Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Granny Grammys Tries To Be Young And Hip. Fails.

It never fails to amaze me how I keep watching the Grammy Awards even though I know it's the most overrated and bias awards show ever. I mean, look at the nominee list - for every major label album nominated, there were at least 10 more indie albums that could have wiped the floor with those albums.

And seriously, I've never understood why albums can win 'Best Rock Album', 'Best Hip-Hop Album' and so on, and NOT be nominated for Album of The Year. Green Day beat Dave Matthews for Best Rock Album, and yet Dave Matthews was nominated for Album of the Year but not 21st Century Breakdown. WTF?

Anyway, here are some thoughts about the parts of the show I managed to catch:

The Good

  • Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown won Best Rock Album. Take THAT U2 and Dave Matthews Band! Damn I need to catch the replay to watch them performing!
  • Kings of Leon's Use Somebody won Record of The Year. Thank god Black Eyed Piss didn't win or there would have been hell to pay.
  • Phoenix won for Best Alternative Album! This makes up (a little) for Arcade Fire not winning in 2007.
  • SLASH! Playing part of the November Rain solo! (in the middle of some Jamie Foxx song that didn't even sound like a song).

The Bad
  • Was it just me, or did Taylor Swift's singing really suck during her performance with Stevie Nicks? Nicks must be wondering what she did to deserve this...
  • And where the heck is Kanye West's ego when you need it? Taylor Swift winning Album of The Year is a real joke.
  • Of all the Michael Jackson songs, why the HELL did they choose that boring Earth Song? To show off the stupid 3D thingy? Gee, even the Grammys are trying to Avatar themselves.
  • And what the hell... letting Usher and Celine Dion to sing it? Smokey, Carrie and Jennifer Hudson were ok, but those two were just annoying. They should have just reenacted the whole We Are The World thing with modern artistes. That would have been one heck of a tribute.
  • Zac Brown Band winning Best New Artist over MGMT AND the Silversun Pickups? Are the Grammy voters all OLD and SENILE? Oh yeah, wait, they are.
  • Black Eyed Peas' performance was blah. And there were WAY too many country music and hip-hop performances for my liking, as usual.
  • And while we're on the subject of country music... it's official: Bon Jovi has turned into a country music band. They even made Livin' On A Prayer sounded wussy.

LiberalViewer Tackles "Citizens United v. FEC"

 

LiberalViewer of YouTube attempts to set the record straight on mischaracterizations of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission."

It appears based on watching this video that the ruling is greatly misunderstood by both sides and I myself am inspired to try and read the whole 180+ page Opinion of the Court.

I am in no way advocating the chilling of free speech by value of it simply coming from a corporation or union.

It is a falsehood to state that this ruling allows for "unlimited contributions to political candidates" and also a point that is not within the primary argument against this ruling, as it did not effect those existing limitations.

I believe, personally, that the argument made that this will benefit non-profit advocacy organizations over private sector special interests has some serious flaws in it, while it is not altogether untrue.

It's true that some of the confusing regulations surrounding political advocacy have been discarded in this recent decision, but it is the structure and measure of what they have done that is so reprehensible.

Were it to be the case that a corporation had to declare their logo and "I Support This Ad" with the CEO standing there; then this decision would be far different in implications to our political process.

This logic that major multinational corporations will for some reason "not go there" with political issues is true to a certain extent but it precludes the simple truth that when seeing itself as threatened, as the insurance companies did the early days of the Health Care Debate, they will spend whatever they can as fast as they can to flood us with ... media. Media like television ads.

How quickly we forget as a nation, as a people, that Sen. John Kerry was literally "slimed" out of his equal opportunity at the democratic process in a bid for president no less by what we now call "swing voting" but if you track this story out it was a bunch of frauds who demeaned their personal character in a outright smear campaign. One of them lives right here in Santa Cruz, California and just like the Bush administration itself they are taking no responsibility for this in public.

How easy it will be now for a nameless silent corporate partner to just bankroll a bunch of TV ads either pro or con for a candidate that had policies that just might ask them to give a little back after they take so much from the environment, for instance. If understand that McDonald's is Pro-McCain, just as a random example, then many of my concerns go away. But as it stands the Sierra Club, the NRA and the example of the video clip Microsoft could all wildly flood a campaign with media while grassroots money and dedicated social advocates of any position would be overshadowed.

Also this argument that money doesn't win elections is also partly false. Money is not enough, as the examples of Ross Perot and Mitt Romney illustrate, but the 2008 Campaign for the White House was in part decided on the dollars and cents. Of course you need the solid candidate, as the Democrats held with Obama, to seal the deal but my studies in Political Science completely disagree with the scoffing of this notion of looking at the financial impact and earnings to get the best picture.

As I stated before, I believe I may have to read this entire decision before I am totally satisfied I understand it fully.

For now, I am strongly standing with the words of President Obama in his State of the Union address calling this decision a means by which we will "open the floodgates" to foreign special interests and corporate lobbyist influence over the actual results of our elections themselves.

I feel both the SCOTUS and perhaps LiberalViewer as well have concerned themselves too much with entities that deserve very little concern or express protections of the court while neglecting to see the ramifications of said decision on the people that truly represent democracy at it's core.

To put it plainly: this appears a "open door" policy in terms of slash-and-burn negative political ads at the end of a campaign cycle to force a candidate to lose based on hyperbole, as we have seen before in politics. Slime works, and I as I understand it the SCOTUS just ruled in favor of slime in our elections.

============================

UPDATE!

Russ Feingold at CounterPunch.org explains what Sam Donaldson was speaking about that I referred to as "inaccurate" in the above piece.

I was under the impression that he was saying that Soft Money limits are now gone under this ruling but in fact it he was speaking to the issue of spending directly out of the treasury without limit.

***Thanks to Paul J. Rourke for bringing this to my attention and providing the link.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Obama Rocks The House In Baltimore


I am not an ideologue.” - President Barack Obama



This was a high point in the entire Obama presidency, and a rare move on behalf of any president to appear in a oppositional party forum to answer questions directed at them on the public record.


This was the clear and transparent dissolving of the talking points and misinformation spread by conservatives at an alarming rate since the election of Barack Obama.


He was polite, concise, accurate and took a great deal more responsibility of his missteps than is common in politics; whereas the questioners seemed to be mostly delivering boiler-plate talking points that resound across conservative-talk mediums but have little factual basis if any at all.


This was a move of a bipartisan, non-ideologue president seeking a solution and not just a ceasing of partisan fires throw at him. What I have serious doubts about is if the Republican opposition can see clearly enough in this atmosphere to hear his simple words about the Health Care Reform being far less than “radical” and his simple statement that if a better plan that cost less and worked was available from Republicans he would gladly implement it.


This is what I believe of President Obama: he is a pragmatist. He will work with those who have solutions that get results and not by simple partisan standards.

"Snow Crash" and "Reefer Madness"

I have two reading suggestions for you today:





"Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson



I have but scratched the surface of this science fiction novel that has been recommended to me many times over. I am fast seeing this book as one that sits in the all-time-favorite pile for me, as well as just being a lot of fun.




"Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market" by Eric Schlosser



I have also only just begun to read this book but it is obviously a highly informative, if somewhat outdated (2003), observation of the American Black Market. This is the "unspoken" piece of the economy as a whole.



--



There are strange parallels between these two books that I am only just being to piece together.

Friday, January 29, 2010

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Political Freedom


In an appauling U.S. Supreme Court decision that came down recently there will be no monetary limit on how much corporations can spend on political campaign advertisement. The party-line ruling is disturbing to me in that so clearly endorses big-money special interests while leaving the American public behind. No "grassroots" movement can challenge the private slush funds of corporate CEOs but the opinions of the people are the driving force of democracy, so these few private interests will crush any movement they desire from Tea Party to Anti War groups alike.

I believe we may very well be standing upon the critical moment in the U.S. where we must decide as a people if we want to have a country of principals and values or a country of slanders and greed.

--

I am reading the Opinion of the Court and it spends much time worried about "chilling free speech" while their ruling will have that ultimate effect. The free speech of a corporation is not threatened it is the voice of against the corporation that is "chilled" by the ruling. The constitutional right of those who speak out against corporate monoplies are the forms of speech that deserve the highest protections and considerations of the court. Instead the court refuses to "adopt an intrepation that requires case-by-case to determinations on banned political speech" which to me would be the purpose of the highest court and the highest legal minds being put all together to decide just such matters.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Rooney: ' Top Dog' At United - Betting News with Betfred






















Wayne Rooney continues to develop as a footballer and according to his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, he is the man who can fire the goals that will bring silverware to Old Trafford this season.

The England striker has scored 20 goals in 28 games this season and his manager is convinced that no forward in the country can currently match his number 10.

Ferguson claims Rooney is highly likely to break the 30-goal barrier this season and he is "happy" with the player's form.

"The main reason he is scoring more goals is because he is in the right place at the right time. That's what goalscorers do," said the Scotsman.

"Wayne has become more aware of the penalty box, too. Playing him in that direct role gives him an appetite."

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti recently claimed that Manchester United would be a completely different team without Rooney, and the The Blues' gaffer added the England striker is carrying his side.

United travel to rivals Arsenal on Sunday knowing the result could have a huge impact on their Premier League title odds.

The Red Devils are 19/10 to win at The Emirates this Sunday.

Rooney is certainly on fire for United at the moment, and is priced at 6/1 to be the outright first goalscorer on Sunday.
However their defence has looked leaky in recent weeks and punters may see this and home advantage as the reason why an Arsenal win at 7/5 might represent the value bet.

However, given that neither side will want to lose, the tip of the weekend is the 1-1 draw which is currently at 11/2 in the football betting.


My Tip Of The Weekend:
A 1-1 draw priced @ 11/2 with Betfred - Sunday 31st January, kick-off at 4pm, live on Sky.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Every You And Every Me Can Go See Placebo in KL!

Ooooh Placebo will be playing in Malaysia!



Junk magazine announced on their Twitter (@junkonline) that the concert is confirmed for 16 March. More details later...

Now, it'll be really interesting to see if there will be anyone protesting the concert. And if there are, will they be protesting about it being a rock band, or will they be protesting about the 'female' lead singer being too sexy? (it'll be interesting just to see what they make of the lead singer in the first place... "eh, die lelaki ke perempuan?")

Speaking of Junk, the magazine's offering a special price on Kings of Convenience in KL tickets if you buy their February issue and bring it along when you buy the tickets from Rock Corner. More details HERE.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Conservative Propagandist Arrested for Illegal Wiretap



Once again, I have been proven to have been correct in my assessment of both the motives and character of one of the right-wing's poster boys: James O'Keefe III.

The same man who lied before the American public with the assistance of Fox News and Sean Hannity has been caught trying to once again fabricate vicious lies against others for the sake of political gain.

This time around O'Keefe tried to shakedown Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. Here is the story on NOLA.com:
Also arrested were Joseph Basel, Stan Dai and Robert Flanagan, all 24. Flanagan is the son of William Flanagan, who is the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, the office confirmed. All four were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

According to the FBI affidavit, Flanagan and Basel entered the federal building at 500 Poydras Street about 11 a.m. Monday, dressed as telephone company employees, wearing jeans, fluorescent green vests, tool belts, and hard hats. When they arrived at Landrieu's 10th floor office, O'Keefe was already in the office and had told a staffer he was waiting for someone to arrive.

When Flanagan and Basel entered the office, they told the staffer they were there to fix phone problems. At that time, the staffer, referred to only as Witness 1 in the affadavit, observed O'Keefe positioning his cell phone in his hand to record his co-horts.

After being asked, the staffer gave Basel access to the main phone at the reception desk. The staffer told investigators that Basel manipulated the handset. He also tried to call the main office phone using his cell phone, and said the main line wasn't working. Flanagan did the same.

They then told the staffer they needed to perform repair work on the main phone system and asked where the telephone closet was located.

A witness from Landrieu's staff said O'Keefe was present in the office and claimed to be "waiting for someone to arrive."

Let's also not forget that these pundits of Fox News such as Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly have all used this vile propaganda against ACORN to advance their own careers in hate-broadcasting.

This time we caught the con in the act, but this is the "new media" that conservatives and the Tea Party alike support: frame jobs, illegal wiretaps & outright lies.

This is Nixon Era politics in 2010.

Crystal Palace Football Club Go Into Administration - 26th January 2010. Which Club Will Be Next?


OFFICIAL CLUB STATEMENT:

Following a 5pm meeting at the club the following statement was released.

Brendan Guilfoyle, Chris White and John Russell of the P & A Partnership have today been appointed administrators of Crystal Palace Football Club.

The administrators have been appointed to rescue the club and reconstruct its finances and will be urgently seeking buyers.

Brendan Guilfoyle said: "This club has been in the spotlight for some months with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about their wages.

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future. We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future. We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers," he added in the statement.

Palace are ninth in the table, having been on the fringes of the promotion playoff places most of the season as they attempt to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2005.

However, administration leads to an automatic 10-point penalty which would leave them battling to avoid relegation.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SKY SPORTS NEWS:

Crystal Palace have gone into administration and are facing an immediate 10-point deduction as a result.

The Football League is still to confirm the penalty as they are awaiting legal paperwork, but administrators have been appointed in a bid to rescue the Championship club.

The Selhurst Park outfit have been struggling financially for some time with chairman Simon Jordan actively seeking new investment.

Palace's players have seen their wages delayed this season, while the club have been forced to operate under a transfer embargo due to their plight.

The South London side have now been left with no option but to place the club into administration in the face of mounting debts.

Their 10-point deduction will see them plunge from ninth in the table and on the fringes of the play-off race to 20th, just four points above the drop zone.

Rescue.

A statement released to Sky Sports News read: "Brendan Guilfoyle, Chris White and John Russell of the P & A Partnership have today been appointed administrators of Crystal Palace Football Club.

"The administrators have been appointed to rescue the club and reconstruct its finances and will be urgently seeking buyers."

The administrators remain confident that they will soon be able to find a new buyer to save the ailing Eagles.

Guilfoyle said: "This club has been in the spotlight for some months with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about their wages.

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future.

"We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS IS CROYDON TODAY.CO.UK - FROM A PALACE PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE - MATT LAWRENCE

Palace defender Matt Lawrence says the Eagles playing staff will be "bitterly disappointed" at the news that the club have been placed into administration.

Most of the club's players and coaching staff were in the air on a flight to Newcastle for tomorrow night's clash with the Championship league leaders as the news broke.

Lawrence, who had got the train up to the North East, was waiting for his team mates at the hotel as he spoke with the Advertiser.

"I think they are on the way here now so I'm sure most will have heard the news, I'm sure the texts will have been flying around," he said. "I would imagine that some of the staff and possibly Shaun [Derry - Palace's captain] may have been told before they got on the flight, but I don't know for sure.

"It's just bitterly disappointing that all the hard work done by the players and the manager so far this season to get us where we are in the league has disappeared.

"We were two points off the play-offs but now we are just four points above the relegation zone. So obviously the focus has changed."

Lawrence, who was been a peripheral figure at Palace for the majority of the campaign, insists the team will simply have to roll up their sleeves and get on with their job - just as they have done all season.

"We're in a relegation scrap now and rather than tomorrow night's game being a six pointer in terms of the play-offs, the games with Peterborough and Scunthorpe in the next two weeks are the six-pointers.

"I think the lads have shown that during these hard times they have been focussed on the football and I'm sure they will keep on doing the same thing now. The games we have got remaining have just taken on even more significance."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BBC SPORT:

Championship side Crystal Palace have gone into administration, according to administrators P&A Partnership.
The Eagles twice failed to pay players this season and chairman Simon Jordan had been searching for new investors.

Clubs entering administration are automatically docked 10 points, which would see Palace drop from ninth place to two spots above the drop zone.
But the Football League has yet to receive formal confirmation from either the club or the administrators.

The Football League would need to see official documentation before applying the penalty.
"Our role is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the future," said administrator Brendan Guilfoyle.

"This club has been in the spotlight with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about wages.
"We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."
Palace have reported debts of approximately £30m and are due in court on Wednesday to face a winding-up order from HM Revenue and Customs.

Despite their financial constraints - Warnock has at times not been able to name seven substitutes this season - Palace were lying two points off the play-offs ahead of Wednesday's trip to Newcastle.

Warnock will instead have a relegation fight on his hands, while the sale of his star players, such as teenage striker Victor Moses, now seems inevitable.
Jordan, who saved Palace from administration in 2000, last year announced his intention to sell the club.

The club has twice since been subject to a transfer embargo, with the Palace players first informed that Jordan had "cashflow" problems at the end of November.

Monday, January 25, 2010

`-` cute alex vega `-`






A History of Idiosyncratic Events in Football – Part One


----Five penalties awarded in less than half an hour----

Crystal Palace's emblemBrighton & Hove Albion FC.svg

Crystal Palace took on Brighton & Hove Albion at Selhurst Park in a Second Division game in March 1989, referee Kelvin Morton made history by awarding five penalties in the space of just 27 minutes.
To this day this bizarre record still stands.

The penalties ran as follows:

Palace are 1-0 up, Brighton are reduced to ten men and Mark Bright scores the first penalty of the match to make it 2-0.

Minutes later Palace win another spot-kick, but this time Mark Bright sees his effort saved by Brighton keeper John Keeley.

Palace win a third penalty in five minutes. Bright passes responsibility onto fellow striker Ian Wright, who in turn misses.

After a ten-minute period either side of half time without incident, Morton breaks the monotony by awarding another penalty.

This time he awards it to Brighton, who score courtesy of Alan Curbishely.
The score is now 2-1 to Palace.

The fifth and final penalty goes to Palace, who miss again, this time through defender John Pemberton.

The game ended: Crystal Palace 2 Brighton 1

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Why The Fuss Over Avatar?

So Avatar has now overtaken Titanic in the international box office, and is catching up fast in the US domestic market. I reckon by one or two weeks it'll finally sink Titanic's 12 year record.

Really though, I don't get this fanaticism over Avatar. Sure, it's a great film with stunning visual effects and a wonderfully imagined fantasy world. But it really isn't the sort of film I want to watch over and over again. One time would have been enough for me, because while I thought it was a good film, I didn't think it would be as great the second time around, and did not feel the urge to watch it again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm the sort of person who would watch a movie numerous times in the cinema. I watched all three Lord Of the Rings movies at least 5-7 times each in the cinema. I've watched almost every Pixar movie hundreds of times. I watched Transformers again and again because it was FUN. I watched The Dark Knight countless times because it was BRILLIANT. And each subsequent time I watched those movies never diminished my liking of the movie. Rather, every time I watched those movies again, it only made me want to watch it again.

Not so Avatar. After the first time, I did not feel the urge to go watch it again. It wasn't because of the insane crowds, or that it was bad. I just felt it was a great movie that looked really good, but had a pretty piss-poor story with cliched characters/dialogue, and a lot of waffling around in between. The action in the end was excellent, but I wasn't willing to sit through 2 hours of character and story development just to get to that part again.

Sure enough, when I eventually DID go to watch it a second time last week with LL; I found myself thinking the following thoughts as I sat through the movie again:

  • "OH NO, I'll have to sit through two hours of boring story build-up before we get to the good part."
  • "GAH, the whole first part is just people EXPLAINING to the audience what the whole movie is about."
  • "Eh, that Neytiri isn't wearing anything other than those beads. How come still cannot see anything wan?"
  • "Oh geez, the dialogue quite cliche also hor?"
  • "Seriously, James. Shock and Awe? Pre-Emptive Strike? Fighting Terror with Terror? Not one for subtle criticism, are you?"
  • "Holy Celine Dion in a paperbag, that is one shitty Leona Lewis song."
Maybe I'm just being cynical or jaded. But I don't get how people are going on and on about the movie like it's the greatest movie of all time. It's a good movie, yes, but it ain't GREAT. But here we have people getting withdrawal symptoms from 'leaving Pandora'; and others gushing over how excellent the movie is because the world is SO PRETTY and because it has a 'message' for us all.

Really? The movie is great because it LOOKS PRETTY? Since when is a movie a 'must watch' because it 'looks pretty'? God forbid studios will now make movies that 'look pretty' and forget all about good stories.

Then again, maybe it was just me. After all, Transformers had no story and had real crappy dialogue, but hey, I still watched it hundreds of times because it appealed to my nostalgia and my inner fanboy. Maybe Avatar has something that appeals to people's inner Smurf or tree hugger.

James Cameron is a genius, I'll give him that. The dude's got the TOP TWO biggest movies of ALL TIME. Just why those two movies are so big is beyond the understanding of mere mortals. Titanic was understandable. Before there was Twilight, there was Leo, whose face was on every adolescent girl's wall. And for the grown men, there was Kate Winslet's boobs, as well as that small matter of a BIG sinking ship.

Avatar? I guess it caters to the broadest demographic possible - not too deep or violent so the young ones can enjoy it (there are Avatar TOYS , fer gawds sake); and not too shallow so the adults can like it as well. Plus it's got all that hype about industry-changing 3D graphics, and of course, it DOES look pretty. I still don't get why people are going back again and again to watch it though.

Oh well, I guess we should be glad it's Avatar that's making the big bucks and overtaking The Dark Knight, Return of The King at the top of the box office. I mean, can you imagine if one of the Twilight movies did that? Brrrr....

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Angel with Guns, Fuck Yeah! (OMG, Did He Just Say The F-Word?)



Legion.
Not a review.
Haha, did he just say motherfucker?
HAHA! Stupid censors missed it!
Losers!
Eh wait, did he just say the F-word again?
And again? And again?
Holy shit, they hardly made any cuts!
Now THAT'S a shocking movie!


(Wow, religious explosions. Nice.)

Paul Bettany.
Wussy Wimbledon tennis player.
Former Russell Crowe sidekick.
Now an ass-kicking fallen angel.
An angel with GUNS. LOTS OF GUNS.
And who also looks constipated the whole time.



It's not exactly a MUST-watch.
More like a CAN-watch.
Story so-so only,
But hey, there's lots of guns and zombies.
And a lot of zombie-fodder.
And there's a freaky little old lady.


(Zombies like to open their mouths a lot, eh?)

The whole story is about God losing faith in mankind,
AGAIN (last time he used a flood. This time he used zombies.)
Because we keep fighting over words in old books.
(And what to call him in Malay)
Quite simple, really. Nothing complicated.
It's just an excuse for people with guns to whack zombies without guns.



There was what, ONE real angel with actual wings?
(Quite a kickass one though)
But eh,
If all those zombies were possessed by ANGELS,
Why the hell do they look so ugly?
You'd think angel-possessed people would look cooler.
NOOO. They look like mutated ice-cream truck men.
Sheeesh.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Congratulations to Victor Moses - Winner of the Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month Award


VICTOR MOSES has been named the inaugural winner of the 'Coca-Cola Football League Player of the Month' award for for his performances in December 2009.

The Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month award is given to the player aged 21 or under who, in its words, "has made the most significant contribution and impact in first-team football".

Phil Stant, a youth development monitor for the League, said:
"We looked at stats and performances, and the Crystal Palace striker was chosen out of the 266 players under the age of 21 who ply their trade outside of the Premier League."

Here is Victor and his manager Neil Warnock being interviewed by Sky Sports on his award.

Moses scored four goals throughout the month including an eye catching double at Reading and a spectacular over-head kick at home to Barnsley just before Christmas.

Here is the link to see Victor's cracking goal against Barnsley on the 19th December 2009.

The 19-year-old also scored a fine winner against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday — his sixth league goal in his past eight matches. "That might be his last game for us," Neil Warnock, the Palace manager, said.

Palace’s financial troubles are forcing them to part with their most valuable asset and his fantastic form has drawn attention from the giants of the game, including Barcelona, Real Madrid Arsenal and Liverpool, with a move to the Premier League or abroad almost certain before the end of the transfer window.

Born in Nigeria on 12th December 1990, he was sent to live in England aged eleven, a week after his parents were murdered.

Victor's father Austin Moses was a Christian minister in Kaduna at a time when religious violence between the Muslim majority and Christian minority was rife. Despite this and with the help of his wife, Josephine, he continued with his missionary work.

Austin did not have time for football, but Victor played every day, in the streets or on a dusty concrete pitch surrounded by houses.

But in 2002, there were more religious riots. The family knew that because Victor's father had his own church, he would be a target.

Victor, the couple's only child, was playing football in the streets with a ball made up of sticky tape bound tightly together when his uncle came to find him.

He told him rioters had set upon his parents in their home and murdered them. He said Victor's life was in danger, too. The little boy, an orphan at 11, was hidden at a friend's house.

They got me out as quickly as they could for my safety.

Victor did not know anyone in England. He had never even been outside Kaduna before. He was placed with foster parents in Croydon and classified as an asylum seeker.

Since making his debut in November 2007, he has made 68 first team appearances, scoring 11 goals. Moses has also represented England at various levels and picked up the Golden Boot in the 2007 European Under-17 Championships.

The Football League's Chief Operating Officer Andy Williamson said:
"Victor Moses is an outstanding example of the high calibre young footballers being developed by Football League clubs. His eye-catching performances during the month of December have shown just why he is regarded as one of the finest young talents in English football."

After receiving his award from Palace manager Neil Warnock, Moses said:
"I am delighted to receive this award. This is one of the greatest days of my life to be winning something like this in the Championship."

Neil Warnock & Victor Moses
Neil Warnock presents Victor with his award.


Monday, January 18, 2010

Turn Off that Videocam and Watch the Damn Concert, You Morons!

At the Green Day mosh pit, we were lucky enough to be right in front of a fence so there were not that many idiots in front of us. But then halfway through two girls just barged in front of us and just STOOD there. I wasn't so bothered about it at first, because one of the girls was rather short, and I thought I'd let her have a better view. Then one of them took out a camera and started FILMING the concert.

At that point, I got pissed. I leaned over and told her, "Look, I don't mind you standing in front of me, but can you NOT film the concert? Your camera is blocking my view!"

It wasn't even as if they were big fans of Green Day in the first place. I mean, they were just STANDING there. Not dancing, not singing, just blankly staring at the band, and FILMING the whole thing. Fer gawds sake, you spent ALL THAT MONEY to go to a concert, and stand in the most HAPPENING place - the mosh pit - and you just STAND there? What are you even doing there in the first place?

I mean, what's the point of going to a concert when all you do is stand still, holding that camera up, and watching the entire thing through the camera screen? You might as well be watching it on YouTube or something.

People like that have always been my pet peeve at concerts. Yes, even more than those rowdy people who push and shove in the mosh pit (I mean c'mon, it's a MOSH PIT. Pushing and shoving is MANDATORY) and people who throw water bottles around. Oh wait, I also hate those groups of idiots who dance like they are possessed, kicking and swinging their hands around and basically disregarding everyone else around them. It's like the mosh pit just brings out their innate mob idiot mentality.

There better not be any idiots like that during the Killers concert.... Yeah right, who am I kidding?

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Port-au-Prince Earthquake


(ReliefWeb)



The capital of Haiti has been struck with a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that the Haitian government is estimating has taken the lives of 200,000 people. This tragic loss of life in the wake of horrific devastation has gripped my heart, and the hearts of many others, as the horrible images and stories pour out of Haiti.

International humanitarian aid efforts have been working around the clock since the beginning of the disaster and there always remains a need for private donations to help get aid out faster to suffering Haitians.

Google has donated $1 million to relief efforts and have a donation page where you easily donate to a charity of your choosing with a Google account.

Save The Children and World Vision are both accepting donations that will directly effect the people of Haiti.

Mobile customers can text from their mobile device the word "HAITI" to the number "90999" to make a $10 donation the Red Cross, as described in this press release:


According to AT&T officials, wireless customers of the company can send $10 donations to the Red Cross International Relief Fund by sending a text message from their mobile device. Standard text messaging rates may apply. The company officials said that a customer has to simply type the word HAITI and send it to 90999. A confirmation message will arrive within a few minutes, to which the customer replies “yes” to finalize the donation. 100 percent of all money donated will be passed on to the Red Cross, the company officials said.


(I am not certain if this works on all mobile networks, but apparently it does.)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

What A SUPERFREAKINGMOTHERFUCKING AWESOME Green Day!



Green Day was SUPERFREAKINGMOTHERFUCKING AWESOME
Fuck Coldplay.
Fuck the All-American Rejects.
Fuck the Black Eyed Piss.
Nothing could ever top this concert.
It's the most high and fun I've ever had in a concert.
(Granted I haven't been in many)
But still, I've been to quite a few good ones.
And none have ever matched this for sheer energy and fun.
Billie Joe Armstrong is DA MAN.
Chris Martin is a fucking pussy compared to him.
He MOONED the audience,
He got some dude from the audience up to sing Longview.
He sang Hey Jude, Iron Man, Love Me Tender and even er.. Pink's song!
AND OMG, JESUS OF SUBURBIA!
I never thought I'd hear that song live!
So much more awesome cool stuff!
WOOHOO!
Pant pant pant.
BEST CONCERT EVAR!
SUPERFREAKINGMOTHERFUCKING AWESOME!
Top THAT, Killers!

Set list:
1) 21st Century Breakdown
2) Know Your Enemy
3) East Jesus Nowhere
4) Holiday
5) Static Age
6) Give Me Novocaine
7) Are We The Waiting
8) St. Jimmy
9) Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
10) Burnout
11) Hitchin' A Ride
12) Welcome To Paradise
13) When I Come Around
14) Brain Stew
15) Jaded
16) Longview
17) Basketcase
18) She
19) King For A Day
20) 21 Guns
21) Minority

Encore:
22) American Idiot
23) Jesus Of Suburbia
24) Last Night On Earth
25) Wake Me Up When September Ends
26) Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

New Business Partnership with 'Palace Echobet' - Helping Crystal Palace Football Club's Youth Academy


Beer Footy and Birds is pleased to announce an official new partnership with palace ECHO*BET, a way to have a punt AND benefit the Crystal Palace Youth Academy at the sametime.

In association with Echobet Ltd, who have carefully selected a number of online bookmaker affiliates, it means even if you lose your wager, you can take heart in the fact that C.P.F.C will benefit.

As part of their commitment to raise funds for the Club's developing stars Echobet are proud to be 19 year old Sean Scannell's shirt sponsor for the 2009/10 season.

A proportion of the profits earned by the Echobet affiliate scheme will be donated to Crystal Palace's Youth Academy, initially, in the form of player sponsorship for young players who have graduated - such as Sean Scannell (below).



To mark their inagural sponsorship, Echobet are putting up a signed Sean Scannell home shirt as a prize in our Winter draw. Click here to see how you can enter the competition.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Sam Sony Spidey Simon Stuart Sarah

1) Sam Raimi Leaves Spidey 4

Sam wanted John 'The Vulture' Malkovich. Money grubbing Sony wanted Black Cat, apparently. So Sam and Tobey are now out. Meanwhile, Sony are planning to 'reboot' the franchise in 2012, and re-shoot Spidey's origins as a high school kid. And it's gonna be 'more gritty and contemporary'. Good grief.

Do we REALLY NEED a more gritty, dark Spider-man? IT worked for Batman because well, Batman IS dark and gritty anyway and comes out at night. Spidey? Gritty? So he's gonna wear his black costume all the time? And remember the LAST time James Vanderbilt wrote a superhero origin?

Does the franchise REALLY need a reboot? I thought reboots were only done because the previous movies sucked? Spidey 1 & 2 were ok what. And Spidey 3 may have been overblown, but it was still a good sight better than bloody Ghost Rider, all three Punisher movies, or Daredevil.

Maybe it's time for James "King Of The World" Cameron to dig out that old Spidey screenplay, eh?

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2) Simon Idol leaves American Cowell

At first I rejoiced when Paula Abdul left. She was the main reason I could not stand the show in the first place. Then Ellen Degeneres was roped in, and I though, 'hey, I might just check it out and see."

But now that Simon is leaving (after this season, BTW), there goes the reason the show was even remotely interesting to watch in the first place.

What? The singing? REALLY?

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3) Stuart Townsend leaves Thor.

The last time Stuart Townsend left a cast, they replaced him with Viggo Mortenson. Bodes well for Thor, no?

Ok, maybe not. He wasn't even going to be Thor in the first place anyway. Plus I still don't see how they're gonna pull of the silly costume and the wings on the helmet.



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4) Sarah Palin leaves politics

Yes I know she resigned last year, but she's now gonna be a pundit for Fox News. Wow, what a maverick. Not that it matters to us anyway. I'd much rather it be Tina Fey. I'd totally watch Tina Fey reading the news. In a white shirt. And blazer. And VERY short skirt. MMmm.

I Believe Glenn Beck is Dangerous for America



This all bounces around in circles, just as Glenn Beck had hoped it would.

He is supporting unconstitutional rhetoric and calling the people as doing the same.

He is hiding behind a shroud of lies and then claiming that the scorn that befalls him is an attempt to silence truth.

It seems the new right-wing meme to just accuse the other guy of exactly what you are doing so they have trouble calling you out on the ugly that you just spread all over the table.

Liars of this magnitude are not just merely irritating, as some have suggested to me, they are dangerous when given a platform of supposed credibility.

Beck spends much of his time smearing progressives and Obama; but by the same tools he uses to falsely blame progressives / liberals are all of societies woes I could turn about and say that conservatives are the core of what is diseased and sick with the country. The same vile venom could be reversed to make the “enemy” the other side. There is no discourse to be had and that is exactly the goal from the beginning for this latest vein of populist-conservative banter.

Glenn Beck will lie at any cost and continue to destroy democracy with his fear-mongering theories until people like you and me stand up and will say we have had enough of this vile anti-American propaganda.

Partisan bullies like Bill O’Reilly and the rest of the corporate tools will always jump to defend the likes of these mindless hateful notions touted by Glenn Beck. The disgusting angle on both of these men is they claim to be “bipartisan” but they constantly attempt to demean and fabricate facts about liberals but never use the same dirty tactics against conservatives.

Glenn Beck is the most unpatriotic broadcaster in U.S. History, and the fact that he remains on the air proves that racism and hate-speech sells better than Americanism and education. Perhaps Rodger Ailes made a simple business decision: that selling fear-mongering and race baiting was more important than representing American values.

--

After watching this video one could conclude, as Bill O’Reilly wants everyone to, that all voices against Glenn Beck have been those of the political left. But this is in fact not true. The Anti Defamation League is not a political-left group and they have gone out of their way to illustrate how dangerous and hateful this man’s chosen rhetoric is.

What these people engage in just simply a labeling-game of a highly partisan nature of any ideological group that disagrees with their positions. Their own policy positions and tactile logic being so lacking they resort to defining the opposition instead of sharing their own perspective weighed against another extreme position. That is the definition of “fair & balanced” or “bipartisanship” … both sides of the political spectrum; not just one side amplified to an unrealistic height.

Everyone has to be a “far left radical” or a red baiting term like “socialist” or “Marxist” because if they are not then people might realize that being a patriotic American means respecting the difference of opinion rather than allowing yourself to be so broken and dishonest a person to believe or spread unsubstantiated slurs about liberals / progressives / Democrats instead of your own differing policy ideas and world view.

It is Glenn Beck leading the charge, with the other pundits of Fox and the Tea Party riding behind him, to destroy the political debate and corrupt the political dialect in this country as much as possible. This man toys with racism, McCarthyism, political bigotry and fear-mongering about the government like they were all harmless tools when they deadly weapons that will destroy our democracy if left to spread like a virus throughout the country.

To put it another way: Beck seeks to destroy the middle and push everyone into hateful opposing camps instead of negotiating parties.

I have for many weeks been mulling over exactly what could be said that is truly “bipartisan” about Glenn Beck and all his noise.

That is what I come up with, just that alone. He seeks to destroy the middle and aggravate existing social tensions for profiteering motives at the expense of our very system of democracy were his notions and supposedly genuine “fears” followed through to their logical conclusion. Glenn Beck paints an America that is dark and filled with myths that become reasons to hate the world.

However, all is not lost. I suggested we “Hit Glenn Beck Where It Hurts,” in the advertisers. And to some extent we were successful: a reported total of 20 sponsors dropped Glenn Beck after his racialist statement about a U.S. President was not apologized for nor retracted formally by the network at the reported request via multiple letters to Rodger Ailes. Many people saw the truth: that this was not about political opinions anymore and that Beck had purposefully been race baiting when he called Obama a “racist.”

The case that defines Glenn Beck is a case that they will never air or likely ever speak out on any version of Fox News. That being the most “extremist” internet-attack against Beck, that in fact illustrates quite well what his common tactic is when creating his fantastic tales of fiction. Minus the shock-value, the point is more on a legal aspect as to where his true allegiances lie. Beck went outside the United States, and sought European-brands of justice to serve him when he became of this “rumor” about him and wanted them squashed. He could have sought to U.S. Constitution that he claims to love so dearly to help defend him in what he saw as a violation of his rights, but instead he opted to try and simply destroy the opposing voice with a foreign court. It did not stop there, from there Beck has used his big-money influences to try and push this website promoting this “rumor” as “satirical comedy” off the bandwidth with dirty corporate tactics; the very same tactics he claims to despise so much. The website remains, and freedom of speech is protected despite Beck’s attempt to destroy it. I reposted that website-content on to my blog in the spirit of “rodeo clowning” that Glenn Beck is so found of himself. I refuse to take it down even if I don’t completely enjoying having it up.

--


Glenn Beck is smarter than he wants his audience to know. A trend popular with women working at Fox, but Beck has taken it up for himself and it seems to work rather well for him.

He saw out over the horizon the same unwarranted fears and same old social tensions coming to rise in this country that I did nearly two years ago now. I mused that the time that I could go out into the lands as the healing suave, to bring some truth to matter and some real policy differences that people could see rather than hollow boiler-plate talking points. But what he decided to do was to pour gasoline on the fears and start putting Hitler-moustaches on anyone not giving to these ever-present right-wing propagandists that he frequently has as guests on his television and radio programs.

He and I are not so different, in that that he is an embodiment of someone like myself in my “extremes of opinions” except minus all morality, patriotism and ethical standards. It’s all very clever word-plays and out-of-context quotes and rewriting of U.S. History; but it’s not impressive because I could have done it too. Lying is easy, but the question is: Is it worth it?

In the end his soul will have to answer for the racism and many, many lies he has told. The money he makes while treating his audience like they are severely lacking intelligence (many unfortunately are) will buy him his ticket to the country club with Limbaugh and O’Reilly and the rest, but the currency of his character is forever darkened by the path he has chosen for himself.