TIME's Person of the Year? ME!

And you, too.

To be sure, there are individuals we could blame for the many painful and disturbing things that happened in 2006. The conflict in Iraq only got bloodier and more entrenched. A vicious skirmish erupted between Israel and Lebanon. A war dragged on in Sudan. A tin-pot dictator in North Korea got the Bomb, and the President of Iran wants to go nuclear too. Meanwhile nobody fixed global warming, and Sony didn't make enough PlayStation3s.

But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together (15 years ago, according to Wikipedia) as a way for scientists to share research. It's not even the overhyped dotcom Web of the late 1990s. The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.

And we are so ready for it. We're ready to balance our diet of predigested news with raw feeds from Baghdad and Boston and Beijing. You can learn more about how Americans live just by looking at the backgrounds of YouTube videos -- those rumpled bedrooms and toy-strewn basement rec rooms -- than you could from 1,000 hours of network television.

Congratulations, you wild-eyed rebel.

Basketsprawl

Things erupted when the rookie Mardy Collins committed a flagrant foul on the Nuggets’ J. R. Smith, who was going for a layup. In seconds, Nate Robinson and Smith appeared to tackle each other, and a scrum formed behind the baseline.

Anthony then punched Collins in the face, sending Collins to the floor and escalating the fight.

Several other players also threw punches, and Anthony is almost certain to draw a suspension from the league. The Knicks’ Jared Jeffries had to be restrained as he chased Anthony. Several players, coaches and security guards ran onto the court trying to end the fight.

With all 10 players who were playing at the time of the fight ejected, the game was delayed for several minutes as the three referees tried to sort out what had happened.

Another black eye (pun intended) for the NBA.

Baggy bags it

Bagwell didn't finish with 500 homers or a .300 average, but he needs to go into the Hall of Fame, probably on the first ballot. In 15 seasons, he hit .297/.408/.540 with 449 homers, 1.529 RBI and 1,517 runs scored. His OPS ranks 24th all-time, and much of his production came in the Astrodome, a pitcher's park. Over a two-season span in 1999-2000, he hit 89 homers, scored 295 runs and drove in 262. His 152 runs in 2000 is the highest total anyone's managed since Lou Gehrig in 1936. However, he was at his absolute best in 1994, hitting .368/.451/.750 with 116 RBI in 110 games before a broken hand ended his season even before the strike could. He was the unanimous MVP that year anyway, and he also finished second in 1999 and third in 1997.

Weekend Postpourri

-- James Gandolfini is slated to be the King of the Krewe of Bacchus at this year's Mardi Gras.

-- An e-mail addy that expires after ten minutes. Perfect for those invasive registration sites.

-- Speaking of spam, have you been getting more lately from people whose names sound vaguely familiar, offering you stock tips, knock-off Rolexes, and Windows Vista downloads? There's a reason.

-- The SEIU janitors won again, this time against the nation's largest mall management company. Link via Matt Stoller at MyDD, the leading source for this news.

-- There continues to be lots of news regarding the pending sale or breakup of the Tribune Co., which owns the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune, New York Newsday, the Chicago Cubs baseball team and a host of other media properties. Entertainment kingpin David Geffen sold his Jackson Pollock painting "No. 5, 1948" for $140 million to raise money to buy the Times, which he bid $2 billion for yesterday. The Chandler family, whose forbear founded the paper, built a media empire called Times-Mirror then sold it to Tribune, are divided over whether to get back into the business or not. Other multi-millionaires want part or all of the company.

-- I made it on time to the "frenzied groupthink" party, but I was late to the after-party. Eileen is always better at responding to this sort of hysterical rant than I am, anyway.

-- Poaching Kuffner's turf: these two posts from Tory Gattis and Christof Spieler are interesting as an Inner-Looper. Tory introduces me to the acronym TOD, or transit-oriented development. Christof has the excellent mobility take, as always.

-- Right of Texas and Paul Burka break down Henry Bonilla's ass-whipping in the 23rd. Update (12/16): P.M. Bryant pulls together a much better compendium of links and analysis.

-- Since I'm not a gamer I don't need or want a Wii, but if it's on your Christmas list for you or someone else, you better be careful with it.

Moneyshot Quotes of the Week

"I never understand that question, you have a President that's in deep shit. He got us into the war, and all the reasons he gave have been proven invalid, and the whole electorate was so pissed off that they got rid of anyone they could have, and then they ask, 'What is the Democrats' solution?'"

-- Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), quoted by the New York Observer, when asked what the Democrats should do about Iraq

"I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume."

-- President Bush, in an interview with People magazine

"I don't think I would have called it the war on terror. I don't mean to be critical of those who have. Certainly, I have used the phrase frequently. Why do I say that? Because the word 'war' conjures up World War II more than it does the Cold War. It creates a level of expectation of victory and an ending within 30 or 60 minutes of a soap opera. It isn't going to happen that way. Furthermore, it is not a 'war on terror.' Terror is a weapon of choice for extremists who are trying to destabilize regimes and (through) a small group of clerics, impose their dark vision on all the people they can control. So 'war on terror' is a problem for me."

-- Donald Rumsfeld, 12/12/06

Also from Rumsfeld, the following:

(T)here has been comment in the press of late about whether or not we’re even engaged in a war on terror, or whether our purpose might be better explained in a different manner. Let there be no mistake, we are a nation at war, against terrorist enemies who are seeking our surrender or our retreat. It is a war." 8/2/05

"I would like to say that Iraq is really one of the battle grounds in the global war on terror." 4/24/06

"Iraq is the central front of the global war on terror." 12/16/05

Q: My argument is that we are fighting the war on terror in Iraq. Back me up a little bit on that, Mr. Secretary.
RUMSFELD: Well, you're absolutely right. 8/3/04

"(Iraq is) part of the global war on terror; let there be no doubt." 9/10/03

Q: Do you feel that the Administration by turning its attention onto Iraq would be leaving the job undone a bit too soon?
RUMSFELD: Oh, no. Indeed that’s part of the global war on terrorism, Iraq. 12/4/02

"Well, I'm not a very good writer. I have the ideas, and I have somebody else put the words together."

-- Tom DeLay, talking about his blog

"He underwent successful surgery to evacuate the blood and stabilize the malformation. (North Dakota Senator Tim Johnson) has continued to have an uncomplicated post-operative course. Specifically, he has been appropriately responsive to both word and touch. No further surgical intervention has been required."

-- US Capitol physician Adm. John Eisold. You may send a get-well-soon greeting to Sen. Johnson at this link.

Duck, it's Dick, and he's the Bum Steer this year

But none of these antiheroes measure up to the man we’re here to honor. A politician and a sportsman. A man who’s a real blast to go hunting with, who this year gave the country (and his friend Harry Whittington) a shot in the arm, among other places. He may be number two in the White House, but to us he’ll always be number one with a bullet. Or a pellet. Come out from that undisclosed location, Dick Cheney. You’re our Bum Steer of the Year.

Thank you, Texas Monthly, for this free look at your annual edition of the best/worst things Texans said and did in the past year. A couple of my favorites:

DAVYCROCKETT1836: DO I MAKE YOU A LITTLE HORNY?
SANTAANNA: A LITTLE.
DAVYCROCKETT1836: COOL.

Amid calls for speaker of the U.S. House Dennis Hastert to resign over his handling of the Mark Foley matter, U.S. congressman Joe Barton, of Arlington, compared Hastert to the defenders of the Alamo.

ANOTHER INSTANCE OF KATRINA “WORKING VERY WELL” FOR SOMEONE

Former first lady Barbara Bush made a donation to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with the proviso that part of the money be spent to purchase software from her son Neil’s company.

OF COURSE, IF YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE LIFELESS HUMAN BODIES, WE RECOMMEND A TEXANS HOME GAME

After two Houston museums simultaneously mounted exhibits featuring posed human cadavers, the CEO of the Health Museum remarked, “If there’s a city in the United States where two exhibits like this could happen … it’s Houston.”

Don't miss this.

St. Arnold needs a ride to Austin

Tonight's Tex-blogosphere conference call featured Brock Wagner of the Saint Arnold Brewing Company, who asked for our help in advancing a worthy cause. Specifically, revising the TABC code to enable microbreweries like his around the state to sell beer on a retail basis from their facility.

The craft brewery industry in Texas once featured 19 different microbreweries around the state, but today only five remain in business. (Many of us in Houston can remember when there was a brewpub on every corner of Richmond Avenue in the Nineties.) The struggles can be traced in part to the arcane alcoholic beverage laws in Texas, many of which date to the Prohibition era, that restrict certain sales activity. For example, if you go to a St. Arnold's brewery tour on a Saturday afternoon, you cannot purchase a six-pack of their beer from them.

So because the industry is on a beer budget when it comes to publicity, the publishers -- and readers -- of Texas blogs from the left and the right can all agree on one thing: when it comes to pilsner, we're all in this together.

Wagner and the other brewmasters of the craft breweries in Texas -- besides St. Arnold, they include Rahr and Sons of Fort Worth, Real Ale of Blanco, Independence and Live Oak of Austin -- hope to get a legislator to carry their bill in the coming 80th session of the Texas Lege. Wagner's lawmakers at the brewery's location in northwest Houston are Rep. Jessica Farrar and Sen. John Whitmire, and he is busy soliciting their help (when he's not busy running the brewery, that is).

Visit St. Arnold Goes to Austin to stay current on this effort, or better yet drop a line to your rep and ask them if they would sponsor the legislation to change the TABC code, and while you're at it, take the St. Arnold brewery tour some Saturday afternoon and support the local economy.

Update (12/14): Kuff and Houstonist add more.