Give 'em Hell, Mike Gravel

Yep, I'm still plugging for Mike Gravel, now more than ever. In fact Gravel is the candidate I have felt most strongly about since my voting career began in 1996, when I punched a hole on behalf of Bill Clinton. Since then it seems I have been drifting further and further left. I endorsed Al Gore in 2000 and Dennis Kucinich in 2004. While I am still an admirer of Kucinich, it's Mike Gravel's vim and vigor that has really gotten my attention this time.

Here are ten reasons why he has my vote:

10) He's fiery and doesn't spew a lot of meaningless political drivel.

9) He's effective. As a senator from Alaska he held a five-month filibuster that led to the end of the military draft. He wants to apply his knowledge of politics and policy to make our presence in Iraq a felony. He understands that the invasion of Iraq was, to quote Chomsky, "a war crime," and that such criminals belong in jail.

8) He knows that a military confrontation with Iran would be exactly what the Iraq war has been: a disaster.

7) He does not take contributions from lobbies and corporations. He is not a bought candidate and will not answer to those who line the pockets of our politicians.

6) He wants to end the insane, racist war on drugs and to get our young men and women out of prison.

5) He wants all Americans to have health care.

4) He supports gay marriage. None of this civil union bullshit. No equivocation. Gay marriage. Equal rights. This guy actually marched at the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco.

3) He wants to bring the troops home yesterday.

2) He supports energy solutions on a global level. Carbon emissions in the US, China and India is the biggest threat to our future and he understands that we need to curb the use of fossil fuels immediately.

1) He wants a direct democracy. If you do too, sign the National Initiative for Democracy, his piece of legislation designed to give citizens the power to make laws at the federal level. With enough signatures, the National Initiative becomes law.

nwb

And We're Back!

It's been quite a while since my last post. Seventeen days to be exact, which is an eternity in blogger time. Apologies to all of our loyal readers out there.

The days in Venezuela, as ever, flew by.

Some highlights:

My first salsa concert! My in-laws treated us to a night of Gilberto Santa Rosa and the seminal salsa band, El Gran Combo, making a stop on their 45th anniversary tour. The music was incredible, but perhaps most noteworthy were our ill-advised attempts to buy beer. Now, in my experience, most Americans prefer to stand in nice, orderly lines. Venezuelans, however, take a more aggressive approach to concessions. I was tossed left and right by anyone (fat young men, little old ladies, children) who had a craving for Polar Ice (to call it piss is an insult to piss everywhere) and a few Bolivars (1 US Dollar = 2,146 Venezuelan Bolivares) to spend. Ultimately it proved safer and more effective for me to linger at the back of the line and wait while my father-in-law muscled his way to the front, combating other Caraqueños, one of whom promised the beer lady a new set of fake breasts if she would serve him first. Another took a slightly more offensive approach, saying something to the tune of hey, negrita, it's bad enough that you're black, but you don't have to scowl at us too... At least he himself was black, I guess.

Well, we got our (warm) beers after about 30 minutes and missed most of Gilberto Santa Rosa (the Gentleman of Salsa). El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico was great though, and the audience was impressive, often drowning out the performance with their own singing and cheering. The temperature hovered somewhere around volcanic. Unfortunately, our boiling beers (to which we had added a few doomed ice cubes) were of little help.

Trip to the Finca (farm). Our uncle Manolo owns about the prettiest chunk of farmland you've ever seen, 1,000 hectares sprawling over the Venzuelan llanos. On it grow lush, endless fields of corn where birds flit around this birdwatcher's paradise. It was hot, and we cooled off with beer mixed with Seven-up. Sound weird? It is!

Along the way we stopped and visited the Virgin of Betania, a small sculpture of the Virgin Mary, who, according to legend, will answer the prayers of those who promise to return. On the surrounding rock walls people had attached words of thanks, thousands of plaques, some quite ornate, that read, "Thank you, Virgin, for the answered prayer." Others offered more specific thanks for a successful operation or a passed exam.

Touring colonial houses with aunt Yarima. Alex continued to research her novel by interviewing her aunt Yarima. Meanwhile, the three of us toured some of the remaining colonial houses in Caracas, including the birthplace of Simón Bolívar. All of them were cool, calm escapes from just about the craziest city in the world.

Montezuma's revenge. Actually, this was not really a highlight.

Many, many cachapas. One of Venezuela's specialties are cachapas, the thick corn pancakes typically folded over a giant hunk of white cheese. Oh man, they are the best, and I ate several of them, usually with a freshly squeezed tropical fruit juice. Dang!

America's Cup soccer game. My brothers-in-law and I had a great time watching Mexico beat Uruguay 3-0 in the game that determined third place in the America's Cup. The match was almost as cool as watching my father-in-law buy tickets illegally from a scalper in a place that was swarming with security.

Spencer's opening: It was great to see so many people show up for Spencer's opening at the Museo de Arte Contemporario, and great to share a delicious plate of octopus with the artist himself. The best thing was seeing my wife featured in one of the exhibits.

General observations on Venezuela and President Chávez:

While I love La República Bolivariana de Venezuela, I'd have a hard time living there. I don't think that learning the language would be the problem, but I'd have a tough time living year-round in a place where crime is so high and where you have to be so careful all the time and where a simple trip to the bank can turn into many trips to the bank and many agonizing hours lost because nothing ever seems to work.

President Hugo Chávez is pretty much demonized in the American media. On the CNN Youtube Debates, he was bunched together with Kim Jong Il and several other leaders we deem evil or oppressive. This is a joke.

My perspective of Venezuela is based on visits that occur every two years. Since my first visit, when the country was devastated by landslides and untold death counts, I have seen highways and bridges built, the subway system expanded, shopping malls erected, cars purchased and a general increase in commerce and construction.

That said, Caracas is still one the most chaotic and dangerous cities in the world. There is trash everywhere and the traffic is horrible.

Under Chávez the majority of the people, the ones living in absolute poverty, have received better health care. They are going to school. They are learning to read. They are voting.

Of course there is still a terrible animosity that exists between social classes and, in many cases, between family members. Much of this can be blamed on Chávez, who rails against the rich.

There also continues to be widespread corruption during Chávez' administration and a general lack of infrastructure, which is a disappointment. I also cannot say I approve of his closing of a public, anti-Chávez television station.

Hugo Chávez is a problematic leader, but on the whole it seems progress has been made. Why, then, is he made such a pariah by the American media? It just may have something to do with the fact that Venzuela is the world's fifth leading oil producer and that Chávez is a socialist. It's so obvious that the U.S. had its hands all over his very temporary removal from office. Look at any dirty regime change in South America and you will probably find U.S. fingerprints all over it.

Hugo Chávez. Crazy? Yes. Evil? No. Friend of Castro? Yep. Communist? Nah. Democratically elected? Oh yeah. A threat to the U.S.? Hell no.

nwb

Nate's Friday Sports Extravaganza

This weeks FSE is going to be something less than an extravaganza, but then, I'm on vacation.

Indians

Signing Travis Hafner through at least the 2012 season gets a really, really big McBone Seal of Approval. McB. He's having an off year and still is on pace to drive in 100 runs. He's solid in every way and, when on his normal game, a top 5 hitter in the game.

Who would have thought that when Jim Thome departed that Travis Hafner would be better t han Thome. And he is.

Prediction: Hafner will lead the team in RBIs.

Cavaliers

Thank you, Memphis, for signing Darko Milicic. Now the Cavs get to keep Anderson Varejao. It would be a big screwup now to lose him, now that no other teams can offer him huge cash.

This team will improve just from being together another year. However, the biggest factor will be Shannon Brown. I predict that this guy is a major piece by the time next year's playoffs roll around.

Seeing Shannon Brown in some summer league action, I am amazed at his athleticism. He is build much more solidly than I remember, and he is so explosive. Very intriguing.

Friday Afternoon addendum: Rumors are flying (I know, I said before I hate rumors, but this one has some teeth) that Drew Gooden will be traded for Mike Bibby. Do it. Mike Bibby running the offense will make Mike Brown look a lot, a LOT more copempetent. Wait and see. While I will miss Drew Gooden, particularly his offensive rebounding, I don't think he will ever realize his full potential in a Cavs uniform. Believe me he has more upside than we've seen, and that upside is on the offensive end.

OK folks. That's it. More from and on the tropics to come.

nwb

Pronk Signs, Indians continue new trend

The Indians have received a lot of criticism the past ten years for not locking up their key players. I can't say that I blame anyone for that scrutiny nor that I haven't played a part in it. They have lost all-star after all-star over the past ten years including several future hall of famers. Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Richie Sexson, Bartolo Colon, Jeromy Burnitz, Brian Giles, and the latest two up and comers Brandon Phillips and Jeremy Guthrie have all been given away for essentially nothing, (with the exception of Bartolo whom we received Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips for).

That trend may be reversing itself, which should make all the Tribe fans out there very happy. Larry Dolan and Mark Shapiro have worked diligently over the past couple seasons to lock up our marque players for multi-year deals. We have Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, Victor Martinez, Ryan Garko, Jhonny Peralta, Ryan Garko and Josh Barfield all signed past the 2010 season. This is a huge chunk of our core players which will hopefully bring this team its first championship in almost 60 years.

Yesterday we took another huge step in that process by signing Travis Hafner to a four year deal worth almost 57 million. "Pronk," as nicknamed by his teammates, is the Indians fiercest hitter and one of the best overall bats in the Majors. He is the central force in our lineup and our run production relies heavily on his presence in the middle of our lineup. Well, guess what Indians fans, he isn't going anywhere. He took a hometown discount (Oh yes, he could have signed for much more somewhere else) and decided to stay in Cleveland to help us win a title. Dolan shelled out the cash and signed a guy loved by the fans and crucial to the team's success.

I want to take this time and say thank you to Larry Dolan. THANK YOU for finally not letting one of our best players go to some other team and flourish. Instead of watching Hafner hit homeruns for some team I despise like the Boston Red Sox or Yankees, I can watch him continue to blast baseballs into Pronkville in right field at Jacobs Field.

Don't stop here. We have one more big hurdle to get over. C.C. Sabathia has this year and next remaining on his contract. He is going to command well over 100 million for probably 4-6 years in his next deal on the free agent market. He also has the most wins of any player age 25 or younger in the entire MLB. I know this is a huge chunk of cash for one player but I would love to see him cement his future hall of fame status wearing the Indians jersey. He has matured in our minor league system and at our major league ball club. He is an ace and a great guy in the clubhouse. His teammates love him. He could be that guy that wins 2-3 games for us in a World Series championship. Cleveland sports seemingly are taking a new approach and all the teams are heading in the right direction. Keeping C.C. Sabathia in an Indians uniform could continue that trend.

jab

Lake Erie Monsters Logo

Hello all you faithful McBone bloggers out there. I have a request. The executives here at McBone Inc. need your support.

Please go to http://www.theahl.com/ and vote for the Lake Erie Monsters Logo as your favorite new AHL team logo. The survey is on the left side of the home page. Just scroll down and you can't miss it.

We were blowing away the competition but our competitor began stuffing the ballots. If you could all just vote once I would really appreciate it. It won't take more than 10 seconds of your time. Thanks very much and have a great day.

JB

Off to Venezuela

Dear friends and family,

Alex and I are off to the land of coffee and chocolate and rum and beaches and jungles and petroleum and Hugo Chavez for the next two weeks. I apologize in advance if I am unable to post during that time. We at McBone HQ promise that McBone will be back at full strength as soon as possible. There may even be some new features for your McBone pleasure, and perhaps a blast or two from our blogging past.

As always, McBone thanks you for your faithful readership. Without you, this anti-Bush, pro-gay marraige blog would amount to little more than an obnoxious, gratuitous, self-serving, vainglorious ego trip.

nwb

PS. Go Indians!

McBone Tribute: Althea Gibson

Venus Williams won The Championships, Wimbledon this past weekend, notching an impressive fourth singles title in tennis' greatest event. Sister Serena has won two. Know who else won twice at Wimbledon? Althea Gibson, who was the first black tennis player of either sex to integrate the all-white tournament. This weekend marked the 50th aniversary of Gibson's first Wimbledon championship, when she whipped Darlene Hard in straight sets.

In fact, before Venus won for the first time in 2000, no other black woman had won at Wimbledon since Gibson did it for the second time, in 1958.

I can't imagine the kind of crap Althea Gibson had to put up with as an African American trying to make her mark on such a gentrified game like tennis in the 1950s. She did it though, and with aplomb, winning five major championships by the time she was done. Not bad for the daughter of South Carolina sharecroppers. And, as if such a rise to greatness wasn't enough, Gibson was a good enough athlete to have been the first black woman to play golf on the LPGA tour.

Jackie Robinson has secured his place in history. The legacy of Althea Gibson, no less a trailblazer for her race and sport, has become an obscure figure. Why? Three reasons I can think of: 1) Tennis in the U.S. ranks well behind baseball in popularity. 2) We still don't give much of a damn when it comes to women's sports. 3) In the States, black women occupy a lower rung in the social ladder than almost any other class of citizen. Of course Wimbledon is in England, and I can't speak for the Brits, but let's not forget that Gibson also won 2 U.S. Open championships in her day.

McBone has not forgotten Gibson's contribution. You can bet the Williams sisters haven't either. I'm guessing Zina Garrison, Yannick Noah and MaliVai Washington well know the path that Gibson laid for them. Arthur Ashe became the first black male champion at Wimbledon in 1975. He would have been the first to tell you how vital Gibson's role was for him and any other athlete for whom doors had been shut.

Time to give this lady the recognition she deserves.

nwb

In Honor of Mrs. Kmet...

Hel-lo, boys and girls!
Hel-lo, Mrs. Kmet!

Nate's Friday Sports Extravaganza

Indians: 51-34, first place in the AL Central. That's right, I said FIRST.

So the Tigers took two of three from the Tribe and the world didn't end. We're still in first place, and if the season ended today, both teams would be in the postseason. Isn't it so much more fun when teams like Cleveland and Detroit are vying for a playoff spot and not New York? 200 million dollar payroll and no playoffs? That's exactly what they deserve. May they never win another title.

Isn't it hilarious how much better the Yankees were when Scott Brosius was their third baseman? I think it's hilarious.

That left field fence in Detroit looks really bush league. It’s because every new ballpark has to be a bandbox that a 4.50 ERA is considered acceptable in today’s game. Oh, and steroids. Stupid home runs.

Back when the home run was a really exciting play, back when hitting 35 was a big deal, I was a huge fan of the longball hitter. Andre Thornton, Joe Carter, Candy Maldonado (yes, I know this is slumming, but his 22 homers in '90 were all we had)...those were my favorite players. To me the sexiest stat has become ERA. If you can keep it below 3.00, you have to be one hell of a pitcher.

C.C. Sabathia took a loss yesterday, and his record stands at 12-3. Still a good chance to be the first twenty game winner for the Tribe since Gaylord Perry did it in 1974.

Speaking of Joe Carter, he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Just an RBI machine, a champion and a class act. The anti-Bonds. He was also the only reason to watch the Indians for many years. If his career started a decade later, he would have hit 500 homers.

You can add Dale Murphy to that class too.

I'm pretty sure the Indians won't do anything before the trade deadline. Why? Because they never do.

Cavaliers

Still not a peep out of the Cavs since the finals. I really have no clue at this point as to how they plan on getting themselves a point guard. I just know the are going to get one. I know it. They have to, right? Reading the offseason gossip columns is a colossal waste of time.

They guy I'm most excited about this year is Shannon Brown. I hope he begins to fill the role that Larry Hughes was supposed to play.

I have a very strong feeling that we've seen the last of Anderson Varejao in Cleveland. Remember when the Cavs overpaid for another backup big man about 15 years ago? I'll give you a hint: his name was Hot Rod Williams. That was a disaster that I hope they don't repeat. I love Anderson. He is not worth 7 million a year.

Forget Zydrunas Ilguaskas' contract already. He is a valuable player that most any team would love to have. Donyell Marshall's contract, however, gets uglier every time I look at it.

On that note, please no Derek Fisher. Please no Morris Peterson. Please, please no Brevin Knight. No more junking up the team with bad contracts for marginal players.

Nets pay Vince Carter 60 million over four years? Great news for the rest of the league. I loved seeing Vince get completely handled by Sasha Pavlovic in round two of the playoffs. Give Sasha a raise now. But not too much of one. He's probably gone too, actually.

Just guess what teams Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant are going to play for next year. The media has been trading Garnett for the past 4 years. The Timberwolves haven't.

Browns

We at McBone are pleased that LeCharles Bentley might be ready for the season opener this year. We are overjoyed that he is still alive. Talk about a freak injury. Jesus. This guy has been through it, that's for sure.

Nate's unreasonable prediction of the week:

The media will shut up about the fabulously uninteresting Kobe Bryant for five minutes.

Work Schmerk

I was just thinking about baseball players who make 27 million dollars a year, and that got me to remembering my old job at the Barnes & Noble store in Boulder, Colorado a few years back, my first experience (and preferably last) working in a national chain. At this job I toiled 40 hours in a five-day work week. For my efforts, I earned $8.50 an hour. That came to about $1,100 a month, after taxes. Not a lot.

I'm pretty sure I'm in over my head with this post, and I hope my republican friends don't read this, but here are some probably incohesive, late-night musings on labor after watching democratic candidates speaking at the presidential forum at Howard University.

Republicans are out of touch. Hopelessly out of touch. What's more, their party is obsolete. Democrats are getting there, too, but let's be realistic for a second. Just look at the candidates for president in '08. On the democratic side there is a black man, a woman and a latino. What are the republicans offering? Old white men (which of course I would be ok with if they all smoked pipes and had long beards. They don't). Their idea of a maverick is John McCain, recently seen sucking up to the religious right. They call themselves the party of Lincoln. This is the party of Nixon, Reagan, two Bushes and a Cheney. These people have not a clue about how 99% of the world lives, and I’m pretty sure they don't care.

I've said it before--I LOVE Mike Gravel. He’s the one pointing out that prison is not an acceptable alternative to a job for a young black man.

I love Jimmy Carter for pointing out in last month’s Rolling Stone that, when he was governor, he competed with fellow governors to see who could reduce the number of prison inmates the most. Now governors brag about how many prisons they have built. If anyone ever deserved a second term...

Henry Ford created the automaton worker. Easily trained, easily replaced. Doesn’t that make him the father of the dead-end job? There is no ladder for someone who has one very limited skill. That is a mode of control, isn’t it? You’re not in the club, and you’re not getting in.

Upward mobility is one of the biggest myths perpetuated in American society. Upward mobility has become a lottery ticket. American Idol. A book deal for a fantasy trilogy...

Lack of skill has meant a continuing decline in adequate compensation as company executives help themselves to bigger slices.

Republicans have been the biggest opponents of raising the minimum wage. They are also the biggest opponents of welfare. There seems to be disconnect in there somewhere.

Worker outrage is dulled by a constantly flowing stream of entertainment. Television killed the labor unions as much as anything. Ok, I just realized that I may be completely full of crap.

Speaking of unions, my buddy Josh once told me how, during his own training at Barnes & Noble, he was mistakenly given the manual for a manager’s training. In it, he told me, were instructions on how to put down a strike. Charming. It's quite a trick to keep people poor and content.

I had health insurance while working at B&N. The premium was about $120.00 per month—a pretty hefty chunk of my pay. When Alex and I went to the doctor for a checkup, our “coverage” covered exactly $0.00. The visit included some tests for various things…piss in a cup, etc, but nothing major. The bill--$400.00. A third of a month’s pay. Here in France, that same visit would be less by about $388.00.

Here’s something I thought of the other day: In France there is still a thriving sector of artisans and small, independent retailers. Butchers, bakers, florists, confectioners, booksellers, greengrocers and wine caves abound. Going into one of these shops as an American is almost as much a shock as it is a pleasure. The level of courtesy and knowledge is tremendous. You get to know your baker and your butcher, and they are genuinely happy to see you come in. They learn what you like and don’t like, and because the lady who sells you the baguette is probably married to the guy who baked it an hour ago, and since their livelihood depends on keeping a regular clientele, they are going to put everything into this craft of theirs. They are in charge, not some corporate guy who has never been to the store. Thus the experience is the exact opposite of what you get at, for example, an American supermarket, where the person slicing your cheese doesn’t know you and doesn’t want to know you. He’s making $6.50 and don’t give a flying f*** about cheese.

That said, France has its share of giant retail outlets too. Often, they are more expensive than the artisan shops. Figure that out.

So, basically in the US we’ve created an indifferent, unknowledgeable, zombie class of workers. I walked among them, and it was weird. The worst possible sin was to steal. Following in a very, very close second was working overtime, which was pretty much considered stealing. Both were monitored with an obsessive vigilance from both inside and outside the store (curt emails from HQ were common). I’ve been told that there was a time when working overtime was considered admirable, a way to distinguish yourself, make a few extra bucks and maybe get ahead. While I can’t imagine a “bookseller” (that’s the cute name they gave to us drones) getting fired for accidentally working overtime, you can bet the managers would be.

Anyhow, that’s it. Out of the democratic candidates I like two—Gravel and Kucinich. Those are the two who, I believe, would make life better for the working class, if they ever had a snowball’s chance in hell of being president.

The Wonderful World of Sports

Third baseman Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees is making 27 million dollars to play baseball this year. 27 million dollars. One year. 162 games. That should see him through the winter, don't you think? He should be able to stretch it out, maybe even have enough left over for a rainy day.

Well, just in case, Rodriguez was awarded an additional 200k for being selected to play in the all-star game. Good for him. Who couldn't use a little extra padding in the old savings account?

Really, isn't this kind of obscene? I mean, come on. In a country where families scrape by on less than $15,000 a year, isn't this just a little stomach-turning? This guy is, after all, a baseball player. He is important...why? Someone please explain.

I love baseball. I LOVE baseball. I could go on and on about why this sport is, in fact, important. To me, it is the grandest game of them all. But right now I think I'm going to toss my cookies.

Yes, Rodriguez is a great player. Yes, we as fans perpetuate this kind of crap by going to games and paying $20 for a hotdog and a beer so some musclehead can make 27 million dollars for swinging a stick of wood. Yes, millions of us would trade places with him in a second. Yes, I'm sure he donates a nice chunk to charity...

I repeat: this is fucked up.

nwb

PS. A-Rod is the lamest nickname in sports history.

PPS. This entry in no way caused Alex Rodriguez' recent injury, which occurred only hours after its posting.

McBonegate

Let's face it, McBone co-Captains Jeff Bowler and Nate Bowler are handsome. I don't mean just handsome. I mean really, really handsome. The only question is: who is handsomer? We put the question to you, McBoners, and you have responded. At the time of this posting, Nate Bowler had a firm grasp on the lead. Results indicate that he is handsomer than Jeff Bowler by a tally of 43-36.

Or is he?

It would be nice to say the answer was cut and dry. We here at McBone headquarters strive for transparency and would love nothing more than to give you a clear-cut answer.

But something is amiss.

In today's day and age, no vote seems to be untainted. Even when Al Gore won in 2000, he somehow lost. Every week Venezuelan presidente Hugo Chavez is re-elected by an overwhelming margin, yet invariably his opponents contest the result. Sadly, fraud is rampant, even in elections that really matter, like the one in question today.

The handsome poll began honestly enough, with Nate Bowler jumping out to a commanding 24-13 lead. With that, things leveled out for a time, with Nate Bowler maintaining a consistent 9-11 vote advantage. The trend continued for approximately two weeks and, with no foreseeable change in this pattern, McBone Inc. was on the verge of closing the polls.

That's when things went haywire.

Jeff Bowler immediately rallied with no less than 14 consective votes. Nate Bowler could only stand by and watch as his once comfortable lead vanished before his very eyes. Two days later he found himself less handsome than his brother by three votes. By then the bleeding had stopped, but, alas, too late.

After a weeks-long back and forth that saw half a dozen lead changes, Nate Bowler is back on top by seven votes. This time Jeff Bowler's camp is crying foul, while those on the opposing side say things are simply back to the way they are supposed to be.

Though neither camp could be reached for comment, Nate Bowler has released an official statement: In light of the highly irregular vote fluctation and our own independent research we can only conclude that tampering has played a role in this critical vote. Regrettably, authorities have been slow to react and we fear that whatever trail might have been sniffed out is now long cold. We are currently dicussing the matter with our team of lawyers to determine whether or not legal action would be prudent at this time.

McBone faces some tough choices in the near future: whether to declare the vote null and void or to call Nate Bowler the outright winner. Of course there is always the possibility that Jeff Bowler will mount another improbable comeback that sends the McBone community reeling yet again.

McBone Inc.