking of Augustus Caesar (see Season 2 of the HBO series Rome to get a good depiction of what he's like), but sometimes that quote reminds me of George Bush and all of his post-9/11 abuses.

Random Thoughts About Billary

What has happened to the Clinton Empire? It is not over by any means, but shake the magic eight-ball and ask it if Hillary Clinton will be our next president and all answers would point to no. It's a good thing of course to be driven to obtain the presidency--to no one who doesn't desire it should that burdensome crown be given. But the all-consuming, unethical viciousness with which Hillary and Spouse have set about obtaining what they obviously feel is rightfully theirs is, at the least, a little offputting and at worst a sign of a fatal arrogance that makes me question whether she really is right for the job after all. A month ago, I would have voted for Hillary Clinton without hesitating. Now, I'm for Barack Obama, with reservations. Perhaps the best thing America could do on Super Tuesday would be to send Hillary and Bill packing. Unfortunately, this has all the earmarks of a race that will be settled at the convention.

One piece of advice for Obama though--don't let Billary get into your head. You need to stop focusing on how mean and cold and ruthless they are and keep your eyes on the prize. Because if you think the Clintons are tough and battle-tested, wait until the GOP war machine gets you in it's sights.

Taking the Ooza Out of the Sportsapalooza

After 15 months of sparse postings and even sparser readership I must regretfully report that I am closing down my sports blog, Reg's Sportsapalooza for good. I found I just didn't have time to do two blogs--hell, I barely have time to do ONE. So why keep the Sportsapalooza going? I'll keep it up for your perusal for another week or so, then all postings will be deleted...

My Super Bowl Pick

Since I will be doing no more sports-only blogging, you'll have to put up with the occasional sports opinion of this blog. And like everyone else in America who gives the slightest hoot about football, or at least the Super Bowl, I have an opinion on the game. It's far from an expert opinion, but here it goes:

I hate the Patriots. They are fascists. They are soulless Borg. They are as indefatigible as they are so far invincible. They are coached by a mirthless cyborg and quarterbacked by a smug GQ model.

I hate Boston sports fans. They are bourgeois but boorish beaneaters. They reek of chowder, Samuel Adams and entitlement. For years when the Celtics were bad, the Red Sox chokers, the Patriots mediocre and the Bruins irrelevant, America had grown accustomed to ignoring them even though they were just as loud as when their teams were triumphant. Now BostonFan is inescapable and especially insufferable--every team in the city (or that the city has attached itself to, last time I checked the Pats played in Foxboro, which would be like the Broncos playing in Greeley) is on pace for a championship or at least a playoff spot and every fan in Greater Boston, or from Greater Boston or who identifies with Boston, can't wait to tell us how special and historic their team of joyless mercenaries is. Of course many a well-coached, talented team would have a chance to go 18-0 playing the likes of the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins each twice a year.

None of which matters one iota. The New York Giants are a hot, confident team with an underrated defense, a quarterback coming of age and two talented runningbacks with contrasting but complimentary skills. But the gap in speed between the Patriots and the Giants on the fast track of the space age University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale is something that can't be overcome with clever coaching or intense desire. The Giants offense will score on the overrated Pats defense and the special teams edge will go (slightly) to the Giants, but the real mismatch on the field will be Brady, Moss, Welker, Stallworth and Maroney et al vs. the Giants linebackers and secondary. A fired up Pats offensive line will keep Tom Brady upright long enough to make all the clutch throws and in the end, Eli Manning will remember he's the YOUNGER Manning and his streak of turnover-free playoff football will come to an end.

NEW ENGLAND 41, New York 24. Don't take it to the bank.

If You Only Care About Money, Go Into Pharmaceuticals

Tracy and I are constantly amazed and appalled by the number and variety of prescription and non-prescription drug commercials that flood the TV airwaves. Lamasil, Aciphex, Viagra, Lipitor, on and on it goes--there's a pill for everything (soma anyone?) The pharmaceutical companies keep on lobbying and we keep winding up with more and more advertising for increasing numbers of drugs.

That's why the potential $1 billion settlement by the Eli Lilly Co. for their antipsychotic medication (Zyprexa) is so shocking. Normally the drug companies peddle their crap on an unsuspecting public and manage to avoid paying the price for excessive side effects or even the deaths and disabling that their products sometimes cause. But this time they may have to write a lot of checks to a lot of people in all 50 states because they pressured doctors to prescribe the medication to people for whom it was not intended, all so that the company could boost their profit margin.

Of course, settling for a billion dollars is nothing when Zyprexa alone earned the company over $4.8 billion worldwide just last year.

Peace.