Day 164

Now as most of you know, I am not really opinionated on world affairs unless it involves that moron president of ours. Speaking of which, its funny how many people I know who voted for him who now admit that it was probably not the best idea. But I digress. Earlier this week, Hamas-led Palestinian militants kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. This made huge national headlines. Shalit was the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 12 years, and the fate of the teen soldier gripped the country. Large pictures of Shalit's boyish face appeared on the front pages of local newspapers. The joke of all jokes is that A spokesman for the Hamas-led government is urging those holding the soldier "to protect his life and treat him well." Come on, who are they fooling. But here is where it gets interesting. The Israeli defense forces don't mess around. They don't just sit back and take shit. The Israel Defense Forces took care of their own business and arrested 87 people overnight. Of those, it said, 64 were members of Hamas. Another 23 belong to other factions. "They have to decide if they're a government or if they belong to a terroristic organization," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said, explaining the Hamas arrests. "Their arrests were not arbitrary. They will be put to trial, and they will be able to defend themselves in accordance with a legal system which is internationally recognized."

What is interesting to me about this is that everytime an American citizen gets kidnapped in Iraq, we see a video with demands of releasing of Iraqi soldiers, or else the person will be killed. We obviously do not negotiate with terrorists, but from this end, it seems like little is done and more innocent people get killed. Remember Daniel Pearl? That poor guy had his head cut off and shown all over the internet. Has there really been a repercussions over that? We got ourselves into this mess in Iraq and can't get out of it and more and more of our soldiers and reporters are dying every day. I know the Israel/Palestinian conflict goes back decades and is a completely different situation, but it just had me thinking. You know, there is more in my head than Tribe ball, reality TV, food, friends, and family.

While we are on the subject, I have yet to see the Al Gore documentary on Global Warming, "The Inconvenient Truth," but I hear it is amazing, thought provoking, and scary all at once. Some see it as nothing but a platform for a potential Presidential run again in 2008, others as a Gore's realistic view that if the human race wants to survive, we've got about ten years to start turning things around. I for one am very interested in seeing this movie. On the other hand, I am very excited about seeing the new Superman movie as well.

Leah and I took Casey for a long walk last night before I settled down for one of my favorite events of the year, the NBA draft. It is funny because I do not particularity like the league itself, but being a huge fan of college basketball, I watch every minute of it. While I was happy with the Cavs draft picks (Michigan State SG Shannon Brown at #25 and Texas PG Daniel Gibson at #42), what struck me most last night was the pathetic job the announcers on the show did. ESPN always does a great job, but other than Jay Bilas, they fielded a group of people who literally knew nothing about these players. Stephen A. Smith, the loud and obnoxious NBA reporter, showed last night again why he is the most overrated person on the ESPN family of networks. He readily admitted on the air about not knowing about certain players. His ego is out of control, and the guy never shuts his mouth. Then you have Stuart Scott doing the post draft interviews. Talk about the king of no-talents. He is about as qualified to hold that job as my 1 year old niece. Every time it was a black guy who was drafted, he changed into a different guy. Watch his interview of JJ Redick compared to his interview of Brandon Roy. He asks the worst questions. Its the best night of these guys lives, yet he brings up Redick's DUI and Marcus Williams arrested more than a year ago for theft. There is a time and place for that, last night wasn't it. Redick looked so pissed. The best was when he said to Bradley Center Patrick O'Bryant "So Bryant, are you excited to be drafted this high?" My other favorite was seeing how unhappy Arkansas G Ronnie Brewer was to be drafted by Utah. You could just see it in his face - "great, I have to live in Salt Lake City, Utah for the next 4 years."

Then there is the Tribe last night. We battled back to score three and take a 4-3 lead into the 9th inning. Then the microcosm of the 2006 season occurred. Cardinals OF So Taguchi pops up at home, nobody takes charge and Tribe backup C Kelly Shoppach eventually drops the ball. Taguchi ends up on 2nd. He is bunted to third. One out. Aaron Miles doubles home Taguchi. 4-4.
A groundout to first gets the second out with a man on third. Up steps SS David Eckstein. He hits a slow grounder to short. Jhonny Peralta hurries the throw to Victor Martinez at first, playing his third major league game there. Its in the dirt and Victor has no clue how to pick it.
Tribe loses 5-4; an embarrassing loss that sums up the season.

Two more weekends left pretty much here. We have a ton of plans and another open house on Saturday. We had a showing on Tuesday night, a showing today at noon, and another one at 6. Come on someone, make us an offer!!!!

Days Until Leah Stops Working: 5
Days Left in Chicago: 18
Song of the Day: "That's the Way of the World" by Earth, Wind, and Fire