I’ve had it pointed out to me repeatedly over the last few days (because it’s been cold and dark and there’s been nothing much else to do) that this reference doesn’t make much sense unless you are intimately familiar with Something’s Fishy! (Episode 28, Season 5 of The Fairly Odd Parents) where King Greg of Atlantis states that their staple diet consists of starfish, sponges, and the occasional underwater squirrel.

I hope this clears that point up for you.

Since Stars Hollow is as fundamentally fictional as Bikini Bottom and Dimmsdale (and as opposed to Atlantis which is completely true) we seldom have cause to complain about the weather except on those days the floor is a little wet and we are without mats.

Or coffee.

Snow is nothing but annoying icy frozen water stuff that falls out of the sky at inconvenient times. It’s Mother Nature’s icy “Screw you, Lorelai Gilmore”. It’s just stupid stuff you have to shovel out of the way so customers can get into the Inn. It’s the stuff that melts and leaks through your roof! It’s the stuff that stalls your car, it’s the stuff that buries your car.

Well said.

This particular stupid stuff was not quite as icy as last year’s edition but has been equally as effective in disrupting Halloween, taking out power, cell phone, and internet.  I suppose in it’s own way that’s a benefit since I haven’t had to deal with the silliness and have instead been able to perfect my recipe for storm somemores.

Things you will need to have on hand (you can’t shop, obviously)-

• Miniature Marshmallows
• M&Ms or whatever scroungable chocolate you can find
• Animal Crackers

For preparation-

• A Candle
• A Lighter or Match
• Toothpicks

Directions: Light your Candle and place it in the center of your desk in front of your blank black monitor like a shrine to the power company.  Arrange 2 Animal Crackers with a single M&M between sandwich-style.  Take off the lid cracker.  Spear your Marshmallow with a Toothpick and toast it golden brown over your Candle.  Place your hot yummy Marshmallow on top of the M&M and cover with the lid.  Squeeze gently and remove the Toothpick.  Eat.  Repeat.

Now there are those who say that you should only use Flat Toothpicks to keep the Marshmallow from sliding around, I found them a mite flimsy and prone to burn.  Richard opined that the mass of the mini-Marshmallow is insufficient to melt the chocolate.  I’ve never had much luck with that anyway.

Finally some people (Michel) objected that the Candle flame made the Marshmallow taste waxy and sooty.  To them I say you have not suffered enough!  Try it again in 24 hours and see what you think then.

For a beverage I suggest alcoholic, sewage treatment runs on electricity, and for reading material Josiah Gilbert Holland’s The Life of Abraham Lincoln.

TheMomCat and I will make every attempt to ensure that your contribution appears in as timely a fashion as possible including more frequent promotions and extending our publication day.

Pieces that you intend for consideration before the election should be posted by Sunday evening if possible.  Election Day (Tuesday) submissions by Monday night.  If you are too late don’t despair, we will attempt to schedule your work as soon as we can while also featuring reactions to Tuesday’s events.

There will be an Election Night Open Thread for results and observations.

Finally, DocuDharma and The Stars Hollow Gazette are explicitly non-partisan.  You may freely express your support for any candidate.  They are also public so if you publish an unpopular sentiment or inconvenient truth only your discretion and the obviously mean spirited nature of cross blog stalking protect you from consequences and suppression in other forums.  Nor are your ideas immune from criticism and discussion here, but you won’t be sanctioned for anything except violating the normal rules of behavior.

Citi Chairman Is Said to Have Planned Chief’s Exit Over Months

By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG and SUSANNE CRAIG, The New York Times

Published: October 25, 2012

Mr. Pandit, the chief executive of Citigroup, was told three news releases were ready. One stated that Mr. Pandit had resigned, effective immediately. Another that he would resign, effective at the end of the year. The third release stated Mr. Pandit had been fired without cause. The choice was his.

The abrupt encounter, described by three people briefed on the conversation, included a terse comment by the chairman, Michael E. O’Neill: “The board has lost confidence in you.”

…

As Mr. Pandit was reeling from his encounter, three board members confronted John Havens, the bank’s chief operating officer and a longtime lieutenant.

“Vikram has offered his resignation, and we would like to give you the opportunity to offer yours,” a board member said, following a script prepared by the board’s lawyers, according to several people with knowledge of the meeting.

…

This week, senior executives at the investment bank convened a group of employees to try to stem any exodus, according to several people briefed on the meeting. Among the employees’ questions: why remain at a bank that treated its top executive so harshly?

Messy Breakup Ends Citi’s Rocky Relationship With Vikram Pandit

By Matt Egan, FOXBusiness

Published October 16, 2012

“I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did,” said Charles Geisst, a professor at Manhattan College.

Shareholders clearly were not happy with Citi’s financial performance as its shares had plunged almost 90% since Pandit became CEO in December 2007. By comparison, shares of J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down own 8% and less than 1% respectively over that span.

There’s a long list of setbacks on Pandit’s watch, including most recently a $4.7 billion charge tied to an overvaluation of Citi’s stake in the Smith Barney joint venture, which it is selling off in pieces to Morgan Stanley (MS). Citi had pegged the JV’s price tag at $22 billion, well north of an eventual settlement at $13.5 billion.

Also, Pandit and Citigroup were embarrassed in March after the Federal Reserve gave the bank’s plan to return capital to shareholders a red light, leading some to say it had failed the government’s stress tests.

“The corporate governance, whether it’s been in the last few years or the last few hours, has been awful,” said (Citigroup analyst at Credit Agricole) Mayo.

Citigroup Pays Fine and Fires Star Technology Analyst

By BEN PROTESS, The New York Times

October 26, 2012, 11:41 am

Citigroup paid a $2 million fine and fired a prominent technology analyst after authorities accused the bank of improperly leaking to the media unpublished information about YouTube and confidential research on Facebook’s initial public offering.

…

In May, the junior Citigroup analyst e-mailed two TechCrunch employees to say “I am ramping up coverage of FB and thought you guys might like to see how the street is thinking about it (and our estimates).” He attached a “Facebook one pager,” that featured an array of confidential information, including Mr. Mahaney’s private revenue estimates meant as an internal guide for the bank’s analysts.

Under securities rules and a nondisclosure agreement with Facebook, Citigroup analysts were banned from “disseminating written research” about the social networking giant until 40 days after the I.P.O. The restriction, which applied to all banks that helped take Facebook public in May, was created to prevent research analysts from improperly promoting companies in a bid to drum up business for bankers.

The rules were reinforced in a landmark 2003 settlement with several banks, including Citigroup. The case, led by a former New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, built a Chinese wall between Wall Street research analysts and investment bankers.

Don’t steal any paperclips Vikram.

Advantages of a $1000 Pair of Shoes

MCanavan6, Styleforum.net.

8/20/12 at 3:41pm

After getting bitten by the bug I have decided to began upgrading my wardrobe and one of my biggest problems is dress shoes. After deciding I would rather pay a bit more to upgrade from AE to Aldens, Churchs, Crockett & Jones, etc (~$500-$600) I have been wondering if it would be worth it to go all the way and purchase EG, JL, or Vass for my first couple pairs. Right now I am looking for a pair of black captoes and probably brown captoes with quarter broguing. What are the additional benefits of paying over $1000 a pair for EG, JL, or Vass (hopefully I can get some sort of deal) over a $500-$600 pair like Aldens, Churchs, or C&J? Obviously the leather is better quality and stitching/construction is better but in the end will I notice that large of a difference or should I save that $1000 ($500/pair) and spend it on something else? Any advice is appreciated.

post #3 of 415

by Gdot – 8/20/12 at 4:14pm

You will not know for yourself until you can handle the shoes in person. There is a difference. Although once you get past the Northampton benchgrade shoes C&J, Churches, etc. etc. you will find the differences become increasingly subtle and increasling more about design, leather quality and refinement than about the durability/substance of construction.

If you do decide to start at the top and work your way down look for one pair of super classic plain captoes in one of the upper end brands EG,G&G, JL. Then you will have a pair of something super swell for important events.

Then buy a second pair in something more upper/mid price range such as Vass, or AS exclusive. (Nobody beats Vass at this price point in terms of quality from what I understand.)

Then buy a third pair from C&J or Carmina.

This will take you through all the major categories/prices from about $500 up to $1200 or so.

Of course you could also start at the bottom and work up.

It’s really impossibly vain of me to suppose anyone cares, but there is a chance that underwater squirrels will attack my inter-tubz and disrupt the series of trucks that dump these ephemeral photons on your word TV thing.

If you happen to notice any gaps or interruptions in the next few days or even failures of insight and inspiration I blame Global Warming.

Yeah, that’s the ticket.

I believe in the Church of Baseball. I’ve tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I’ve worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan.

I know things.

For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn’t work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology. You see, there’s no guilt in baseball, and it’s never boring… which makes it like sex.

There’s never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn’t have the best year of his career. Making love is like hitting a baseball: you just gotta relax and concentrate. Besides, I’d never sleep with a player hitting under .250… not unless he had a lot of RBIs and was a great glove man up the middle. You see, there’s a certain amount of life wisdom I give these boys. I can expand their minds.

Sometimes when I’ve got a ballplayer alone, I’ll just read Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman to him, and the guys are so sweet, they always stay and listen. ‘Course, a guy’ll listen to anything if he thinks it’s foreplay. I make them feel confident, and they make me feel safe, and pretty. ‘Course, what I give them lasts a lifetime; what they give me lasts 142 games.

Sometimes it seems like a bad trade. But bad trades are part of baseball – now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God’s sake? It’s a long season and you gotta trust it. I’ve tried ’em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.

Well, about the only good news for Tigers fans is that tonight Scherzer (6 – 7, 3.74 ERA) is starting against Cain (16 – 5, 2.79 ERA) and if there has been a pitcher most consistently under rated this post season, it’s Scherzer and one consistently most over rated it’s Cain.

That said this looks like the last game of the year.

As always my feelings are mixed, I suppose if I were really a huge fan I’d have watched every single pitch of every single game.

At least the ones the Mets played.  At least the repeats of games I already knew were victories.  At least the ‘Fast Forward’ versions that skip the boring parts.  At least I could have slept through them.

Instead I’m a poor fanatic, easily distracted and influenced by outside events, hardly able to focus even at this late hour on the passing of moments that never come back and mourning them at the same time they’re squandered.

Of course I think that way all the time about everything, for instance the rice and bean burrito I just ate for dinner (I could have had anything), and at its best, when it captures my attention, it can make me forget about futility and the second law of thermodynamics for a time.

The wonderful thing about rice and bean burritos is they taste good and take exactly 45 seconds to make if you happen to have the rice and beans prepared and if not you’re only 25 unsupervised minutes away in any case.

You can use that time to head out to the store and buy your burritos and be hyper efficient.

For the Giants it’s a chance to close out and put a cap on a 2nd magical season in 3 years.  For the Senior League it extends their dominance and illustrates the inferiority of Junior almost but not quite Baseball.

For the Tigers it’s Scherzer and Cain and pray for rain since if they extend tonight it’s highly likely that we face 2 days of postponement for underwater Squirrels and that for sure will bring Verlander back into the picture and I refuse to believe that he’s as bad as his Game 1 start.

But above all I hope for bright and shiny objects.

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This game played on Faux.

Ah, the simple pure meritocracy of sport.

Ferrari Move to Calm Navy Flag Row

By REUTERS

Published: October 27, 2012 at 7:15 AM ET

GREATER NOIDA, India (Reuters) – Ferrari moved to placate angry Indian authorities on Saturday with an assurance that a navy flag on their Formula One cars was not a political statement of support for Italian sailors detained for killing local fishermen.

Umm… so what is it then?

The Italian navy flag will, however, remain on the cars for the remainder of the Indian Grand Prix weekend.

…

The two sailors were detained in February on charges of killing two Indian fishermen while protecting a cargo ship off the Indian ocean coast.

Italy says the sailors, who were released on bail in June in the southern state of Kerala, mistook the men for pirates.

Ferrari issued a statement on Saturday saying they had put the flag on their cars as a tribute to “one of our country’s outstanding institutions”.

The declaration overwrote one published on their website (www.ferrari.com) earlier in the week that had also hoped the sailors’ situation would be resolved.

After all, they were brown people on a boat.  Who’s to know that they weren’t pirates, or illegal immigrants, or drug smugglers?

They’re brown.

And poor.

They have no rights a rich person is bound to respect.

Motor Racing: Mallya Flies In for Indian GP, Slams Critics

By REUTERS

Published: October 27, 2012 at 3:15 AM ET

The liquor and aviation tycoon, no longer a billionaire according to the latest Forbes list, flew in from London on his private Airbus after suggestions that he might stay away to avoid having it impounded.

…

Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines had its license suspended by India’s civil aviation authorities last week and has not flown since the start of October after a protest by employees, unpaid since March, turned violent.

The airline has never turned a profit and, according to the consultancy Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, has total debt estimated at about $2.5 billion.

…

Mallya is an important figure in Formula One, a longtime friend of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and sitting on the governing International Automobile Federation’s world motor sport council.

He was also instrumental in bringing the sport to the country and co-owns the first and only Indian-licensed team.

…

“Kingfisher Airlines is a Plc. They (the local media) don’t understand the concept of a Plc.”

“In a Plc where is one man, who might be the chairman, responsible for the finances of the entire Plc? And what has it got to do with all my other businesses? I have built up and run the largest spirits company in the world in this country.”

Asked whether he had flown to India on his plane, Mallya vented more frustration.

“You are probably referring to my plane being seized? Wonderful. I don’t owe anybody money,” he said. “Why should my plane be at risk. It’s so stupid.”

Move along- no corruption to see here.

Despite Formula One, Jaypee’s balance sheet remains a big challenge

Ravi Teja Sharma, Economic Times

28 Oct, 2012, 09.17 AM

A few years ago when the Gaur family, promoters of the Jaypee Group, first talked about setting up a racetrack to host F1 in India, many scoffed. That changed in 2009, when the Gaurs signed a 10-year deal with F1’s controlling body, FIA, to build the circuit and hold the event and then followed it up by getting the track ready in two years flat.

However, since the inaugural race in October last year, the group has had to grapple with uncertainty and red tape as Uttar Pradesh voted out Mayawati, who was considered to be close to the Gaurs. With Mayawati’s bete noire Akhilesh Yadav at the helm of UP politics, the opening of the 185-km long, Rs 13,000-crore Yamuna Expressway – that connects Greater Noida with Agra – was delayed.

There is some history to that. Before the UP elections in early 2012, there was apprehension about the future of the group if Mayawati was ousted from power. Analysts tracking the company were worried about the impact of possible political change (and vendetta that follows with political change in India) on the business.

Soon after his election, Akhilesh Yadav referred to the expressway during a debate in the UP assembly as an “expressway of scams meant to provide huge undue favours to a select company”. Some of these fears seemed justified when the company was kept hanging for a completion certificate and formalities for the opening were completed in a hurry by the UP government only on the night before the opening. However, a behind-the-scenes rapprochement seemed to have been worked out as the expressway was opened to the public in August by Yadav himself.

…

The toll revenue from the expressway was never what attracted Jaypee to this project in the first place. To build the expressway, the company did not charge anything from the government, but was given 6,175 acres of land across five locations (1,235 acres each) along the expressway, which it will use to develop around 530 million sq ft of real estate over the years. The group has already sold 68 million sq ft of space in Noida and Greater Noida, with a sale value of over Rs 14,000 crore and the company has got advances of Rs 7,800 crore.

Yamuna Expressway, DND flyway to be toll-free for F1 final day

Economic Times

25 Oct, 2012, 07.21PM

GREATER NOIDA: Yamuna Expressway and DND Flyway will be toll-free on Sunday, the final day of Formula one racing event.

…

Commuters from Agra, Mathura and Noida will get signal- free and toll-free movement and they will be able to reach Buddh International Circuit to watch the Formula one car racing final, the Yamuna Expressway spokesperson said.

Mayur Vihar Toll Plaza will not be free, said Abbasi. Last year during the final day of the Formula one event, the traffic volume on DND was around 75,000 vehicles, he said.

And that has nothing to do with this-

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone unperturbed by smaller crowds at second edition of Indian Grand Prix

India Today

Greater Noida, October 28, 2012, UPDATED 13:13

It is an open secret that ticket sales for the second Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit have been sluggish compared to last year, when a near full house welcomed the sport to country.

…

The Briton, who turns 82 on Sunday, feels his close friend and Force India chief Vijay Mallya should consider having an Indian driver in his team.

…

On the topic of Mallya and his troubled Kingfisher Airlines, he added: “I think what Mallya has done for India is super. Everyone should support him. His company has run into some difficulties, but so have many other companies because we are going through a recession.” Formula One makes its long-awaited return to the United States in three weeks’ time and Ecclestone is hopeful that the experiment won’t be a failure like in the past, when the public never warmed up to the twists and turns of an F1 circuit instead of their usual oval fare. But he couldn’t resist taking a dig at Americans.

“The trouble with doing anything in America is that they want to be guaranteed money before anything starts. The people in Austin have built a super circuit. Indianapolis did the same, but there was a bit of a family problem in the way it was run,” he said.

Let me be the first to say Happy Birthday asshole.

Bernie has this guy in mind-

India’s Unassuming Formula One Pioneer

By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times

Published: October 26, 2012

“I was the first guy from India to be in Formula One, nobody had been to this territory before,” he said in a recent interview. “So it was all inventing it myself. Being a pioneer is always difficult, and I’m glad to have got another chance to race in Formula One.”

…

The HRT team is one of the weakest – and newest – in the series. After almost three full racing seasons, it has yet to score a single point. But Karthikeyan says he knows his value as a driver.

…

(R)acing at all levels requires money from its drivers, and Karthikeyan said it was not easy to persuade Indian companies to pay for a sport so little known in his country. Still, early on he gained the support of the Tata group of companies, and Tata eventually supported his entry into Formula One.

…

Tata, based in Mumbai, grew as a global conglomerate at the same time as Karthikeyan’s career grew, and it helped him fund his second stint in Formula One as well.

Wouldn’t want anyone uppity like Hamilton after all.

Winning Is Always the Goal for Hamilton

By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times

Published: October 26, 2012

Winning is always the main goal, and that is the most exciting part. It is the most satisfying part of all the work that goes into it. But as you get to Formula One, you realize this is the pinnacle of the sport and winning tons of times is not that easy. So it makes you learn to appreciate them more. When you have a longer gap, when you have 20 races and you only have three wins, those wins you really appreciate, because it took a lot of effort from yourself and from all the people that are in the team. And of course you want to win as many titles as possible. But it is getting harder and harder to do so.

Besides, these 3rd world countries are always letting Rally Squirrels run around.

Indian GP Moves on From the Dog Days of 2011

By REUTERS

Published: October 27, 2012 at 5:03 AM ET

Last year’s inaugural race at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) was dogged by feral hounds on the dusty track during practice and teething problems in a paddock that was far from finished.

…

There has so far been no repeat of last year’s canine interruption.

“Every single intervention post has a gate now. We learnt from mistakes. It was very well controlled by the volunteers last year. There was no panic, it did not cause any accident.”

“There’s a sucker born every minute”- P.T. Barnum

Formula One race in New Jersey postponed until 2014 because of organizational problems

By Associated Press

Oct 19, 2012 04:49 PM EDT

“The event is not going to happen” in 2013 as planned, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said Friday. “Everything is set up, but it’s now too late to finish on time.”

Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner earlier told The Jersey Journal the race would not proceed next year. The newspaper said Turner and another unidentified mayor contend organizers were behind on road repairs and permits.

“The reason is because they didn’t quite know what they were doing,” Ecclestone said. “They got all the permissions together. Everything was done, that was all fine, but then they missed the boat a little on some financing that was coming in.”

Motor Racing: French GP Could Return in 2013-Ecclestone

By REUTERS

Published: October 28, 2012 at 3:00 AM ET

GREATER NOIDA, India (Reuters) – The French Grand Prix could be back on the calendar next year for the first time since 2008, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters on his 82nd birthday at the Indian Grand Prix, the Briton suggested France could fill a slot vacated by a postponed New Jersey race and bring the championship back to 20 rounds.

One month till Austin’s F1 race and still much to do at Circuit of the Americas

By John Maher, American-Statesman Staff

Posted: 6:33 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012

A staggering amount of preparations already have been completed at the $300 million Circuit of the Americas, which two years ago was just scrub pastureland. On Wednesday, Braedon Box, project manager for the circuit, said, “Everything track-related is done. We could have a race right now. Everything else isn’t done … I’m certain everybody would like to be a little further along and putting their feet up right now.”

…

One of the biggest projects still unfinished is a three-lane extension of Kellam Road, which is still not paved.

The two-thirds of a mile extension will create a northern entry for the track off Pearce Lane and should help ease traffic flow. A graded dirt road was punched through weeks ago.

“They got some heavy iron and knocked that out in two weeks,” Box said. “(Then) there was a lot of start, stop and pause.”

He said the new road passed over three gas lines and a water line. Overhead utility issues also cropped up, and the last of those issues was resolved this week, Box said, adding that once paving begins it will take only a few days.

Racing?  Hards and Softs.

Buddh

• New York Times History
• Buddh
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• Qualifying

Interactive Track

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Official Sites

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Pretty tables below.

It’s hard to call any game where you don’t face elimination a ‘must win’ situation, but a game where you can put yourself in that position is certainly cause for alarm.  If anything I’m more discouraged about the Tigers’ prospects after the 8 – 3 loss Thursday than I was by their 2 – 0 shutout on Wednesday (Oops, swap Wednesday and Thursday).

I mean, if your bats are working and your pitching and defense can’t keep you in the game enough to make them matter you are really being outclassed.  Bumgarner, totally ineffective throughout the post season, is suddenly invincible and Verlander the unstoppable winning machine looks like a minor leaguer tossing practice.

And unless the Tigers extend tonight there’s every prospect he can dust off his putter in time for a quick round on the front nine while it’s not too dark to see.

“Then George had the heart attack and for the next 3 holes it was hit the ball, drag George, hit the ball, drag George.”

It’s only a game.

Baseball on Objectivism–

I always figured it was talent made a man big, you know, if I was the best at something. I mean, we’re the guys they come to see. Without us, there ain’t a ballgame. Yeah, but look at who’s holding the money and look at who’s facing a jail cell. Talent don’t mean nothing. And where’s Comiskey and Sullivan, Attell, Rothstein? Out in the back room cutting up profits, that’s where. That’s the damn conspiracy.

Of course if you haven’t irresponsibly committed yourself in print or have a natural affinity for pretty places that could slide into the ocean at any random instant it may look like a a fairly good Series to you until it all comes to a crashing (but triumphant) end tomorrow when it will be wait until Pitchers and Catchers for everybody.

On Opening Day every team starts out leading.

I think I’ve mentioned my former brother-in-law who thought ‘good sport’ meant sitting on an insurmountable advantage and tormenting you with it.  He was (and is) a huge Red Sox fan in a sea of pinstripes because he feels violent encounters with random strangers is more entertaining than the game.  I had the good fortune to watch Game 6 in ’86 with him, at least until he beat his wreck room TV into spark spitting submission with a cue and my sister wisely moved the party to a room with a better working and far more expensive unit and fewer potential missiles and blunt objects.

Which is, I guess, my way of saying that miracles can happen and tonight is as good a time as any.

The Giants are starting Vogelsong (14 – 9, 3.37 ERA)  against Sanchez (4 – 6, 3.74 ERA).  This is good news for the ‘Grrs because if history teaches us anything it’s that Aces are the worst pitchers on your staff and never, ever win.  Too bad they will only face him once.

And win or lose there is always Sunday when we shall worship at the Church of Baseball at least one last time this year.

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All games played on Faux.

It’s only the second time we’ve raced at Buddh.  Motor sports history will probably not be kind to Herman Tilke, but this circuit is not quite as boring as most of his designs.

With a mere 4 races left in the season (including this one) Vettel and Alonso are about a mile ahead of everyone else in the Drivers’ Championship and indeed with the Prancing Pony fading down the stretch and the Caffeinated Bovine stampeding it seems likely the second winner in India will be the same as the first and this will be a yawning run away and hide race unless equipment failure or accident shuffle the deck.

On offer this week will be Hards and Softs and the 2 step difference may tempt daring pit stop strategies but since they’ve never been successful so far I doubt any excitement.

Bayern Bank wants its half a Billion bribe back from Bernie.  Good luck with that.  In a totally unrelated development (yup, fer sure) just about half that will be invested by the same Texas teachers who are seeing their jobs cut to pay for Perry’s Problem for the bankrupt Lehman stake in the now Moody’s B1 rated enterprise which marks to market the total value of Ecclestone’s CVC controlled property at a mere $7 Billion overall.

Surprised?  Not I.  I’ve saved the real thing for below provided there is any.

Interactive Track

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Official Sites

• Formula One Official Website
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Split away, win at home.  The Tigers can still avoid a return trip to AT&T if they win tonight and sweep Comerica, but that prospect is less likely than even the 8 – 3 score would indicate.  They looked bad last night and had their Ace blown away by arguably the 2nd worst pitcher in the Giants’ rotation.

Today they send their second best, Fister (10 – 10, 3.45 ERA), against Bumgarner (16 – 11, 3.37 ERA) who is clearly the biggest under performer in the post season other than ARod and the rest of the hapless Yankee bats.  Sabathia went in for bone spur surgery today by the way.

We’ve been bombing cities every day and every night all over the U.S., only people never know it.

I’m not sure why people find solace or redemption in Baseball, it’s just a game.  Like most sport the only entertaining quality is novelty in the detail and the only benefit to humanity the distraction it provides from the bigger indignities.  Is toughing it out to prove a B-47 can fly to Japan and back worth your 5 minutes as a Doctor ‘Moonlight’ Graham?

Don’t tell me about your little problems! I’m only interested in results!

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