Diamonds are players who Milbury inherited. When I thought the player wasn’t easily recognizable but was an important former draft pick I added his year. Circles are draft picks. For draft picks if the team name isn’t listed, then it was an Islander pick or I couldn’t find out who owned the pick. I tried to get every part of a trade unless it was completely pointless (eg: trading a 5th for a 7th and neither player did anything important). Rectangles are players that Milbury acquired. Circular Rectangles are where the chart ends. Either because I couldn’t find out what happened to the Draft pick or because the player was still an Islander when Milbury was fired.

I did take a bit of liberty in adding Jan Hlavac, but Milbury did inherit the former 2nd rounder and trade him for a former 9th round pick in Jorgen Jonsson. I also took liberty in adding the horrible JP Dumont trade. But considering JP Dumont was the first player taken by Milbury (and is widely considered the best player of that first round) I think it’s a perfect sign of Milbury’s early stupidity.

For Milbury defenders, yes, I left out Trent Hunter’s trade. It was probably his best trade. But really, does it make this any better?

Alternative Download 1 Alternative Download 2

Milbury Sucks

I am not a homosexual activist and I don’t swing that way. I am just happy to see someone that felt a certain way, was scared to share it with 50 million fans, but ended up doing it. He had balls, big ones at that. Especially at such a transitional time when homosexuality was a thing to be scared of, and something to look down upon. After dying of complications of AIDS in 1991 the music world was devastated. The man was named one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years. In 2009 a classic rock poll named him the greatest rock singer of all time. These are facts that I obtained from Wikipedia. I’m not writing a biography, I’m just stating some important facts.

I just would like to know where things went wrong since his era. Why rock music isn’t the same? Why most of the good rock was around that time? That’s 90% of the rock I listen to anyway. Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, The Doors, Grateful Dead are right there in the top ranks next to Queen. These are bands that people still listen to, still cheer for, still jump for joy when a song comes on the radio. But where did it go? There are a lot of great bands still, but nowhere as much as there was back then. Keep the classics alive, and know the roots of today’s bands.

I can see the same quiet anger growing now. The reality is that the news and press are making more of the Tea Party Movement then it really is. Since Obama has taken office, the Republicans have done nothing but try to block everything he wants to do. From extending unemployment benefits, allowing tax breaks for only the rich to end to even bringing nationwide health care (something our neighbors in Canada and Cuba have had for countless years) the Republicans have simply said No without offering their own answer. Is it that hard to imagine that there is a silent majority out there who are approving of what Obama has done? It’s hard to believe that only two years into Obama’s term that people have forgotten 99% of the mess the USA is in is due to Bush. Or that things like the BP Oil Spill weren’t exactly free of Bush influence. Even the salmonella in eggs is due in part to Bushes lax regulations.

I just wouldn’t be surprised if the Democrats managed to break even in the 2010 elections. Polls use such a small polling sample (How 5,000 people get to say what the nations opinion is is beyond me) and the blow hards from the right are a minority.  Obama and the Dems are trying to take steps to improve the mess that Bush and his regime left in their wake. It’s as though people expect Obama to be the Cat In The Hat, the children have wrecked the house and now mother is almost home. It’s time for the Cat in the Hat to use his magic and clean the mess. Well, I’m sorry, but the world doesn’t work that way. It’s obvious that Obama and everyone else have been working hard to fix what’s wrong, but to turn around and give power back to the ones who have made the mess and have promised to do nothing to fix it? That makes little to no sense.

Today is much different though, people wear shirts with tigers, tattoos, rhinestones, and stupid messages that say “all bitches cheat” or something like that. Hoodies with gay pride colored guns, or Super Mario Bros. characters printed in a pattern that is unrecognizable, I am just in shock because grown men wear things like this. People are also wearing $400 t-shirts that have nothing on them, just a plain white shirt. I can buy 12 of them at k-mart for six dollars, or if I want to go crazy I can go to Finish Line and get five of them for $20, which are good quality and are not undershirts.

Basically, I am just wondering where this came from, it really isn’t the media, there are no commercials, TV advertisements, or anything telling me to buy things like this. People are searching for these sought after items, to be the most exclusive person they know. No one else can have those shirts, or else they wouldn’t be cool. But this is the ringer, people are hunting for these things, and they are paying four times the average consumer price. If I was hunting for clothes, I would be looking for a good deal, a sale, promotion of some sort so I can get good clothes at a great price. In fact, that is what I do, I dig, hunt, scour department stores looking for good prices. When it comes down to buying some white T-shirts, I go for the five pack at K-Mart.

I’m not going to lie and say I don’t wear designer brands, because I do. I like a good Ralph Lauren polo shirt, not because they have some dumb guy playing polo on a horse, but because they last 1,000 years, for a big dude I look great in them, plus I never pay full suggested retail price either. One thing I don’t do is wear Ed Hardy, or any of these other trashy shitty clothing brands. There’s something about seeing a 50 year old Russian man in Brooklyn, wearing one of those shirts with Adidas track pants that really turns me off. I thought it wasn’t cool to wear things that old men wear, but that apparently isn’t true these days.

I am also a die-hard hip hop fan. I always sought after what my favorite rappers were wearing. I never really bought any of it, but it was good to dream. Even back a couple of years ago, it was not about these stupid brands. It was simple, they advertised clothing that was reasonable to purchase, and a T-shirt wasn’t needed to be put on layaway. It also was more about accessories, you could look like you rolled out of a garbage truck, as long as you had a gold chain and a nice watch on there was no issue. Now people worry more about their Gucci Blackberry case. If you wanna look good, get rid of the corn rows, get a nice hair cut, get some khaki shorts, a nice polo shirt, and some nice Nike Air Max sneakers. It’s a lot cheaper than buying one $1000 t-shirt.

Influences have changed alot since the late 90′s. Gangster rappers, hardcore rockers, even country singers were the people having a major impact on people. Now its little creepy emo kids, Miley Cyrus, Zac Efron, and any retard wearing tighter jeans than my girlfriend dancing around the ghetto. THAT’S NOT COOL. It’s cool to be depressed and on Zoloft these days. It’s cool to be a 16 year old girl with a sex scandal. Its cool to wear jeans that you bought in the little girl’s section at Baby Gap. It’s cool for so-called “gangsters” to wear butt friendly skinny jeans and pop lock it during traffic, in the middle of Bushwick Ave(one of the worst streets in Brooklyn). I can go on for days, but I can’t keep rambling on.

Thanks for pretending to listen,

-Tom

On that note I’m always interested in adding new writers to the blog, as I am a fan of differing viewpoints and interesting discussion. Or for that matter if you want an interesting short story posted here or a series of short stories just drop me a line. I have contact info on the bottom of this page along with in my About Me and the Forum.

I am also looking for anyone that can help me with coding the blog a bit in order to make it look a bit better. Design and style are never a strong point for me. I’m always along the lines of as long as it works. Along with the coding I’m looking for some new graphics including an avatar for me and at the very least a favicon. If  the coding or digital art interests you I can definitely spare some money to make it worth your wild.

Otherwise, I want to thank everyone who reads the Blog, this August was one of our all time most viewed months. We were 150+ Views above the next highest month view total and we hope to continue growing. Watch out those of you websites in the 11 Millionth Ranking of Internet websites, The Bard’s Blog is moving up from 12 Millionth!

It’s never sexy to talk about a strong defense and a solid running game. That’s why Tom Brady is on the cover of every teen beat, while the average person has never heard of Michael Strahan. But it was Revis and the Jet’s D that got them into the playoffs and nearly into the Super Bowl. If the Jet’s are going to get back there again, even with the addition of Santonio Holmes and the training camp with Braylon Edwards, it’s going to be the defense. All the passing game is going to have to do is be just good enough so that teams can’t stack the box.

I’m sorry, but if you imagined Sanchez possibly having a career year for Jet’s QBs throwing to Holmes and Edwards, it’s not going to happen. Hopefully Little Schotty realizes this just as much and keeps to the running game. LaDamian Tomilison is already showing flashes of his former self behind a much better line. If Shohn Greene can continue his performance from the playoffs the Jets might once again have by far the best running game in the league. Run, Run, Run and Run some more. When teams start stacking the box, it’s time for screen  passes to LDT or short passes to Holmes. Last year the Jet’s didn’t seem to have those options.

The other big thing people forget about Sanchez last year was that he wasn’t under pressure to do anything other then be a better QB then Clemens. Most people predicted a 5 or 6 win season from the Jets at most.  Sanchez became a star so quickly (and despite a middling at best season) because Eli Manning is the black hole of charisma. There is no more boring human being on the planet then Eli Manning. And when the QB is considered the face of the Franchise, the media is going to love someone that shows personality.

So what do I expect from this team? All along I’ve felt like the Jets are going to be a 7-9 or 9-7 team. I think some of the moves the Jets made look good if you don’t consider the player is on the downside of his career. Or if you don’t consider why the player was a free agent (Nick Folk). I get the feeling that if Leon Hess still ran the team, he would have thrown every penny he had at the team to make sure they won during this uncapped season. I don’t think you would be seeing Alan Fanacea or Thomas Jones leaving the team. I think Mike Tannenbaum thinks he’s smarter then he is, and made too many “smart” moves over moves that would have made the team better.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping” (2 Peter 2:1–3 NIV).

Personally, I am sick and tired of hearing about “End Times” as “predicted” by the Bible. Realistically the Book Of Revelations was written as a way to parody Nero. I mean imagine if in a thousand years someone picked up a random book which mocked history and thought it was real. Or even better, imagine if the only thing that survived to tell future generations about our society was Epic Movie. The very thought makes me sad.

But as long as the Christian Right believes it is preparing for a final battle between good and evil, let’s play along with it. Glenn Beck is a wolf among the sheep. His outright and blatant lies has been stirring up the most ignorant and fearful on the right. Anyone with a thimble of intelligence should realize that he spouts nothing but lies. His poor record as a commentator is seen in the ads he sells. Glenn Beck wouldn’t care if every single one of his “supporters” went bankrupt buying gold. Ironically, Glenn Beck selling gold is like “Don’t Be A Victim” selling guns. Both programs do nothing but promulgate fear. Beck’s listeners buy gold on the belief that the government is on the verge of collapse and your fortunes will be saved if you invest it in gold. That these relatively fundamentalist Christians who believe rapture is right around the corner care so much for saving their wealth. Shouldn’t the glory of heaven be worth more then any earthly possessions?

I tend to ignore Glenn Beck. His view tends to be so insane and fake that I can’t take him seriously. So you might be wondering why I’m even bothering with him now. His “Restoring Honor” gathering tomorrow at the Lincoln memorial has perturbed me  to no end. It’s funny that a Republican (Or if you object, Right Leaning) would hold any sort of speech or rally at the Lincoln memorial, considering that the party has long lost sight of what it’s most important member stood for. Could you imagine today’s Republicans if there was a civil war and at the conclusion their leader, the President, wanted to offer amnesty to all rebels? They would run him out of town on the first rail. Take for example the Freedman’s Bureau. Not only did it actively try to protect the rights of the newly freed slaves, but it also helped improve both medical coverage and schools through the South. How quickly would today’s Republicans be screaming about the fair market?

This rally is also being held on the Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a Dream” speech. Also it should be noted that Beck’s rally is also at the same exact location. Some people find it a tad offensive because they think the Tea Party might also be racist…

Racist Tea Party

Well obviously that’s just a single lunatic making the whole Tea Party movement look bad. Every open grass roots movement has the same problems…

A Racist Tea Party?

Wow, not just a racist, but someone that believes Obama is a Muslim. It wasn’t too long ago that a new poll showed 20% of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim. Amazingly Fox News seems to be one of the main sources of the “Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge” Obama is a Muslim campaign without saying so much. But obviously this is another fringe…

A Theme of Tea Party Racism?

Okay Okay, Maybe the Tea Party is a little bit…

Kenya Tea Party

Okay, A of badly informed racists. Someone would pretty much have to be on a 24/7 Fox News IV Drip to believe any of this. To make matters even more muddied, Beck is claiming that this is a rally “is to pay tribute to America’s military personnel and others “who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor.” So pretty much this is a rally that is going to use veterans as a way to attack people who would protest this rally. The question won’t be “Why are you protesting Glenn Beck?” but instead, “Why are you protesting the troops?”

The other big thing is that the rally would be “non-political”. Meanwhile listed as one of the top guest speakers is Sarah “Always Non-Political” Palin. Because Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin commonly speak on non-political subjects. Actually, my apologies, whenever Palin thinks someone has made fun of one her idiot kids she stops speaking about Politics. This isn’t an attack on free speech. Instead it’s a rally against fear mongering, against taking advantage of people who don’t know better. There’s no good that can come from this “non-political” rally except to further deceive those who don’t realize they are rallying against themselves. They are the children who don’t believe brushing their teeth is good for them. Except these children have someone in their ear telling them that toothpaste brainwashes them to follow the government.

There is one kicker, there always is. THE BAG IS NEVER FULL. I can understand the fine print “some contents may settle during shipping” but a half of a bag, c’mon now. Let’s really think about this. I know it is a minuscule amount, but I pay anywhere from fifty cents to $2.49 for a bag of these slices of heaven. I specifically pick Wise brand chips for the taste. I always open the bag with hope, shortly followed by disappointment. Tears come to my eyes, even a little hatred toward Herr’s brand chips for not making something that can satisfy my cravings. I pour crumbs from the bag into my mouth (don’t act like you’ve never done it).

What is there to do? Where do I go from here? Do I write a letter? I am just angry that I never know what to expect when I open a bag of those wonderful chips. I cannot boycott those chips. I’m starting think this whole change of times has something to do with it.

When I was a young lad, the chip bags were bountiful, healthy looking, very appealing, now it’s looking like a third-world country inside that bag. Demolished, starved, in need of some resources, I am getting concerned. All these new programs in schools to get “fat kids” skinny is really screwing up my snacking. New junk food taxes, gluten surcharges, and carb fees are really starting to take their toll on my diet. I am just trying to live from time to time. Mayor Bloomberg probably never had some of those fantastic chips. If he did there would be no problems, no taxes, and everyone would just be snacking away. Less wars, lower poverty rates, I am taking this too far now. Sorry about that, I just want to get more chips in my bag, that’s all.

Snack on People,

Thanks for Pretending to read.

-Tom

That my friends, is Macintosh, the demon of all computing. First thing that really fries my brain; no option to run multiple applications at once. Second, the cheapest model Macintosh that is worth buying starts at $999.00. I’m sorry to shatter any mac user’s dreams and aspirations, that is just plain crazy. On top of that you are paying good money for a computer that has the specs of a machine with half the specs. For example, the new MacBook 12” model starts at one thousand dollars. It is basically a netbook with a nice size hard drive and a stupid apple on the outside cover. Yes, it does have an aluminum case and it does look pretty cool. I bought a computer from a major retailer with better specs and more functionality for half that. I even get a free one year manufacturer’s warranty(something that you need to take out a home equity loan for from our friends at Apple).

I’m just saying this because I am fed up. In all reality, I just would like to understand why!? Is there some major conspiracy going on in Steve Jobs’ mind that he plans to shut down North America or something? Is there some secret that I am not aware of? I have used Apple computers, I have used the new iPad, and also I have owned two or three iPhones. The iPod idea was genius, I will give credit when earned. All off Apple’s secondary devices are great, some restrictions make everyone angry but for the majority of the time I love tinkering with an iPhone and totally sticking it to the man so I can get some free apps and use it on another carrier. I honestly feel like Steve Jobs is just screwing with us as Americans, because we will buy whatever he makes look pretty.

On the other hand Windows has done some great things with the recent release of Windows 7 and new versions of Microsoft Office. Great, easy, user-friendly, extremely powerful components that still amaze me after so much time. Windows XP was the greatest thing possible for 10 years, I cry every time I install it. I know it as if it was my own private parts. My advice to anyone who wants to screw with Steve Jobs and cause some ruckus; steal, modify, alter, abuse, sodomize, crack, hack, jaibreak, unlock, just totally reform anything with that dumb apple logo present. Make it yours, dont fall into the stupid daily funk like everyone else, be original, be an individual, be your own person, don’t let someone tell you how to operate something you pay thousands of dollars for. I sure as hell don’t I abuse anything that has a complete circuit inside.

Thanks for Reading, if you actually did.

-Tom

Leon Trotsky

For forty-three years of my conscious life I have remained a revolutionist; for forty-two of them I have fought under the banner of Marxism. If I had to begin all over again I would of course try to avoid this or that mistake, but the main course of my life would remain unchanged. I shall die a proletarian revolutionist, a Marxist, a dialectical materialist, and, consequently, an irreconcilable atheist. My faith in the communist future of mankind is not less ardent, indeed it is firmer today, than it was in the days of my youth.

Natasha has just come up to the window from the courtyard and opened it wider so that the air may enter more freely into my room. I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full.

So reads the ending of Leon Trotsky’s last will and testament. To find him still believing after everything he’s been through his amazing. His whole family was basically wiped out except for a single grandson. Even those who had nothing to do with him like his sister and her family was slaughtered by Stalin. Can you imagine living your whole life with one dream, finally making that dream happen, only to find it corrupted? And then your family killed? Eventually Stalin managed to kill Trotsky in Mexico. But in that time Trotsky was pretty much the most feared man on the planet. After his exile he time and time again was refused entry to nations due to his history as commander/creator of the Red Army.

My knowledge of Trotsky started when I was younger. One night I pretended to sleep while one of my parents watched the Animal Farm British Animated Film:

Animal Farm

I quickly got interested in Snowball and never forgot about the movie. As I got older and went through years of catholic school, the constant bashing of communism left me intrigued. Eventually I read the communist manifesto and started reading more into communist history. Around the same time I also was required to read Animal Farm for the first time. I immediately recognized it as the movie I had seen when I was younger.

This time though, I was able to recognize Snowball as Trotsky and started reading up more about Trotsky. Especially his own works and those of Lenin. It’s amazing that the pre-revolution disagreements between Lenin and Trotsky that it was Lenin who came to agree with Trotsky’s vision. It is unfortunate that these old disagreements between the two (and despite Lenin trying to name Trotsky as his successor on 3 occasions) were used to run Trotsky out of power.

Trotsky lived an amazing life. Ironically his early pen name was Antid Otto or “The Pen” but while being held for his actions in the 1905 Russian Revolution, he took the extremely conservative guards name as his new pen name. Another interesting scene in his life involves his attempt to return to Russia following the February Revolution. Returning from New York, he got stopped in Canada and was put in a POW camp. After a week or two of rabble rousing in the POW camp the German officers requested that Trotsky be removed from camp. And so during the Great War both the Germans and British agreed that Trotsky was dangerous. I can not recommend enough the “Prophet Trilogy” by Isaac Deutscher as being one of the greatest biography’s I’ve read. If I ever had the money I would love to turn it into a film.

Today many of Trotsky’s works still ring as true today as when he first wrote them. The world today would be drastically different had the power struggle between Trotsky and Stalin ended up differently. At the very least one can picture Trotsky’s belief in permanent revolution changing the history of Germany. Trotsky’s exile and inter war writings point towards a united front to fight Fascism. Meanwhile Stalin would claim that the Socialists where the real fascists and didn’t allow the Communists and Socialists to work together until it was too late. Or even worse, in Spain where he changed his mind about such an alliance and cost the Republicans the war.