Editorial: Jay-Z weighs in on Bush's feud with Kanye West

Honestly, it doesn't feel like I should ever write a headline like that. I think we're way past being over the line with our celebrities trying to be political and out politicians trying to be celebrities. Nevertheless, just after Katrina, Kanye said that George W. Bush doesn't care about black people. In his new book, Bush responds saying that that comment (we'll get to how ridiculous this is in a moment) was the low point of his presidency.

In other words, NOT the devastation faced by the residents of the Gulf Coast following the storm, NOT falsifying intelligence reports and waging two wars, NOT guiding the country into a massive recession, NOT be he puppet leader for a handful of large corporations. No, the low point of Bush's two terms in office (both handed to him in shady circumstances) was when a rapper whom he'd never met and has publicly embarrassed himself before, said something about him.

So now Jay-Z weighs in. Why? No idea except that he also has a book to pimp and I'm sure stirring the pot while Bush is also on his book tour can't hurt. Any publicity is good publicity right?

Here is Jay-Z's comment as taken from pitchfork.com:

"I 100% agreed with the comments that he made, because again... it felt like it was being done to black people. Like all you saw on the news was black people with help signs... and then you have this picture of the commander in chief, who we all rely on, just flying by... Just the fact that [George W. Bush] thinks that the worst thing that happened to him is Kanye saying something about him… That alone shows you where his mind is."

Editorial: Hey BP, F**K YOU!

From the NY Times:

BP’s new chief executive said Monday that its rivals and the media had helped cause a climate of fear during the summer when the oil giant’s blown-out Gulf of Mexico well caused the worst ever oil spill in the United States.

I like the sentence above. This WAS the worst ever oil spill in the U.S....EVER. So if the public wants to be fearful, if fisherman along the Gulf Coast want this foreign oil giant to be appropriately contrite and if environmentalists and people who just generally care about stuff want to be pissed off, I think it's properly warranted here.

I love how BP went for the Sarah Palin counterattack of blaming their own stupidity and malfeasance on the "media."

Anyway, I'm outraged by this. Not because I oppose offshore drilling (I do), but because when you f**k something up so royally that it can be called the "worst ever" of anything, you need to suck it up and just admit that you're the asshole, not everyone else.

Editorial: Shame on you ESPN.com

This is one of the main headlines on ESPN.com (.go.com) right now:

"Favre's wife relying on faith amid allegations"

1. Farve's wife isn't a professional or college athlete right? So why oh why, is ESPN reporting on how she feels? This is some People magazine crap that I don't want mixing with my sports news.

2. We're in the thick of the baseball playoffs, the NFL is bombing along, hockey season is doing what hockey season does and college football is pretty damn compelling this year...how the F is Favre's wife's faith a news story? Including this story here implies that nothing better is happening out there right now.

3. MOST IMPORTANTLY: THIS IS NOT NEWS!!! This doesn't say, "Favre's wife learns to fly." "Favre's wife completes first solo swim of the Atlantic ocean." OR "Favre's wife buys Los Angeles Clippers." This actually doesn't say anything at all.

So shame on ESPN I say...shame. Leave the tabloid headlines for TMZ. Stick to what you know, sports.

Editorial: Airport Security and the Airlines

Good afternoon The Coughing Dog readers. In the wake of last week's failed attempt to damage an airplane in mid-air by a Nigerian student, the U.S. government and related agencies (I'm looking at you TSA) have decided to step up screenings at airports. Apart from the fact that the young man's explosive device was located up his leg and into his crotch (he really intended to blow off his balls first), it's a little scary to think that we don't use technology to detect something like that. Why does it always take the near or complete destruction of an airplane to create real innovation in the realm of airport and airline security? It's clear that the TSA and related agencies across the globe cannot adequately scan everyone, so why isn't there more focus on developing and implementing new devices to help catch people with explosives strapped to their nuts before take-off?

Adding more bodies to the TSA ranks is only going to slow down the security lines, delay flights, anger airline customers who - let's face it - already loathe the airlines they fly and make air travel all the more frustrating and stressful. I'm not sure an industry that has been on government life support for as long as this author can remember can really survive more of the same.

I'm aware that I'm a man with a complaint, not a solution but what I really see lacking is a strong research and development community for airport security products. We have millions of knuckleheads typing code so you can more easily find the nearest mailbox to your current location from your phone, but where's the urgency to create this other technology? And why isn't the government publicly funding it?

Reading about proposed airport security measures makes me throw up in my mouth. Here's a run down of one new concept: After arriving at the airport three hours in advance of your flight you might be asked to go through a scanner. Here, the fine folks at the TSA will take a gander at your naked body and determine if you're safe to pass.

Now the TSA people are qualified to see us all naked? They don't seem to be qualified to do anything.

Here are a couple of images of what you might see in one of these scanners...that could be you someday.




So...all I'm asking for is some forethought from our government. Just like we should have made SURE there were WMDs in Iraq before going to war, we should be out in front of some of these crises and near-crises. So let's do what Americans do best and start kicking some ass on the innovation front.

Quick aside: My favorite TSA story came when my college team was flying to Florida for spring training. My friend stepped up the counter handed the woman his ID and was issued a boarding pass. He then went to the TSA person who checked his ID against his boarding pass again and stamped it good. He then went through security, where he showed his stamped boarding pass, and went on through to the gate. About 20 minutes later he was called up by the gate agent to swap out the boarding pass he had been given with one that actually had his name on it! If the TSA isn't actually reading our IDs, then why do we have to take them out of our wallets?