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9.8.2001 11:44 PM Gary Trudeau is still the same unfunny jerk even after his lame apology. Boy, do I miss Bloom County. "Doonesbury' Creator Sorry for Hoax" Sean Hackbarth | 11:36 PM The march to the Super Bowl begins tomorrow. My fantasy teams are set, and all that is left is to make my predictions for this season. My team, the Green Bay Packers, have one of the best quarterbacks of all time in Brett Favre. There offensive line is young, big, and has a nasty streak. Barring injury Ahman Green and Dorsey Levens are one of the best one-two halfback combinations in the league. So how do I think the Pack will do? The schedule is tough with games against Jacksonville, Tennessee, and the champion Baltimore Ravens. I really question their receivers. Antonio Freeman was non-existent in the pre-season and Bill Schroeder has to step up as the number two receiver. What most concerns me is their defense. Number one draft pick Jamal Reynolds couldn't generate a pass rush in practice, let alone in a game. Cletidus Hunt is suspended for the first four games, and LeRoy Butler is another year older. My conclusion: I'm an optimist, but my head will overrule my heart and I pick the Packers to go 8-8. Here's hoping I'm wrong. As for the Super Bowl, I'll go with St. Louis versus Oakland with the Rams winning their second championship. Sean Hackbarth | 11:03 PM The Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA) would mandate copyright functions in computers and electronic equipment. This is central planning that looks like something straight out of Havana. Media companies think copyright protection is important for their business. Fine, they have the ability to implement whatever technologies into their products and let consumers decide if they don't mind them. No matter how stupid, asinine, or cumbersome they are, these copyright-protections technologies should be allowed to compete in the marketplace. What is deplorable is using the federal government to make rules that force computer and consumer electronic makers to put copy-protection controls into products. This age of digital media is still very young. Who knows how consumers and producers will settle this copyright battle. Musicians, writers, and the companies that back them should be able to defend the work they help to produce. They shouldn't be able to use the government to create at one-size-fits-all solution. "New Copyright Bill Heading to DC" Sean Hackbarth | 9:50 PM Salon's Eric Boehlert thought the VMAs were as boring as I did. The King of Perverts--I mean Pop--looked old and danced worse than a 60-year old James Brown. U2 was the highlight performance, but the show just couldn't keep my interest. I must disagree on one of Boehlert's points: Andy Dick isn't funny. He makes Tom Green seem highbrow. "Rock Stars for Sale!" Sean Hackbarth | 9:41 PM In a strange bit of post-modern, technological irony, my new US name is Dean Bell. US Name Generator Sean Hackbarth | 9.7.2001 1:36 AM In Milwaukee the homicide rate has stayed flat while in other cities it has gone down (New York City). Also in the past few years, more and more police officers have resigned. Questions and concerns are being raised about the effectiveness of Police Chief Arthur Jones. How does Jones respond? He accuses the Journal Sentinel of race-based coverage. While it remained just below the surface, no critic or news story focused on Jones' race (he's black). Jones is the first person to add racial fuel to the fire. This is Jones' trump card. He knows an already weakened Mayor Norquist will not attempt to boot him if it becomes a racial issue. What Jones is doing is cynical and wrong. To inject race into a non-racial debate only riles passions and deflects painful truths. For playing the race card for purely defensive purposes Jones should be fired. A city leader must make efforts to unite and lead, not divide and survive. "Jones Goes on Offensive as Backers, Foes Collide" Sean Hackbarth | 1:22 AM Todd Dominey mentions seeing Anne Heche interviewed last night. I saw her on Larry King and was saddened by her spectacle. Now, I don't know if she really was chasing a UFO that would take her to the 4th Dimension, or if she really did have deep conversations with God. Maybe she's making all this up for publicity. But accept for a moment that she was (is?) as mentally unstable as she said, why make a fool of yourself in front of millions of people? A way to self-healing is self-control. Spilling out embarassing problems to Larry King or Barbara Walters isn't self-control. It's self-absorbtion and too typical of the Hollywood set. I hope Heche gets better. Maybe married life and motherhood will provide the stable environment she craves. "Confirmed: Anne Heche 3 Months Pregnant" Sean Hackbarth | 1:04 AM Hooray! Team Bush is seeing the light and is pulling back from the U.S. government's attack on Microsoft. The whole case against MS defies logic. Under the abstract, foggy law of antitrust, MS is guilty of breaking the law by selling lots of software to people. In fact, they sold so much software that they are the king of PC software. But a point has been ignored by nearly every advocate of government prosectution of MS: no one forced consumers to buy and use MS software. Sure, MS has done its best to get its products in front of as many people as they could, but they never could force an individual or business to fork over the cash for the software. In the end there has been free choice. David Dieteman puts the incoherent ideas of antitrust law into focus when he writes, "Charge more than your competitors? Price gouging. Charge the same? Collusion. Charge less? Predatory pricing. It is actually illegal to charge: more, the same, or less. 'Bundle' your products? Unfair. Who gets sued for what depends on which way the political winds are blowing." "U.S. Abandons Microsoft Breakup Effort" "A Back to School Warning: Anti-Trust Law After Microsoft" Sean Hackbarth | 9.6.2001 12:14 AM Phil Gramm is justly praised (I did back his losing effort for President in '96) for his efforts to restrain the scope of government, but the downside to his retirement is the Republicans will have a harder time taking back the Senate. Sure, Texas will likely stay Republican, but in politics anything can happen. "Grand Gramm" [via Reductio] Sean Hackbarth | 9.5.2001 11:28 PM Just what television news needs: another morning show set on a street-side studio in New York City. What is mildly interesting is how Paula Zahn ended up with CNN. "Paula Zahn Heads for CNN As Anchor" Sean Hackbarth | 3:21 AM The October Vanity Fair might be the biggest seller in its history, and it's all because of Harry Potter. There will be kids who never heard of the magazine begging their parents to traipse from one Barnes and Noble to another searching for a copy. Sean Hackbarth | 3:14 AM Who in the states would want to watch Chinese Communist television? We already have CNN, MSNBC, and MTV News (I know the last one is an oxymoron). What shows would the Chinese show? Would they have their own version of Survivor where the tribe of Falun Gong votes on which person gets sent to the firing squad? Or how about a version of The West Wing only set in Bejing? But in all seriousness, this cultural opening could bring about the demise of Communism. Whether the Chinese leadership likes it or not, News Corp. and AOL Time Warner will bring in the West's idea of liberty and freedom through the programming and attitude behind it. So while Drudge will be crying over the amoral actions of uncaring multi-national corporations, I will be quietly cheering "Go Bugs! Go Bart! "China Offers Access Deal to News Corp and AOL" Sean Hackbarth | 1:29 AM Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft have had a cantankerous past, while MS and Compaq have been busom buddies. Even though HP has been lately more accepting of MS technology, they still have the "HP way" philosophy. "Merger May Complicate Microsoft Relations" Sean Hackbarth | 9.4.2001 1:56 PM Mark Levin is short and sweet when it comes to Janet "Earthquake" Reno. "Janet Reno shouldn't be running for governor, she should be running from the law." "Reno Running" Sean Hackbarth | 1:48 PM Some Wall Street analysts are lukewarm on the HP-Compaq merger. They see difficulties integreating the two companies while it gives Dell a year to operate without such distractions. European observers think the merger will spur others across the tech sector. "Wall Street: HP Plus Compaq May Not Add Up" "European Stocks Rise: L'Oreal, Marconi Gain; Ericsson Declines" Sean Hackbarth | 1:39 PM Since the biggest problem with the economy is a drop in capital spending, a capital gains tax cut would have a greater economic effect than the checks the Treasury Department is sending out to everyone. "Bush 'Open-Minded' on Possible Cap Gains Tax Cut" Sean Hackbarth | 9.3.2001 10:47 PM HP will buy Compaq. This news is a total jaw-dropper. This could be a sign of consolidation in the computer hardware industry. This is going to have Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and everywhere in between talking. What will Dell do? What about EMC? How does Sun fit into all this? Will IBM seek out some purchase to retain its dominance? How does Microsoft fit into hardware consolidation? Then there are the questions of whether Carleton Fiorina and HP can pull this off. Compaq had a really hard time with their acquisition of Digital a few years ago. Will Fiorina do better? One things for sure, with this deal, Fiorina becomes the most powerful in business. Shares of stock and rumors will be flying at a frenzied pace tomorrow. Here's my bit of speculation: With Gateway in a weakened state, look for rumors of it being bought, possibly by Dell. "HP to Buy Compaq for $25 Billion" "Hewlett-Packard to Acquire Compaq in $25 Billion Deal" They're already discussing the story at Metafilter. Sean Hackbarth | 10:33 PM Since Janet Reno appears to have the balls (be they real or not) to enter the race for Florida governor, she should be ready and willing to fully explain why she took responsiblity for the deaths at Waco but never held federal agents working at the siege accountable for the deaths. She should also be completely forthcoming as to her decision to use brute force to snatch Elian Gonzalez from a loving family and send him back to the prison island that is Communist Cuba. She can look all cute cruising around in her red pickup truck and wearing an anti-Jeb Bush t-shirt, but Reno has serious questions about her ability to lead a state in a civilized manner. "Reno Plans to Run for Florida Gov." Sean Hackbarth | 9.2.2001 3:13 PM The rest of the U.S. Open will be quieter: Monica "The Grunter" Seles lost today. "Seles Eliminated at U.S. Open" Sean Hackbarth | |
ABOUT When I'm not pondering the fate of the universe, I'm reading, writing, or selling books. Here you'll find comments on politics, culture, books, and music. Not necessarily in that order. MAILBOX sean--at--theamericanmind.com  Support democracy and human rights in Iraq! 
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