Quote of the Week- George W. Bush

Yes. I know since I am a fairly partisan Democrat who would proudly be considered a socialist in Provo, Utah, this might come as a suprise. But, everyone from NPR to perhaps the Turkish newspaper "Zaman" is talking about George W. Bush's new memoir "Decision Points," which sold 220,000 copies today_ its first day of release.

Bush makes no apologies for being a human rights violator as he said he firmly stands by his decision to use waterboarding on terrorist suspects at Gitmo (slang for the U.S. naval base in Cuba) even though the decision was even criticized by conservatives like Andrew Sullivan of "The Atlantic."

The memoir apparently illustrates other aspects of Bush's 'black and white' Chuch Norris movie view of the world which makes me wonder if the former president will stop by Cinema Overdrive in Raleigh, NC, which is screening Norris' 1984 film
"Missing in Action 2: The Beginning" at 8:00 p.m. tonight. (We heard about it thanks to a blurp in 'Independent Weekly' from their film critic Zack Smith).

Of course, Katrina vandan Heuvel of the liberal journal "The Nation" has publically stated that Dick Cheney was the real American president from 2001-2008, which we presume may not make her a welcome guest at the Bush Childhood Home in Midland, Tex.

But, irregardless of where you or I (or Chuck Norris and Katrina vandan Heuvel) stand politically, one has to admit that the Bush Childhood Home (which is actually open to the public) has a great event on Nov. 18. On that day, the museum/home is sponsoring the Laura Bush Literacy Program with readings fom 4:00-5:00 p.m.

My World Cup Final Four Picks

Before I reveal my picks here, I want to applaud David Zirin of "The Nation" for rightfully putting "Washington Times" sports reporter Thom Loverro in his place.

On a sports talk show in reference to Team America's win over Algeria in the qualifying round last week (before the U.S. team lost to Ghana in the round of 16), Loverro said the following about Algeria: "When I think of Algeria, all I think about are terrorists and Abbott and Costello movies."

Like Zirin, I am sickened by such comments and they certainly don't reflect the views of all Americans. Similarly, Andrew Sullivan of "The Atlantic" reported that some demented person hacked the Wikipedia page for Ghana after they defeated Team America 2-1 in extra time on Saturday and used an epithet against the west African country.

There is absolutely no place for this sort of thing in today's world whatsoever.

As for my picks, like Zirin who said he believes Argentina will win The World Cup, I am also picking Argentina to win it all even though I really like Germany (who they place next) especially the star Turkish-German soccer player Mesut Ozil who is just 21 years old.

My other picks are Holland (over Brazil!), Spain and Uruguay.

The Dutch player Wesley Sneijder is pictured above. He has lead Team Holland in scoring so far, including the first goal in The Netherlands' 2-1 win over Slovakia on Monday.