As support for his outrageous claims, Beck cites that the weakness of the Dollar is reminiscent of the collapse of the Mark, which ultimately ushered Germany into the Great Depression. While it is true that the Dollar is at its weakest in generations, I ask you who was the party of power during its collapse? And does Beck not comprehend the perfect storm of circumstance that allowed the Nazi party to assume power? The hyperinflation of the Mark ceased in 1923, yet the Nazi party did not assume power over the country for another ten years. The collapse of the Mark was not the sole reason behind the Nazi’s rise to power.

Once under Nazi control, personal freedoms were restricted as an effort to consolidate power. This power eventually lead to the re-militarization of Germany and increased aggression towards its enemies. If anything, Beck’s political affiliation reminds me more of the Nazi party. This country survived eight years with an administration that restricted personal freedoms via the Patriot Act, spied on its own citizens via wiretapping, fabricated a fictitious war while labeling any dissenters as unpatriotic, engaged in the illegal torturing of its prisoners, and outed its own intelligence personnel for political gain. If anything, I feel safer as an American under this current administration. Glenn Beck needs to look in the mirror and at the political party he shills for on Fox News before accusing Barrack Obama of being the next Adolf Hitler. However, if this country does follow the path to Nazism, I sure hope that Glenn Beck happens to be the first one in that chamber, so when the Zyklon B gas comes through the shower heads, he will know that he was finally right about something.

And to think… he has the right to claim that we are becoming another Nazi Germany, all in the effort of preventing the forty nine million people without health insurance from being covered… ain’t this country great…

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“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

When the Supreme Court heard the case of Ellis v. City of Grand Rapids, the court cited the phrase “promote the general welfare” as evidence that “the health of the people was in the minds of our forefathers.” It is in the vein, the issue of health care in America needs to be address. Many Americans are without medical coverage and as a nation, we owe it to those without coverage, to provide a solution. The current bickering in Washington and town hall meetings across the country need to stop and intelligent debated needs to follow. Conservatives need to quit the filibustering and reach a compromise.

However, we should not stop there because we Americans are flawed as well. We need to look at ourselves to improve the health care system in this country. When compared to the rest of the the world, Americans live unhealthy life styles, which only drives up medical cost. If we all vowed to live healthier life styles, then health care may not be as big of a problem. We are a society that wants to have our cake and eat it too… Rather then look exclusively to Washington for a solution, as we do way too often, it might be time to look at ourselves and just put down the cake.

The first problem I have with the store are the hours they are open. “8am – 12pm”. I am going to surmise that she meant 12am. Call it a hunch… but when I see her sitting at her desk, late at night, I wonder if she knows that the sign on the outside of the store says that she closed at noon.

Right under the sign for the hours, reads another sign in big, bold letters: CLAIRVOYANT. Now maybe I am assuming too much, but if she is able to see the future, why is there a sign next to the doorbell that says “ring doorbell for psychic”? Shouldn’t she be able to sense that someone wants their palm read? If I were to go to a psychic, I fully expect the person to look at me while I enter their store and say “Welcome… I was expecting you.” Is that too much to ask?

• A character named Boner.
• Launched Leonardo DiCaprio’s career.
• Kirk Cameron was once a teenage heartthrob, now a born-again Christian, discuss.
• The butt of all of How I Met Your Mother’s interweb jokes… Alan Thicke.
• The Seavers lived in Smithtown, NY, the neighboring town to where I grew up.
• Seems like there is a reunion episode every 5-10 years or so…
• The show featured a spin-off, Just The Ten Of Us.
• A couple of iconic episodes such as when Mike Seaver gets the water bed.
• Everyone and I mean everyone, remembers the theme song.

So while I still contend that Family Ties was the better show, no one really seems to care about how it’s unjust to not allow someone to write a book report about Huckleberry Finn…

“Yeah… AJ has a no-hitter… but come on… Cliff Lee had seven no-walkers”

“He should speak out that this is a corrupt, flawed sham of an election, and that the Iranian people have been deprived of their rights. We support them in their struggle against a repressive, oppressive regime and they should not be subjected to four more years of Ahmadinejad and the radical Muslim clerics.”

While I believe most Americans would agree with the sentiment of McCain’s words, having the administration take sides in this developing conflict, would be disastrous at this stage. America is viewed as the Great Satan by many of the Iranian people and not without just cause. In the past, our government has meddled in the affairs of the Iranian people many times. Our actions helped organize a coup of a truly democratically elected official, install a Shah (Iranian Monarchy) that many felt was corrupt, and supply Iraq with chemical warfare to aid in their eight-year war with Iran. We are hated. If we were to come out and openly support those currently protesting, we would be giving the ruling Mullahs the ability to change the debate. No longer it would the debate center around the democratic ideals of freedom of speech and of the media… rather it would become a debate between the Iranian nationals and the American-supported rebels. Considering our standing in that region of the world, the latter is not a winnable debate.

Back in 2002, there was an attempted coup in Venezuela to overthrow Hugo Chavez. While initially successful, American involvement allowed Chavez to scapegoat the United States, consolidate his power, and resume control of the country. Since then, the freedoms of the Venezuelan citizens have diminished. Seven years later, we are learning from history. Our president understands that the United States needs to remain supportive of democratic ideals, but ensure that our involvement does not compromise the message of those democratic movements we support. It’s a fine line, but President Obama is walking it correctly.

Please tell me you’re following the current officiating debacle. The two most-watched regular-season games (both Celtics-Lakers games) were ruined by officials. Game 7 of a classic Boston-Chicago series was ruined by officials. The Mavs’ season was ruined by officials. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to flagrant fouls and how they are called, just that the ongoing indecision has compromised the quality of the games. Bill Kennedy had such a heated incident with Doc Rivers in March that both were fined; somehow, Kennedy worked two Boston playoff games (both must-wins on the road). Dallas went 1-14 in its past 15 playoffs games that Danny Crawford officiated; somehow he worked one of their 2009 playoff games (inevitably, a loss for Dallas). Joey Crawford got suspended two years ago for baiting Tim Duncan, then blew last season’s season-ending Spurs call … and somehow, he worked a must-win San Antonio playoff game in 2009. And the number of competent refs is so bad that Violet Palmer worked a Round 2 game last week. For a league that vowed to clean things up post-Donaghy, why haven’t we seen any real results yet?

And how can you explain a system that relies on officials in their 50s and 60s — well past their physical peak, with undeniable deterioration (however slight) in motor reactions and eyesight — to successfully perform in a profession that hinges solely on motor reactions and eyesight? Shouldn’t this job be performed by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s? You’re telling me Dick Bavetta (69), Bennett Salvatore (59) or Joey Crawford (57) can run around for 150 minutes, then remain at peak physical capacity to make a game-changing call on a split-second reaction? My father is two years older than Salvatore and we won’t let him push a baby stroller for three blocks. I don’t get it. How would you revamp this moronic system? A little birdie told me the NBA’s crew chiefs (the lead official for each game) consist of referees who were hired at least 10 years ago. In other words, the league hasn’t hired an official competent enough to run a game in more than a decade. How is this possible?

I remember a playoff game between the Knicks and Heat, where the Knicks were down thirty points going into halftime. My friend, with whom I was watching the game, wanted to turn the debacle off. Instead, I was able to convince him to continue watching the game by uttering the popular sentiment, “The game is on NBC… the refs will make it close with two minutes left.” The Knicks went on to win the game.
Two years ago, all my joking about the refs manipulating games became reality when referee Tim Donaghy was caught manipulating the outcome of games. As sports writer, J.A. Adande stated, the reaction wasn’t that of shock and disbelief. Instead, everyone was curious to which ref got caught. Prior to Donaghy getting caught, Bill Simmons described game three of the Suns-Spurs series as one of the worst officiating games he has ever seen. Who was the referee that game? None other than Time Donaghy. Did he fix that game as well? No one will ever know for sure, however when the fan base and must question the integrity of the sport, especially during the playoffs, you have serious problems.

This scandal should have been the dawning of a new era in the sport, one of transparency. While David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, claimed changes would be made, the scandal was largely swept under the rug. The problems have not gone away.

Last season, referee Joey Crawford was suspended by the league after issuing two technical fouls (the second foul resulting in an ejection) on Spurs’ star, Tim Duncan. After being ejected for laughing at Crawford for calling a foul on another player, while on the bench, Crawford allegedly challenged Duncan to a fight. Clearly the NBA felt that Crawford was wrong and took action. However, this season, guess who was officiating the Spurs first round series in the playoffs? Yes, no other than Joey Crawford. Why would you consciously select a referee to officiate a game when the referee and star player clearly share bad blood?

Earlier this week, the Denver Nuggets star, Carmelo Anthony hit a last second three pointer to beat the Dallas Mavericks. The only problem… the Mavericks were purposely trying to foul Anthony prior to the shot and the referee did not blow his whistle. Following the game, the NBA apologized for the blown call; a blown call that cost the Mavericks a game during a seven game playoff series.

How can anyone enjoy a sport in which the league acknowledges the fact that the referee’s exert a huge amount of influence over the results of the game, yet does nothing to insure the integrity of the game? I have been fans of teams that have benefited and been hurt by bad calls… and I understand mistakes is apart of human nature, however when the referees become part of the problem, while on the biggest stage of the sport, I have a problem. I cannot watch the NBA anymore because I cannot trust what I am watching. The sport is a joke to me now… And to think, I was once a die hard fan.

As Americans we pride ourselves as a country that promotes freedom. Part of the Bush Doctrine promotes the spreading of freedom and democracy in countries who do not currently share those beliefs. How can we be taken seriously when our actions contradict our words? Shepherd Smith of Fox News recently said it best, “We are America! We do not fucking torture!” We cannot have it both ways.

This country has an image problem abroad. We need to realize that as one of the most influential countries in the world, our actions are scrutinized and used as propaganda against us. We need to live by the example, otherwise we are no different than those who we deem the enemy.

For scheduling purposes, Major League Baseball decided to stage the WBC during Spring Training, whilst the players are working on improving their conditioning for the upcoming season. During each round of the tournament, pitchers are held to strict pitch counts and positional players rarely get to see a full game of action in order to prevent injury. In a tournament that should represent the best the world has to offer, instead is featuring players who are no where near the peak of their game and will not be for months. When the National Hockey League agreed to allow their players to participate in the Olympics, the league takes a two week respite in the middle of the season. We are ensured that the players are at the top of their game, as they have already been playing hockey for a few months. As fans, we know we are seeing hockey at its best… That is not the case with baseball.

A second problem with Baseball’s decision to hold the WBC during Spring Training is mindset of the fan. All baseball fans love the phrase “X amount of days until pitchers and catchers report” but in reality, most fans dread Spring Training games. The idea that their sport is returning is what fuels the excitement, not the games itself. When you take this mentality and add upon it one of the more exciting tournaments in sports, March Madness, you are left with fans who are more engrossed with their brackets then to concern themselves with the WBC. Last weekend, CBS featured forty eight basketball games within the span of four days… who knew that ESPN airing games from the WBC?

Finally, no one understands the format to the tournament. In the first round, the United States was paired with teams from Canada, Italy and Venezuela. One would expect a round robin format, such as in the World Cup, where the top two teams advance from the pool. Instead, the United States played Venezuela twice and never played Italy. When I asked other die-hard baseball fans for an explanation, no one understood how the tournament was scheduled.

If you want the World Baseball Classic to succeed, the fans need to be convinced that they are seeing baseball at its best and displayed in a way that is most engaging. The WBC fails at achieving these goals… maybe in another four years they will figure it out…