News Jog 8/28/07

Monday's late-morning/early-afternoon volley of televised press conferences was enough to leave an ardent tennis fan with a dizzy head. First Alberto Gonzalez took to the mike to announce he was resigning the post of US Attorney General. Then Michael Vick apologized to the world for being Michael Vick and promised to work on becoming somebody different. Before enough time had elapsed to properly digest that info- President Bush de-boarded a helicopter to take a few minutes to explain that he was accepting Gonzalez's resignation with a heavy heart- then turned, boarded Air Force One and flew away. But before he could clear D.C. airspace Falcons owner Arthur Blank appeared before the press corp to say that he accepted Michael's apology with a heavy heart. But not too heavy. He still wants his money back.

Let the Gonzalez punditry begin! At least it'll put an end to all the Karl Rove psycho-babble. Like the Rove tripe most of the stuff written and televised about Gonzalez will miss the mark as reporters and media organizations of differing ideological stripes bend the analysis to fit their narrative. To some he is a fascist who consolidated power in an attempted coup de tat of civil liberties. To others he was a loyal and effective soldier in the War on Terror. To the Jog he was a bright guy who was effective on protecting the administration's right to effectively hunt down, imprison, and kill the terrorists that threaten the nation- but he also turned out to be piss-poor at explaining why he was right even when he was right. The fact that the legal firing of nine of his subordinates was allowed to blossom into a full-blown scandal was proof enough that he wasn't fully up to the job. Good man. Good riddance.

The Jog maintains that Bush's presidency will fare better in history than his current popularity would indicate. This article tackles the idea and comes to the conclusion that the Jog is dreaming. That's fine. The only problem is that we challenge anyone to find a definitive reason given in the article, other than the opinions of experts no one has ever heard of, as to why it won't happen. Truman was hated when he left office and is now considered one of the greats. It happens that way sometimes. It will take many years before Bush gets credit for thwarting every terror plot planned for US soil since 9/11. We don't care about that right now- but in 25 or 50 years when the classified material that he's seeing right now goes public- the Jog is betting his presidency will be seen in a different light.

One thing he's not doing is keeping heroin off the street: Afghani Opium Harvest Jumps to New High!

According to the government of South Korea the Taliban have agreed to free all 19 of their hostages. Aren't they sweethearts? They only brutally murdered two of the original 23 abducted- but who's counting? Let's not step on good news.

Here's a doozy: US Senator Pleads Guilty After Toilet Arrest
In the Jog's opinion it isn't a good idea for closeted gay white men to become career politicians who win office on a platform of 'family values'. You can be gay and you can be Republican- but you're not going to make it to the end of the road as a gay Republican who preaches against the gay lifestyle... because sooner or later the real you will emerge- it's inevitable! In the words of the great John Prine: 'Bewildered, Bewildered/You have no complaint/You are what your are and you ain't what you ain't.' The problem for Mitt Romney is that this particular Senator was a big-wig in his 'family values' presidential campaign. The Romney people quickly took down a video of the now scandalized Senator praising Romney from their campaign You Tube site. But You Tube tells a larger story. Apparently this guy was nearly implicated in a male page scandal back in the early 80's when he was serving in the House of Representatives. In this ABC report from 1982 a much younger Craig comically comes forward to say he isn't gay even though no one actually asked. And his colleagues obviously knew for awhile because in this Bill Maher clip from last year his name comes up in a discussion of possible closeted Republicans. Apparently the Jog was the last to know- and the Jog harbors no ill-will toward the gay community. But the Jog has a question. Why would anyone, no matter their sexual preference, want to have sex in a room that smells like poo?

Yes- the Jog loves You Tube. But you still gotta be careful: Cybercrooks Prey on You Tube Fans

You Tube is in trouble in Germany over some neo-Nazi videos available on the site. Germany is still 'officially' anti-Nazi. At least when they're sober.

If you live in America and you like the bit torrent- download all you can while you can: TorrentSpy Shuts Out U.S. Users

Owen Wilson is pleading for privacy after his apparent suicide attempt. Hey- the Jog'll give him some space. We're cool like that.

Hulk Hogan has an idiot kid who done an idiot thing.

After all the hype- finally some results: Human Embryonic Stem Cells Can Improve Heart Function in Rats

We're gonna need that kind of groundbreaking medicine soon: Americans Fatter Than Ever!

A video game so bloody that it was banned is making a comeback.

Excited about hacking your iPhone? Think again.

CBS' reality show 'Kid Nation' is still getting a lot of criticism. C'mon- all they did was send a bunch of children to a ghost town to set up a real life Lord of the Flies style government. Stop babying these little wimps. If they're made of the right stuff they'll get along alright. If not, they die. It's time to grow up!

Things don't look good for famed music producer/killer Phil Spector. His lead attorney just quit and it's only days before closing arguments in his murder trial. Not good.

The Jog could only find one famous person defending illegal dogfighting- and that man is Mr. Jamie Foxx. We assume his PR person was on holiday.

And finally:
The latest dispatch from Britney's last days on earth.