Big White Elephant

Big, really big.

Beijing's famous "Bird's Nest" has one event on it's schedule for 2009, one. On August 8th, the stadium will host Puccini’s opera “Turandot".

The $450 million, 91,000-seat stadium doesn't have a tenant. Plans called for the local Chinese Super League club, Beijing Guoan, to move into the stadium following the Olympics. Guoan balked at these plans after seeing the rental fee. A somewhat strange part of this story is that the Bird's Nest is run by CITIC group, the company also owns most of Guoan through a subsidiary called CITIC Guoan. That tells you that the rent must be somewhat exorbitant.

Somewhat stranger is that China's national soccer team doesn't have any matches scheduled at the supposed National Stadium, instead choosing random venues throughout the country.

Beijing does have three other clubs who could potentially (though the changes are about as thin as my arms) call the stadium home. Hongdeng, and BIT both play in the second-tier Jia League, while minnows Baxy play in the third level Yi League.

A stadium which has a horrible reputation as a white elephant is Montreal's Stade Olympique, a major difference between "the Big O" and the Bird's Nest is that the Montreal venue has actually had regular tenants, the Bird's Nest has lost it's best bet to the aging (albeit recently refurbished) Workers Stadium.

Of the other recent Olympic Stadiums, only Seoul's (1998) Jamsil could be lumped into this category though it does see use as a concert venue, and occasionally by tiny Seoul United. That said, Espanyol will soon decamp Barcelona's 1992 stadium for greener pastures in Cornellà de Llobregat leaving the future of that stadium up in the air. With that, the stadium has been in use since 1927.

The Bird's Nest, however iconic it may be, will surely serve as a very large warning sign for the future to not bite off more than you can chew.

Fuck the banks, and screw the Democrats and Republicans

You know. People bitch when Greens and Libertarians try to "steal" votes from Democrats and Republicans. It's really starting to piss me off.

We aren't trying to steal your votes, we're trying to save your God damn life.

You see this shit we're in today? You did that, not us. Yet you still bitch about us hanging around. "How dare those lunatics try to get their voice out there? They'll fuck everything up."

Too late, you already did that.

The Democratic President, Bill Clinton, pushed major banks to make sub-prime loans. The Republicans are now using this as a talking point against Democrats without telling you that during the Clinton administration they, the GOP, controlled both houses of Congress (104th, 105th, and 106th Congresses). There's just as much blood on their hands as the Democrats.

Yesterday the Dow surged up 900 points, a major boost and everyone started jacking off. As of this posting it's down 500 points, or 5.46%. This on top of news that the FTSE, Britain's major index, was off a staggering 7% as European fears of a recession mount.

That 900 point gain has been reduced to nothing more than a stop gap, like putting a piece of Juicy Fruit on a crack in a dam.

Now we, the middle and working class tax-payers, the segment of society already financially stretched thinner than myself doing yoga, are on the hook for >$700bln. That's over $23,245 per American. That's what you'll be paying and I'll be paying. You'll be paying that while some reckless, incompetent jackass of a CEO vacations in Hawai'i while you hit up Lake Norman because you can't afford the trip down to South Carolina this year.

Meanwhile, while AIG throws lavish parties on your dime with wine that costs more than that car you're struggling to keep, there's a single mother fighting a war in Iraq in the name of the American elite who want more money from that oil that sits under Baghdad. She prays everyday that she doesn't get shot so one day she can kiss her baby again.

Somewhere in North Carolina a man is going crazy because the banks he just helped bail out adjusted his mortgage and now he can't pay it.

And right now, I'm praying I don't start pissing out blood again, because I can't get insurance.

Seven miles to the west of me is Charlotte's medical district. A baby was just born there. Maybe someone should go over there and tell her what she's worth, tell her she's precious and priceless, and then tell her that you guys think she's worth about as much as a Honda Accord with all the trimmings.

You haven't killed America yet, it's fire still burns. But only because us lunatics protected that tiny ember, and while you're out spending our tax money, we'll still be protecting it, and stoking it. Hoping that one day it'll burn hot enough, and high enough to force you out.

Fuck off, Bruton.

Seriously, go fuck yourself.

I realize how much Bruton Smith and his race track have done for the economy of Cabarrus County. I also realize how much Cabarrus, and indeed Mecklenburg, have bent over backwards to please Bruton and his ego.

I wasn't against his drag strip earlier this year, he has every right to build on land he owns. Afterall, the people in that subdivision did by land near a fucking speedway (three of them actually if you count the dirt track and auxilary oval). What I was against was Bruton asking a country reeling from the loss of it's largest employer, PhillipMorris, for an $80 million incentive package or he would close his speedway, Cabarrus' second largest employer, and move his business elsewhere. The county and the city of Concord buckled to his demands, they had no choice. They offered his business $80 million over 40-years.

That wasn't good enough. Not only has Bruton built his drag strip, but before it's grand opening Bruton has announced that he wants that $80 million over three years, not 40, and if he doesn't get it he's going to start charging interest.

As people in North Carolina know, Concord borders Charlotte. Charlotte is a success story, and Charlotte's wild success is due in large part to the tireless dedication of the Belk family. Indeed, John Belk was once Mayor of Charlotte. The Belk's have donated large sums of money and time to various organizations in Charlotte. No fewer than five stadiums in the metro bare the name of Irwin Belk, a testiment to his passion for the community.

When all the Belk's pass on, Charlotte will mourn their loss with tears, and look back on them with incredible pride. When Bruton dies, Concord will breathe a sigh of relief.

Expanding to meet your needs

Time is money, so quit wasting both.

Gas Prices in Charlotte

Lowest 15 (avg. price $3.51):
1 BP
0 Shell
0 Exxon
14 Others

Highest 15 (avg. price $3.64):
5 BP
5 Shell
3 Exxon
2 Others

I'm just saying.