I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
first
I know this is (somewhat) less important in the scheme of things, but there's a special place in baseball hell for what Argyros did to the Mariners when he owned the team in the 80's.
Amen Matt.
Atrios, you could have kept reading the OC Weekly in your exile to the right-coast wasteland. They still bash Argyros whenever the opportunity arises.
yea, I did for awhile, but I sorta wanted to block the whole place out.
Por ejemplo:
If Spaniards could vote on the U.S. ambassador, it seems pretty clear bazillionaire George L. Argyros would be back home in Newport Beach, lunching at the Pacific Club by midweek. With 200 dead in Madrid; Socialists now in power and pulling Spain out of the U.S. alliance in Iraq; and America?s fiction of a global alliance reduced to the U.K., Tonga and a few others, it?s time to wonder about the wisdom of sending an Orange County businessman to do a diplomat?s work.
That's a rare idiocy - duplicating the host's posted link. Sorry.
Glad to see you still glance at our lifeline to a favorite flavor of sanity.
why do Billionaire Greeks hate America?
(ie...Aristotle Onassis, George Soros, Paul Argyros, myself)
Isn't Soros of Hungarian Jewish descent?
Ruiz has the poop on Soros:
born in Budapest, Hungary on August 12, 1930
OT
I have been having a running argument with my other half about the election.She likes the chump and I hate him and his RR.SHe claims I'm wrong on all points and that Kerry is a liar.I have no idea how to proceed.We have a 7 year old daughter and both of think this election is important for her.I happen to think it's deadly important and the other half thinks not.This is an issue that wont go away and I wonder if theres others here that face the same problems and how they come to grips over it.
Drop some acid in her drink on election night. Or maybe ruthie.
In Red States, diversity means, "colored people and homos"
In California, it means we have to tolerate San Diego and Orange County, plus the inland NASCAR territories.
Orange County's not so bad. In fact, it's quite nice. I'll always be loyal to it...I was born here. But it is absolutely Republican Central, which is a bummer. My answer: I blame society...arrrrggghhh!
We have a 7 year old daughter and both of think this election is important for her.
And it is.
Simply ask your wife if she wants your daughter to grow up in a world with filled with fear, a world where every breath of air is toxic, a world where individual privacy is a memory, a world where right wing religious fanatics impose their moral and cultural will upon everyone.
She can have that. Or she can vote for Kerry.
I have no idea how to proceed.
I suggest locking her in a closet until after the election.
Or you might consider divorce court since she's clearly deranged.
Unfortunately I'm only half kidding.
Used to live in Costa Mesa. Nice town, wonderful, wonderful weather, but, ugh, what a cultural wasteland.
smallfish: My current husband is politically apathetic. He's pretty liberal, overall, but he just doesn't share my PASSION for politics. And that creates enough conflict, all by itself. I was once married to a "because I'm a selfish, controlling bastard I'm a" Republican In Name Only, because it seems like cool people are Republicans, even though I don't know what's really on the Republican platform. We're divorced. It was really the only solution for us.
Kill her for the insurance money.
Not that I'm recommending divorce... I might still be married to the ex if not for that selfish, controlling bastard thing. But the politics didn't help, either.
smallfish --
just a few thoughts, but, you could
a) pretend you're James Carville and hone your debating skills.
b) take the sweet, gentle, iquisitive approach, like this girl
c) take comfort in the fact the she's only got one vote. Of course, you need not inform her in advance of your plans to spend all of election day ferrying sweet little old democrats to the polls.
So is that pronounced Arg-yeer-ohs or Ar-gy-ros?
OCWEEKLY RULES! What natural Earthly creature does not adore Schoenkopf?!!!
Wow, Atrios once lived in Orange County?
The wonders never cease.
May I ask who your Congressman was when you lived there?
I grew up in LA proper, but I used to enjoy the comments of B-1 Bob (who happened to be an alumn of my high school -- gag).
P.S. Philip Dick once lived in Orange County.
As a Mariners' fan, Matt Newman nailed it. M's fans will get the joke when I say Bobby Ayala would make a better ambassador to Spain.
Of course, there's always Edgar Martinez ...
Oy. I'd forgotten that our ambassador to Spain was a former nemesis of mine, George Argyros, from my days when I was trapped behind the Orange Curtain.
Nuh-uh, you didn't! I was trapped there too, toiling away on the student newspaper, but I escaped to Minnesota. To anyone out there suffering at Chapman ... get the hell out before it becomes a full-fledged right-wing fortress!
I'm from Seattle and we are pretty familiar with this character too. I would think that owning a major league baseball team is a good tryout for public diplomacy and lets just say that Argyros failed at that task miserably. Perhaps worse was the teams that we put on the field. While he was at the helm, the M's were routinely the worst team and laughing stalk of baseball. They would frequently trade away their good talent because he was a stingy bastard and then they would hire has been stars to try and attract people to the ball park, like it was a freak show. Does anyone remember that Goose Gossage finished his MLB career in Seattle, well I do, and painfully so. After years of pissing people off and continually threatening to move the team and/or sell the team to someone who will move the team, we finally got rid of his ass and we have been better off for it. What a jerk. If he can alienate what was then a rather subdued populace of Seattle (the city is now a lot more uptight and angry), I must believe that he can piss off anyone anywhere. I am truly sorry for the people of Espana, they did not deserve him. But I am certain the people of OC do.
Sorry Matt Newman and Pizza Driver, I did not read your posts first.
The Socialists would have had a field day with Ayala. That would have been fun to watch. And yes, good old George is definitely going to baseball hell, if not real hell.
BTW - Edgar would be my pick for a Kerry admin. Couldn't think of a better guy for the job, except for Alvin Davis or Harold Reynolds, if they could speak a little Spanish that is.
Gee whiz, don't make me feel any worse than I already do. So here's a few good things about the OC (not including the TV show, whose exteriors are actually in Rancho Palos Verdes or thereabouts):
--Steve Martin (not the endless movie remaking one; you know the one I mean)
--Diane Keaton
--Jon Lovitz
--Will Ferrell (that's maybe a stretch, but work with me)
--Laguna Beach
--South Coast Rep
--OC Weekly
--The Offspring
--Calpundit
--Pacific Symphony Orchestra (great little second-tier outfit)
--Leo Fender
--Dick Dale
--Kevin Ryan (luthier)
--Jim Mapson (luthier)
--Kirk Sand (luthier)
--Thomas Bros. Maps (be kind)
--the aforementioned Philip K. Dick
--UC Irvine writing program (alums Michael Chabon, Louis B. Jones, Amy Tan)
--UCI's Sherwood Rowland (without whom we'd know nothing about global warming)
--Walter Johnson
--the original Buffy, Kristy Swanson
--Steamers jazz club
--The Righteous Bros. started here (fuck you if you're too young or politically correct)
--the home of WD40
--Irvine Valley Amphiteatre (or as it is appelated now, Verizon Wireless)
--Social Distortion
--No Doubt (my wife likes 'em more than me)
--Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys
--Jackson Browne (cf above, Righteous Bros.)
--Tim Buckley
--Angels Stadium (aside from the fake Disney rocks a great place to see baseball)
--Lee Rocker
--Kingston Technology (the memory chipmaker that gave ALL their employees HUGE bonuses during the dotcom bubble)
--bazillions of ethnic restaurants
--The Coach House
--The Crab Cooker
--and, really, that's about it.... maybe it's finally time to move.
The people? That’s the press, what I mean to say is, the influence of the press. But that doesn’t worry me.
Surprised he didn't say Spaniards are just a focus group.
Argyros?!?!?!
The man that almost ruined my beloved Mariners?!?!? Oh, my head hurts...
A - Has Argyros gotten any really obscure awards that inflate hos sense of self-importance lately?
2 - Bobby Ayala would make a good ambassador to Spain because he wouldn't have to throw anything.
A - Has Argyros gotten any really obscure awards that inflate hos sense of self-importance lately?
2 - Bobby Ayala would make a good ambassador to Spain because he wouldn't have to throw anything.
dam dam double double post post
Mmmmmm.... Double double...
Oh, not this guy again! When he owned the Seattle Mariners, we called him Argyr-ass.
But the funniest thing occurred after he announced his (unsuccessful) bid to buy the Padres from Joan Kroc. During the next Mariner game, George sat with the Commissioner of Basebeall and across the Kingdome he saw a great big sign:
"The San Diego Padres - From Krok to Crook."
Philip K. Dick (there's another fan commenting hereabouts under the name Horselover Fat) lived in, loathed,loved and profaned Berkeley and Marin and Orange Counties.
Then there was R.A. Lafferty, electrician, of Oklahoma. Another unclassifiable nutcase.
When will we see their like again?
Argyros - failed baseball owner with a new career in politics where he's destroying everything he touches.
Just like... wait, it'll come to me...
At least he didn't trade Sammy Sosa.
secularman, you forgot Botox -- created, produced, and consumed in huge quantities in OC...
smalfishAKA Bob
Here's some ideas:
1) Forget about the wife and concentrate on raising a radical daughter that will follow in *your* footsteps. Take her to rallies, meet ups, talk to her about the issues at a level she can understand.
2) Cease and desist on the running argument, if it goes nowhere, why pursue it? What purpose is it really serving to sit in limbo with your wife, neither one changing their mind? Look deeper, perhaps there's a conflict in your values that you're not talking about (and that needs discussing).
3) Live and act on your beliefs, and ingnore her, refuse to talk to her about politics (lot's of times when one person backs off, the other rather then backing off also becomes more interested - we're weird creatures that way).
4) If she really cares for you then she will give you an hour a week to discuss one issue on which you disagree and be willing to hear your side (and you her's). Each of you should present proof of your position and be allowed to speak without interruption. At this point decide if you continue to disagree or agree (at least you'll know why and can make sense of it to some degree).
Geez what happened here? Not meaning to shame you, but no way would I marry without knowing what my partner valued, believed in and how these things translated into their behavior/relationships (and vote, ha). I guess it would be pretty hard for anyone anti bush to imagine the person they loved being pro bush.
Good luck.
Argyros is a perfect maladministration official; a failed baseball owner, just like his boss, the fratboy coward.
I'm a longtime Mariner fan as well, and couldn't say I was surprised when the miserable failure picked this turkey to be an ambassador.
He was so bad as an owner that he gave up the Mariners to buy the Padres, and once he had sold the Mariners, the National League owners refused to approve his purchase, effectively ridding MLB of the turkey forever. Smart move, MLB!
You bet he's coming home in November, whether he wants to or not! We'll be sending him home ourselves.
secularman, you forgot Botox -- created, produced, and consumed in huge quantities in OC...
So they have WMD-program-related activities going on there?
Invade!!!
Gee, Spain's got one too? I've been trying to get Massachussetts to take back Paul Cellucci for years now (ever since he pulled that dumb stunt of trying to get the Canadian gov't to buy war toys from *'s friends, and for generally acting like a bully regent), but they don't want him.
I think the most stunning part of that article is that he doesn't speak Spanish, even though he's been there for a year. (At least Cellucci doesn't have that problem in toto, although I rather suspect he doesn't speak French, which probably pisses a lot of people here off.) The historical inaccuracy at the beginning was a bit much, too.
Was Argyros the one who eliminated the Mariners' trident-shaped logo because he said it was satanic?
I live in O.C., and did a campaign contribution search of my zip code, and was amazed at the number of Democratic contributors. Made me feel better. I thought the wife and I were the only Democrats left here in Christopher Cox Land.
And Secular, you left off Tim's son Jeff, and Dean Koontz, Tim Powers, Jim Blaylock, and T. Jefferson Parker as writers of poplular fiction who dwell here too.
Phil Dick lived in an apartment in Santa Ana with a couple of cats, about the time of the Bladerunner movie.
Although I paid scant attention to the ambassadorial assignments Bush made during his first months, I do recall accusations made at the time that those picked were for political reasons only, not practical ones.
The typical Bush administration lies about what Argyros mission was to be as ambassador do not surprise me. They've had a plan all these last 3 years that showed how they were going to place *their* people into any position of power that might remain after they've left office. This is why the various international and domestic non-government agencies, as well as lobbyist groups have all been made by Tom Delay to hire conservatives only, or individuals who have shown they are in alignment with conservatives.
But it does surprise me that Argyros says he will leave in November and come back to OC.
Is this a sign he beleives that come the November elections his patron, Mr. Bush, will no longer be in office to protect him? Better to leave under you own guises with dignity, than be fired and called home in discrace?
MYOB'
.
allrighty, another OC expat! OK, so the weather here in St Paul is a lot worse, but I can put up with that in return for not having Dana Whora-bacher representing me.
funny thing about Dana: his parents were friends of my parents and Mom says he pretty much drank and stoned his way through school, not unlike Preznit Pantywaist. now he's this creepy militant ultra-rightist asshole; see this weekend's NY Times Magazine's story on the strip-mall militia bent on overthrowning the Cambodian government.
you'd have to pay me a truckload of cash to move back to OC, and then it'd have to be a beachfront cliffside villa in Laguna staffed with a brace of trim houseboys.
mudskipper-- a brace of trim houseboys? But that's only two ....
Argyros' tenure as head of the Mariners is arguably the worst-run sports team in the history of pro sports: horrible teams, ugly uniforms, and arguably the worst stadium in baseball history (and I was a fan in those days). Donald Sterling's run with the Clippers in the Sports Arena was close, and the current owners of the Blackhawks are plummeting rapidly. Seattle was a baseball market ready to explode (as we are currently seeing), and Argyros just alienated the shit out of it at every turn.
Ya know, if the fact that Argyros was Bush's ambassdor to Spain was better-publicized, it would probably deliver WA to Kerry. 20 years later, people still hate him that much. The M's are pretty universally loved, both in Seattle and the paleocon East.
Oh, and his inexplicable love for granite-handed strikeout-machine 3rd baseman Jim Presley probably will wind up keeping Edgar Martinez out of the Hall of Fame.
Maybe he is just trying to buy a soccer team, or even worse- and NFLEurope team in Barcelona...or does he runt hat already?
Part of the Reliant energy cartel that hosted the superbowl and won a near billion dollar bid war for the Texans after ripping off the Cali energy market... wonder if this guy has repub investment ties with that circle of people, he has enough west coast ties to profit off of power scams there for sure.
how much did he pull in for george to get that plum ambassadorship?
Living in Seattle in the late 80s, I remember parody songs on the radio like "Argyros the Mighty Chump" (to the tune of The Mighty Quinn) and "Trade Away" (Springsteen's Fade Away).
Everybody hated the guy, everybody.
As an OC resident, I think of myself as being behind enemy lines. Deep behind enemy lines. I'm pretty sure I live in the reddest city.
ned: a brace is only two? I thought it was like a gaggle. or a flock. how about just lots of trim, lithe houseboys?
Runt hat?
I know this is (somewhat) less important in the scheme of things, but there's a special place in baseball hell for what Argyros did to the Mariners when he owned the team in the 80's.
Fortunately, even baseball had the good sense to refuse George when he got tired of running the Mariners as a member of the Angels' farm system and tried to buy the Padres from Joan Kroc.
It's a sad commentary on the state of American diplomacy that Sleazeball George got his embassy post anyway.
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