Buffalo Boy's Blog
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Why Stever Bernier?
If I have one question for Darcy about yesterdays trades is this...Why did you have to give up Steve Bernier? Is Max really that worthless? We could have used Bernier's toughness and goal scoring touch on the front line. He's young and has a lot of room to grow still.
So, is giving up Steve Bernier, two second round picks and a third rounder too much for Rivet? You could have given up a lot less for a 35 year old defenseman with a lot of mileage under his belt. Im not saying Rivet wasn't worth picking up, but the round about way it took to get him, you could have gotten without giving up the former first rounder in Bernier and two second rounders. Essentially, the assets gotten for the Brian Campbell trade are gone.
I think they could have tried at least to move Max to Vancouver instead of Bernier. Darcy seems to think that Max will return to form....Honestly Im sick of his form, Id rather have Bernier who adds toughness with the scoring touch.
Anything short of a 30-40 goal seaon from Max this year will be disappointing with all the talk Darcy has been doing in the paper and through interviews about Max and his return to form. Stick him with Roy and Vanek and he better perform.
Stever Bernier to me was never given half a chance, the day he came to Buffalo he played with Roy and Vanek and had a goal and two assists with some big hits, the rest of the season he was on the third or fourth line, how is a guy supposed to produce playing with Adam Mair? No knock against Mair but he can't score and nobody playing with him can either.
So, we can compare Max and Bernier this coming season because Vancouver is planning on using him as a top six forward, I am predicting a breakout year for Bernier, 30-40 goals. Go ahead, laugh it up, he had 16 in 07-08, on the 1st or 2nd line in Vancouver with his speed, size and hands, easy 30, go ahead and make him a sleeper pick in your fantasy drafts, Im staying a mile away from Max.
Craig Rivet Comes To Buffalo
We are familiar in Buffalo with Craig Rivet from his time in Montreal. Last season he was with San Jose. The guy is 35 years old and tough as nails on the blueline. Finally someone who can knocks someones head off in front of the net. He was also an assistant captain with San Jose so Darcy addressed the leadership and defense issues with one move.
This is a little of his toughness courtesy of Youtube:
$400 Million for Rush?
There are star athletes who are getting paid huge sums of money some would consider outrageous, others, because of the sport they play or because of their work ethic and talent would say make exactly what they should. Thats fine, I can deal with sports figures getting what they get.
What I can't get my thoughts around is Rush Limbaugh making the coin he makes and spewing the crap he spews at the listeners on a daily basis. I listen to AM 1520 which is a progessive and primarily democratic talk radio station. Every once in a great while I will turn to hear what Rush is spewing about and its usually sickening that he thinks the way he does and gets away with it. Listen to him for an hour, hell, 15 minutes and you'll here some of the most incredible bullshit uttered on radio. I guess thats part of his secret, he's so one-sided, so out there to the conservative right, that people who hate him will tune in just to hear what is coming out of the jackass next. Thats exactly how Howard Stern got his audience. You hear stories and eventually the stories get you to tune in for 15 minutes and then all of a sudden, you're hooked, not because you like him, but because you are shocked into listening to someone actually talk this way.No matter what the guy says or how true or untrue it is in relation to the political world, there is one thing that I am thoroughly convinced of. He doesn't deserve that much money. The day he has a democrat point of view to present an argument that he has to defend and someone or something that actually challenges what he says, that is when I will say he is worth something. All his talk show is, is him talking about ultra-conservative issues and his puppets who actually like him calling in and blowing sunshine up his ass.
Keep in mind that the utra-conservative right wing views you are listening to is coming from a $400 million dollar elitist. He has more money in his pocket than you or I will ever dream of. Thats not a conservative talking. He'll say what ever he has to as long as he gets every penny of that $400 million. Rush Limbaugh is so far out of touch with reality and the average American its ridiculous and you can hear it when he talks. He has no clue what the average American is going through.
Ill still tune in every once in a great while, just to see what he is talking about, but believe me, I will never be hooked on him, Ill tune out just in time so that my presence won't increase his ratings. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of having me count to his over-inflated number of listeners.Finally Worth The Trip?
There has been lots of news lately about the Erie Canal Harbor and the "revitalized" Buffalo waterfront. So much so, I feel like its worth a trip down there to see it.
Has anyone been down there yet? How does it look and is it worth the trip? It sounds good, the news is hyping it up like its worth it.
May actually become a good, cheap way to enjoy an afternoon in the city. We will have to reserve a Sunday afternoon for a trip down there to see what all this is about. When I do, Ill bring Youtube footage back with me so the rest of you can see and make up your own minds.
GM And US Automakers Dug Their Own Grave
I got home today and saw this little news piece and honestly, I have been saying this for months now, GM and US automakers have dug their own grave.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Volkswagon, Kia and every other foreign auto maker deserves full marks for staying ahead of the curve and being prepared for this rise in fuel prices. Toyota always has had a fuel efficient line dating back to the Tercel. Meanwhile, GM, Chevy and Ford have still been sitting here promoting trucks, trucks, trucks. The cars in their respective fleet that they say do get good mileage are between 20-30 miles per gallon, meanwhile the foreign makers are already at 30-40 and higher with their hybrid lines. So to see GM looking at possible bankruptcy, oh well. They should have seen this coming since 9/11. Gas prices have been on the rise since then and people have been gradually making the decision to make the switch. The first hurdle was the $2.00/gallon mark. Once it hit that GM and the other US makers should have been all over the gas mileage in their fleets. Instead they kept selling the big gas guzzling monsters. So, go ahead, get comfortable, the US auto industry is on its last legs.Category: News
John McCain Fails to Pay Taxes
Newsweek is about to run a story about John McCain and his failure to pay his taxes on one of his 7 homes. Thats right, 7 homes. His beach front condo in California has not had its taxes paid in 4 years.
How does he get away with it? After 4 years of not paying taxes on any of the average American's homes we'd be in jail on tax evasion. John McCain is running for office of the president. No the question begs, how can we as citizens of this country allow him to run for president with that record? I can see being late one year, but not with his kind of money. The guy and his wife are wealthy beyond any of our imaginations and they haven't bothered to pay taxes on their home for four years!!! Arnold Schwarzennegger endorsed the guy and here he is dissing the Governator's state. He had no intention of paying those taxes. I can see maybe getting behind but he had no intention, none. Now Cindy McCain comes out and says that when you are poor its hard to pay bills, when you are rich its hard to keep track of your bills. Well piss on her. Thats ridiculous. If you own one home or 10 homes, you know what your taxes are on every single solitary property you own. My question is where are the penalities? You or I go four years without paying taxes on our homes and there are penalities added to the bill. Theirs? about $6,000. Its unbelievable. Republicans talk about Obama being elitist, not even close to the balls and elitism John McCain shows with this one. Not even in the same ballpark.Category: News
Cut In Medicaire Payments to Physicians Necessary
A cut to Medicaire payments to physicians is a necessary step at this point. You can blame it on who ever you want but I blame it on the Bush administration.
Most of us, if not all of us will need Medicaire when we turn 65, we won't be in a position to afford our own health insurance when we reitre. So Medicaire is a form of universal (call it socialized if thats what you want to call it, because it is socialized health insurance for the elderly) heathcare for the elderly, that over the last 8 years the Bush administration has taken a step towards privatizing Medicaire by allowing a program called Medicaire Advantage. Medicaire Advantage allows seniors to choose to get their insurance through private insurers, which Medicaire then reimburses those insurers. The argument is that the Medicaire payments to those private insurers (who by the way are FOR PROFIT and profitting off the sick) are too high. I can totally see that being the case because as this president and his administration has always done is look out for the coorporate interests in this country, not for the little guy. So theres a 10% cut in Medicaire rates coming starting July 4th. Which why is that a bad thing. Look, first of all if we weren't in a money sucking wrong war in Iraq we could probably have universal healthcare in this country, second, privatizing of healthcare is the wrong thing to do and we have done that on many levels so far including drug companies which is costing the elderly and sick in this country a ton of money, doctors offices, medical equipment and hospitals have all been privatized in this country. There are very few not-for-profit entities left in the medical field. I don't feel sorry for anyone in the medical community and Im in the field as a physical therapist when this 10% cut goes into effect. Steam line services, be more efficient, do what ever you have to do but healthcare costs are out of control and a big reason is because of the privatization of those products and services. I honestly don't see doctors needing to get in line at the city mission for their next meal because of a 10% rate cut from Medicaire. In order to get universal coverage when the democrats take office there will have to be some cuts in payments, but as we all saw in the documentary SICKO, doctors in Great Britain, who has universal healthcare, were still making a pretty decent living on about $200,000 a year.Category: News | healthcare
Budweiser Can Not Be Sold
The problem with InBev trying to buy Budweiser is that not only should Budweiser always be an American company, but it would be devastating to have to say that America's number one beer is owned by Begium/Brazil.
I don't drink Budweiser or any of the Budweiser product line (Im a Molson/Guiness guy myself) but there is still some tradition that has to remain intact here.
That all said, if InBev buys Budweiser, they would almost certainly have a monopoly on the beer market all over the world. They already have close to 200 brands under their name including: All the Labatt's products, Kokanee, Bass Ale, Lakeport, and St. Pauli Girl just to name the more familiar names on the list.
Budweiser currenty has products besides their own name that includes: Michelob, Busch, Natural, Rolling Rock and O'Douls N/A beer. There is just something really wrong about another company from outside the US calling the shots at an American Institution.
I also remember when Labatt owned the Toronto Blue Jays and life was good, then Interbrew who was later combined with AmBev and InBev bought Labatts and thus the team. I remember that money for the Jays declined from Interbrew after their purchase of Labatts. If you are a St. Louis Cardinals fan, I would be very worried. Life for Jays fans got a little less interesting after that take over of Labatts.
Oil Companies Paying Off US Supreme Court
Obviously the conservative judges on the US Supreme Court can be bought off by big oil. The US Supreme Court decreased the punitive damages that Exxon Mobil needed to pay for the Exxon Valdez Oil spill from $2.5 billion to $500 million.
Alaskans are none to happy about the decision and no one can argue that $2.5 billion is too much. Not when Exxon Mobil is making that 10 times over per quarter. $2.5 billion is a drop in the bucket, Consider it interest on what they should have paid back then to a community and state that is still recovering and obviously bitter about the spill today.
I guess its okay to have a drunk captain driving a oil tanker according to the US Supreme Court of judges who can now be bribed. The damage that that spill did to the Alaskan economy, its wildlife and that community is worth well over $2.5 billion and is yet another example of how little conservatives and the Bush administration care about the well being of the people and the land, air and water that we have a right to be clean and healthy.
Instead they will do anything to save the coorporate interests as long as they get their pockets lined. There is the other reason Obama needs to win the presidency, so he can balance the liberal vs. conservatives on the supreme court. At a time when Exxon Mobil could have been made to step up and do the right thing, they are let off the hook in a time when no one trusts them or the system this country was founded on. Almost 20 years later Alaska is being essentially told that big oil's profits are worth more than their environment and economy that was brought to a stand still by this spill.
Category: News | environment | oil/gas
Charlie Black- McCain's Scum Bag
Here is an example of who John McCain has working in his campaign. He is not just any campaign worker, he is John McCain's senior advisor. He hasn't been fired yet but should be after he said that John McCain would benefit from another terrorist attack on US soil. If anyone in the Obama campaign had said anything remotely close to that they would be hung out to dry. The Republicans will obviously stop at nothing to get back into the White House and now you have to wonder if a terrorist attack on US soil will not only be secretly allowed but encouraged by our own government to test that theory. Personally, Charlie Black couldn't be more wrong. Spoken like a true asshole. His statements are ridiculous and he have been fired long ago for the germs he has dealt with in the past including many former dictators and terrorists he represented as a lobbyist. Another terrorist attack on US soil will do more harm than good for the Republican party and probably would slam the door shut on them period. Who wants another terrorist attack to benefit anything much less a presidential campaign? Another terrorist attack would show not just US citiizens who already have the lowest ever opinion of this president and his party but would show the world that the Bush administrations claims and the republican parties claims of them making the world safer over the last eight years are all a bunch of crap.The Cafferty File on CNN says as much:
This is an ad, it shows some of the scum Charlie Black has lobbied for, he is a true scum bag. Want to know what you are getting when John McCain gets your vote, this scum bag in the White House:
