damn blog post eraser! curse you! hmph. as i was saying before i was so rudely deleted....

ricky williams shocked a lot of people when he decided to retire from a prosperous career with the nfl at the age of 27. however, it has since come out that he has failed yet another drug test, and has been illicitly passing previous drug tests with a cleansing agent. as an athlete, i don't understand how he would decide to choose that kind of lifestyle. not to say i've never partaken, but i wouldn't let drugs get in the way of my physical success-- especially not at that level of play! he just wants to lead the bob marley lifestyle and be chill... eh. what a role model for the kiddies. what happens when the cash flow runs out?

ESPN keeps crashing my browser. what the hell...

just got finished watching the end of john kerry's speech and the democratic convention... quite a dynamic showing, i must say. both johns kerry and edwards gave pretty inspiring speeches. kerry seemed somewhat nervous (he was sweating quite a bit, and hurried through his speech in places), but had a lot of good things to say. i always think the presidential pontificating (complete with gestures) is funny-looking, but he'll get more comfortable with it in time. i'm looking forward to a presidency that i don't continually second-guess. i'm even more impressed by edwards than i am by kerry, and presumably if the kerry-edwards run is a strong one, edwards will be a solid heir apparent. i liked that both of the speeches were focused on bringing credibility back to the White House, considering that the antics of late have globally undermined the strength of the United States of America.

one of my favorite parts: "I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war.  I will have a Vice President who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws.  I will have a Secretary of Defense who will listen to the best advice of our military leaders.   And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States." straight hits on shrub, cheney, ashcroft, and rumsfeld. noticeably absent (thanks anyu) was secretary of state colin powell, who may be a good resource for the dems should they take over the oval office. i liked the commentary about American strength following September 11th: "It was the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us.  I am proud that after September 11th all our people rallied to President Bush's call for unity to meet the danger. There were no Democrats.  There were no Republicans. There were only Americans.  How we wish it had stayed that way." i also liked this line: "The future doesn't belong to fear; it belongs to freedom."

reading the speech back isn't nearly the same as hearing kerry give it, so i do have to commend him for a riveting and inspiring delivery. and having said that, now is the time to ameliorate past grievances. now is the time to rise to the call to action. now is the time to restore faith and trust in the American people and the American government. if there ever was an election in our lifetimes where we had to stand up and make a difference, this is it. i don't think i've ever been so inspired by a political race...