Easy Ryder

Golf's Ryder Cup is less than a month away, so get ready for the silliest bunch of stories of the sports year. Ones like this and this, about how the 12 members of the American team need to bond, form a cohesive unit, even travel for two days this week to Ireland to get in some quality time together. Now that we have read how little sleep team captain Tom Lehman got last week while worrying about his two picks for the team, we will soon be hearing about how little sleep he is getting while he struggles to get just the right pairings for the good ole U.S.A. squad.

Oh, puh-leeze. What a bunch of -- how do I say this delicately? -- horse manure. I could be the Ryder Cup captain, and it wouldn't make one bit of difference in the result. I know enough from watching golf on TV to create pairings that would do well enough to win, if, of course, Team American is playing better than the other guys, which is kind of the key to all this even if Tom Lehman is the second coming of Vince Lombardi.

As Keyshawn Johnson might say, just hit the damn ball.

Hey, Rummy, Appease This

As difficult as it may be to believe, it seems that Donald Rumsfeld is an even worse historian than he is Defense Secretary. His ridiculous effort yesterday to equate those opposing the Bush Administration's Iraq policy with those who failed to confront Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s shows just how little Rumsfeld apparently knows about both subjects. People opposed to the Iraq War, and especially the incompetent management of it led by Rumsfeld, are not appeasing the terrorists. They are trying to free up the resources to fight them in a productive and meaningful way and in the places where they are actually located.

The smell of desperation wafting around President Bush and his increasingly shrinking amen corner is now palpable. History will not be kind to this crew.

Read It and Weep

So the housing market is cooling, and some developers are putting their plans for still more luxury condos on hold. What people should be talking about is the news that Philadelphia has a larger percentage of persons living in poverty than any other city in America. One of every four city residents -- twice the national average -- is poor. And it's not getting better: Philadelphia's median income has dropped four percent in the past three years, after accounting for inflation. So lots of people who aren't doing so well to begin with are getting poorer.

The 2007 mayoral campaign has already begun. Let's see what the many candidates now running have to say about this issue. It can't all be about Center City and the people who can afford to live there. Hey, maybe all those heavy hitters who were so willing to sign on to the effort to get the Olympics to Philadelphia can spend some time on this issue. Well, a guy can dream, can't he?

It's Not Just About You

Maybe John Karr didn't kill JonBenet Ramsey. But people, such as Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, who complain about how much the events of the past two weeks have cost taxpayers should look at the bigger picture: The money involved seems like a small price to pay to get this guy away from the many Thai children he almost certainly would have victimized. The citizens of Colorado should take some comfort in that.

Who's on First?

The blog Talk Left is a FCB favorite, and since its creator and principal author, Jeralyn Merritt is a Denver-based criminal defense attorney, TL is also a great source of information on the JonBenet Ramsey case. Not the what did the weirdo suspect eat on the plane/I went to grade school with him baloney used by most media outlets. Just solid information and analysis from someone who is there and who, of all things, knows what she is talking about.

Here is a post from yesterday about the battle between suspect John Karr's California attorneys and the Boulder Public Defender's Office over who represents Karr. You would think that this would not be something that would be so hard to figure out, but apparently it is. The pair from California have spent way too much time on Larry King and other shows for my taste, and their decision to associate in Colorado with someone who has been a lawyer less than a year is just bizarre, which kind of fits right in with everything else that has gone on the past couple weeks regarding this case. My guess is that the California lawyers will be gone within a few days, after one final round of TV appearances, and their 15 minutes will be up.

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Today's New York Times has the latest (subscription may be required; you never know with the NYT, it seems) in what has been a deluge of media reports recently on housing prices, all of which pose the unanswerable question of whether there has been a housing bubble and, if so, whether it has burst. All this talk of slumps, soft landings, hard landings, busts, and crashes reminds me of the oft-heard line that a recession exists when your neighbor loses his job, but a depression occurs when you lose yours.

The same logic applies to house sales. I read these articles with the detached security of one who has seen his house value rise a good bit in the past two years and who does not expect to sell for a long time, so a downward trend is not something of concern. If I stand on my front steps, however, I can see six For Sale signs, each of which has been hanging for at least three months. The only thing moving, at least in my corner of the world, is the asking prices of these homes, some of which have decreased 5-8 percent in the past few weeks.

And, as all these articles note, where she stops, nobody knows.

You Can't Get One Without the Other

I have always been in favor of same-sex marriage, in no small part because governments, businesses, and other elements of society have created economic and other benefits that are conditioned on being married. So it is not just about "morality" or what a family "ought" to look like. It is often about money.

Here's an example of what results when government draws the type of wobbly lines that try to be inclusive of same-sex couples but preserve traditional views of marriage. There's really a very obvious solution to all of this: If government and businesses are going to provide economic and other benefits based on marital status, then people have to be free to marry anyone they want to marry. Then all lines are clear: If you are married, X happens. If you are not married, X doesn't happen. Have a nice life.

Pass the Streudel

Recently acquired New York Jet running back Kevan Barlow has apologized to his former 49ers coach, Mike Nolan, for comparing him to Hitler. Hey, no hard feelings. Maybe the next time they get together, Barlow can take Nolan to dinner.

Speaking of the Neighborhood

Here's PhilaFoodie's take on the new Water Works Restaurant and Lounge, the new and long-anticipated place located along the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park. Sounds like I need to get over there.

A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

At least one Andrew Sullivan reader must live or work quite near FCB HQ, since this view is similar to the one from my third-floor deck (I'm a bit more to the northwest, I would estimate).

And A Liver Runs Through It

FCB has blogged previously on the ridiculous foie gras ban imposed by the City of Chicago (see posts here and here). So I am pleased to report that the fight goes on. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog links to an article detailing the civil disobedience campaign of Chicagoland chefs. Mahatma Ghandi would be proud. He would never touch foie gras, of course, but he would be proud.

Mea Culpa

Apologies for the light blogging the past couple of weeks. In addition to work travel and vacation time, the computer at FCB World Headquarters has been on the blink. But things should now be returning to normal. So beware.

Cue the Solemn Music

Here's an obit of sorts for a valued -- and tasty! -- friend: foie gras in Chicago, whose demise is but a few days away.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I had a private -- and tasty! -- final few moments with some foie gras equisitely prepared and presented at MK, a wonderful Chicago restaurant whose chef is quoted near the end of the article. His menu featured the elegiac "Farewell to Our Friend" notice the story mentions. There was not a dry eye at the table.

At least one City Councilman here in Philadelphia wants to have a ban similar to Chicago's enacted in our fair city. Fortunately, nothing has come of it yet, but always remember that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and, apparently, of foie gras.

I Have Different Fantasies

This post on Sports Law Blog provides a nice analysis of this week's court decision denying Major League Baseball and its players the right to prevent commercial fantasy league operators from using statistics. While I can't claim enough legal expertise to know whether the decision is the correct one (and the Sports Law poster seems to have some doubts about the court's analysis), I am rooting for MLB to win on its appeal.

Why? Because anything that limits or, God willing, ends the plague of fantasy leagues would be a good thing. No, wait. It would be a great thing. Someone needs to tell these faux stat heads that sports are their own fantasy, so they ought to try just watching the damn games and rooting for or against the teams that actually exist. What a concept!

Already Low, And Sinking

Just when you think Prince of Darkness Dick Cheney could not be more loathsome, he proves you wrong. Check out these comments on the Lieberman defeat.

So, let's see: By exercising the freedom to choose one's own elected representatives (one of the freedoms P of D Cheney and President Bush tell us the terrorists hate), tens of thousands of Connecticut voters have encouraged "al Qaeda types" and made all of us less safe. That's the level on which this Administration operates.

What's interesting is that when Cheney is saying this, Karl Rove's lips hardly move at all.

No-mentum

Here's all you need to know about the dreadful Joe Lieberman and the politics of personal ambition. How about this statement in his non-concession speech last night after losing the primary to Ned Lamont: "For the sake of our state, our country and my party, I cannot and will not let that result stand." What?!?! Who does this guy think he is -- Pinochet?

The Senate is not an entitlement program. State and national Democratic Party leaders need to pressure Lieberman out of the race, and quickly.

The Sgt. Schultz Defense

What do you find less credible: 1) Floyd Landis' claim that he did not cheat to win the Tour de France; or 2) Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops' claim that he was shocked, shocked to learn that starting quarterback Rhett Bomar had a high pay, little work job at a car dealer?

As you can tell from my phrasing of the question, while I don't believe Landis, I find Stoops' assertion laughable. As this story notes, Bomar isn't even the first Sooner star to benefit from knowing the good folks at Big Red Sports and Imports (although new ownership claims the car dealer's relationship with athletes has ended).

Such is life in college athletics.