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June 27, 2006 1) Whoever said you can’t judge a book by its cover lied. Case in point: Ann Coulter’s latest anti-liberal screed, Godless: The Church of Liberalism. It’s not something I’d check out from the library, much less spend my hard-earned money on, simply because of the title. I take it as a personal insult, because it is flat-out wrong. I don’t have to read it to know that. In case the Right has forgotten, there are some decent, hard-working, God-fearing folks on the Left. They don’t all believe in a woman’s right to abortion or to getting rid of Death Row. There are even a few who honestly believe that we’re doing the right thing in Iraq. By the same token, there are those on the Right who are a bit more open-minded in where they stand. They don’t believe in undercutting schools they’re already paying for, or prosecuting a war that won’t be over until the middle of the next administration. And, lo and behold, some of them wouldn’t know a Bible from a belt sander. If it were up to Ann Coulter, the same movements that helped secure the very rights and privileges she currently enjoys wouldn’t have existed. Which is ironic, considering who was at the forefront of those movements--liberals. 2) If at goes well, the space shuttle Discovery will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center at 3:49 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, July 1, on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. Among the objectives of this mission, STS-121, will be delivering German astronaut Thomas Reiter, of the European Space Agency, for a tour of duty on the station, joining cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and astronaut Jeff Williams. The seven-person crew also includes Stephanie Wilson, an aerospace engineer and Massachusetts native who will become the second African-American woman to travel in space. There’s a lot riding on this mission. Last summer, of course, the triumph of Discovery’s return to space was tempered when more foam shed from the spacecraft’s external fuel tank. Although the foam did not damage the orbiter, it forced NASA to go back to the drawing board to fix the problem and, as a result, put the shuttle program on hold one more year. It is understood that the tank, which holds the fuel for the orbiter’s three main engines, will shed foam during launch and ascent. The issue is making sure that any large pieces do not strike the orbiter, especially along its heat-shielding tiles and leading edges. If the United States hopes to get back to the Moon, and go on to Mars, it cannot afford any more catastrophic shuttle events. The first two cost 14 lives. The next one will cost much, much more. 3) Although I don’t agree with the idea of expanding the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament to 128 teams, I do believe that the field should be expanded to 68 teams. Currently, the field involves 65 teams. One of those teams is eliminated in a play-in game, while the survivor gets to play one of the tournament’s top seeds during the first full weekend of play. Adding three more teams to the mix allows for a full Opening Round Tuesday at the University of Dayton, which has hosted the play-in game since its inception back in 2001. It would look a lot like how the Friday opening session at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament looked like back in the day—two games in an afternoon season (for those teams going to the Thursday-Saturday bracket), and two games in the nightcap (for those teams gong to the Friday-Sunday bracket). It would allow a few more teams that might otherwise get shafted the opportunity to get into the tournament and, quite possibly, pull off a Cinderella run of their own. 4) If you haven’t seen the tirade that Asheville Tourists’ manager Joe Mikulik went on this past Sunday, then you’ve missed something funnier than any episode of Friends. Mikulik went berserk in the last of a four-game set against the Lexington Legends, after he felt the second-base umpire missed a call on a pickoff throw. His tantrum included flying bats, an uprooted base (second base, appropriately enough), a tossed hat, and a water bottle spiked on top of home plate. And that doesn’t include what he did after he left the field. To most people, Mikulik’s tantrum would signify nothing more than childish, tempestuous behavior. Even Around The Horn regulars Tim Cowlishaw and Jay Mariotti, while decrying the actions, got a great laugh out of the deal. But how many times did Lou Piniella, Earl Weaver, or the late Billy Martin take out their frustrations in the same manner? I loved it, because it showed that Mikulik has passion for the game and for his team, and that he’s not afraid to make himself look like a complete idiot. Of course, I also believe the South Atlantic League should fine him and suspend him. Fifteen games should be reasonable, under the circumstances. Too bad Ann Coulter wasn’t on the other end of Mikulik’s tirade. ------------ About the author: Claxton Graham has written a number of articles for Useless Knowledge. He works as a business systems analyst. Email: scifiwriter8502@email.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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