He is merely making a political statement by re-enacting the Tianemen Square protest, where the student stood in front of a tank. Obviously, there were no tanks available, so the moose had to make do with a 1996 Hyundai Elantra.

ESPN.com - NBA - NBA Depth Charts - I hate the Knicks lineup. Here's ESPN's projected starting five for the coming season.

PG: Stephon Marbury - As I mentioned below, he's more of a SG than a true point. You can't have a point guard with a reputation for being selfish. On most other teams, they'd have a true PG feeding him the ball.

SG: Jamal Crawford - Never mind that the $100 million man, Allan Houston, the shooting guard whose contract keeps the Knicks from ever picking up any real talent, isn't in this spot. You never know what you're going to get from Crawford night in or night out. He's talented, but he's got a lot of Vince Carter in him (and not as much talent).

SF: Tim Thomas - See Jamal Crawford, only taller and crappier.

PF: M. Sweetney - I like Sweetney, but not as a starter. He's 6-8, 270, and there's a whole lot in there that isn't muscle. He's definitely in the running for Chubbiest Guy in the NBA. He makes a good role player because he can come in and rough people up for 15 minutes, then leave before he hyperventilates. I can't see him playing starter-type minutes.

C: Channing Frye - I'll quote the Sports Guy here: "Any time you can waste a top-eight pick on a center who couldn't average eight rebounds a game as a senior, you make that move every time."

I have zero optimism. None.

So the Knicks just traded away boring-but-solid power forward Kurt Thomas, a trade I wouldn't have complained much about if it was for anything besides a shooting guard. So of course, they traded him for Quentin Richardson. Another shooting guard. So, let's review.

Here are the SG's on the Knicks who are being paid starter-class money.

Jamal Crawford
Anfernee Hardaway
Allan Houston (actually, he's making superstar-class money)
Stephon Marbury (oh, you think he's a point guard? He's not a point guard.)
Tim Thomas (listed as a forward, but watch him play sometime. He's an oversized SG who happens to suck)
and now, Quentin Richardson.

Six of the top seven salaries are going to shooting guards. The other guy in there, making around $9 million a season, is Maurice Taylor, a forward who averaged a whopping seven points and four boards last season.

I suppose this means that they're going to send a starting five out there that potentially could consist completely of shooting guards.

I lack words. This is getting really retarded.

CNN.com - Clinton rides on elder Bush's boat - Jun 27, 2005: "Former President Bill Clinton joined his one-time political foe, former President George H.W. Bush, for a boat ride on the Atlantic Ocean after attending a book-signing Monday."

That's not normal.

Son of Wal-Mart founder killed in plane crash - U.S. Business - MSNBC.com: "John Walton, the billionaire son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and a member of the company’s board, died Monday in a plane crash in Wyoming.

Walton, 58, of Jackson, Wyo., was piloting an ultralight that crashed shortly after takeoff from the Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, the company said."

...being rich is NOT the same thing as being a good pilot. [See: JFK Jr.]

News from The Associated Press: "'For a year now I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep,' Corgan wrote in a full-page advertisement published Tuesday in Chicago newspapers.

'But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive The Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams,' he wrote."

Oh, and, um, your career, right? Because you haven't done anything in ten years. I wonder if this means he's out of money.

Brown reportedly to talk to Knicks - NBA - MSNBC.com: "Brown, who is coaching the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, has promised New York Knicks presidient Isiah Thomas that he'll discuss the Knicks' open head coach job..."

Larry Brown is the only human being, player or coach, who could give me any hope that the Knicks will be competitive in the next five years.

A coverup for a cause of Autism? - Scarborough Country - MSNBC.com: "Thimerosal is a preservative that was put in vaccines back in the 1930s. Almost immediately after it was put in, autism cases began to appear. Autism had never been known before. It was unknown to science."

"Today, one in every 166 children has autism. And, plus, one in six have other kinds of learning disorders, other kinds of neurological disorders, speech delay, language disorders, ADD, hyperactivity, that all seem to be connected, that are all connected, the science shows are all connected to autism -- to Thimerosal."

"There are scientists there from the government who are saying -- who are reading the reports and saying, this is undeniable. There's no way we can ever deny this. I am not going to give this to my children, but now let's hide this from the American people. And it's that clear."

Where is the outrage in the media about this right now? It blows my mind that a story about politicians and scientists who work for them knowingly poisoning millions of children (including you and me) isn't at the forefront of our national consciousness.

Brazilians buck rising gas prices with innovative fuel: "Today about 40 percent of all the fuel that Brazilians pump into their vehicles is ethanol, known here as alcohol, compared with about 3 percent in the United States. No other nation is using ethanol on such a vast scale. The change wasn't easy or cheap. But 30 years later, Brazil is reaping the return on its investment in energy security while the United States writes checks for $50-a-barrel foreign oil."

We look like a bunch of chumps.

Improv Everywhere: We Cause Scenes

Maybe you knew about these guys already, but I didn't until yesterday. Just sharing.

Missing boy's parents appeal for search help - U.S. News - MSNBC.com: "The parents of an 11-year-old boy missing in the Utah wilderness pleaded for continued help on Monday, a day after a fruitless search by thousands of volunteers, some on horseback or riding ATVs."

Michael Jackson goes free, and an 11-year-old boy disappears...

I wonder what the food will be like in hell. Spicy, I bet.

Swede justices in hot water over hookers - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com: "Buying sexual favors is illegal in Sweden, although it is legal to sell them."

Look, I don't know whether prostitution should be legal or illegal... but for chrissakes, pick one or the other. At least here, you know if you're caught doing it, either buying or selling, you're in trouble (unless you're in Vegas).

Scarborough and Montel discuss medical marijuana - Scarborough Country - MSNBC.com - Most articulate defense of medical marijuana I've ever read. The fact that it's not legal is a travesty - it's a sham - it's a traveshamockery.

Guest Appearances for "Family Guy" (1999) - Family Guy makes a lot of crazy yet ingenious casting decisions... like having Seth Green play Peter's semi-retarded son Brian (it still makes no sense to me that that's his voice), or having retardedly hot Mila Kunis play the ugly daughter Meg. They also had Candice Bergen play Gloria Ironbox (the bitchy feminist), and then play Murphy Brown (who she actually played in her own show).

Mayor Adam West is far and away my favorite character. I've always wondered where they got the idea for him, since almost everything on the show is inspired by classic TV. Turns out he's based on the real Adam West, who played Batman in the 1960's TV series, and who is generally regarded as kind of nuts.

Doing the voice for Mayor Adam West: The real Adam West.

Who’s a journalist? O’Reilly, Americans say - U.S. News - MSNBC.com: "About 40 percent of Americans say they consider talk show host Bill O’Reilly a journalist — more than would define famed Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward the same way, according to a poll conducted this spring."

Because nothing says I can't change my quote. I'm not sure how I feel about this new one yet. I've gotta ease into it, break down the leather a bit, feel the suede conform to the soles of my aching gams... wait, that doesn't make sense. Garcón!

Police can't nab 155 mph motorcyclist - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com: "A motorcyclist captured on film by German police racing at 155 mph on a road near Berlin has set a new unofficial national record for speeding, Germany's Bild newspaper reported Monday.

"Traveling more than twice the speed limit of 62 miles per hour, the motorcycle rider was caught on film in a police radar trap near Bad Freienwalde outside Berlin but authorities don’t know who the speeder was because motorcycles have no front license plates."

Now everyone in Germany knows that if you go really, really fast on your bike, you won't get caught, and you might just make it onto international news.

AtomFilms - Happy Tree Friends: Eye Candy

This is HORRIBLE.

If Watergate Happened Now - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com - Incredible hypothetical tale. If you've never thought about the detrimental effects a media with an agenda is having on our society, this might blow your mind.

Check this out... I sent an e-mail to Alterman, and he posted it on his blog.

Go here, and scroll down to the "Correspondence Corner" (this is for June 7). (Or just hit CTRL-F and search for Matt Dana)

NFL suspends Vikings' Smith for 2005 - NFL - MSNBC.com:

This quote refers to Onterrio Smith, the NFL running back who was caught with a fake penis that's part of a system called the Whizzinator, which helps you beat drug tests.

"'Our thoughts and prayers are with Onterrio that he can shake some of these problems and be with us next year,' offensive coordinator Steve Loney said."

Come on now.

Justices deal blow to medical marijuana - U.S. News - MSNBC.com: "Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors’ orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don’t protect users from a federal ban on the drug."

Let's review.

1) Some doctors have concluded that their patients are suffering, and the best known treatment for their pain or discomfort is medical marijuana.

2) Doctors prescribe medical marijuana, which like any other drug may have some side effects, but is highly effective at treating some forms of pain and other illnesses.

3) Patients smoke the marijuana, and feel better.

Something about this process angers Republicans (not all of them, but... OK, all of them), but I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation of what that might be.

Apple just dumped IBM. But Apple's web site still talks about their relationship in get-a-room-you-two fashion...

Apple - G5 Processor: "The 64-bit PowerPC G5. Apple and IBM team up to produce the world's most advanced processor. Forged from a long-standing partnership between two companies committed to innovation, the G5 drives the largest performance gain in the history of the PowerPC."

CNN.com - Laugh off the extra pounds - Jun 4, 2005:

Fresh from the Useless Science that Hopefully Didn't Cost Any Taxpayer Dollars department... some scientists were trying to prove that laughter burns calories, which they apparently didn't learn from watching 3-2-1-Contact! like the rest of us. So, they locked pairs of friends in a faux motel room and showed them alternatingly boring and funny clips...

"The volunteers were told not to talk or move and to just kick back in the reclining chairs and watch what was on the screen.

"'First it was half an hour of something boring -- an English landscape,' Buchowski said. 'During that time we measured the baseline, the resting metabolic rate.'

"Five different comedy clips, starting with an outtake from 'The Cosby show' -- minus the canned laughter -- were then shown for 10 minutes each, interspersed with five minute intervals of sheep wandering around fields in England."

Personally, I would be dying when the sheep wandering around fields in England came on. I would probably have been hysterical, given the situation. I would have single-handedly thrown off all of their results, and would have been aware of this, which would have only made me laugh harder.

CNN.com - Rather says he was victim of 'own shortcomings' - Jun 3, 2005: "'I'm not a victim of anything except my own shortcomings. It didn't feel terrific. There certainly were days when I felt I was rode hard and put to bed wet,' Rather told CNN's Larry King on Thursday night."

This thing looks really cool, in a useful kind of way. I always have a gaggle of random CDs scattered around my desk, or, after I clean up, in a pile. I hate CD/DVD cases. They're a hassle, to the point where I just won't use anything that's in a case because it would just take too much effort.

I just bought one. Get it here. It's $9.99 after you get $2 off by using the promo code DiscHub2.

Sportscaster Nightmare - Thanks to Buddha for the link.