Someone is paying attention to something

Yesterday Army Secretary Peter Green announced that the expansion of the Army from 482,000 to 547,000 would be completed in four years instead of five. I'm not sure if this quicker response isn't due to what's happening in Myanmar (Burma).

It's not that we need the increased Army troops because of the problems in Burma ( Myanmar) but simply because someone is paying attention to something....and that something is the statistics.

Myanmar (Burma) has a population of 48 million and and a Army of over 500,000. We have 300 million and only 482,000 in the Army. Of course we have quite a few other branches of the military but Burma (Myanmar) is not allowed to have a larger Army than America. It's just the principle of the dealio that matters to our leaders.

It's always the principle...and of course the oil...but this isn't an oil story.

It's a numbers story.

After reading about Myanmar (Burma) I've discovered that the MONKHOOD has 400,000 to 500,000 members. These are not followers of monks...these are actually MONKS.

And the leaders of Burma (Myanmar) are military guys so I'm sure that number in the Monkhood must be causing them to be rather concerned.

Buddhists MONKS have the same size team as the Military Regime.

(Say that a few times over and over...faster and faster....)

There's some wacky behavior going on in Myanmar( Burma).....like the moments of decision that an 18 year old makes when leaving high school....

"Hummm, let's see....Army or Monk? Hummm, I just can't decide.....hummm....robe or no robe.....possible levitation lessons or firing range practice.....hummmm....this is a tough one......hummmm.....beads or AK-47.....hummmmm.....

Maybe I'll just take a few years off and travel and then make a decision."

Oh yeah....that's not an option when you live in an country run by someone named......
GENERAL.

General Than Shwe is his name...I think.....I just read the entire story in today's LA TIMES and his name is not mentioned once...so the guy either doesn't have a Press Agent or the TIMES is just f..king with him.

Back to the MONKHEAD for a sec. In the article they don't capitalize the word Monkhead but they refer to it as an organization. Of course the article says the monkhead is not armed so perhaps one needs a weapons cache to get capitalization of their group's name.

Those Buddhists are pretty funny dudes( I'm assuming that women are not allowed to be monks) and maybe they think they can use lighting bolts and wind to fight off the GENERAL.

In the the short run...I'm betting on the GENERAL....but in the terms of eternal bliss...I'm going with the MONKS.

It's a battle for the heart and soul of the Burmans......which ironically haven't been re-named the Myanmarman's. Probably to long to fit on the uniform.

So looking at the geographic location of Myanmar (Burma) I suppose this could actually be another oil story....and another yachting story because Burma (Myanmar)is the world's largest TEAK exporter.

AND OF COURSE IT'S ALSO ANOTHER CHINA STORY.

Since 1989 CHINA has delivered over $2 billion dollars worth of arms to the GENERAL, including tanks and jet fighters. Apparently they have an agreement that gives China access to the Indian Ocean....and also CHINA has UNRESTRICTED logging concessions....so deforestation is also a CHINESE story.

I can tell you one thing for sure.....

MYANMAR (BURMA) WILL NOT BE RECALLING ANY FREAKIN TOYS FROM CHINA.

And it's also another OPIUM story....because apparently, in figures released previously, 60% of the world's heroin comes from Burma (Myanmar)....and I'd be surprised if any of that revenue was going to the MONKHOOD.

I don't know squat about world politics but I'm guessing that the GENERAL gets a rather large cut of the money from the OPIUM distribution.

I think I'll go invade Burma and then report back later....oh wait a sec....that didn't work so well for Japan.....

Maybe I'll stay home and be someone who is paying attention to something.....because there really are a lot of things to look at.......and think about....

Hummmm....Orange Robe.....or....camouflage outfit with big guns and Rocket Launchers and Flame Throwers....hummmm.....

Michael Timothy McAlevey

It's offical and I blame it on Vinny

Last night the Dodgers were officially eliminated from post season play and the final nail in the coffin was caused by VIN SCULLY.

Of course Vin Scully is my favorite sports related figure on the planet...and maybe in my top five favorites of living and historical figures. In other words.....I really like the guy....but last night I found his behavior to not only be irresponsible but slightly strange.

I watched the entire game from the first moments when Vin says..."It's time for Dodger baseball," to the very end when he says goodnight and stay tuned for the Dodger wrap show.

NOT ONCE DID VIN MENTION THAT THE DODGERS WERE STILL MATHEMATICALLY IN THE RACE FOR THE WILD CARD.

NOT ONCE

and at least ten times during the game he mentioned how important the game was for the Colorado Rockies....

I think at least 70% of the Dodger fans watching the game last night just assumed that they were already eliminated....because VIN is the final word to Dodger fans.

So my theory is that the people watching the game weren't rooting in the same manner as normal and the amount of energy directed towards the Dodgers was extremely low.

It wasn't Mark Hendrikson's pitching, or Scott Proctor's pitching or Hernandez's pitching....or errors that the Dodgers committed....or the fact that Normar still wasn't in the starting lineup.....

IT WAS VIN SCULLY'S FAULT FOR NOT REPORTING THE ABSOLUTE REALITY.

Had he been a bit more positive about the situation then maybe they would still be battling in the wild card race....which of course would have been almost impossible but the words.....mathematically eliminated ....are based on actual realities and the Dodgers were still alive yesterday....and VIN SCULLY never mentioned IT...

I realize that Vinny doesn't normally go on road trips so when he traveled to Colorado last week, that four game sweep by the Rockies was just too much for him to take....and probably will result in no more road trips for Mr. Scully.

I mean no more road trips while being employed by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

And at his age I totally understand, but had the Dodgers gone into Colorado and won four straight then today they would still be in the wild card race and Vinny would not be ignoring the reality, of which he is paid quite well...to do.

I can't fault Vinny for the way the Dodgers played...but I think he was totally irresponsible by not mentioning the REALITY of the pennant race.

THE REALITY:

THE DODGERS WERE NOT ELIMINATED FROM POST SEASON PLAY UNTIL THEIR 157th game.

So when compared to many Major League teams....the Dodgers had a hugely successful season.

Of course the expectations were much higher in Los Angeles, but if you talked to every major league team owner and general manger who didn't make the playoffs...the general theme would be....

Expectations were much higher during spring training.

None of this explains why Vinny didn't mention the wild card race in last night's game when the Dodgers were still mathematically ALIVE.

TODAY THEY ARE OFFICALLY DEAD AND I BLAME IT ON VINNY.

Of course I don't blame the other 156 games on Vinny...just number 157....and that turns out to be the elimantion game....and my hero....failed to mention the reality.

And that's not like him and I've decided to not listen to him during the off-season.

That's my form of protest....because there are three or four times during the off-season that I pop in audio tapes of Dodgers games just to listen to Vin....but not this off-season.

So take that Mr. Scully!

Michael Timothy McAlevey

Cut the BS

September 23

On the day that the Iranian President visited NY and the United Nations...George W. Bush
revealed the following.....


WASHINGTON - President Bush, breaking his rule not to talk about presidential politics, says he believes Hillary Rodham Clinton will defeat Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries. Bush also predicts that Clinton will be defeated in the general election by the Republican nominee.

"I believe our candidate can beat her but it's going to be a tough race," the president said.
It has been difficult for Bush to remain silent about the 2008 president race, despite his promises not to be the "prognosticator in chief." He has been talking about the race and handicapping candidates during off-the-record chats with visitors to the White House.
He finally went public with his Clinton prediction in an interview for a book by Bill Sammon, a reporter for The Washington Examiner.

I thought Karl Rove had left town.

George is taking the oldest tactic in politics.....and it's wrought with intrigue and deception.

I'm sure you'll be reading a lot about this so I'll wait and comment tomorrow or the next day.

This type of political BS takes a few days to settle in...
and
I wish they would
CUT the Bull

but they won't....... so let's deal with it....
but let's deal with it
LATER
if you don't mind

Michael Timothy McAlevey

Rainbows and Sonar Kills

Late yesterday in Southern California, a freaky thing came our way.....I wasn't sure what it was because it had been quite awhile since I had seen one....but after a few minutes I determined that I was indeed witnessing a.......STORM.

IT WAS VERY COOL AND IT WAS VERY WET.....which I notice is a trait that applies to most storms.

My powers of observation are staggering.

I went to the market right when it first started around 5:20 PM and as I approached the front doors I noticed a man holding his daughter (who appeared to be in the 6 to 9 month range) and they were standing just inside the door, looking out towards the rain. The little girls eyes could not have been opened any wider and the look of amazement was obvious. I walked by them and simply said...."Obviously first time she's seen the rain," and the father answered with, "mind your own business asshole."

Of course that last statement is not true but after some of the things I've seen lately...it is possible that I could have received that response....in truth I received this response....

"Yes it is her first rain...thanks for noticing."

Later that night around 11:15 I think I heard the hardest rain I had heard in years...but then again it seems like years since any type of rain.

This morning when I woke up around 5:30 I decided to go out and do a meet and greet because I knew the air would be clean and crisp and there would be lots of water on the ground. I put on my boots ( not the cute little yellow ones) and headed out to the coffee shop. I browsed the front section of the paper, noticing that O.J. actually got a article on the front page and saw a picture of a dead blue whale being towed to it's necropsy. Somehow those two things seemed connected but I couldn't figure how why.

I then scanned the sports section to read about the Dodger funeral procession and noted that the young turks were firing back at Jeff Kent and simply thought to myself....losing brings out the real character in a person and the Dodgers appeared to be showing their true characters.....but if they have any PRIDE left they will show it to Arizona tonight and tomorrow and then stick it to Colorado and pay back the Giants for the two series they lost when it mattered....if they have any pride left is the magic phrase....they might have none left and could go 0 and out during the last eight games.

As I walked out of the coffee monopoly place (that I refuse to mention by name) I saw the biggest and brightest rainbow that I've seen in a very long time.....and it stayed strong and beautiful for about two minutes.

I hope that man with the little girl at the market, was out walking around this morning because if rain blew her mind imagine what a giant rainbow would do.

I then went to the Santa Monica Police department to address a matter that needed to be addressed which is another entire story that I might or might not tell at a later date. Telling that story will depend upon the outcome and the outcome will not be known for awhile.

After I left the Police Station I drove up 2nd street and decided to have another coffee at a not so familiar smaller coffee house. As I walked away from the counter I noticed a pleasant looking woman scanning the newspaper rather quickly and she closed the front section and was looking at the picture of the dead blue whale. I looked at her face and noticed she needed a pick-up that went well beyond the ability of coffee.

I simply spoke up and said..."I saw the cutest thing last night when it started to rain." I then quickly told her about the little girl and the rain and it made her smile and respond with..."it's a reason to have kids, isn't it?"

I then said..."I told you that story to counterbalance the whale story."

Her response was..."I have a passion for whales and I went up to Ventura the other day to see the one that was beached but it had already been removed....this is the third one in the last week."

I answered with..."I hope this isn't related to Colony Collapse Disorder."

She shot back very quickly with..."It's the SONAR....which they started doing on September 11th."

I made a comment about the injunction being lifted but I didn't think the sonar testing started yet. She repeated....."It started on 9/11 and it's going to cause a huge problem with whales and I hate it."

I said goodbye and walked away, forgetting to put a little chocolate in my coffee. When I got outside I tasted my latte and realized that I had overlooked my little chocolate fix. I went back inside, put the cocoa in my coffee and glanced over to the woman one more time. I realized that she needed one more boost.

I walked over to her and said...."By the way, a few years ago I figured out what political organization was the smallest political organization in the world." She glanced up and repeated exactly like a straight man would...."The smallest political organization in the world? And what organization would that be?"

MY PUNCH LINE....MY JOKE....that I made up about 20 years ago......

"The smallest political organization in the world is the RSW.....
Republicans to Save the Whales. There is one guy in an office in Washington D.C...waiting for his first phone call."

SHE LAUGHED OUT LOUD AND SAID...."THANKS....THAT'S FUNNY."

I walked away feeling pretty good and then saw that I had a parking ticket.....

I'm kidding about the parking ticket....but I'm serious about everything else that happened.

And the SONAR thing really needs further investigation....which I will do and report back soon....but starting SONAR TESTING on 9/11, close to the California coast, while BLUE WHALES are migrating...... seems amazingly STUPID AND MEAN SPIRITED.


Thank God for a little girl's big eyes and a beautiful rainbow....and of course a surprise storm that started a chain reaction that lead down the path to

today's

mantra......

GO TROJANS

Michael Timothy McAlevey

When I 'm wrong

At few weeks ago I said that the Dodgers were either going to win their division or end up in third place.

I had no idea at the time that they could end up in FOURTH place....so now I'm going to predict that the Dodgers will finish higher than the Giants....which in many years is all a Dodger fan hopes for...so I'm looking to the bright side....

The Dodgers will finish above the Giants....pop the champagne...pour beer over David Wells head and celebrate a season where the Giants made the Dodgers look like the 27 Yankees....except of course in that one three game series on September 7, 8 and 9....when the Giants beat the Dodgers two out of three and basically finished them off.

They did come back and win two series in a row against The Padres and The Diamondbacks but had they swept the last place Giants then those series wins might have really made a difference...

When you lose a series to the last place team in your division in September it's a bad thing...when that series is against the Giants then it becomes more than a bad thing...it starts to resemble a bad haircut....or maybe even a small nail in the coffin.

It's not just losing a weekend series....it's losing to the Giants....and it has to eat at the very core of all fans and the players had to ask questions of themselves at that point....questions like..."hmmm...are we the team we thought we might have been"....questions like each of us has on the golf course when we start falling apart....questions like John McCain must be having....questions, questions, questions....hmmm.

I will say one thing regarding their pride. After losing two out of three to the Giants, they lost the next game to the Padres on the 9/11 and at that point it looked like they might not win another game in the season....they were down....and they hit a false bottom (false bottom's are all bottom's that aren't officially eliminating you from the race) ( The real bottom looks like it will happen in the next few days)....anyway they hit the false bottom after the lost to the Padres

and it stirred something inside and they showed flashes of either current abilities or flashes of future abilities and won four games in a row, and by the evening of September the 15th it looked like they might not lose another game....and the scared words...World Series...started creeping into the smaller regions of my mind....but I kept thinking about that three game series in San Francisco and asked questions like..."How could a team this good lose two out of three to the Giants...in September?" Well then on Sunday they lost to the Dback's and traveled to Denver for a four game series with the Rockies.

Yesterday in Denver....I got the answer to most of my questions....and now it looks like the Dodgers could finish behind Colorado and end up in fourth place....but well ahead of the Giants.

Somehow that doesn't make me feel great.....but imagine how the Giant fans feel....ha ha ha ha...

and they've got Barry.....ha ha ha ha.....

An entire baseball season has so many levels, especially if a team is in the race. One of the important levels of this season for the Dodgers has to be that time period when they were in first place and then decided not to score any runs over a two week period.

In 50 years of listening and watching Dodger baseball I never remember any Dodger team being shut out so many times in such a short sequence of games. I remember watching the games and started wondering if they were all having vision problems at the same time.

That dry spell, which took place toward the end of July, started the downward spiral that cuminated in yesterday's disaster in Colorado....and as I was feeling sorry for myself and my team I clicked on Major League Baseball's web site...and saw the story that explained the pictures shown above and felt very little.

It's embarrassing to think I care this much about baseball when there are so many things that I should be concerned with......and so many things I should be thankful for...and so many things I should be happy about...

If you want to read about the pictures shown above...cut and past the following address.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AlWHHpL.QO5_u.XnIa.b6RYRvLYF?slug=sh-miracleleague091807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Michael Timothy McAlevey

Sport Report

When the University of Southern California has three rushers in one game average over 7.3 yards a carry I would think the opposition would feel depressed and extremely worn out.

Nebraska is not Utah, er....I mean not UCLA, and they were ranked 14th going into yesterday's home game in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Everything was very red in the stadium before the game and even redder for the players after the game.

USC's offensive line opened up wide lanes for each of the running backs...but a few of the runners showed cutting and juking abilities that resulted in large gains.

Stafon Johnson averaged 13.0 yards a carry and while he gained the most yards he didn't lead in the carries per average onslaught.

Stanley Havili, the fullback, averaged 26.0 yards a carry

C.J. Gable averaged 17.2 yards a carry

The Cornhuskers Coach made a few strange decisions...one of which was changing the game plan after an effective first quarter. They were throwing the ball extremely well and drove for a touchdown to tie up the game. It looked like USC's pass defense was vulnerable and it made for a very interesting beginning....even a touch of nervousness snuck in as I watched them drive down the field but I kept remembering how Lou Holtz, the day before on ESPN, had explained how and why Nebraska would beat the Trojans....and I relaxed.

Lou Holtz must be wrong 90% of the time when he makes a prediction.

Anyway the Nebraska QB stopped throwing in the second quarter and basically that was the game. When he did try to throw later it was on third down and long plays...and the quick Trojan defense....AND THEY ARE REALLY QUICK....just stepped in and finished the Corn....all the way down to the cob.

USC has amazing speed at the defensive ends and linebackers position. Rumors have multiple first round NFL picks emerging from those two areas. I'm not even talking about an offensive line that seems to be one of their best...but it's early and offensive lines in USC history have been highly regarded for the last 40 years.

It takes a full season to evaluate an offensive line....but since they have a true freshman starting at center.....which I've never heard of....I'm thinking this MIGHT be their best ever.

Whether or not the team ranks up there is another question. People are asking John David Booty to win a Heisman trophy with no proven receivers. If he can pull off that feat it will have meant that he made three new players...instant stars.

Personally, with this running attack, I don't think John David Booty will be able to put up the numbers necessary to win the Heisman.

But an injury here and an injury there and maybe Patrick Turner turns into T.O and it all works out for Mr. Booty.

I'm fairly certain that John David would trade a Heisman for 13-0 and a National Championship.

Pete Carroll seems to have a certain ability to transfer the pleasure of winning onto the entire team....even a walk-on back-up kicker named.....Brad Smith.

Brad Smith did not make the traveling squad and was let home to straighten up the locker room. But I've heard rumor$ that some people attending USC have other resources beyond scholarship funding....so perhaps young Brad is one of those people. It would be a really cool story if he used money he made while working at the campus bookstore.

What he did with his money was......get on red-eye and fly to Lincoln and join his teammates for the game. He wasn't able to dress in a uniform but he stood on the sidelines during the game and I would imagine when all is said and done....that $1000.00 will be one of his best investments. It turns out he's a graduate student. I didn't know graduate students were eligible....maybe he's writing his thesis on being a USC football player.

I'm pretty sure there are quite a few of us....who would enjoy reading that thesis....but remember that's just a guess. He's probably a business major working on his Master's Degree in Finance and that $1000.00 was just chump change.

After all, this is USC and $ucce$$ is the name of the game.

Now let's talk about UCLA.

NOT

I can't rub it in during a period of time when the last USC/UCLA game resulted in a UCLA victory....and that period of time won't end until December 1st.

I wished UCLA and USC could go into that game...both undefeated.....it really makes for a premiere week of getting ready for the big one. Lots of trash talk from both sides of town...but alas that will not come to pass....which Ben I'm not on a mission Olson, fully understands after that experience yesterday in Utah...

But maybe they will both be 11-1 on that day......and playing for second place in the PAC-10 behind CAL.

Stranger things have happened in the world of Saturday football.

I don't want to even mention the Dodgers because they are on a four game winning streak...and I don't want to jinx them....

opps.

The picture under the USC runner is MATT MURPHY and how happy he looked after catching #756 by Barry Bonds......

How happy does he look today after learning that HIS ball sold for

$752,000.00? .....it was an auction and I can't believe that the guys bidding for it couldn't take the number to

$756,000.00..

What were they thinking?

Michael Timothy McAlevey

The first 9/11

This September, the movie September Dawn will soon be released. While the day the World Trade Centers went down will be fixed in the memory of most people and it may not be entirely coincidental that a movie about religiously inspired violence chose an event that occurred on the same day on the calendar as the attacks on the Twin Towers. September 11th is also important to note that the movie details a historical event that occurred on September 11. The event in question is the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

120 settlers, on their way to California were wiped out by Mormons.

I wonder if Mitt Romney will have to answer questions about that incident on September 11th 1857.

Probably not.

The fact that atrocities have occurred due to religious convictions is not a new fact but sometime somewhere there WILL be a general call to stop the nonsense.

Of course sometime somewhere applies to quite a few aspects of human evolutionary growth.

But hope springs eternal and I have to believe that we will get it together....sometime somewhere.

Sometime somewhere
people will eventually care
about the actions connected to the beliefs they hold
maybe not tomorrow nor the next day
maybe not next week or next year
maybe not in our lifetime
but
sometime somewhere
we will
stop fighting
over
who loves GOD
the
right way.

There's no right way
or wrong way

JUST
LOVE
GOD

AND TO THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THE WORLD

STOP TELLING ME HOW TO DO IT.........

STOP KILLING IN THE NAME OF LOVE

and it's better to stop now
then to wait until....

SOMETIME SOMEWHERE

Michael Timothy McAlevey

7, ate 9, 10 and of course 11

Numbers abound every year at this time......10 and 11 are very scared because 7 ate nine.

9 and 11 have entered the main stream of American thought and whereas it just used to be early September it's now the infamous 9/11.

Our arch enemy Osama Bin Laden issued a video a few days ago and rumor has it that another one is coming tomorrow....or the next day.

That's funny because I just read a novel by David Halberg where his hero Kirk MacGarvey put four bullets in Osama's forehead at his hideaway in Karachi.

Maybe he made the video's before Kirk showed up.

I'm really surprised that Rudy G. hasn't been on Fox News all day helping make us just a bit more paranoid.

And thinking about Islam's prayer ritual.....specifically in relationship to the five times a day dealio.

I am not Muslim and I am not of the Islamic faith and there are days that I've probably done the Michael Timothy prayer dealio.....20 to 30 times.

Of course there are days that I might not do one.

The shortest prayer I know takes one second to say.

GOD I LOVE YOU

And my utilization of that short version arises when I need to center my thoughts and eliminate all the bulls..t.

I use a longer version, which takes about 45 seconds, when I need to completely relax and try to be centered.

It's a version that I created over a six month period when I was 26 years old.

I think it pleases the Creator of the Universe....but then again I won't really know until my molecular structure releases the eternal part of my being. And hopefully that won't be happening for awhile....which points me back to the Islamic dealio.

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT HUMAN PHYSICAL MOLECULAR STRUCTURE IS TOTALLY UNAPPRECIATED BY THE ISLAMIC FAITH....AND SINCE WE BOTH BELIEVE THAT THE STRUCTURE WAS CREATED BY A SUPREME BEING....THEN I THINK MY OUTLOOK, REGARDING WANTING TO POSSESS PHYSICAL MOLECULES FOR AS LONG AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE...IS A MUCH HIGHER FORM OF APPRECIATIVE BEHAVIOR THEN A MUSLIM WHO WANTS TO BLOW HIS MOLECULES TO SMITHEREENS....AS EARLY AS 15 YEARS OF AGE.

SOMETHINGS WRONG WITH THEIR PRAYER SYSTEM

And I have no idea if mine would ever work for anyone else but then again why in GOD"S big beautiful green earth would anyone want to use someone else's prayer.

THE GOAL SHOULD BE TO CREATE YOUR OWN.....I'm pretty sure that something which created a Universe can handle different prayers from different souls......even if each freakin prayer was different from each soul that has ever been on the earth and will ever be on the earth.

CREATED A UNIVERSE!

THINK ABOUT IT!

I believe that your individual prayer will get heard.....but that's just my faith kicking in. And although my faith works on a slightly different wave length than organized religions....it's still just faith.....

Faith is abstract and abstract for a very good reason.

I don't know what that reason is but I believe someday I will know...and I believe that some day you will know....and the longer one can put that moment off the more opportunities one has to play golf.

What seems to be causing a lot of problems in the world are groups of people who claim they know NOW....exactly what is going to happen when the physical molecular structure of a human being stops regenerating cells....and allows the soul to travel at will.

That is a lot of BULLS..T and it's causing a lot of problems.

People wonder how to know GOD

it's not about knowing GOD

it's
simply
about
loving
GOD

and you will soon know
as
much as you can handle

and that is NEO-ILLUMINATION # 12

which of course follows 7, ate, 9, 10 and the infamous 11.

So if something happens bad tomorrow it will be caused by someone who really underestimates GOD's talent.

And underestimating the Creator of the Universe might be the only real sin.

I'll say a prayer for those who limit GOD'S LOVE to a certain group of human beings.

It's rather silly
when you stop and really think about it.

People have created the most amazing stories as they worked on learning to LOVE GOD
and all that had to do was just.....

LOVE GOD

Have a nice September 11th...
....maybe go to the Self-Realization Center on Sunset Blvd (by Gladstone's).....and check out the harmony created when the top five religions are honered on an equal basis.

It truly is one of the hidden gems of Los Angeles and it's the ultimate place to take a date.

Peace

Michael Timothy McAlevey

GRADY BRINGS THE LITTLE STUFF

The knock on Grady Little when he was in Boston focused on an incident involving Perdo Martinez and letting him stay in a game way beyond normal. Since I wasn't really paying attention to Boston during that period of time I actually never investigated whether or not there were repeated questionable moves during the year.

I assume there must have been because he was fired at the end of the season.

I am starting to wonder if Grady Little's pitching decisions.... are his Achilles heal.

First let's state one thing....the Dodgers scoring only two runs in San Francisco with 19 games to play when they have a chance to pick up a game on the leaders...has nothing to do with Grady....it has to do with hitters not being patient or whatever happens to hitters when they don't hit..... there are quite a few small things that lead to bigger problems....and every hitter goes through the checklist while in a slump. I don't know if this can be called a slump....more like..... just not paying attention to the proper details.

But back to Little decisions that create BIG problems....

The Dodgers had a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the 8th inning and that is supposedly Jonathan Broxton's time and then the ninth is Saito's time.....both of whom seem to do much better with no one on base and both seem to have problems when brought in during an inning with runners on base.

I'M NOT ALBERT EINSTEIN....and I know this stuff.
GRADY LITTLE HAS MULTIPLE COACHES TO DISCUSS THESE MATTERS WITH....

So the end result of all this is.....Broxton gives up a three run homer and the Dodgers lose a series to the last place team in their division....their hated arch rivals....the San Fransisco Giants.

Maybe Grady Little doesn't know about the history of these two teams and how each goes out of their way to spoil the other's party even when their own party is way gone down the highway.

But one thing Grady does know....and that's how to f..k up a pitching staff by altering the normal pattern of behavior......and how to totally frustrate fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It doesn't look good with three weeks left in the season....because that's three more weeks of watching Little decisions that make me goofy....and it doesn't take a lot to make me goofy...and in fact I have some friends that think it doesn't take anything to make me goofy....that I'm already there without any outside influence.

How's this for a goofy idea.....

The more I watch Grady and his expressionless mannerisms, combined with his strange pitching decisions....... the more I think that Bobby Valentine should get THE CALL to come home from Japan....always remembering that he was originally a Dodger and one of Tommy's boys from the Spokane days.

Tommy Lasorda can make this happen, especially if Grady's pitching decisions start frustrating our hefty lefty VP.

I want some fire and I want some consistent decisions....and I especially want things to be done the way they seem to work....not a entire new direction at the end of the season.....when the games really matter.....and each decision becomes a huge moment.

Weird Season for Dodger fans......but then again there is a history of weirdness involved in being a Dodger fan. It's not as weird as being a Cubbie fan but that's another entire dimension of weirdness.

And then I just saw that Arizona scored 4 runs in the 7th against St. Louis and that means the Dodgers will be 5 1/2 out.....

NOT GOOD....unless you live in Sedona.


Michael Timothy McAlevey

BEEcause they sequenced the genomes...

LATEST UPDATE ON OUR LITTLE HELPERS and how IAPV relates to CCD.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A newly discovered virus may bee killing bees or may bee making some bees vulnerable enough to disappear, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

THE MAGIC WORD IS..... MAY.....

While the virus probably does not alone account for what scientists call colony collapse disorder, or CCD, it could help explain what is happening to bees across the United States, they said.

The virus, called Israeli acute paralysis virus, or IAPV, was discovered in Israel in 2004 and is new to science.

I'm not going to point fingers but germ created warfare seems to be a by-product of most civilized countries and if Israeli has NUKE capabilities then I'm pretty sure that creating a virus to send off to the Date Trees of Iraq, Iran and Syria isn't too far fetched of an idea.

I've learned that a virus can quickly get out of control and the article says IAPV is new to the science community.

CCD hit an estimated 23 percent of all beekeeping operations in the United States during the winter of 2006-7. "These beekeepers lost an average of 45 percent of their operations," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.

Beekeepers do not find bees dead -- they simply find the hives nearly empty, with the queens alone and workers gone.

This has a plight similar to the American worker who jumped into the housing market when home loans were being tossed around like paper airplanes.

Honeybees originally imported from Europe are used to pollinate $14.6 billion worth of fruits, nuts and other U.S. crops annually. Bees also have disappeared from hives in Brazil and across Europe.

I can't believe that BEES didn't exist on every continent where there are plants.

The French or Italians probably say they invented Bees....I've got to check out that statement.....which I will do and report back later......

A team led by Dr. Ian Lipkin, an expert in the spread of infectious diseases at Columbia University in New York, ground up bee samples from across the United States and compared them to non-affected bees from Pennsylvania and Hawaii. They also looked at bees imported from Australia and samples of a bee product called royal jelly from China.

I hope the royal jelly doesn't have too much lead...

They then sequenced the genomes -- the entire collection of DNA -- and looked for genes from bacteria, viruses and parasites. They found five major bacterial groups, four lineages of fungi and seven types of viruses.

"We found a remarkably high viral burden in bee populations -- both those that have CCD and not," biologist Edward Holmes of Pennsylvania State University told reporters in a telephone briefing.
Only one was always associated with CCD -- IAPV.

"Whether it is a causative agent or a very good marker is the next major question that we need to address," said Diana Cox-Foster, an entomology professor at Penn State. A marker might mean that something else that was making the bees disappear also helped them become infected with the virus.
Jeffery Pettis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory in Maryland said IAPV was only one of several leads that must still be followed.

"I hope no one goes away with the idea that we have actually solved the problem," Pettis told the briefing.

"I still believe that multiple factors must be involved in CCD." Perhaps interactions among parasites, viruses and nutrition could be involve, he said.

IAPV can by transmitted by the varroa mite, a parasite known to affect U.S. bees.

That little Motherf..ker....

Lipkin said in a telephone interview the next step is to infect healthy bees with IAPV and see if their colonies then collapse, as seen in CCD.
Cox-Foster said the team was also looking at other possible causes of CCD, although some leads were being pursued more urgently than others.

"We have very little evidence that the radiation from cellphones could impact bees," she said.

Maybe this is why Steve Jobs dropped the price on the i-phone.

She said tests also have shown that genetically modified crops have no ill effects on bees, although chemical pesticides could be adding stress.

Like the Bee community needs more stress than being responsible for a third of our food....talk about a stressful job.
As for why the bees disappear, Cox-Foster said they may deliberately avoid returning to the hive when they begin to feel ill, perhaps to protect their sisters and the queen.

That last comment implies that the worker bees are all chick bees.....

Another thing that needs to be researched and reported later.

The only good thing about this story is that obviously the CCD problem is being addressed on a global scale....

CCD IS NO LONGER A SMALL STORY EVEN THOUGH IT'S STILL IN THE BACK OF THE FRONT SECTION IN TODAY'S LA TIMES....PAGE A20

MAYBE WHEN BLUEBERRIES GET TO $100.00 A BASKET....... THE STORY WILL HIT THE FRONT PAGE.

OF COURSE THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW VIRUS FROM ISRAELI IS PROBABLY NOT FRONT PAGE NEWS....IT HAPPENS EVERYDAY.....

DOESN'T IT?

Imagine sending the UN inspection team into Israeli to find out how this virus was created.

Yeah....sure!

Like the UN inspection team is going to tour the CDC in Atlanta to find out what the hell they are working on.

There is a fine line here and I'm almost crossing it.... so enough is enough....

BEE WELL...hopefully.....

Michael Timothy McAlevey

AND I'M INTERESTED

The most amazing thing about the political debates is that I always seem to read about them the day after they happen.....AND I'M INTERESTED.

I can't imagine how many people are watching the debates if I don't know when they are going to happen.....AND I'M INTERESTED.

Being a liberal leaning Democrat who favors Ralph Nader I also enjoy watching the Republican debates....and have found their debates a little bit more interesting than the Democrats, mainly because of Ron Paul. He really is a small boat in the big ocean but it's fun to hear a Republican go against the grain.

SO once again I wake up and see that on the night Fred Thompson visited the Jay Leno show and announced his intentions, the rest of the Republicans were meeting in New Hampshire.

It's fairly safe to assume that Fred Thompson had a much bigger audience than his buddies in NH.

I wonder if he will just make the rounds of late night TV whenever the future debates are taking place.

If they don't do a better job of promoting the debates then I can safely predict that Fred, on his TV blitz, will arrive at the primaries with a huge lead.

I am really curious on the numbers of viewers that watch debates.

If 50% of the eligible voters participate in a election, then the amount of people watching the debates has to be in the 5% range....or less.

To watch a debate one has to investigate when it will happen...and then mark it on their calender....and then actually be home to watch it......and like I said

I keep missing them AND I'M INTERESTED.

The lack of interest in the election process is obvious....but I predict that the election of 2008 will have the highest voter turnout in history.

HIGHEST PERCENTAGE IN HISTORY

IT'S NOT LIKE THE RECORD IS OUT OF REACH....AND MY NON-RESEARCHED GUESS AT THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE IN PAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS WOULD BE...

56%

WHAT'S YOUR GUESS?

I'LL LOOK IT UP AND REPORT BACK LATER

Imagine if Jay Leno simply decided to make Fred Thompson his sidekick until the end of the primaries. Obviously that would be an equal time problem but I don't see any of the wannabees, other than the big three in each party, appearing on national TV shows, so maybe the equal time doesn't apply to entertainment talk shows.

Like last night....Bill Clinton was on Larry King....and when Bill talks, people listen. And obviously he's talking about his babe.

HOW IN THE WORLD CAN OTHER CANDIDATES COMPETE WITH THAT?

ALL WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON HAS TO DO IS GO ON ALL THE SHOWS
EVERY WEEK
AND
HILLARY
WILL
KICK
ASS

I'm trying to figure out how to get Bill to promote LED lights.

And it's not just because he's a Democrat.....HE'S BIGGER THAN THAT
HE'S BIGGER THAN
ANY
POLITICAL PARTY

AND LOOKING BACK AT HIS TIME IN OFFICE.....

THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS HIM FROM BEING REGARDED AS A GREAT
PRESIDENT....WAS A SLIGHTLY OVER WEIGHT INTERN.

THOSE INTERNS CAN CAUSE HAVOC
ESPECIALLY IF THEY AREN'T BEING PAID.

BUT NO CANDIDATE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS ANYTHING CLOSE TO THE ASSET OF
BILL CLINTON

IT'S A SLAM DUNK

IMAGINE THE REPUBLICAN DUDES CAMPAIGNING NEXT YEAR AND GEORGE SHOWS UP.....TO OFFER HIS SUPPORT.

GEORGE SENIOR WOULD BE MUCH MORE WELCOMED....and that's mainly because one of his closest friends and allies is.....

BILL CLINTON

I just love listening to the guy talk.....he's like the
American Political Dalia Lama

AND HE'S VOTING FOR

HILLARY CLINTON

WHAT A TRIP THIS NEXT 13 MONTHS WILL BE
ON THE ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE
and
we get to hear
BILL
TALK
AND
TALK
AND
TALK

SO COOL
and
SO NEEDED
AFTER LISTENING TO GW FOR THE LAST SEVEN YEARS

No Republican, and especially no one working as a Republican fund raiser, can possibly be happy about Bill Clinton campaigning......

NO ONE

and that
includes
YOU.

I think I have two Republicans that check out my stuff

but then again I have no idea what Republicans are really doing so I might be exaggerating the numbers

There might only be
one

But if there there is one....I'm sure they know exactly when the debates are being held.
I, on the other hand, keep missing them
AND I'M INTERESTED.

Michael Timothy McAlevey

The other sport

Last weekend had so much sporting news that I completely forgot about the other sport....the sport that actually can affect each and everyone of our lives....for generations and generations....and often times well beyond our lifetime.....

The SPORT of trying to be President of the United States.

Labor day is the official opening for any election scheduled the next year and it looks like 2008 will be a humdinger....a barn burner....a wild ruckus.....and so on and so on and so on....

Fred Thompson is announcing officially tomorrow and John McCain announced officially last week on the Jay Leno show.....

WHOA THERE!
John McCain announced officially last week on the Jay Leno show that he would be running for President of the United States!

Am I missing something here or is this his way of explaining why he is so far behind in the polls?

Hasn't John McCain been involved in every Republican debate so far?
Hasn't John McCain explained why he hasn't raised the kind of money that Rudy and Mitt have?

And all this time I thought it was simply because people didn't appreciate him and it only turns out to be the simple fact..... that HE HADN'T OFFICIALLY DECLARED YET.

OH....hummmm....and oh again.

The old expression that states something about ignoring the writing on the wall might be John McCain's theme song.

Mitt Romney has it going on during this fund raising period and Rudy's just simply crazy if he thinks America will ignore three marriages.

It looks like America might accept Mitt as VP...(sorry Mathew...that's the actual reality) so that would leave Rudy or Fred as the main man and I can't write Rudy off because he has a unique ability to scare the crap out of the American public....and those who that can scare people, aka Richard Nixon, have a strange method of securing votes.

But now let's get over to the winning side.

THE DEMOCRATS WILL WIN THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

WHO WILL BE THE TORCH BEARER?

It really is a toss-up at this point and if odds were laid out in Vegas I think they might look something like this....keep in mind Sept 2007 is the start.

Hillary.....3-1
Barack.....4-1
Edwards...8-1
Biden........12-1
Gore.........15-1 (His odds are so high because he claims he's not running)

Field.....100,000 to 1

Which means that one of the five people listened above will be the next President of the United States....

At this early stage of the race I would put my money on.....

JOHN EDWARDS at 8-1

Good return and he's not a double digit underdog and last week he picked up a few more major Unions....and of course he has the best hair in the race.

Hillary needs to address the Hillary issues and I'm not sure that is going to be possible.

Hillary has Bill and that's a huge plus.....so I'm thinking deadlocked convention and John Edwards rises above the crowd and then names Hillary as his VP.

Prognostication in politics is a lot like prognostication in baseball.

Everything can change on one PITCH

EVERYTHING!

The curve balls in politics are vicious and the knock down pitches are devastating.....and they come from left field in ways that one cannot imagine...

WHAT A SPORT!

Let's crank it up boys.......oh yeah and one girl!

Michael Timothy McAlevey

The real baseball season

I've always said that if a team you are rooting for in Major League Baseball is within 5 games of the lead on September the first ....then you get to participate in the real baseball season.

The real baseball season starts on September the first and ends with the World Series.

Of course many of us, whose teams are in the real baseball season, will be disappointed....but that's baseball. Only one team can be World Champion.

Many of the teams that don't have a chance to advance will still have a say in who goes forward and who stops. So in truth even if the team you cheer for is completely removed from the pennant race...the players on those teams get to have a fringe experience in the real baseball season.

The Dodgers have their adversaries right where they want them......complacent and perhaps a slight bit cocky.

The reason for this is that the Dodgers don't seem to be attacking the baseball and in fact they look like they are having a problem seeing the ball....especially anybody that plays third base.

The Dodgers really need Nomar to return and lead them during the real baseball season....just like last year.

But this year I think they can actually win the division and most fans of the team probably don't see it that way but like I said before....they have lulled their opponents into a place that allows them to pounce and strike at the most important time of the year....the real baseball season.

Today they started notifying the National League West that they were serious and shut out the Padres 5-0 in San Diego.

Even though I really starting wondering if Grady Little was just trying to piss the fans off.

His pitching choices were very strange and I'm sure Grady has reasons for everything but this was San Diego....and Broxton and Saito weren't really overworked in the last two days. To bring in Proctor and then Hernandez just really made no sense....but it worked out for the Dodgers and they gained a game on San Diego and Arizona....and here they come.

Watch out National League West......

Hurry back Nomar!

THE REAL BASEBALL SEASON STARTS NOW!

MICHAEL TIMOTHY MC ALEVEY

Kick it and Kick off

Officially the college football season started on Thursday but until USC plays.....IT doesn't really start.

Today it officially starts and USC plays Idaho.

Idaho!

Try to imagine how that played out when USC asked them to play a few years ago. I'm pretty sure Idaho didn't call Pete Carroll and if they did then someone in Idaho is smoking pot laced potatoes.

The strange part of the game centers on the point spread. USC is a solid 46 point favorite and the over under is 59. I just can't decide which way to go on this wager.

Oh, yeah I forgot....I don't wager on sporting events....but if I did I think I would take Idaho and the 46 points and the UNDER.

To many things can go wrong with the first game of the season.

One of the strange things about this season is that Notre Dame has a freshman quarterback that has never lost a game. Jimmy Clausen was undefeated in High School. But that's not the strange dealio...the strange fact is that Notre Dame ......
is not ranked in the top 25

I don't remember ND not be ranked in the top 25 but then again it's not my team. The coach Charlie Weis is not revealing who the QB will be until game time.

Of course my focus on ND will increase quite a bit later in the season when the Trojans travel to South Bend.

But tonight Idaho travels to the Coliseum and I simply hope that nobody gets hurt on either team.

I'm amazed that someone in College, and or the Pros, doesn't have a career ending injury on every play.

Football has much better protective padding today but the players are becoming strangely large at every position....especially the defensive positions.

I watch football and just marvel at how few injuries there are.

If I played for Idaho I might start feeling a bit queasy today and maybe by tonight I would be lucky enough to come down with smallpox.

Good luck potato boys.....and I hope that no one has lost anything in the fire that seems to be destroying all the forests around Sun Valley.

From smoke into the fire......it's going to be a tough night for someone.

A new college rule puts the kick off at the 30 instead of the 35....which should add to longer run backs and more injuries.

SO here's to a season of kicking it and kicking off from a new place on the field.

Today ends summer and the next thing you know it will be Christmas morning....oh my God, I haven't done any shopping....maybe I should run out to Wal-Mart and get a few toys from China.

I've been feeling a little low in the lead area lately.

Go Trojans!

Michael Timothy McAlevey