Check this out. This is some good fun:

There's no more commies? Not even 'frustrated commies?' Really? Well, you had better call the Chinese communists and give them a heads up. Oh, and while you're at it, give comrade Fidel a buzz. And Hugo Chavez. Why not North Korea? And the it-takes-a-village (commune) Clintons, too.

Let's take a look at the platform--the goals--of those leaning towards the left side of the political equation, shall we?

*Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

*Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

*Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

*Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

*Do away with all loyalty oaths.

*Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

*Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

*Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

*Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

*Gain control of all student newspapers.

*Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

*Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

*Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

*Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

*Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

*Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

*Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

*Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

*Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

*Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

*Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

*Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

*Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

*Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

*Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

*Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

*Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

*Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

*Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

*Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

*Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

*Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

*Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

*Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

*Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

*Internationalize the Panama Canal.

*Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

I've heard many a gray-hair say: "What the hell is going on in this country?" The aforementioned is what's going on in this country and that list could double as Democrat talking points, or Green Party talking points. Point out one item on that list that Kennedy, Pelosi, Clinton, Reid, Streisand, Chavez, Castro, or Putin would have a problem with. Name me one. You cannot.

I found those leftist goals in the Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35--dated January 10, 1963, under the heading of Current Communist Goals.

As things currently stand, our country has been subjected to at least four decades of constant assault as laid-out in the Current Communist Goals in the Congressional Record. What made this nation great has been steadily eroded since the mid-fifties when the communists realized that they could not defeat us militarily. And whether they realize it or not, the folks playing by that previously mentioned playbook are little more than 'frustrated commies.' Most are well-meaning, like to believe they are open-minded, and think of themselves as social progressives. But what they do not understand is that incrementalism has completely clouded their judgement. While their birth certificates may prove them to be Americans, they are but frustrated commies.

No biggie. Yuk it up. Make fun of me all you like. But after the passage of some time, don't come bitching to this old f>ck when you too find yourself saying: "What the hell is going on in this country?"

As for myself being a sexist is concerned, nothing could be further from the truth of the matter. I love chickees, even militant feminist moonbats. Especially when they get all nekkid like.

There's no more commies within our midst? Fine. Go forward with that mindset. But ask yourself why it is our schools are more secure than our prisons, God is persona non grata because he's straight, and interpreting the constitution has been reduced to being no more complex than a Colorforms play set.

We're well, well past the apex of our existance as the pre-eminent nation on this globe, and we're well on our way to becoming Amerika. But...there are no more commies. I gotcha. No need to get your thong all bunched up. Enjoy Spring break and try not to end up in a Girls Gone Wild gang-bang video. Abortions aren't that cheap.

Sez you. (?)

How 'bout this one?

Um, a "nice little season?" They went from worst to first and you're so willing to dismiss such a weighty accomplishment? And they did it with a quarterback who still has less than 25 NFL games under his belt. Nah, sorry. The Jints have had themselves a great year. Whether they get to the big dance this year or not, I truly do not know. If not, I wouldn't bet against Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning during the next few seasons.

Seattle? Are you aware of the fact that the Jints flew all the way to the soggy Northwest and had the Seahawks dead-to-rights three times? Jay Feely missed three "game-winning" field goal attempts in the fourth quarter and the overtime period. Those 13-2 Seahawks may have escaped with a victory on that day, but you don't honestly believe that the Seahawks want to see the Jints again in the playoffs, do you?

And if you've been paying close attention, you'd already know that those 13-2 Seahawks aren't quite as tough as their win-loss record suggests that they are. They went 6-0 in their division which consists of three totally suckful teams: San FranFreako, St. Louis and Arizona which are a combined 13-32. Their strength-of-schedule figure, .436, is easily the lowest of any potential playoff team with one week to go in the regular season. By comparison, the Jints SOS number is .513, Dallas' was .533, and Washington's came in at .554. It seems to me that the Seahawks have had an easier time of it in more than one respect.

And then we've got the 435-248 scoring discrepancy the Seahawks have piled-up against their opponents. They have outscored their opponents by more than 200 points. Seems impressive, don't it? Well, it does until you crunch the numbers just a tad.

The 'Hawks are 9-0 against teams with losing records and outscored those losing teams 318-140. In those games they faced Kurt Warner twice, Marc Bulger twice, David Carr, Steve McNair and three rookie quarterbacks.

Against teams with winning records, the 'Hawks went 4-2 and barely outscored those teams by a margin of 117-108. In those games they faced Byron Leftwich (not exactly a veteran), the Falcons without Michael Vick, a hobbled Mark Brunell, Drew Bledsoe, another rookie quarterback (13-0 Indy rested starters and was grieving the loss of the coaches son), and Eli Manning in his 18th career start. And if Jay Feely didn't miss three game-winning kicks, Eli wins that game and the 'Hawks go 3-3 against teams with a winning record. They lost to Jacksonville and Washington. And they defeated Atlanta by 3 points, Dallas by 3 points and the Jints by 3 points. The Indy game was obviously a freebie win with everything that was involved in that one.

And if you've watched the highlight reels, you would have had to have noticed that Shawn Alexander's 1,807 rushing yards came on the strength of his offensive line. He's regularly treated to gaping holes and rarely gets hit until he's in the secondary. Well, that is, when they play those teams with the losing records. In his 9 games versus losing teams he has rushed for 1,182, or an average of 131.3 yards per game. Against the teams with winning records he's rushed for 525 yards, or an avergae of 87.5 per game. And that includes the gimme game against Indy where he rushed for 139 yards. Shawn frickin' Alexander? He's certainly no Tiki Barber!

Remember, I grew up during those black-and-white days when sports was pretty much reduced to radio broadcasts, the box scores in the newspapers, and the exhaustive stats published in The Sporting News. I pay less attention to what I see on the video advertising box than I do to the constantly updating statistics. And those statistics strongly suggest that the Seattle Seahawks will not get to a Super Bowl anytime soon.

As for the Giants chances of getting to Manning Bowl I, you'd be stupid to wager too much money against such a happening. Take a quick look-see at the teams the Giants are likely to square-off against during those rapidly approaching playoffs. The Bucs? The Panthers? The Bears, for chrissakes? The Seahawks? The Jints are quite capable of beating any one of those teams, if not all four in consecutive games.

The Jints might go one game and out, but I wouldn't be shocked if they ended up playing for a few more weeks. No matter what the immediate future holds for the boys in blue, I think the entire league has been put on notice that...Eli's comin'!

At least we're having some fun again.

Markie The Geek has spoken.

Now answer me this, you football guru of sorts. Which NFL stadium has the highest crown and what are the implications of said crown?

(Hint: Phil Simms)

Being that my employment has been suspended for about two months, I went and enjoyed a lengthy walkabout my city this afternoon. Please don't tell my therapist, but I did spend quite a bit of time at the Gallery of Sound on S. Main Street. Dangit! Doggone it! And I was making so much progess. I think I need the patch. Something kinda low-dose to start. I know, gimme the Chicago Transit Authority patch and we'll hope that it doesn't lead to much stronger things like Megadeath, or Metallica. I've got the shakes.

This is messed-up. After I fed my addiction at Joe Nardone's musical clinic, I wandered into the Anthracite Newstand in search of some rather 'spensive smokes. I waited patiently while the always growing lottery crowd worked their illogic, and I listened to another lady who was balancing some other lottery receipts by talking to herself louder than Walter Griffith can belt it out at a council meeting. Scratch that. At every council meeting.

Anyway, when the girl behind the counter finally got around to waiting on some real-life cash-paying customers, I asked her for "a Newport 100." She responded by asking of me: "A single?" Um, yeah, a single. Jeez, man. If I wanted a freakin' carton, I would have asked for a freakin' carton, no? So she reached to her right and then tried to hand me a "single" Newport 100. You know, like, one cigarette. I laughed. And I asked her if this was some sort of favor to me, or a normal business practice? As it turns out, the Anthracite News actually sells single cigarettes at 35 cents a pop.

On it's face, this smacks of being a very shrewd profit move. At that rate, a single pack of Newport 100s will return 7 bucks to the owner of that single pack of smokes. But on a much more negative note, I think it speaks volumes about the current business atmosphere and the current clientele on Public Square. Normal people don't ever hope to purchase one lone cigarette. But the downtrodden lunatics do. I know as much from those days when the smelly idiots hoping to purchase a half-cup of coffee, or a half-cup of soup where summarily skipped across those red paver bricks iffin' they couldn't take a major hint from management, er, me. In my mind, the riff-raff should never be encouraged to hang around in a business climate. And if they suddenly took serious offense to being treated like low-life con artists, it was always interesting to learn how they'd defend themselves with their soiled coats, or their stained shirts being yanked over their fat heads.

Oh, no! My "mental instability" is showing again! The Greenies are gonna be making fun of me all over again. Yeah, well dig this sh*t. Our once thriving downtown did not wither and die while under my ultra-studious watch. Quite the contrary. When the glad-handers came into my business looking for a handout, or anything at a reduced price; they always, that's always, found themselves staring directly back at their worst nightmare. And they were always given the choice to either Hit it or git it!

We are never, ever going to reclaim that once thriving downtown of ours by encouraging the useless dregs that scare the bejesus out of those prospective shoppers we covet the most. A soup kitchen is not going to help, and neither is the portioning of cigarette packs. What we need is what I brought to the retail fray a while back. What we need is that of an old-fashioned, hard-nosed beat cop mentality. Namely, move along or get your fat head busted.

Say what you will about my approach to maintaining some semblence of control, but when your Grandma finds herself being accosted by the glad-handing riff-raff, she'll be real, real happy if I show up out of the blue. Do you wanna clean up that Square of ours? Then never encourage the useless pricks. I know it sounds all hard-hearted and such, but I did 19 full tours (1972-1990) in the jungles that any urban retail environment can quickly become when the touchy-feely folks start accomodating those self-serving, bottom-of-the-barrel scumball miscreants. I speak from experience. You wanna lose the losers? Put somebody like me in charge.

Otherwise, it's 35 cents a smoke.

It doesn't matter if people get hurt so long as the right people get hurt.--Mark Cour

Sup with this?

I snapped this pic at 66 N. State Street. Does anyone care to explain this to me, because I have no idea what that might be about.

Then again, does anyone remember when State Street extended all the way down to Northhampton Street? There was an ancient-looking market at the corner of State and Market where I'd load-up on Bazooka Joe's right before homeroom each and every morning. Anybody remember that retail concern? Ya sure as heck got me by Bazooka Joe's nuts.

Gotta go.

Later