“those are not spirit fingers. these are spirit fingers.”

good news, citizens! turns out team america really does exist, and they’re the ones responsible for digging saddam out of his spider-hole, among other things. but don’t fret, they’re only here to make sure the bad guys don’t come to your house. all that other stuff about being outside the bounds of congress just aren’t true, because that’s what they told us, and would they ever lie? of course not.

so where is all the funding coming from? well, there’s a reason why bush is asking for $80 billion.

other than last year’s game – and the year before that – I can’t think of a super bowl I couldn’t care less about. then again, the last good super bowl I can think of (last year doesn’t count, only the 4th quarter was anywhere near decent), was the rams/titans 1-foot near-miss… and that was 5 years ago.

the worst part is, whenever new england is involved (playoffs or otherwise), the game moves like john madden coated with molasses. the patriots play an annoying defensive game not unlike the buckeyes: defense is the focus, special teams solid, and offense nearly nonexistent. sure, new england is good at shutting teams down when they have to, and the analysts always rave about them, but watching them slowly grind the game away is exhausting, and nowhere near entertaining.

add to that the fact that bill belichick is coaching the patriots, and you know I’ll be rooting for the eagles.

that’s if I’m even watching.

with a winter storm supposedly on its way here, I have no doubt that the supermarkets are chock-full of people buying bread and canned food in a battle for survival. but hey, it could be much worse. the residents of raleigh, nc apparently trusted their meteorologists so much that when a predicted ‘light dusting’ turned into ONE FULL INCH of snow (gasp!), all hell broke loose.

since this catastrophic event took place, there’s been a lot of finger-pointing and whining. I’d say most of the blame rests on the shoulders of the city management. why? well, meteorologists can only do so much. I took a few meteorology classes when I was at penn state – supposedly one of the better meteorology schools – and other than a shitload of isoplething, there was one thing that stood out: weather forecasts – even with modern computer simulations – simply can’t be 100% accurate. knowing this, you’d think that the city would’ve been better prepared, since this has happened before.

“A forecast that had given a better indication of the likely problem would have been very helpful,” Mayor Charles Meeker said.

Residents particularly those who have lived in other parts of the country couldn’t believe the city was brought to its knees by just an inch of snow.

“I just don’t think they’re equipped to handle it,” said Lori Jamieson, who’s from Pennsylvania.

that’s not to say the weathermen are innocent in all of this. but at least some of them owned up to it. and as anyone who’s seen curb your enthusiasm knows, sometimes they do it just to get a better tee-time.

is the $40 million being spent on hillary duff? (I would’ve booked lindsay lohan instead. now that’s a girl who knows how to party).

many people seem to be questioning the cost and extravagance of this event. sure, it may be an important event in the eyes of his supporters, but $40 million?

from newsday’s scott maxwell at the inauguration:

But, sensing that some people may believe the spending is excessive — especially with America at war — the inaugural committee has made supporting our troops the primary theme. That way, if anyone criticizes the spending or partying, the organizers can reply: “Well, you’re not opposed to honoring our troops in fine fashion, are you?”

Still, I heard a woman on the Metro yesterday say that a better way to support the troops would’ve been to spend that $40 million fortifying the tanks, trucks and equipment that many soldiers say are inadequate.

it’s not that kerry wouldn’t have done something similar to kick off his term. who knows what the costs would have been. but this is actually happening, and the amount of money being spent on a single event (and all this for a second term, not exactly a brand new experience) is staggering. wouldn’t it make more sense if the donors had given this money to the tsunami relief effort instead? sure, maybe they’ve already donated, but $40 million is nearly 2/3 of what spain, china, and south korea each gave.