Bowl Notes

If you haven't seen this lovely article on the Patriots' Mike Vrabel as the Robert Horry of the NFL, you really should give it a look. How is he not in the Pro Bowl?

I was in transit yesterday, but I just finished watching the crazy lateral play at the end of the Alamo Bowl. Herbstreit and Tirico spent a good bit of time trashing the officials for bad calls and forcing Lloyd Carr to burn time outs to kick-start the replay process. Interestingly, the announcers who covered the Champs Sports Bowl praised the officiating crew in that game for their handling of the replay process and difficult calls. The crews in both those bowls were from the Sun Belt conference, which doesn't have instant replay.

Herbstreit was very quiet during Michigan's last-minute attempt to pull out the win. Given that he's a Buckeye alum, I doubt he wanted to see Michigan win. I certainly didn't — but you do have to admire the attempt.

Good luck to Nebraska with that restoring the order thing. Oh, and try to keep your guys off the field until the game is actually over, okay?

Scouting Indy (2)

The Indy Star has a Let It Out column. Readers can submit short rants anonymously. Here's one from yesterday:

The RCA Dome is around 20 years old, so the city has secured a 35-year loan for
a new dome. Will it last only 20 years, too?

I went past the site of the new dome. I'd have taken a picture, but well, just visualize a giant pile of dirt. They haven't gotten very far.

Problem: right next to the new site is a bean factory. Of course they want to buy the land, and apparently they've offered to relocate the factory and build him a new one. But the owner's ostensible reason for wanting to stay put is that it would negatively affect his workers, who would find it difficult to travel to a different neighborhood.

My theory — and it's only a theory — is that the owner likes the thought of having an office right next to the stadium. He could conceivably watch the game from the plant. I mean, imagine the improved morale from the company parties for home games. (Especially if he could get a building permit to add a glass-topped tower on the side, or something. But I doubt that would happen.)

He's letting the construction workers park for free now. (Skip the top part of the column about Giambi the Disco Deer. No, really.) But I bet he could make some nice money on the side by selling parking spots to game attendees.

In its first issue of 2006, ESPN the Magazine ran an article suggesting that Tony Dungy was underappreciated for his role in the team's dominance. I shot this picture a few hours before James Dungy's death was announced; at least locally he's getting some credit. (And let's not forget Dungy Drive.)

Scouting Indy

Traveling + Christmas + prep for same + intermittent Internet access has made for a lack of blogging. It's pretty much all over now but the return trip.

My mom moved to Indianapolis a few days ago, and I'm visiting her now. We were headed to an appointment when the news of James Dungy's passing hit local radio. While I was killing time in the waiting room, the local TV news played an old public service ad, featuring a younger James Dungy. If I recall correctly, it reminded viewers to spend more time with their families. It was incredibly poignant.

My mom hoped it wasn't "drugs," meaning a drug-related murder or otherwise related to the use of illegal drugs. I had a different suspicion, but lacking any evidence, I decided to keep it to myself.

However, James Dungy's October overdose and depression have been reported elsewhere; so has his troubled state of mind. (Those wishing to see the MySpace page attributed to James Dungy can view a screen shot here.)

Why did I suspect a mental health problem? Because ordinary 18-year-olds aren't no longer breathing after no apparent exercise when someone comes back after taking a walk. Peter King hopes that "[i]f the death of James Dungy does one thing, I hope it sets off an alarm in the heads of the 540 or so NFL coaches, particularly the other 31 head coaches."

I hope the alarm says: "Hey, most of you have families at home. Go home.
Don't look at that end sweep for next week's foe the 36th time; you've already
seen it 35 times. Go home. Be a person.'' I bet that's what Tony Dungy would
want you to do.

Mike Sando put together another column on football and family, one that gives the warning signs of suicide. Tara Beimer Shaw also has some good comments on Dungy's suicide and depression in general. I too hope that people will seize this opportunity to become more informed about mental illness, that there is a tremendous stigma surrounding it, and how the system that is supposed to ensure that people can get help for mental illness is sometimes woefully inadequate.
I've watched people try to get help for depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, all kinds of things. And unless you have someone to help you, it can be very daunting and difficult. When you're already stressed by a mental illness, it can be very difficult to make dozens of phone calls, trying to find out who your insurance company will pay for you to see. (That's if you're lucky enough to have insurance.) Whether or not you have insurance, most psychologists and psychiatrists have a waiting period of several weeks. (Yes, I mean in America.) You may be so depressed that you can't make yourself walk out the door and go to work or class, or wash your hair or brush your teeth, but if you're not depressed enough to be a danger to yourself or someone else, you can wait a few weeks, right?

James Dungy was presumably 18 when he was involuntarily admitted in October. He was eventually released, so I suspect there was no legal obligation to notify his parents. (If he had been a minor, or involuntarily committed, it might have been a different story.) He might have been given contact information for outpatient treatment when he was discharged, but there was no one to make sure that he actually sought help. And for whatever reason, it seems he didn't tell his parents he was having problems.

Rigoberto Alpizar had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When he claimed to have a bomb as he was disembarking from a plane, he was shot by undercover air marshals. Ironically, his wife works in an administrative capacity for a mental health advocacy group. Ms. Buecher was probably more informed about mental illness than the average person. If she was unable to prevent her husband's tragic death, how could James Dungy's family — who, I suspect, weren't aware of any mental health problems he might have had — be expected to prevent his? My heart goes out to them, because the death of a child is the worst thing that can happen to a parent.

Healthy Place has a good set of pages on helping someone who is depressed. Searching for "help someone with depression" will bring up a list of similar pages.

Mental illness is frequently a source of shame for those who have been diagnosed with it. Until you've heard someone saying that they don't deserve to exist because of a mental illness, or been on the verge of having someone involuntarily committed, this can be hard to appreciate. (Do yourself a favor, and don't be the person who tells someone to "stop being depressed," as if depression could be controlled by the mental equivalent flipping a light-switch. I'm most familiar with depression, but this applies equally to all things that are considered mental illnesses.)

Fair play to you, Mr. Morris.

Colts go down.

I'm sure we all remember Mercury Morris' comments.

One of the Colts' coaches said earlier this week that "We don't think we will [go undefeated]. We've said that from day one." I expect the Colts to dust themselves off and play hard next week. This won't necessarily slow them down.

Finger-Lickin' Good

ESPN's Cold Pizza had an absolutely hilarious segment about how quarterbacks have a tendency to lick their fingers before throwing the ball. It included the following:

Interviewer: Would you lick the floor of a shopping mall?
Jake Delhomme: Probably, if it helped me get a better grip on the ball.

Delhomme also told a story about how Flutie was "the only one to kick the habit." No wonder Ben Roethlisberger wears gloves — he doesn't want to get hooked. ;)

By 9:45 Eastern, they'd moved on to a couple of Lions fans who are agitating for the removal of Matt Millen So you can catch it in the last half hour of the rebroadcast, if you're so inclined.

Story to Watch: Diebold Lawsuit "Imminent"

Brad Blog claims that we can expect an insider trading suit against Diebold, the company responsible for electronic voting equipment used in several states.

Football Not-As-Funny

Last night one of the commentators quipped that the Texans were screwing up their chances for getting Reggie Bush in the next draft (last season's worst team gets first pick) by tying up the game and forcing overtime. At halftime of the Saints-Falcons game, Jimmy Kimmel got in on the fun by saying that Kris Brown was keeping them in the running by missing a field goal.

Punch line: "Like they need another Bush in Texas."

They need this one of they want to climb out of the hole of 1-12. Of course, they also need to improve the performance of the O-line if they want to get anywhere. Houston has allowed its QB to be sacked 61 times. If that keeps up, they'll tie the amount they had in 2002: 77. Ouch. That's enough to make one worry seriously about David Carr's future neurological health. (Thanks again, CoachesCorner.com.)

Edit, 12:46 A.M.: The Texans have hired former Falcons coach Dan Reeves as a consultant.

Football Funnies

Every so often, I get a chuckle out of the unintentional homoeroticism that sometimes pops up in football commentaries. Example: "Bush and Leinart had each other." It's enough to make you wonder if the sports media are trying to tell us something about Leinart.

Even the Trib P.M. (a local free daily) got in on the action with catty double entendre headlines: "QB making a pass at Nick?" on the front cover and "Did Leinart come between them?" on the inside. ("Them" being Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. If you don't know who I'm talking about, don't worry. Not important.)

"They were whispering and laughing together. They rarely took their eyes off eachother," a witness reported. "They kept arguing playfully about which one of them 'got to be USC' in their Playstation video game and giving eachother high fives."

"There were definitely sparks."

That appeared in the 12/8/2005 edition of the Trib P.M. They sourced it to SportsGoons.com and L.A. radio.

If I didn't disapprove of speculation about a person's sexuality being used against them, I'd be tempted to say that this was Lachey's karma for singing the Michigan fight song in Ohio Stadium when they played Texas. (Kind of like how I was walking down the street one day, and had to struggle not to laugh when this woman who was wearing this awful fur thing found out that someone had done a hit and run on her little black sports car. I found myself thinking it was karma for the fur.)

More from the "You can say that in a Richard Mellon Scaife newspaper?" department: Jim Tynen ending a column with "At least until Big Ben runs off with Hines Ward."

Those of you who are screaming "My eyes, my eyes!" can click here for a perfectly heteronormative article about how Leinart is the perfect wingman.

Military Honor Guards Revisited

CNN has picked up the story about the soldiers' bodies being shipped home as freight. They showed the video that the local CA station used, and followed it up with comments from their Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the Holley case because they don't have all the details. She called it a "cold reality of war" that the bodies are sent from Dover AFB to their families via commercial air.

The coffins are reportedly not covered with flags because "no one wants to see" them soiled or ripped during transport. According to the segment, military personnel work closely with the families and arrange for mortuary personnel to transport the casket for burial.

Starr stated that the Pentagon feels that military honors are "properly rendered" at graveside, and that there's anecdotal evidence of "baggage handling crews" honoring the the caskets. (This seems like something of a red herring, honestly.)

With the help of my trusty assistant, Google, I was able to locate some accounts of how the military has handled the return of various soldiers' remains.

1969: Thomas Lenz's "body arrived at the San Antonio airport accompanied by Honor Guard Lance Cpl. Thomas L. Mankins. Tommy’s high school friend Marvin Zatopek, who had joined the Marines with him, was there to meet the honor guard."

1985: Army Major Arthur D. "Nick" Nicholson (described as "the last Cold War casualty") was returned home via Air Force transport for burial in Arlington. Nicholson was killed in an area where the U.S. facilities were more established and extensive, so this may not be a proper comparison to the conflict in Iraq.

2001: CIA officer Johnny Spann, the first U.S. casualty in Afghanistan, is returned with a military honor guard. (Second photo from the left. Many interviews with Spann's father and pictures are available here.)

2002: Brian T. Craig and several other soldiers killed at the same time were met by an honor guard at a base in Germany. No information about their arrival in theU.S.

2003: Evan James came home via an American Airlines flight.

1stSgt Berg, GySgt Bontkowski and I went to St. Louis International airport tonight to meet the body of Corporal Evan James when he came in on an American Airlines flight.

When we found out the time and airline of his arrival, Gunny Bontkowski called the Airport Operations to arrange for us to be on the tarmac to meet the body and put it in the hearse.

What happened next would choke up the hardest Marine.

The rest of the account is very worth reading. A copy of it, and another article about Evan James, appears here.

2003: Two soldiers killed in the Vietnam War and two other sets of American remains (one believed to be Howard Dean's brother) were transported with an honor guard in a military plane to Hawaii. (The facility that works to identify unknown U.S. military remains is located there.)

2004: Patrick McCaffrey was met by an honor guard at Sacramento International.

2005: Aram Bass was accompanied by an honor guard: "Yesterday, an honor guard of Bass's fellow soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, provided full military honors as Bass's casket was unloaded at Buffalo Niagara International Airport."

Absent a large number of military families coming forward to say their family members' returns were not handled properly (or the release of a document indicating a policy change), it's looking like the Holleys' case may have been a very unfortunate oversight or miscommunication. If the Pentagon believes that such services are best rendered at graveside, that makes me wonder — are the local honor guards organized on an unofficial basis? Or does the Pentagon allow commanders on lower levels of the chain of command to make such policies at their discretion?

Justice Department Speculation

I read this post and initially thought the parts that I've excerpted below were, well, bunk. Crap. Signs that its author had been smoking something really good, metaphorically speaking.

This case should set back prosecutors', including Cherie Krigsman's, reputation as tough on terrorists--not to mention their careers, which should be over. Ditto for those at Justice Dept. Headquarters in Washington, who seem to screw every terror case up on purpose. ...

Unfortunately, the P.C. Justice Department, which really doesn't want to win these cases and dare upset the Muslim world that hates us ...

This crossed my mind again this morning, and I thought: where have we seen the most evidence of industriousness in the Department of Justice lately? Where are the young Turks?

Example #1: Patrick Fitzgerald. Clean, brave, thrifty, reverent, scrupulously non-partisan, and giving the lie to Schlussel's idea that no one in the DOJ is interested in prosecuting terrorists.

Example #2: Carol Lam, who "Duke" Cunningham finally surrendered to. "He did the worst thing an elected official can do — he enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there," Lam commented. (Lam seems to be relatively obscure and hasn't received anything like the commentary and attention Patrick Fitzgerald has, but here's her DOJ profile page.) Sounds like another bright, dedicated civil servant to me.

Example #3: Mary K. Butler and colleagues? Her division — the Public Integrity Section — has a very minimal web presence. It doesn't even include biographies of its staff. This article describes her as " one of 26 attorneys in the Public Integrity section and 94 U.S. attorneys around the country who investigate and prosecute cases of extortion, bribery, election crimes and criminal conflicts of interest." They're working on the Abramoff probe, which seems like it might be about to bear fruit. The article from The Hill has great information about how that kind of investigation works generally.

I have a couple of cousins who are bright young lawyers or bright young lawyers-to-be. Taking them as representative of the species, I can imagine that a bright young lawyer drawn to the prosecutorial role rather than a specialty like intellectual property or environmental law might prefer nailing corrupt officials. Hypothetically, it might make it easier to sleep at night than messing with the untested powers bestowed by the Patriot Act. (And I mean really hypothetically — no actual lawyers or law students were consulted in the writing of this blog entry, so take it for what it's worth.)

The practice of law is not really about what's right in a deeper moral sense. It's about interpreting the words on the page and the words not on the page, in the case of common law. Hopefully, they coincide, but there are some things the law doesn't address. Everyone can agree that nailing corrupt public officials is good. The idea of using the powers in the Patriot Act, which arguably erode constitutional protections and threaten fundamental American values, is much more contentious.

Orin Kerr linked to this NYT article. Its author provides evidence suggesting that F.B.I. agents feel "hamstrung" by "radical militant librarians" in their use of Patriot Act powers. Reading the article, though, I suspect that "radical" probably doesn't apply. The OIPR folks in question are probably just average professionals who care about the law, and take its interpretation and application seriously.

Ms. Schlussel, though, would probably interpret the article as evidence that the DOJ doesn't really want to prosecute terrorists.

Edit: Forgot to mention when I originally posted that if you do have long-term ambitions for political office, "I fought against public corruption" looks pretty good on your résumé.

Pittsburgh: Snow Emergency

For those who see this via Pghbloggers.com: don't go out, unless you absolutely must.

Buses are on snow emergency routing — Murray and Forbes is being used as a snow emergency staging area — and even some of the major roads aren't all that clear, especially since the snow has started again. The hill where Wilkins meets Fifth was hideous, and even Fifth had some ice on it.

Currently, weather.com is predicting snow until very late tomorrow. (Before, they were predicting it would stop around 6 AM!)

So stay inside, and listen to Bob FM: 96.9 on the dial. I saw a commercial for them this afternoon, and tuned to that station out of curiosity. They claim to play everything but polka. While I listened, they played:

Theme from Shaft
"Proud Mary" by CCR
"Modern Love" by David Bowie
"Faith" by George Michael
"One Week" by BNL
"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring
"Fantasy" by Def Leppard
"Like A Pill" by Pink (I think)

Surprisingly, this is a franchise thing. I'm a little disappointed that there isn't actually some guy named Bob who rules the station with his mighty fist.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Postman"

This story has gotten a lot of play in the liberal blogosphere. A quick check suggests that this hasn't made it to the conservative side of the fence yet. In a nutshell, the story suggests that the bodies of soldiers killed in Iraq are being sent to their families are being sent to their families without honor guards, which is apparently contrary to protocol. (Commenters at other blogs, including those linked, suggest that conveying bodies in the hold on commercial flights is standard procedure.)

If for some reason honor guards aren't happening, that's big news. All regular armed forces function on protocol and regulation. If the armed forces are violating regulation this way, that should be a huge red flag that something somewhere has gone badly awry. (No organization is immune to violating its own regulations this way, sadly.)

The article which caused the furor doesn't explicitly state that the Holleys' son's body would have arrived without an honor guard, just that it would be arriving via commercial freight. Protocol may have changed since the Holleys served. I eagerly await comment from the DOD and the other half of the blogosphere.

Explosion at Oil Depot in Britain

London Yank on dKos weighs in with some interesting comparisons of the IRA and al-Qaeda. The speculation that maybe this wasn't an accident is interesting. The Brits are feeling the petro-squeeze at least as much as we are, if not more — and that was before this occurred.

Codebreakers and Heisman Roundup

The Courtier and I got home just in time to catch the last half-hour of Codebreakers. The part I saw didn't seem like it was overly biased in any particular way.

I wonder how Bob Blaik feels about it, to say nothing of the larger college football community. A statue of his father Coach Earl Blaik was unveiled last year at the College Football Hall of Fame, and the younger Blaik "contributed remarks" — he may or may not have been physically present. I suppose it shouldn't be that surprising that the cheating scandal isn't mentioned in that article.

This article has remarks from the film's producer, Orly Adelson, which I think are noteworthy:

The film was produced by Orly Adelson, who previously produced the ESPN movies 3, about the life of NASCAR racing great Dale Earnhardt, and Hustle, about Pete Rose's fall from grace. She also produced the ESPN weekly drama series Tilt, about the world of professional poker, and Playmakers, about professional football.

"For me, this movie (CodeBreakers) was very special, because I was an officer, too, in the Israeli Army," she said. "It's about morality, it's about dignity, it's about the code of honor - all the things that are always in the forefront of what we think of the military."

Way to go, Ms. Anderson. When my Mysterious Benefactor comes through and leaves me money to start my own sports network, I know who I'll be trying to lure away from ESPN first. ;)

While I'm at it, here are a couple articles about women in the military that I've been meaning to post for a while: a profile of the "mother of the army" fighting against the government and Janjaweed militias in Sudan, and an article about Leigh Ann Hester and her unit. Hester won the Silver Star for bravery under fire in Iraq. (Her squad leader received the Silver Star as well, and a "female driver with the unit," Ashley Pullen, received the Bronze Star.)

Kudos to Reggie Bush for netting 85% of the available points — the most ever, according to ESPN. Condolences to Vince Young. Don't worry, though, Vince — not having the hardware won't hurt your chances in the NFL. As these articles illustrate, being in the Heisman fraternity is no guarantee of overwhelming success in the NFL.

Heisman Show

Don't forget — the presentation is tonight at 8 P.M. Eastern, 5 P.M. Pacific. The San Jose Mercury has an amusing article which includes the line "The Heisman doesn't have any hanging chads." After that, of course, is the premiere of Codebreakers. The NYT has an interesting article about the director.

There is cinematic symmetry to Thomas Del Ruth being the director of photography for the ESPN film "Code Breakers," about the cheating scandal at West Point that in 1951 led to the dismissals of 90 cadets, including 37 members of the Army football team.

Del Ruth's late father, Roy, directed "The West Point Story" (1950), a frothy James Cagney-Virginia Mayo musical filmed partly on the Army campus while the scandal was still a conspiracy among the cadets. "It's amazing," Del Ruth said this week by telephone. "My dad regretted that it happened."

The consensus among the media is that Reggie Bush is the front runner. (Awful quip last Sunday from the Sports Reporters: "It wasn't like yesterday was a runoff election, because Reggie Bush had already run off with the Heisman Trophy.")

Retrospective

CNN showed a quick exclusive segment on IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and EPDs (Explosive Penetrating Devices, which can penetrate armored Jeeps), using footage from the U.S. Army. It included a quick clip of Russel Honoré discussing explosive penetration devices. You may remember Honoré being described as a "John Wayne dude" by Mayor Nagin of New Orleans.

Lt. General Honoré is "in charge of all Army Guard and Reserve training east of the Mississippi".

If the CPT hostages are killed, will it affect public opinion about the war?

The blogs I read, taken as a whole, have been generally silent about the Christian hostages. The group holding them has extended its initial deadline for the release of prisoners in Iraqi jails to Saturday. If the prisoners are not released, it claims it will execute the hostages. I have to wonder if the silence is because of "realizations" like this one. The CPT members were, according to an interview with one of their representatives that aired on CNN yesterday, collecting accounts of human rights violations and the general situation in Iraq.

I suspect that the deadline may have been extended because the hostage-takers only have leverage as long as the hostages are alive. Killing the hostages might result in an upwelling of popular support for the war in Iraq. Then again, it may simply confirm the opinions people for and against the war already hold. I wouldn't be particularly surprised to see some war supporters saying that they "asked for it" if they are executed.

Sounds crazy, but when there are people who think that the Establishment Clause — the part of the Constitution that gives us the separation of church and state — is a "judicial myth", well, anything is possible.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been more outcry about this from Christians, what with Bill O'Reilly ineptly trying to wage war against those dastardly anti-Christian liberals.

Edit, 1:28 PM: Forgot to include this link the first time. Muslim blogger calls for the release of CPT hostages.

Conservative Spin

Mme. Malkin has time to collect information about people slamming Lady Thatcher — which, for the record, I think is reprehensible — but apparently none to realize that slamming someone who worked in counterproliferation is on the same level as criticizing the armed forces. Counterproliferation, for the record, is designed "to combat the spread of [nuclear, biological, and chemical] weapons, and to limit the likelihood of their use against the United States, its friends and allies."

In general, it's really sad to see people defending what they should despise. Junkyard Blog and commenters are defending entrenched bureaucracy and governmental inaction, though they may not realize it. Example:

The 100,000 pages Blanco provided Congress include a series of letters. In one, three days after the storm, Blanco wrote President Bush asking that the 256th Louisiana National Guard Brigade be sent home from Iraq to help. She also asked for more generators, medicine, health-care workers and mortuaries.

Five days later, Bush assistant Maggie Grant e-mailed Blanco aide Paine Gowen to say that the White House did not receive the letter.

"We found it on the governor's Web site but we need 'an original,' for our staff secretary to formally process the requests she is making," Grant wrote. "We are on the job but appreciate your help with a technical request. Tnx!"

We already have reason to suspect that the administration's mail handling procedures may, hmm, need some fine-tuning.

I don't mean to imply that Blanco behaved ideally, but Junkyard Blog is totally guilty of spin. Bush took responsibility and Blanco only cared for appearances? Did they somehow not hear about the presidential staging that occurred? The reality is probably that both thought appearances were quite important. They are, after all, politicians.

NYT conservative columnist David Brooks realizes this: "When conservatism was a movement of ideas, it attracted oddballs; now that it's a movement with power, it attracts sleazeballs." This is perhaps the price of power and/or fame — selling out. This is something the American political establishment — and American citizens — should give serious consideration to curbing.

Edit, 12:34 PM: I didn't know this before making this post, but apparently "David Brook" [sic] is the top Technorati search string for this hour. Looks like his words are resonating, or at least spreading.

The al-Arian Trial

Not guilty, but not over yet: must-read article for those curious about the trial of Sami al-Arian. Al-Arian and three others were charged with a variety of acts in support of terrorism in the Middle East. The prosecution had "mountains of transcripts," years of wiretap recordings, 80 witnesses, and the jury began by feeling inclined to convict. But they felt the government failed to prove its case.

I've seen many people suggesting, bluntly, that this as a stupid or misguided jury. (Not just commenters at the Volokh Conspiracy, but that's the one that springs to mind.) Anyone who thinks so should read the article I linked. Here's why:

"Usually, there were 10 of us for acquittal on the charges, sometimes nine of us," said Ron, a juror from Pasco County who did not want his last name used. Because of the nature of the terrorism case, the government kept jurors' identities sealed from the public.

"Of course, we hate terrorism," said Ron. "But the evidence making these guys terrorists just wasn't there."

In the beginning, said several jurors, six of them were leaning toward convictions on most of the charges for all four defendants. They were charged in a 51-count indictment of conspiring to raise money for Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has claimed responsibility for hundreds of deaths in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

No Joy in Steeltown

I've been quiet, in part because the Steelers' three-loss streak has brought on a bit of a seasonal depression. The Ohio State win over Michigan was carrying me for a while. Now I know how many Steelers losses cancel out a win over Michigan. Though, to be fair to my Buckeyes, I was a bit depressed about the Eagles' losses. If the Steelers aren't winning, an Iggles win is a bit of a pick-me-up. But that's probably just me.

I'm glad to see Heisman also-ran Kyle Orton leading the Bears on an eight-win streak, but not glad enough to feel too guilty if the Steelers beat them. It's probably more accurate that the Bears are winning on defense, though. According to CoachesCorner.com, the Bears have the top-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed, but they're near the bottom of the pile on offense in terms of absolute numbers. The last three teams that the Steelers have lost to have been more rounded, so with any luck, the defense will contain the Bears' offense, and there will be joy in Steeltown once more.

On a serious note, Bud Carson, the defensive coordinator during the Steel Curtain era, has passed on. Dan Rooney also has a statement available.

The San Jose Mercury News and ESPN have more. (Woody Widenhofer? Coal in your stocking, baby.)

In conclusion, wish I had some better news, but Mario Lemieux is in the hospital for observation, and Roethlisberger is still having thumb problems.

(Lady Thatcher and the Gubernator also ended up in hospital. But do we really think those events are as important?)

Shooting at Miami International Airport

FutureMD has an update from a passenger on the flight.

Suddenly, when the plane was stationary, everyone awaiting take-off again, [the passenger] sees a woman hysterical coming from the jetway. About late 30s, early 40s, and "English-speaking" without accent, which suggests she might be American.

She was shouting, "My husband is Bi-polar!", as this man started flailing about, running erratically, up and down the aisles, which is when the Air Marshall in question, engaged the suspect. The latter reached into a carry-on handbag, this after being chased by the Air Marshall throughout the plane, without firing at him, and appaerntly, this caused the Marshall to conclude he was an immediate danger not only to himself, but to others. He was shot down on the spot. The body of the suspect is still on the plane, albeit the passengers have long since been put on busses.

Homeland Security confirms that the man was an American citizen, aged 44. CNN Live From and the Situation Room indicate confirmation from multiple sources that the man died of his injuries, but state that Homeland Security has not confirmed that.

One of the Live From commentators who'd worked with the FBI in a counterterrorism capacity noted that the air marshall would probably be asked why he chose to use lethal force if he had reason to believe that the person was mentally ill. I can think of two responses to that: he might not have heard the woman because he was focussing on her husband. Or, he might have believed the woman was merely acting as a distraction.

CNN has reported that the shooting occurred in the jetway — the passage from the plane to the terminal — rather than on the plane itself.

Assuming that the man was mentally ill enough to not know what he was doing ... it's a shame that he died, but I don't see that the air marshall had much of a choice but to take him at his word. I know people who have bipolar disorder, and I wonder what kind of treatment this person was under. Was there a psychiatrist or psychologist involved who was consulted as to whether or not he was healthy enough to handle potentially high-stress travel? (Note: I'm not suggesting that all people with mental health problems need or should have permission to travel.)

CNN reports that this is the first time since 9/11/2001 that an air marshall has fired their weapon.

Happy Anniversary

At the beginning of his speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Bush started to say "September 11th" instead of "December 7th." (If that doesn't convince you that this administration relies too much on the tragic events of five Septembers ago, what will?) I wonder how the Pearl Harbor veterans and their families feel about him hijacking this anniversary by saying that more people were killed in 102 minutes on September 11th than were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Factually accurate, sure, but what could be more inappropriate on a day when we're supposed to be honoring Pearl Harbor veterans?

The parallel could have been made in a much less crass way. Example: "Sixty-four years ago today, our soldiers at Pearl Harbor were infamously and dishonorably attacked. Our people and our armed forces responded by fighting to win victory in Europe, and in Japan. The nations of Europe and Japan are now strong democratic nations allied with the United States. Sacrifices made by our armed forces and our people made that possible. And those sacrifices are making it possible to create a strong democratic Iraq today."

The way it was done was, in my opinion, a slap in the face both to those who were killed and those who survived Pearl Harbor.

Here We Go Grounds Crew, Here We Go.

The Courtier and I checked out one of the downtown museums today. Since we were in the area, we stopped to shoot some pictures of Heinz Field, all decked out for the holidays. (The one shown here is by the Courtier.) In this one, you can see tiny people (2 visible, about 5 in all), salting the stands for the convenience of those who will be braving the predicted snowfall to watch the Steelers-Bengals game.

Mmmmmm. Football weather. The grounds outside the stadium had already been salted, though it wasn't necessary at that time.

Chad Johnson was fined for the infamous putting incident. It apparently violated a policy on "prolonged, excessive and premeditated" displays. It will be interesting to see if this puts a damper on Johnson's plans; on Cold Pizza, he claimed that he was saving his "favorite" celebration for this game.

The Elephant in the Room: Blog Against Racism Day

Chris Clarke proposed today as Blog Against Racism Day. It sounded like a great idea to me, so I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon.

Yesterday I watched people on TV — black Africans, in Malawi — eating insects because the harvest had failed and they had nothing else. And I thought how obscene it was that we watch people on TV eating insects as entertainment.

Somewhat more topically, consider Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry's remarks about African-American athletes.

On Oct. 25, two days after Air Force lost to Texas Christian University 48-10, DeBerry said the reason for the loss was because TCU "had a lot more Afro-American players than we did, and they ran a lot faster than we did. It just seems to me to be that way." He added, "Afro-American kids can run very well. That doesn't mean Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well." ...

It also dismisses the reality that athletics is often the only way out of poverty for many African-American athletes. Sports can often become their motivation to excel, unlike many individuals from more privileged backgrounds.

The statement, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, subtly implies that African-Americans lack intelligence and get by on innate talent alone.

In my opinion, reasonable people can disagree about whether the coach's remarks were racist. What isn't addressed there (and wasn't certainly in the ESPN coverage of the issue) is, why is the student body of the Air Force Academy (from which the football team must necessarily be drawn) only 5% black? Sports coverage of black players frequently uses the "only way out" argument when profiling black players. Why is sports the only way out? Why are many young blacks afraid to be accused of acting white, and what can be done (by whites, blacks, everybody) to address it?

"A judge and a jury, that's how it operated"

Bush was called for jury duty but never received the summons. (Why do I have the feeling someone goofed in the mailroom? Or, well, maybe it was sent to his home in Texas and a snafu developed there.)

The gaggle was very amused by McClellan's comment that the president had "other commitments on Monday." It will be interesting to see if the jury duty is rescheduled for before the end of Bush's term, or afterwards. I have a feeling he'll want to avoid negative comparisons to John Kerry, who served on a jury last month.