Hello world. A lot has gone on since last Friday, and we haven't talked about any of it yet, so here is a little grab bag of big-ticket news items that I found to be interesting over the last few days. Feel free to weigh in on any or all.
1) The Prez picked his second nominee, and she is a rookie. Lots of people are saying that's a good thing, and the fringe ends of both parties are concerned. I like that she doesn't have a proven record on most political issues, and I like that Harry Reid was the guy who originally pushed the White House to put her name on the list for consideration. Does that mean that Mier was the best that Democrats could hope for? I don't know, but if that is the case, then they have to be happy that they got their (wo)man. But how liberal could she be? She was president of the Texas State Bar, and a personal attorney for the Bush family for years. She was staff secretary in his administration before acting as White House counsel. The uneasiness, in my opinion, stems from the fact that we are so focused on litmus tests (read: abortion), we don't really even care about these nominees' abilities as justices, just how they are going to vote. But when something you hold dear is at stake (read: Roe v. Wade), maybe that's not an unreasonable position.
2) Bombs in Bali again, and it is pretty obvious that Westerners were the targets. I'm not usually nervous about international travel, because I don't really go to places that attract Americans in a part of the world that is otherwise dangerous, but this makes me want to rethink where I will spend my free time...at what point to we start to think that maybe this unfocused aggression toward fundamentalists is worth a serious cost/benefit analysis? I am no fan of isolationism, but this is getting ridiculous. How long before we have another September 11th?
3) Post-Season Baseball is here. For Cubs fans, that means deciding who your second-favorite team is for the current season and rooting for them. I'll give the Official Offering prediction for the Divisional Series now, and then as we move along, I'll give my predictions for each round of the playoffs. BTW, I love playoff baseball- great pitching matchups, only 8 teams make it, everyone has a chance...lots of fun.
St. Louis/Padres- The trendy upset pick this year is the Pads, but I am going with the Cards in 4. The balance of the Cardinals is too much for a .500 team, and the Cards roll on.
Houston/Atlanta- Astros in 5. I love how the Astros get big games from their big starters when they need them, and the youth and inexperience of the Braves offense will hurt them.
Boston/Chicago- Red Sox in 4. This White Sox team has excellent, but inconsistent pitching, and the lineup when compared to Boston is almost stunningly bad.
New York/Anaheim- This is the closest series to pick, in my opinion. Neither team has a dominant pitching rotation, New York has to have the edge in offensive octane, but I like Anaheim's bullpen and the Angels got the home field advantage on the last day of the year. I'm going with the Yankees in 5.
One other note: I got some email recently from some Offering readers who are in the creative arts. I hope to gain permission soon to post some of their work here at the Offering, and maybe post permanent links to where you can read it online. If you are a writer, poet, songwriter, or other artist in a medium that is conducive to sharing via the Offering, let me know and I'd be happy to spread the culture. Not only do I enjoy it a great deal, but the Offering regulars of which I am aware are largely culture vultures and we take pride here at the Offering in having people of all stripes contribute their work.
Tonight I'll be heading down to my firm's pro bono clinic to do intake interviews for people who need free lawyers. I encourage all the Offering faithful to donate your skills if you can. In many circumstances, your time and education can be more valuable to those in need than your money.
That's all for now...Plans for this weekend to be released shortly. If you live in Chicago and would like to be included on the email distributions about the wrecking crew's whereabouts, email me. The more the merrier. In fact, this weekend we will be celebrating LongMan's birthday after the Hawks wipe the floor with Purdue, so we could use the personnel.
Have a great week.
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