Some commentators today were so enthralled by last night’s Dorner news, they compared the manhunt to a Denzel Washington movie.
Too bad for the president. He gave a pretty good speech without having to sneak in a sip of water.
See my Asian American take on the State of the Union Address here.
It’s my post on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog.
Just like my old NPR commentaries…
I read so you don’t have to.
Is that not the deal of the century!
Game time is coming up and I have completed all my superstitious rituals that have helped bring me to a vision, of which I will share with you now.
But before that, this could have been a very literary SuperBowl, what with the Ravens named after the masterpiece of famed Baltimore homey Edgar Allen Poe.
What if the 49ers had been named after the work of a San Francisco literary figure. Kerouac? The Roadies? Jack London? The White Fangs? Danielle Steele? The Romancers?
No, no, no. Last night, the movie version of the great Dashiell Hammett classic was on. Imagine the Ravens vs. the Maltese Falcons.
No?
OK, nevermore.
I’m feeling 24-20 for some reason.
Here’s how it goes, 49ers score first with an Akers field goal (hooray!) , then add a TD, a run by Frank Gore, then another by Kaepernick. That’s 17 in one half.
The Ravens come back after the field goal to go ahead 7-3.
Niners make it 10-7.
Then make it 17-7 at half-time.
In the second half the Ravens come back, scoring to make it 17-14.
Twice more they penetrate 49er territory, but get only field goals to go ahead 20-17.
In the final quarter, the 49er offense wakes up with some long passes to Vernon Davis.
And then sensing man coverage at the line, Kaepernick uses his legs to score a game-winnng touchdown.
49ers go ahead, 24-20.
That’s my copyrighted vision of today’s SuperBowl that I have licensed the 49ers to use as they wish.
If you’re a better and take the Ravens and the points, or the 49ers giving, the line is 4, and what do you know, it’s a push, a tie.
That should make the Harbaugh’s parents’ happy.
But the 49ers win the game.
BTW, I made a rare appearance on the KQED “This Week in Northern California” program where I joined a panel talking about immigration reform.
If you missed it, here’s a link to the TV show.
LATE ADD: OK, my prediction, the game, nothing worked out quite the way I said. For the most part, Beyonce won the game, as the 49ers were lip-synching through three quarters. But then came that 34 minute delay due to a power failure. You mean a 49er power failure wasn’t enough, now the Superdome had to be less than super? And though what usually is spawned by a power failure is a baby boom nine months later, this power failure birthed an explosion of energy from the 49ers who nearly made it all the way back from the dead. 28-6 certainly made us all more interested in whatever buffet was before us and not the football game. But then, the 49ers began to play, outgaining, outscoring the Ravens, topped off with a Kaepernick score to bring the 49ers to a 31-29 deficit. The Ravens added a field goal making it 34-29. Then, with the ball on the Baltimore 5-yard line, the 49er juggernaut hit a wall–the Ravens defense. Four plays, goal to go, and nothing. No runs, passes. Lots of penalties. Oh, those aren’t penalties? Well then, the pistol was shot. The 49ers empty.
Oh, what could have been? From 34-29, the Niners go 36-34. Flacco and the Ravens still had a lot of time to drive for a game winning FG or a TD. Or maybe the 49er defense finally prevails. We won’t know that ending. We’re stuck with the one we’ve got.
A Super Bowl win you cherish and commemorate. A Super Bowl loss burns eternally.
You do learn from it, as team and as a fan. And you go on from there, perhaps to achieve or witness greatness again.
But until that happens, you can never quite turn off the lights on such a super loss.
Secretary of State Steven Chu’s departure doesn’t come as a surprise. Chu had some tough political moments where his science and academic smarts may not have served him nor the president well. In politics, just because you’re right, doesn’t mean it’s right. Chu made comments about gas prices he had to recant. And there was the Solyndra episode that blew up in his face. Politics is not easy. Even if you’re a Nobel Laureate.
Today’s announcement means there’s one less Asian American in the cabinet, two if you count Chris Lu, the cabinet secretary.Obama has said to wait until all is said and done before commenting about the diversity of his second term staff.
But Chu is one of the best and the brightest Asian Americans on the planet. When a guy like Chu can’t cut it, that’s certainly sends a message to others who aspire to serve in politics.
Here’s a presidential statement below, a White House release that massages the exit of Steven Chu. It’s followed by a link to Chu’s farewell letter to those at the DOE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2013
Statement from the President on Secretary Steven Chu
I want to thank Secretary Chu for his dedicated service on behalf of the American people. As a Nobel Prize winning scientist, Steve brought to the Energy Department a unique understanding of both the urgent challenge presented by climate change and the tremendous opportunity that clean energy represents for our economy. And during his time as Secretary, Steve helped my Administration move America towards real energy independence. Over the past four years, we have doubled the use of renewable energy, dramatically reduced our dependence on foreign oil, and put our country on a path to win the global race for clean energy jobs. Thanks to Steve, we also expanded support for our brightest engineers and entrepreneurs as they pursue groundbreaking innovations that could transform our energy future. I am grateful that Steve agreed to join in my Cabinet and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
But in Steven Chu’s letter to the Energy Department, there’s alot that was done to mark the last four years. Read his letter here.
