When I was MUCH younger, I was a died-in-the-wool Republican. I wrote Ronald Reagan when I was a few days short of my 10th birthday, telling him he was doing a wonderful job, that he should wish George Shultz well in the Mid-East peace process, and I openly rooted for Jesse Jackson to win the Democratic nomination against Dukakis, as in my immortal words, "he didn't stand a chance against Bush." Of course, given that I ended my two-page letter by begging the jelly bean bearing septuagenerian for his massive horde of canceled stamps to increase my own collection, my focuses weren't exactly grounded in sound politics.

As I grew older, I was an on the fence political player, voting for the best candidates, regardless of party. It seemed often the Republicans would have interesting options, and at other times, the Democrats stood for those things I was looking for. But by 1992, things had irrevocably changed. The Republican party was not the party of common sense at all, but grounded in right-wing fundamentalism, religious warfare and cronyism. Clinton did some fantastic things while holding office, but didn't have the benefit of a Democratic congress for long, and was stymied through real and faux scandals like no other president in our history.

As we know, his foibles helped aid George Jr's ascendancy to the top step, and for the last six years, we've had to be overwhelmingly embarrassed, frightened and offended by what's gone on in Washington. The idea that such a shady cast of characters could single-handedly more than roll back decades of good will both domestically and around the globe is astounding. The clear ignorance of consequence and knowledge of history is dumbfounding, and scary to behold as we see things go more and more off-track - with very real allegations of lies and deceit coming from every direction, whether it be a made-up costly war under false pretense and wacky ideology, or a silent war against our own citizens through wire-tapping, artificial no-fly lists, and infiltration of private groups. I fear that even if the Democrats were to take over both houses of Congress and elect a presidential candidate, it will take decades to undo the damage, and we may never recover. The unabashed excesses of violence we have inflicted in the Arab states has surely created more hatred against America than ever existed before it, and we may be forever defending ourselves against new enemies at overwhelming personal and financial cost.

We need change. We need it now, and I don't think we can wait until 2008 to take a chance in trusting the foolish American electorate again.

Following up on last night's post (Fantasy Football: Playoffs: Week 2), I said that in order to place well in the fantasy football league playoffs, I needed Carolina to beat Chicago, and for Steve Smith to have a good game. I also said that I was half-heartedly rooting for Indianapolis, as having Pittsburgh win also got me an advantage over the competition.

As you know by now, Pittsburgh stunned the Colts, and Carolina did away with Chicago - on the back of Steve Smith's 200+ receiving yards to go with a pair of touchdowns. His big day's pushed me into a tie for first, and (knock on wood), things look pretty good the rest of the way. A back of a napkin look says that I need Pittsburgh to win next week too, and if Carolina were to somehow beat Seattle, that'd knock out two of my three opponents. As with Pittsburgh/Indianapolis today, I'm pretty split on the outcome of that game.

Kiss Of Death League 2005 Playoff Info
* Current Standings
* Week 2 Results (Called Week 19)

Go Steelers!

Since 2001, I've been part of a fantasy football league called the Kiss Of Death League (KODL). I was enlisted kicking and screaming by a former boss, but it's turned out to be pretty fun. I've made the playoffs in 3 of the 5 years, finishing 1st overall in 2001 and 2nd in 2004. Now, as the 2005 season is nearing an end and we are two weeks into the playoffs, each game means something - even if I don't care about the actual teams playing. The league is set up that 4 of the 12 owners make the playoffs, and refill their rosters from scratch with players in the post-season. Drafting from the 4th position, I made do with those available, and am doing okay - not outstanding.

Today, I saw Matt Hasselback lead the Seahawks against the Redskins, winning 20 to 10. That was good. I've got Hasselback, and Seattle Defense to boot. The fact my opponents each had Redskins players means they won't get points from next week through the Super Bowl. That was followed by the evening match of the Broncos against the two-time defending champion New England Patriots. Once again, I didn't pick anybody from New England, but everybody else did. I wanted the Broncos to win, and they did. Good stuff.

Yet another great way to waste time and not be forced to leave the house. Tomorrow Indianapolis plays Pittsburgh, and Carolina faces Chicago. I want Carolina over Chicago (I've got Steve Smith), and the other game's a toss-up, at least as far as fantasy football is concerned. I have players on both teams. In theory, as I'm more weighted toward Pittsburgh than my opponents, that wouldn't be a bad thing if they were to pull it off, but I'll be half-heartedly rooting for Indy here.

This list is sure to see changes over time, depending on new songs or albums, but you can't go wrong with the following artists, who represent a good share of what I listen to. For real time statistics on what music I take in, try Music Mobs or Last.FM, both great services.

1. DJ Tiesto
2. DJ Armin van Buuren
3. Underworld
4. ATB
5. DJ Irish
6. Depeche Mode
7. Blank & Jones
8. 4 Strings
9. Paul Van Dyk
10. Stereolab