US Takes CONCACAF Crown

Wanna lose your mind? Count the missed opportunities for the US in this video.

And with Davies out due to injuries from a car accident and Onyewu being hauled off the pitch on a stretcher during this match, the team's immediate prospects are not exactly golden. But we've got time.

And for now, kudos to them for tenacity and for taking the title with a last-minutes draw with Costa Rica. Next up: 11/18 v. Denmark

Flying Lotus + Burial

There's no video in this You Tube video clip, but there's something better. This is a collaborative track from Flying Lotus and Burial, two of my favorite downbeat electro geniuses. It's dark, it's full of clacking beats and swirling sounds, and it showcases the strengths of both these dudes pretty well.

Apparently there are no plans for this to see the light of day any way besides this, so enjoy.

McChrystal and Afghanistan

Dexter Filkins' article, in NY Times Magazine, is a thorough and engaging piece on where we stand in the war in Afghanistan and where, under General McChrystal, we need to go.

I don't know as much as I should about this conflict, but this article does a good job of educating about the status of our effort, the enormity of the challenge ahead, and the failings of our involvement there to date.

The main point here is that the US is at a crucial junction in this war, and the importance of the decision being weighed with due diligence by Obama and his advisers--whether to send in about 40,000 more troops and step up the effort, or to scale back our troops there and focus more on training Afghans to take on the Taliban themselves--can't be overstated.

If we consider the fate of the Afghan people, both those who have crossed over to help us and those who have not, scaling back doesn't seem possible, but for other reasons it's a very attractive option.

Read this piece. This war deserves more of the public's attention.

Pavement ist Rad

I'm watching Slow Century tonight. It's only up for a few more days, I think, so check it out. Good prep for next year's tour. Anyone wanna rent a motorhome and go full on Pavementhead for a few months?

Just Like Heaven

Got this from Paste. Awesome of the day, indeed.

Finn Riggins

They held their CD Release In-store at the Record Exchange last week, and the new tunes they trotted out for this show were pretty great. As is the new record, Vs. Wilderness, which you should buy.

Check out this vid from the in-store.

Green Chile

Green Chile, on State St., has been a number of things in the past few years, most notably a pretty decent taco joint whose name escapes me at the moment.

But now it's a New Mexico-style taco joint, and it's a pretty dang good one. Tex Mex is more my specialty than the variety that comes from New Mexico, but I'm a fan of anything with chiles, and these folks, though they're a bit dainty with the heat, know what they're doing.

After an arduous trip to the Laundry-Mutt on Saturday, Cathy and I stopped in. I had a beef torta that was good though unlike any other torta I've had--chunks of beef stewed and served on ciabatta in gravy with mayo, lettuce, jalapenos, and tomato. Served with fries. Tasty and cheap, if a bit weird.

Cathy got a bowl of green chile, which was really good. And we shared a bowl of posole, also really delicious, more the clear greenish broth (which I prefer) than the oily red.

Best Run Ever

Sunday morning felt a bit too chilly for a mountain bike ride, so I decided on a run. And considering that lately the dogs aren't too interested in keeping up with me on trail runs, I went solo. And boy am I glad I did.

I took off from the Five Mile Gulch trailhead, ran up 5-Mile, across the Watchman's Trail, down 3 Bears to Rocky Canyon Road, and back up to the trailhead.

The legs felt great, the pace stayed up, and the trail was in perfect condition. I had it all to myself, just about, on this gorgeous fall day. Great trail, amazing run.

Colbert On Beck

Bend It Like Beck

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Happy Friday

Yo Barack, I'm really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but Wangari Maathai was one of the best Nobel Peace Prize winners of all time.

OF ALL TIME!!!

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

We all woke to this absolutely surprising, ultimately inspiring news this morning. Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Diplomacy. The reactions are understandably loud and varied, with many calling on him to refuse it, and many calling that a terrible idea.

Predictably, perhaps, I fall into the latter camp. It seems to me that refusing this award would be not only an insult to a venerable international institution, but would also miss the point.

He should accept the award as the American President, on behalf of the American People, for the change that we all have promised to pursue and will eventually bring about. The award is symbolic (and yes political), and so should his acceptance be.

In other words, work it. Take full advantage of the attention and added prestige it brings to further his agenda of international diplomacy.

I happen to think that the change Obama's brought about in the national psyche and the international dialog warrant this award. Here's the full citation:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the United States is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

This is a wonderful thing. Congrats, President Obama.

Read This Op-Ed

Kristof nails it today on Congress' refusal to provide health care reform. Read this piece. It's very important.

Health care has often been debated as a technical or economic issue. That has been a mistake, I believe. At root, universal health care is not an economic or technical question but a moral one.

We accept that life is unfair, that some people will live in cramped apartments and others in sprawling mansions. But our existing insurance system is not simply inequitable but also lethal: a very recent, peer-reviewed article in the American Journal of Public Health finds that nearly 45,000 uninsured people die annually as a consequence of not having insurance. That’s one needless death every 12 minutes.

When nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, we began wars and were willing to devote more than $1 trillion in additional expenses. Yet about the same number of Americans die from our failed insurance system every three weeks.

Endless Summer

I'm sorry, I can't help myself. Rode to work in the frosty dark this morning. I'm just not ready.

Dead Hearts

Dead Man's Bones is the musical project of Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields. This is a video for their song Dead Hearts, a surprisingly affecting piece about a wishbone pulling a giant machine through a dreamlike landscape. It really is beautiful.

From PFork TV.

Because They Are Lily-Livered

www.gallup.com

Die Quickly

Here's what all the echo-chamber fuss is about.

Politics of Spite

Krugman has it right in today's column.

Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, according to a blog post by a member of the magazine’s staff, with the headline “Obama loses! Obama loses!” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “gleeful.” “World Rejects Obama,” gloated the Drudge Report. And so on.

Where's all the talk of patriotism? America first? Or is that only when there's a white Republican in the White House?

Happy Friday

Wilford Brimley kicks it for the diabeetus. Awesome.

(Thanks to AS)

Sometimes, Brooks

Once in a while David Brooks finds the exact right words. I'm in complete agreement with him in today's NY Times column. His lesson goes:

So what is the theme of our history lesson? It is a story of remarkable volume and utter weakness. It is the story of media mavens who claim to represent a hidden majority but who in fact represent a mere niche — even in the Republican Party. It is a story as old as “The Wizard of Oz,” of grand illusions and small men behind the curtain.

Radio blowhards like Limbaugh &c make lots of noise, and get lots of attention. Teabaggers and Town Hallers do likewise, outrageously. But the evidence doesn't bear out their supposed influence. Really, they're loud and obnoxious so they make good TV, but they are definitely the minority. A small, crazy minority.

But still, the echo chamber is a scary thing, and it makes the frail nervous (see: Baucus, Conrad, etc). It's just a shame these people don't understand that it's not the will of the people being shouted at them, it's just the will of the noisy few.

Jon Stewart's Take on SuperLame SuperMajority

Democratic Super Majority

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This is so dead-on that there's really nothing more to say.