Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, as you know, is a great fan of his Washington Nationals baseball club. Apparently said Washington Nationals have decided to call up (1st pick overall and potential offensive-stud-in-the-making) Bryce Harper from the minors.

Crazy. Read about it here on the Washington Post.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was thinking of his blog and remembered a nice turn of phrase. He spent some time looking for it. Then he found it on the Outer Life blog. To paraphrase, writing about not writing is tedious to read.

Your Maximum Leader has been very tedious for a long time.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader got tired of looking at the last post at the top of his blog. Sadly, he doesn’t have a good idea for a single cogent post. He’s sure he’s had some ideas over the past few days; but his brain is blank now.

In politics there isn’t much out there for real commentary. Obama blah blah blah blah. Romney bleh bleh bleh bleh. The real race will not heat up for a while yet. Provided that there is much of a race. Your Maximum Leader still thinks that Obama will win re-election. Not because he deserves it mind you. Rather because Republicans are hell-bent-for-leather to be idiots. Romney is, of the crop who chose to run, the most electable. But just being the non-Obama is not going to win in November. Neither man is talking about the real issues facing our nation. Neither man seems serious about governing in a way that reverse the problems of spending, taxation and debt that imperil our nation’s future.

(NB to readers: Amazingly, no one seems to think that seriously discussing austerity and changes to federal spending and taxation is path to the presidency of these United States…)

If it is of any consolation, for those of you out there thinking that China is all the shit (Paul Krugman, your Maximum Leader is glaring at you)… The Economist just ran a podcast discussing Chinese demography and how the 1 child policy can likely cause massive economic distress in the 2030 and on timeframe. Apparently in rural China the birth rate is 1.7; in most urban areas it is closer to 1; but in the most cosmopolitan cities (Shanghai for example) the birth rate is .7. That will cause massive strain on China’s ability to maintain growth (and care for an aging population).

Of course, once China goes to hell there is no telling who will want to purchase US Treasury bills and finance our spending… India? We’re looking at you…

In other political news… Your Maximum Leader sees that sleezebag Tareq Salahi has filed papers to run for governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. After nearly spitting out a mouthful of Makers Mark while reading that news, your Maximum Leader regained his composure and became more amused. This is a guy most famous for crashing a state dinner at the White House. He also has a habit of getting sued for not living up to his commitments and being a general asshole. One imagines that somehow this will somehow transform the “Real Housewives of DC” into a new reality show entitled “Governor’s Mansion Here I come!” Sweet jeebus… Just when you think politics couldn’t get any lower…

In sporting news…

Your Maximum Leader has long been disgusted with the complete disregard people in the Washington DC area have for all teams that are not the Washington Redskins. The Washington Capitals have been competing in (and yesterday won) a hard playoff series with the Boston Bruins. The Washington Nationals are the best team in the NL (and the second best in MLB). But what is everyone in Washington focused on? The NFL draft.

Your Maximum Leader believes that Robert Griffin III is likely a good guy and excellent football player. He may actually have what it takes to help the Redskins improve. But really now, at this point your Maximum Leader couldn’t give a damn about football and is now getting actively annoyed at continued football talk.

Your Maximum Leader caught his first Nationals game of the year last Friday. He watched his beloved Nationals win (a nail biter) over the (Florida) Miami Marlins. (NB to readers. The Marlins new stadium looks interesting, but their new uniforms look like crap.) It was a great experience. He is sure he’ll take in a number of games this season. He hopes that other Washingtonians will do so as well. It is embarrassing and tragic that the Nationals are doing so well and can’t sell more than 20,000 tickets to a weeknight game.

Did you know that if the Nationals play .500 ball the rest of the year they will make the playoffs? Really… Who knew?

As for the Capitals… Your Maximum Leader’s emotional state was a roller coaster ride during the first round of the playoffs. All peaks and valleys. He isn’t sure if he’ll hold up if the Caps go far. He is anxiously awaiting word of which team the Caps will draw in the next round of the playoffs. He feels the Caps will match up well against Florida or New Jersey. He isn’t so sure about the Rangers. And he dreads Philly. Philly seems to be on a mission this year.

Well… That is about it for now… Your Maximum Leader will think of other stuff and try and get some down here…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been a long-time reader of John Derbyshire’s pieces in National Review and elsewhere. He often found himself in agreement with many of Derbyshire’s (or Derb as he is known) opinion pieces. Even some of his more off-the-wall pieces found a sympathetic ear with me. (The only one that leaps to mind right now had to do with the looting of the Baghdad National Museum after the US invasion of Iraq. Derb’s position was that the looting might be a good thing in that the looter were likely to sell artifacts on the black market and they would wind up well cared for in the hands of private collectors and at some point in the future the would likely wind up back in some museum collection.)

Even though some of Derb’s opinion pieces on race-related subjects made your Maximum Leader a little squeamish; none of them seemed to go “too far.” They were considered pieces intelligently written, even if your Maximum Leader thought them wrong-headed.

Until this past weekend…

Derb’s piece in Taki’s Magazine over the weekend on “the Talk for nonblacks” was way over the line. Your Maximum Leader will not link the piece directly. (Although it is widely linked elsewhere, including at my buddy Kevin’s place where you will find his commentary as well).

Well… The piece got Derb fired from National Review. (As it should.) It also prompted your Maximum Leader to delete the links on this site to Derb’s personal web page and to Taki’s Magazine. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t make a fuss about de-linking different people or sites. (Most of the time it is just a purge of a link that is dead, or a purge of a link to a site your Maximum Leader never reads.) But this deserves an exception. Your Maximum Leader was repulsed by what Derb wrote, and equally repulsed that Taki’s Magazine showed no editorial oversight by publishing the piece.

And so that is the end of that. No more Derb (or Taki’s Magazine) for your Maximum Leader.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has let his blog go to hell. As in, he can’t be bothered (apparently) to write for it. He hopes to turn over a new leaf and write more, but real life seems to continually conspire to prevent him from blogging.

Take the past seven days for example. Your Maximum Leader and Mrs Villain have been running kids around town for piano, baseball and softball. And not meaning to toot his offspring’s horn but… Villainette #2 decided she wanted to try out for her school’s softball team - and she made the team (beating out some more experienced girls). Then the Wee Villain brought home some virus that has had everyone in the family in the bathroom with all manner of unpleasantness spewing forth from our orifices. So all that has kept him from blogging.

But hearing excuses for not blogging is a tired refrain here. Your Maximum Leader will try to blog more…

Anyhoo…

Last night was the official opening night of baseball season. Your Maximum Leader knows that many of you are out there pointing out that the Athletics and Mariners played two official games last week in Japan to kick off the season. Insofar as your Maximum Leader is concerned, those two games are abominations and shouldn’t count. He doesn’t mind exhibition games played in other nations. Frankly, if you can get both teams to agree to it in advance, he wouldn’t mind regular season games in other countries as a sign of good-will. But to have season opening games overseas a week before the season begins is just plain wrong.

Back in February your Maximum Leader predicted 85-90 wins for his beloved Washington Nationals this season. He is going to stand by that prediction. Especially after watching the Marlins get pounded by the Cards last night. Perhaps the Marlins (who have been Nats killers in the past) will not be quite as strong as he thought. Of course, one game does not a season make. The Marlins have got to figure out their left side. Lots of miscommunication there.

Speaking of the Marlins… That new stadium looks nice. Your Maximum Leader’s tastes in stadia is one of extremes. He either wants “throwback” stadia (like Camden Yards - which turns 20 this year) or very modern and new (like Miami’s new stadium). Your Maximum Leader wouldn’t mind seeing a game in Miami. He even thought he’d like to see a game from that “Clevelander” bar in left field at the new Miami park. It has bars, a pool, dancing girls - oh yeah, and seats at field level. Actually, if you wanted to watch a game the “Clevelander” would likely be a bad place to watch. Too much else going on…

Anyhoo…

The Nationals open against the Cubbies in Chicago in a few hours. He is looking forward to a strong showing by the Nats and coming away with a win.

In other Nationals news, your Maximum Leader feels badly for John Lannan. After carrying the team’s pitching for a few years now he was optioned to AAA two days ago. Lannan is a good pitcher. Frankly, your Maximum Leader has more faith in Lannan than he does in Chen-Ming Wang or Tom Gorzelanny. But, apparently Davey Johnson and Mike Rizzo believe they are better off with others over Lannan. Your Maximum Leader would be a little sad to see Lannan go to another team, but he also wants Lannan to play. The guy was opening day starter for a couple years for pete’s sake. He should be able to play.

Well… Your Maximum Leader will try and listen to the game on the radio today and follow his Nats on their way to a great season.

Carry on.