Lebron and Chicago

Free-agency kicks off at midnight tonight, and the race to woo Lebron James will be the first order of business for the Knicks, Nets, Bulls, Heat, and maybe the Clipper and Mavericks.

But I wanted to work through why I think Lebron coming to Chicago would be a smart move, for him. And not just because I want more titles for the Bulls. I got my six as a young fan in the '90s.

A lot of talk about Chicago (well, ALL of it) revolves around the idea that Lebron would be under the shadow of Michael: he'll always be trying to be as good as MJ, to get six titles like MJ, to be as huge a global presence as MJ.

I have no clue as to Lebron's inner thoughts on this. Maybe he is obsessed with "topping" Michael to be the greatest ever.

But I doubt it. I think Lebron considers Michael untouchable, the way I do. I think Lebron realizes that no matter what he ever does, he'll never be Michael.

And that's why Chicago is a PERFECT fit for him. He's not going to win six rings, especially not in a double three-peats.
Even if he did, there's a very strong argument that the Bulls could have won 8 championships in a row if Michael hadn't taken his mid-career sabbatical. So Lebron would have to have more than a double three-peat to top Michael.

Hence, freedom: Nobody expects Lebron to match up to Michael. We all know it's not possible.

I think that Bulls fans don't want someone who will top Michael. Michael is sacrosanct to almost all basketball fans, but especially Bulls fans. We don't need Lebron to be better than him, just almost-as-good.

In Chicago, Lebron is liberated from the expectations game: because the hype is so unreachable, he's free to just win a few titles and be king of Chicago. He can win three rings over ten seasons and he's king. He doesn't have to three-peat.

Now, look at the Knicks: Lebron has to turn around a horrible organization with no real players on it, in an environment full of uppity sports fans. They eat their young. In Chicago we fall in love with them. In New York they conditionally let you in, and then kick you out if you falter.

The Nets? Please. Clippers? Double-please.

I can see him heading to Miami, and that'd be understandable. But for a midwestern homebody, Chicago is a good fit. He's close to Ohio, but still big city.
And completely liberated.

Show 'em who's in charge, Mr. President

Great move by the president in firing General McChrystal. I'm no fan of the Afghanistan war, and if it can't survive a change in commanders, then it can't survive.

Plus I'm not wild about the wisdom of a soldier who talks on the record with a reporter while getting drunk, much less one who allows wild shit-talk to occur in front of that reporter. Idiot.

It's important for the president to kick someone's ass every so often, especially a Democratic president and a military ass --- I'm guessing the president wasn't too unhappy about reminding the brass that the constitution puts him in charge, and that no one is untouchable.

Extra credit for getting Petraeus to take over ----- the entire GOP leadership has a massive love affair with him, so it's not like they can oppose it.

BP, and shareholders

One of the themes prevalent on talk radio lately is that fining BP too heavily for their Gulf liabilities will unfairly hurt the regular folks who own BP stock. British pension funds are heavily invested in BP, and since BP bought up Amoco and Standard many Americans are heavily invested in BP.
So any financial hit that BP takes will, of course, have a negative effect on these stockholders.

This fact is often presented as a strong reason why the government should tread lightly when going after BP. But if I'm not mistaken it's quite wrong.

Stockholders are not value-neutral. They don't just happen, by some quirk of coincidence, to own BP stock, which is to say, they own a part of BP by choice.
Part of that ownership is reaping the benefits when BP does well financially. And part of that ownership is suffering when BP suffers financially.

Somewhere along the line the idea of ownership=responsibility has gotten lost, when it comes to investments. The idea that investing is a value-neutral enterprise seems to have caught on heavily in the 1990s, when investing in "the market" started to be thought of as a safe endeavor, similar to opening a savings account, just with bigger margins of return.

That mindset has prevailed, to the point where owners of BP stock feel it's reasonable that they should receive profits when BP does well, but should not lose money when BP commits a massive civil 'crime.'

I realize I'm just shooting my mouth off here, but this line of thinking is prevalent in the modern GOP, and their Pravda-esque counterparts in Hannity, Beck, etc. "Can't penalize BP because little stockholders will suffer."

Well, those stockholders are BP. It's time for them to pay, too.

She & Him, with a special guest appearance by Us.

A big crew went out to see the band She & Him last night, at the Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park, designed by Frank Gehry, and still the best music venue in the entire universe.
Most all of my favorite memories from the past few summers come from concerts here.
We made some more memories last night. These concerts make me feel like we're all eternal and infinite and legendary.
I don't even remember the music too much, it was nice, and we all danced for one song, but mostly it's about getting together with a bunch of people that you love and laughing a lot.

The King of Millenium Park in his element ---- Jay was just cold running the show all day!

You see what I mean? The KING!!
That girl's name? No clue. We were guessing her age at anywhere from 17-24. Let's hope 24.


I thought this was Jos, but the sunglasses and zipped jacket left me perplexed. Not sure who this mystery man could be. The disguise is too good!


Rach and Libs!



Ash and Lil' Sis, who somehow was able to navigate the insane crowd and find our base camp. She brought really tasty snacks too. Way to go sis!


An aerial view of Kristin, me, Nate, Kate, and Ilana (she's new).




Classic Nate and Kate.



CT and KreeKree.



Kate and Ilana in full pre-game mode.


Had to post another one of Jay with What's Her Name.


The King of Millennium Park raises his triumphant Umbrella of Victory.