The Whole Delivery

Just want to take some time to give major shoutouts to news friends in general for how great they have been in 2012 to me in both a professional and personable sense. First, major love has to be given to the one and only Mona Eltahawy. It really was awesome to see how awesome you are in general, and definitely hope there will be no major illness like you've had at 2012's end. You definitely deserve that shoutout first in terms of being shouted out first and foremost. And it's so great that you and Melissa have stuck such a great friendly bound. Big shoutout for that for sure. Hard News/Political:  As always, the entire folks from Daily Kos, with Markos being a major reason why I even have an audience these last few years, as well as a major shoutout to David Waldman , allowing me on his radio show and setting the seeds for show of mine down the line. I will always appreciate him for sure for that, and definitely hope in 2013 it will continue. Definitely t...

HALFTIME THOUGHTS Images from NFL.com  1) Another forgettable first half for that Lions secondary, as their angles on Earl Bennett's long touchdown run was just unbearable. Still, Stafford's ability to gunsling comeback and Cutler's ability to screw any quality situation up always puts the Bears in danger here. 2) Arian Foster and the offensive line for the Texans just have not been the same as they where at the start of the season, and so far, Matt Schaub is not rising to the occasion. 3) On the end of that Texans/Colts game, the emotion for Chuck Pagano is certainly caring their offensive and defensive lines. 4) For Andy Reid's last game, this is just quite sad and pathetic how his tenure as coach of the Eagles is ending. (Post game analysis of only the meaningful games, to come in their conclusion. Stay tuned to TWD). 

Biggest early game schedule of the season with 11 kickoffs at the 1 PM ET hour. Realistically in terms of both teams needing the win for playoff importance, only three of those contests matter. Christian Ponder, or Morris Claiborne returning to the Cowboys secondary vs Brees, and the efficiency from injury in Robert Griffin's comeback, will be the three key people to watch for the most in this large early game window. Halftime standout points   1) All the pressure to perform today was on Christian Ponder today, and in this first half, he has done so. Has made the correct throws and playmaked in timely fashion.  Outstanding first half vs the Texans 2) Robert Griffin, superb so far considering coming back from injury, and slowly giving the Redskins the lead over a game Eagles side in likely Andy Reid's final home game in Philly. 3) Another INT TD score for the Colts as Darius Butler took it all the way on Brady Quinn to lead the Colts to a playoff ...

This was the only day ever that this crap song was really worth playing, really for anybody.....And oh, has that glorious day come. So, for the Mayans, it's Sean and Minaj doing a song THAT never blew up like they thought it would have, but is tailor made for this day.

Without a doubt, the tremendous and yet remarkably still underrated global superstar that is Nelly Furtado had one of the best releases overall in music, especially in the continued predictably of radio's desperate, American pop music. And though "The Spirit Indestructible" was not the first single on her 5th album, as "Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)" got that honor, there's a reason why it was strong enough to hold the title for this song and her latest CD overall. You just don't hear many songs about people's self-determination from either gender in Western music, a perspective that is from an underdog's position. It wasn't about "party tonight," let me get a great party word or phrase to get a great hit, as most songs nowadays on the Billboard Top 100 focuses on, no matter if they are truly have great instrumentals and are pleasing to listen to. Instead, with Furtado the message is always real and pure, and she is always...

Tito Vilanova has relinquished his role as manager of Barcelona because of cancer (AP)  Last year it was Eric Abidal, and today, it's Tito Vilanova dealing with a major cancerous situation . Definitely major thoughts are with Vilanova and his family, friends, and colleagues, as this rough development came out of the blue. Thankfully, he is still alive to tell about it, and hopefully he will be alive to return to the thing that he loves, and that is coaching. Now who knows how long his seemingly permanent absence will be, and an "interim coach" is still not coming up at the moment. No thoughts on whether it will mark a return of Pep Guardiola or someone else tailor made to the Barcelona system. But it certainly is a major development and damper on an otherwise strong last 6 months of the Catalan giants. The Runthrough  More on this later, but David Lee is just so under-appreciated in this NBA. Another great game in a terrific season ...

This will be a daily display that will pick up as the last days of 2012 (and maybe human existence) winds down, highlighting the most tolerable (and actually good) songs of 2012, from The Whole Delivery's perspective.  Cash Out may never have a single like this ever in his career, especially since he came out of nowhere with this one. But I hope haters are wrong on that, especially considering the man's backstory before having a hit song, and I say that with him being three years younger than me (He's 22). From facing a gun charge three years ago that was going to see him locked up for years, to LA Reid giving him a deal (even if it was just based on this song alone), Cash Out really is one of those rare stories any rational person in 2012 could cheer about. And certainly this one doesn't brag too much, and DJ Spinz did a hell of a job with the instrumental. One of 2012's Tolerable Songs, it's Cash Out with his first and breakthrough, "Cashin Ou...

(Continued from earlier ) No matter if you're a centrist honestly trying in your most pure heart to have a great, bipartisan compromise that truly helps America (even though non in recent times has ever existed), or just someone who wants to do a deal to keep the status quo in power and screw those without the power, centrism in American politics (and anywhere else for that matter) exacerbates and makes political problems in society worse. More than it not being courageous, centrism actually is just being stubborn and unwilling to argue for ideas that are clearly rational and in the best interest of the American public. In short, once again,  centrism is just as much of an ideology as liberal/progressiveism and conservatism.   Now here we go again with Obama's direct centrism, because he knows how John Boehner can't get all the nuts in his party to understand that they are co-signing on Social Security receiving a cut, something all Republican...

To explain Obama and his constant "rational centrism" with the WHite House's latest trial ballon with placing the CPI index in danger with the greatness that is Social Security, there has long been a new Overton window in modern day American politics. The simplistic and lazy labels of "Liberal, Moderate, and Conservative" have done a disservice to the American public for so many years, when the ideas and type of philosophy/policies are much more complicated than those three labels. With a rise of sellout Democrats throughout the years and a set of Republicans more insane and less capable of lying or deceiving well than "smart Republicans," the margins are so small nowadays where labeling any Democrat a "liberal" like Fixed Propaganda loves to do is simple asinine, as well as knowing which Republicans are the smart, deceiving ones who know how to play the shady Beltway elitist game, and who are just downright Bachmann/Steve King/Allen...

His last words to his staff were "Aloha." Rest in heaven to one of the most underrated figures around in Daniel Inouye. More at The Whole Delivery later, stay tuned.

David Gregory assumed something as a general fact again without doing his homework , again. Gregory's suggestion that "we've seen declining support since 1990 for stricter gun control measures" relies on flawed polling data that only asks generic questions about public support for restrictions on firearms. When the public is asked about specific gun violence prevention proposals, large majorities support enacting some further restrictions. An August 9 CNN poll found that 96 percent of Americans support requiring a background check for every gun purchase.  The same poll found that nearly three-in-five respondents favored banning semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines containing more than 10 bullets, like those used in the July 20 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The CNN poll also found that 76 percent of Americans favored requiring individuals to register their weapons with local law enforcement and 91 percent favored prev...

But hey, at least this is one sign where you don't have to follow the boss' thoughts as a news organization. Then again, Fox News isn't a news organization. (More at The Whole Delivery to come, stay tuned.) 

The elements are already playing a  factor here, but San Francisco will not found like Houston did last week. Only the Foxboro aura will get to the Niners getting off to a bad start, but if they don't make any mistakes with Kaepernick, then they should get a valuable road win since they are the overall better team with almost as good as coaching. 

1) For both Eli Manning's Giants and Joe Flacco's Ravens, the worst first halves imaginable. Costly turnovers against quality teams is just a no-no with the margins being so narrow in this league. Especially when momentum has to be sustained. 2) The Falcons and the Texans are showing why they have the records they have, and how difficult they will be to beat at home if they are the #1 seeds in the playoffs. Thomas DeCoud and Asante Samuel have been terrific. 3) If Flacco had an ill advised throw, than Jay Cutler continues to be the king of them. Another shameful throw that cost his team in a must win against the Packers at home. 4) Adrian Peterson shows why he is my MVP of the NFL. To do this against a Rams defense which plays well at home, with no Percy Harvin, and their defense stacked with 8 in the box usually, is just remarkable. One opportunity is all he needs, and he just takes it. 5) Kirk Cousins has settled in after a poor start, but the Redskins' defen...

They still believe "More guns" are the answer: Having been a judge and reviewed photographs of these horrific scenes and knowing that children have these defensive wounds, gun shots through their arms and hands as they try to protect themselves, and, hearing the heroic stories of the principal, lunging, trying to protect, Chris, I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands and takes him out and takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids. Self defense is so important in life, and you have to defend yourself whenever someone tries to attack you at all costs. But there are other defense mechanisms than more guns as well, and people, amazingly, have survived despite being at the clear disadvantage of "you can't bring a knife to a gun fight." When knows if Principal Dawn Hochsprung having a gun would have lead to j...

Jay Carney said "Today is not the day." Obama's press secretary, in what potentially the worst school shooting in American history numerically, said "Today is not the day." After all the current and constant gun problems in America's ghettos, after all the "out of nowhere" incidents in Aurora this past summer, Gabby Giffords in 23 months ago, Virginia Tech five years ago, Columbine 13 years ago, and everything else in between where a tragic ending has been caused by a gun in America, from MLK to JFK, from Malcolm X to RFK, Carney said, "Today is not the day." If today, arguably the worst school shooting in American history, isn't the time to talk and work to fix America's gun problem, then I don't know what time and event is. Update: Obama's tearful speech I don't know if Obama's visible emotion and almost tears will lead to "meaningful action," especially with the NRA surrounding Republican...

The Summary: At least 27 people, including 18 children, are dead after a gunman release gunshots at a Newtown, Connecticut school, Sandy Hook Elementary School. Update 1 : Live coverage of the shooting is ongoing right down below, from local news affiliate WFSB: Update 2 : One little girl interviewed on TV indicated that she saw students bleeding and heard a lot of gun shots. She was rather very calm describing what she saw, which is certainly something to witness. Update 3 : Two hand guns were recovered from the scene, and part of the shootings were taken place in a kindergarden classroom. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy is being updated on further developments. Update 4 : Now it is being reported by multiple sources that there are at least dozen to 20 bodies that have been shot and injured in this latest tragic gun incident in America. Update 5: At least 27 bodies have been ruled dead, from CBS News. At least 14 kids and 9 adults from CBS report....

Because of it having the taint of N*Snyc, this has always been an underrated Christmas song. And with Gary Coleman in the video, nuff said. It's the 1998 cheesy holiday semi-hit from Justin Timberlake & Friends, it's "Merry Christmas, Hapy Holidays." Lighter note: The group is actually German .....Or, to not make your heads explode in what, I did not know that the group's early strength was predicated more on their time in Germany and elsewhere through Europe. So fascinating. ( Friday at The Whole Delivery will continue with more, stay tuned....)

I wrote about how "sad" I was that this day was coming , and now, it has finally come. It must pain Lieberman that as he leaves as the Senate's biggest corporate whore that no one, not even his beloved Andrea Mitchell, has bothered to even ask for his thoughts on the race on TV (although I'm sure if he ever took up Rachel Maddow's long time requests to have him on her show, she would more than appreciate what he has to say for being the biggest hater of Democratic principles by a former Democrat ever). Joey Lie's last day in his beloved House of Lords is over. And no one is even taking about. There are no major eulogies on MSNBC, or CNN, or wherever, and even a lot of people online have forgotten about it, which is a good thing since he really isn't worth giving a damn about. Of course, he'll try and do more corrupt, selfish, elitist and hateful things that only him and his seclusion unbearable friends would do, whether with his Wellpoint/Ae...

Despite being the typical, tremendously diligent career Beltway government official who won't upset the top bosses by moving up and having bad conflicts of interest with the XL Pipeline , Susan Rice withdrew her name from being Hillary Clinton's replacement in Secretary of State really because of the lack of grownup nature that is the Republican Party today in America. Rice just did not want to deal with the outright stupidity that she has received since September, and could not deal with the likes of McCain, Graham, Susan Collins and a whole bunch of current Republican nutcases doing some nutty things. Her comments and letter to Obama say it all. "If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly." Rice could easily become Obama's National Security advisor for a nice consolation prize without having to deal with Republicans nutcases in the House of Lords (the Senate). And what's so annoying abo...

Whether, the Freeway series wars in Los Angeles continues to go even higher levels, with Josh Hamilton leaving the Rangers to go to the Angels to join Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, and an incredible Halo lineup. Though $25 million is way too much for Hamilton considering he had a decline in the 2nd half last year in terms of at the plate and in the field, the Angels once again have no excuse to not make it "World Series champions or bust." Moreno didn't want to let the new Dodgers men take the offseason banner. The Runthrough  All of this stuff about the real goal all time most goals scored in a single year record now coming out when Lionel Messi passed Gerd Mueller is frankly quite annoying, with a lot of it in my perspective just based on being jealous of Messi and Barcelona in general. Where was Flamengo at all of these years yelling that Zico had the actual record and not Gerd Mueller? It to me just reeks of petty Brazilian soccer bias at Argentina once m...

The fact that Kanye, who is from Chicago, performed at the 12-12-12 concert Wednesday night at MSG shows how hastily organized and one-dimensional the creation of an otherwise great show. It's what happens when you have myopic big corporations like Chase and GE organize usual fundraisers like this. When you have alternative pop rock legends on the stage like that (and Billy Joel, an accomplished legend in his own right, regardless of how some think he really isn't and has never been rock music), it clearly is a night of epic performers on the same stage that you frankly will only be organized a hand full of times in life. But let's be honest here. The higher-ups who organized this event just really catered it to a middle to late aged white crowd here in the five borough area, as the cameras predominantly showed. And they only picked Kanye (and Alicia Keys) because well, they were major stars who the middle aged white crowd would know instead of even a N...

One Calvin Broadus as the guest on the latest of Simon Peter's "Epic Rap Battles" of history. Here is he  as Moses vs Santa Claus in a Christmas holiday special. Enjoy it, though to be honest, for those knowing how to flow, Snopp was a bit off flow.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Attention all journalists everywhere, especially American Beltway centrist journalists who are smart enough to just report the facts instead of do "both sides" stenography: One Thomas Mann has a message for you, again. Do your job! That's what he had to tell Chuck Todd directly Tuesday morning, as him and Norm Ornstein continue to make some inside the Beltway upset for basically calling the Republicans for being the nutcases that they have become as a collective whole and messing up the Beltway centrist elite's lovely "popcorn watching" that kicks liberals and the underdog in American society down. Now Mann and Ornstein are irrelevant now because their past DC Beltway elitism has caught back up with them instead of being truth-tellers overall, as more "cooler" and "hipper" centrist and Republicans who only care about the wealthy in this nation hav...

It usually gets overshadowed as just the unglamorous last year before adolescence, but does get the love from all the baker's of the world. Today, we salute you, glamorous #12. Days when the day, month, and year have numerical uniformity are just amazing. Whether it was 8/8/88 (Though I was age 1 and can't remember that day), or 9/9/99, 10/10/10, 11/11/11, or this day, it's special. Because there will be no 13/13/13 or higher. You get 12 months a year and that's it. So may your 12/12/12 be smooth or has been smoothed if you are on the Eastern Hemisphere of the world. (More of The Whole Delivery to come, please stay tuned.)  

The Cred :  Joe Songer/AL.com/Landov, Family Picture This is freaky, hilarious, and definitely special : Kreg Ryan Gunter of Belleville, Ill., and Kiam Moriya of Birmingham, Ala., will both turn 12 on 12/12/12 — Ryan at 12:12 a.m., Kiam at 12:12 p.m.  They are among what is likely only a small handful of U.S. children who can claim that many 12s among their birthday stats.  Based on statistics from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4 million babies were born in the United States in 2000 — an average of about eight in any given minute. So far though, only these two boys have come to the attention of the media. Also, what makes this special is that this is the only time I think I have and will ever link to The Daily. More from The Whole Delivery later, just stay tuned.

A few responses on Twitter from the critical post down below . Now Sports TV producer Jeff Freeman, who is a good sir, definitely does a great job of being aware of racial problems in America and globally. I give him credit for that. But there are a few troubling things from his comments below:  Freeman said in that section of highlighted tweets above, "However when you're in a position of celebrity as she is, she has to be so careful. People could definitely be offended and, just because Serena thinks it's fine, doesn't mean it may not offend someone else. I agree with you on the most part but not everyone is open-minded and intelligent. She needs to be mindful of the audience where she is doing this."  I have a major problem with this, and why us in the news media have got to stop treating the audience like ignorant and not intelligent spectators. The ONLY people who have a right to be offended are those who actually know what is going on an...

It really is annoying whenever someone talks about someone they don't know in a negative light without knowing at least some semblance about that person. It's even more annoying and disturbing when supposed journalists or news organizations talk about a person without knowing their backstory and lumping them recklessly with incongruous and idiotic assumptions. It gets yours' truly to his boiling point when I witness people who have no sense of sports journalism, and in particularly tennis journalism, and indolently do a report about a player without any knowledge of that player before that player's current incident enters the mainstream discussion, leading supposed journalists to write a poor piece not cognizant of who they are writing about. Today, we have been presented with that very sad and ridiculous case. For those casual tennis (or sports) fans or not, but know about Serena Williams, here's a quick runthrough on this asinine and completely mind-num...

What's your funniest moment of 2012? There were many truly great and painful moments in ever year, it's life. One great human moment of the year was during Tennis Channels coverage of Wimbledon, when Chris Evert gave Martina Navratilova a ring from the Tennis Hall of Fame. It really showed how great these two ladies friendship is despite being fierce rivals in the 80's, and how funny they are together, especially the charismatic risktaker that is Evert. Martina truly has the most intrepid Twitter page of any current or ex-athlete, and Evert is no softie PR person on the birdie protocol either. It's a shame they are only limited to tennis broadcasts, because they really are fantastic personalities. The Whole Delivery will continue later on today, please stay tune.

Who in the hell actually wants to be the next Scott Walker in America? Well, one Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and his Republican nutcases, as they are on the verge of stripping collective bargaining rights. Let this be a lesson to never vote for a Republican, especially in these times. When you have people who hate government that run government, and hate workers rights at the expense of the boss, then these things will continue to happen throughout the nation. It's a reason why we already have 23 "Right-to-Work" states. Unions will get it wrong from time to time. But ALL people do. We're human beings for goodness sake, especially in America, when we are placed in that position because we have people at the top too immature to run businesses, make decisions, and admit they screwed up. Most importantly, all unions, whether you are a tough middle class bluecollar worker or an actor trying to make it in Hollywood with SAG (Screen Actors Guild), are there to fu...

FINAL: Patriots 42, Texans 14 Well, the key matchup in this contest was whether Gary Kubiak's staff would equal Bill Belichick's and frankly, that has been a complete mismatch, especially in the 2nd quarter.  Of course, two key plays in the game decided early for a Patriots sound win in another big game, although the Pats have had many of those at Foxboro in the last few years on Monday night.  Not recovering Steven Ridley's fumble on the first Patriots drive was massive, and Matt Schaub missing a key checkdown that lead to the interception by Devin McCourty was all she wrote.  Thankfully for Houston, they still have their own destiny to control for home field, and this did not happen in the playoffs. With Indianapolis twice (yes, stupid NFL scheduling) and Minnesota left, the Texans definitely called shop early.  And when the Patriots smell blood, well, there you go.  Photo from ESPN.com Key injuries for both teams. The Texa...

In an era where the average Beltway reporter still practices "both sides still do it, both sides say this" incompetent journalism, it really is refreshing that Greg Sargent continues to never be that and just report facts. To do this everyday at a powerful newspaper like The Washington Post , where the era of centrism and not upsetting the elite for their hypocrisy and lies is most reporter's objective, Sargent continues to just do the job that other reporters in DC don't have the courage to do: honest journalism. I definitely planned to do this last week for sure for Greg, and I'm just glad that he continues to work through a lot of constant incompetency in the Beltway when it comes to American news. A lot of reporters think they are doing a hell of a job in the nation's capital. But Greg Sargent can be one of the rare few actually doing just that. You can follow his blog on a daily here , as well as his tweets here . 

An image of now late singer Jenni Rivera (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)   This op-ed in the New York Times  yesterday from K'Naan perfectly exhibited what's wrong with the music industry, especially in America, today. Now the Somalian-Canadian artist, now based in Manhattan, has publicly talked about how music execs were hoping that it was his best interest to water down his real music so 15-year-old American girls could be his 4th CD , Country, God or The Girl. Over breakfast in SoHo, we talked about how to keep my new American audience growing. My lyrics should change, my label’s executives said; radio programmers avoid subjects too far from fun and self-absorption.  And for the first time, I felt the affliction of success. When I walked away from the table, there were bruises on the unheard lyrics of my yet-to-be-born songs. A question had raised its hand in the quiet of my soul: What do you do after success? What must you do to...

After two straight losses, John Harbaugh & Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens out of nowhere have decided to axed offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and replace him with B coach Jim Caldwell. Though it is quite the overreaction, what did Cameron in was that disastrous first series in overtime that produced an embarrassing three and out for Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and company against an atrocious Redskins defense. Quite frankly, the Ravens should have drove and scored the game winning touchdown on that drive, but instead saw just a few plays later tasting defeat and maybe losing a first round "BYE" in the AFC playoffs for good. Nevertheless, to do this with three games left remaining in the season is quite the shakeup. But Cameron really irritated Harbaugh and Newsome to the point yesterday that it was maybe not just an overreaction at all. Still, firing the coordinator for a Super Bowl contender right at the end of the season is something I can't ever recall. (More t...