I couldn’t do it… I just couldn’t bring myself to watch the Obama Press conference last night. Not only did President Obama call a press conference to basically say that after one hundred days in office, he has not been impeached, no states have seceded from the union and there have been no attacks from invading armies… yet.
I’ve been at my job for well more than 100 days. Do I get a press conference?
But I did not watch because Krystle came over after her workout with her trainer and as we do on Wednesdays, have dinner and watch Lost. That’s another thing that upset me about this press conference. Sure I’m willing to skip an episode in the final season of Scrubs, only to watch it online later. But do NOT preempt LOST! I swore if I did have to miss Lost I would run against Obama in 2012 on that platform… That and the Fair Tax.
A typical occurrence when Obama is on TV is me sitting there engaged in debate with the president. He seems to ignore my rebuttal but somehow I usually end up ahead on points. Krystle has threatened to make me go downstairs and play Mario Kart on the Wii if I don’t stop. But since the Wii is at her house I decided to just not catch up on some unwatched shows on my DVR.
Tonight’s selection: GI Joe Resolute. This may be the GI Joe cartoon I’ve waited my whole life to see. It is definitely grown up from the 80’s cartoon, which by todays standards may be a little cheesy, so not much of a cheese factor here. But plenty of blood and guts, and even a few good guys not surviving the experience. Basically a globetrotting animated 24 that doesn’t take place in real time. Of course I’m not the first person to compare GI Joe to 24. Wizard Magazine once said “GI Joe makes the spies on 24 look like CIA washouts!”
The action is similar to the comic books, specifically the more recent Devil’s Due Publishing run, though this is an original story. The cast is mostly original. The voice acting was pretty good, but how great would it have been to reassemble the original cast. Yes I know there are cast members who have passed away so that is impossibility.
The animation was updated for the 21st century as well. The character models seem to be built on a hybrid Japanese/American style of animation. It works well.
The story is solid, works in some cool military sci-fi gadgets but does go PC in a couple places. Sure Scarlet, one of the few female Joes comes out of a fight unscathed while her male partner takes a non-lethal bullet. Also the Dialtone character is reprised as a woman. Not a mainstream enough character to be as offensive as Battlestar Galactica’s reprising of Starbuck as a woman, but sill a change nonetheless.
We finished with GI Joe at about 8:53 in time to hear President Obama give the final answer of his press conference. After a couple minutes I asked, “Is he just talking to hear himself talk?” as his words lacked clear cohesion of thought. After the president left the podium ABC’s Charlie Gibson gave a synopsis of the event calling the most interesting question: “What has surprised you the most? Humbled you the most? Enchanted you the most?”
I didn’t know People Magazine covered presidential press conferences. I did learn this morning that question was asked by a New York Times reporter.
Enchanted, really?
If journalism isn’t already dead, it’s on life-support and that reporter just pulled the plug!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
I’ll take my chances
Swine flu, the world-ending crisis-of-the-week, seems to have captured the attention, hearts and imagination of the global reporting community. I especially mean the part about capturing the imagination.Wile hundreds of reported cases are confirmed, a representative of the WHO has said that there are only seven confirmed deaths, not the more than 150 figure that was previously thrown around.
I am one person, there are seven reported deaths. There are well more than six billion people on the planet.
That works out to about a one in 857,142,857chance of dying from this “pandemic”. Or as Porky Pig might say:
“One in eight hudre… ba de, eight hundred fifty-seven mil, ba de, one in eight… a really big number.”That makes this about the least likely cause of death in the world right now.
I think I’ll be okay on my own, Mr. President, and I don’t need the government coming in to take over the healthcare industry because of this perceived crisis.
That being said, I suddenly feel better about the bacon I had for breakfast today.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Why my fiancé can now never be Miss USA
...Okay, besides the fact that she’s going to be a Mrs. before the next pageant.Sunday the goal was to be home by 7:00 so Krystle could watch the Miss USA pageant. We got there in the nick of time and as soon as the contestants were introduced Krystle was barking at the girls in their bikinis. “Eat a cheeseburger!” “Look at her walk it’s too stiff” “Tone up your legs!”
This is the same woman who yells at me to go downstairs and play Mario Kart when I start debating with the man giving the State Of The Union Address!
Irony!
Of course, little did we know that politics was about to enter the pageant with the final question for Miss California. She was asked about her views on gay marriage by openly gay celebrity bloger Perez Hilton.
Before I quote her answer a little recent history is called for. This past November when it seemed that left wing radical ideals were all the rage across the country, the blue state of California had a gay marriage proposal on the ballot. That issue went down like a Led Zeppelin. It wasn’t even close! Since then there have been attempts to subvert democracy and institutionalize gay marriage via courts. This is the epitome of what is meant by a vocal minority. And a vocal minority that enforces its values on a silent majority is called fascism.
Now that we have established the views of the minority and majority of Californians on this issue it should come as no surprise that a randomly selected citizen of the golden state would statistically fall in the majority.
So what was Perez Hilton so upset about when his question received the following answer:
“We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And youKudos to Miss Carrie Prejean for standing up for what you believe. Double kudos to your parents for raising you right. And a final round of kudos for exposing the Miss USA pageant for what it is: an agenda-driven leftist biased all lefties club where even if you have the best body, best smile, best walk and best answers, if you don’t agree with what the judges personal bias you not only will not win the crown, the judge will lambaste you on his blog.
know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a
marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there,
but that's how I was raised.”
But not this blog; here we like you, Carrie. You may never get that national crown, but you’re a voice for all those tea partiers out there! And yes, my fiancé, who competed for Miss Ohio a year ago, would have given a very similar answer.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Running the numbers
President Obama has called for $100 million in cuts from the 3.5 trillion dollar budget.
Let’s look at these numbers next to each other
......$100,000,000.00 in cuts from
$3,500,000,000,000.00 federal budget.
Let’s put it this way. If the entire federal budget were one dollar, then you would have to make that cut 350 times before you would have cut one full penny from the budget.
In other words, Obama has successfully called for cutting one thirty-five thousandth of the budget.
And you wonder why people are assembling in masses to protest this reckless spending!
Let’s look at these numbers next to each other
......$100,000,000.00 in cuts from
$3,500,000,000,000.00 federal budget.
Let’s put it this way. If the entire federal budget were one dollar, then you would have to make that cut 350 times before you would have cut one full penny from the budget.
In other words, Obama has successfully called for cutting one thirty-five thousandth of the budget.
And you wonder why people are assembling in masses to protest this reckless spending!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
What kind of job would you do for $500,000?
This week President Obama suggested that financial firms taking federal bailout money cap their executive pay at a half million dollars per year.
This is what economists call a price ceiling. What happens when you have a price ceiling is that prices automatically go to that level. So now that all bailed-out banks will have half-millionaire CEO’s what is the incentive to be a bank executive when you could be an executive of a less-regulated industry.
A paycheck is essentially a bribe to get you to do something you would otherwise not do. Most people would rather sleep in, take a relaxing drive to the gym, read a good book, catch up on Lost and eat out at expensive restaurants, rather than sit in a monochrome cubicle for eight hours strait.
By capping executive salaries, or any salaries for that matter, you will have the most talented executives leaving the banking industry for more lucrative careers where earning potential will not be limited.
Inversely when you can only pay an executive a mere 500 large, you get a 500k executive. Okay, let’s put that in some more scaled down terms if you actually think that $500,000 is a lot of money.
If you ran a restaurant and you were only going to pay your cook $1 per hour that he worked how good of a cook do you think you would get? Sure you would get the Wolfgang Puck of most third-world countries for that rate, but for our little example let’s assume your restaurant is somewhere in North America.
The answer is that you would get either no one willing to do the job for that amount or someone so terrible at their job that they are only worth one dollar per hour.
An executive worth only $500,000 in our society is a pretty bad executive. This would lead to a talent vacuum in the financial markets which would put them in further disarray, leading to more government intervention, regulation and socialization of our private sector. Then again, that’s probably just Obama’s master plan.
This is what economists call a price ceiling. What happens when you have a price ceiling is that prices automatically go to that level. So now that all bailed-out banks will have half-millionaire CEO’s what is the incentive to be a bank executive when you could be an executive of a less-regulated industry.
A paycheck is essentially a bribe to get you to do something you would otherwise not do. Most people would rather sleep in, take a relaxing drive to the gym, read a good book, catch up on Lost and eat out at expensive restaurants, rather than sit in a monochrome cubicle for eight hours strait.
By capping executive salaries, or any salaries for that matter, you will have the most talented executives leaving the banking industry for more lucrative careers where earning potential will not be limited.
Inversely when you can only pay an executive a mere 500 large, you get a 500k executive. Okay, let’s put that in some more scaled down terms if you actually think that $500,000 is a lot of money.
If you ran a restaurant and you were only going to pay your cook $1 per hour that he worked how good of a cook do you think you would get? Sure you would get the Wolfgang Puck of most third-world countries for that rate, but for our little example let’s assume your restaurant is somewhere in North America.
The answer is that you would get either no one willing to do the job for that amount or someone so terrible at their job that they are only worth one dollar per hour.
An executive worth only $500,000 in our society is a pretty bad executive. This would lead to a talent vacuum in the financial markets which would put them in further disarray, leading to more government intervention, regulation and socialization of our private sector. Then again, that’s probably just Obama’s master plan.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Please consider the economy before printing THIS blog
It has come to my attention no less than twice since posting my previous post on environmental stimulus, that my theory would more immediately and more importantly help the economy.
Oh, if you haven’t read my previous post it’s right here. No, take your time, I’ll be here when you get back.
Okay now that you’ve gone back and read what I wrote earlier this week we can now move forward.
When I printed that email, which I did so in order to perform a task at my job, I was creating economic growth. By doing my job, my company is able to complete it’s stated mission, by completing their mission they can make a profit. When making a profit the shareholders get a dividend and the stock price goes up and more people are employed, and they print out emails that go on to save the planet.
I just realized that in one run-on-sentence I summed up an entire semester of Environmental Economics.
The point is, the environment and economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive. Sure the environmentalists believe so, but that’s because their real agenda is as much government regulation on business as possible. And it’s impossible for an individual, company or society to grow its way out of heavy restraints, let alone prosper!
Oh, if you haven’t read my previous post it’s right here. No, take your time, I’ll be here when you get back.
Okay now that you’ve gone back and read what I wrote earlier this week we can now move forward.
When I printed that email, which I did so in order to perform a task at my job, I was creating economic growth. By doing my job, my company is able to complete it’s stated mission, by completing their mission they can make a profit. When making a profit the shareholders get a dividend and the stock price goes up and more people are employed, and they print out emails that go on to save the planet.
I just realized that in one run-on-sentence I summed up an entire semester of Environmental Economics.
The point is, the environment and economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive. Sure the environmentalists believe so, but that’s because their real agenda is as much government regulation on business as possible. And it’s impossible for an individual, company or society to grow its way out of heavy restraints, let alone prosper!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Please consider the environment before printing blog
Today I received an email at work that, in tiny little green letters at the bottom of the message read “Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail”.
So I printed it.
And yes I considered the environment. So assuming trees are good for the environment I helped plant a tree today by printing this email.
If I print the email, then my company needs to order more paper. If we order more paper then somebody needs to produce more paper. If the paper company is to produce more paper they need to get more raw materials, i.e. trees. To get more trees they need to call the lumberjack to cut some down. And because the lumberjack doesn’t want to go out of business, he will plant a brand new tree.
I helped the environment by printing out this goofball’s email!
If you are reading this blog, please hold down the “Ctrl” key and then press the “P” key. If you are reading a printout of this blog, please find your nearest copy machine and make a copy.
The environment needs our help. We must all do our part!
So I printed it.
And yes I considered the environment. So assuming trees are good for the environment I helped plant a tree today by printing this email.
If I print the email, then my company needs to order more paper. If we order more paper then somebody needs to produce more paper. If the paper company is to produce more paper they need to get more raw materials, i.e. trees. To get more trees they need to call the lumberjack to cut some down. And because the lumberjack doesn’t want to go out of business, he will plant a brand new tree.
I helped the environment by printing out this goofball’s email!
If you are reading this blog, please hold down the “Ctrl” key and then press the “P” key. If you are reading a printout of this blog, please find your nearest copy machine and make a copy.
The environment needs our help. We must all do our part!
Monday, December 01, 2008
I’m still alive!
Okay it’s been a while… it’s not that I haven’t been expressing myself online, you can check me out at examiner.com where I’m the Buckeye Examiner (and there’s cash involved too!)
But a lot has happened since my celebrity sightings… Obama won turning us potentially into the USSA.
The wedding planning is ongoing, when I get a chance to update it I’ll have our wedding blog site up and running.
Krystle and mom bonded over black Friday shopping. I was scheduled to join them but at the last minute my Jack Bauer approach to shopping probably caused my invitation to be rescinded. Remember I as a man I don’t browse products to buy I hunt for them and with laser guided focus I ignore all other sales. I was planning itineraries, charts and cell phone logistics to maximize the potential for black Friday deals.
This is not how a woman shops.
But wouldn’t it be great if one season of 24 took place on black Friday? The following takes place between 6:00 Am and 7:00 AM
Phone rings
Chloe
Jack, you have to get out of Best Buy, the Wii’s just got restocked at Wal Mart.
Jack
Chloe, there’s no time!
That would probably get more women to watch the show.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Celebrity Sightings
It’s funny how you can spot a famous person you’re note expecting to see. Friday night I was with my fiancé, Krystle, who was working a Corona promotion. Normally I only drink Corona once a year on May 5th, but to support her cause I made an exception.
The promotion took place at a bar near Campus. Being a warm enough night there was lots of activity on the patio and many, many students wandering the sidewalk. Amongst the students of varying levels of clothing quality and inebriation I spotted an older gentleman with a bow tie. No not my dad, but the rock star of college presidents, Ohio State’s own G. Gordon Gee.
The thing about Dr. Gee is that he’s popular among students. I’m not sure if they just think he’s the guy who has those late-night tv commercials about money from the government, but he was swarmed by young buckeyes and posed for pictures and shook hands with as many as came up to him.
Then, and more importantly, on Sunday Krystle and I were in southern Ohio at the Bob Evan’s festival. I had asked a bean vendor (yes, a bean vendor!) where she got her McCain/Palin button. She said they were ordered online and there was no [official] GOP presence there (I did count about a half-dozen t-shirts supporting the republican ticket). The lady did inform me that Sarah Palin may be speaking at the Gallipolis Wal Mart. I told Krystle and said we should try and go, since we had to head that way anyway to pick up a camera.
Without any solid plans to attend Gov. Palin’s rally we were a few blocks away when we saw a motorcade of police motorcycles. Krystle tells me “We don’t have police like that around here!”
That’s when I spotted a bus coming around the corner. “That’s the Strait talk express!” I shouted.
Krystle said for me to roll down the window, which I had temporally forgotten how to do in the excitement.
I leaned into my car horn and held a big thumb up out the window while Krystle yelled “WE LOVE YOU SARAH!!!”
No word on if the VP candidate heard us but the bus driver waved at me!
The promotion took place at a bar near Campus. Being a warm enough night there was lots of activity on the patio and many, many students wandering the sidewalk. Amongst the students of varying levels of clothing quality and inebriation I spotted an older gentleman with a bow tie. No not my dad, but the rock star of college presidents, Ohio State’s own G. Gordon Gee.
The thing about Dr. Gee is that he’s popular among students. I’m not sure if they just think he’s the guy who has those late-night tv commercials about money from the government, but he was swarmed by young buckeyes and posed for pictures and shook hands with as many as came up to him.
Then, and more importantly, on Sunday Krystle and I were in southern Ohio at the Bob Evan’s festival. I had asked a bean vendor (yes, a bean vendor!) where she got her McCain/Palin button. She said they were ordered online and there was no [official] GOP presence there (I did count about a half-dozen t-shirts supporting the republican ticket). The lady did inform me that Sarah Palin may be speaking at the Gallipolis Wal Mart. I told Krystle and said we should try and go, since we had to head that way anyway to pick up a camera.
Without any solid plans to attend Gov. Palin’s rally we were a few blocks away when we saw a motorcade of police motorcycles. Krystle tells me “We don’t have police like that around here!”
That’s when I spotted a bus coming around the corner. “That’s the Strait talk express!” I shouted.
Krystle said for me to roll down the window, which I had temporally forgotten how to do in the excitement.
I leaned into my car horn and held a big thumb up out the window while Krystle yelled “WE LOVE YOU SARAH!!!”
No word on if the VP candidate heard us but the bus driver waved at me!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Right now the DJIA is at 8,303.44
As of this post the Dow Jones Industrial Average is 8,303.44. This is roughly half of its all-time high.
At this point it's important to remember my Finance professor from college who once told me "We will likely see the Dow hit 20,000 in our lifetime [this was right around the time it hit 10,000 for the first time], but we might see 6 along the way."
This is a trend, just like that 90's dotcom boom. The thing about trends is that they are pretty consistent right up until they end.
At this point it's important to remember my Finance professor from college who once told me "We will likely see the Dow hit 20,000 in our lifetime [this was right around the time it hit 10,000 for the first time], but we might see 6 along the way."
This is a trend, just like that 90's dotcom boom. The thing about trends is that they are pretty consistent right up until they end.
Monday, September 22, 2008
It's Getting Nasty... Nasty Funny!
Political name calling happens in every election... but this year the theme is definitely "Same Circus, Different Clowns"
Well here's a brief synopsis of some back-and-forth.
Palin: "(A small town mayor) is kind of like being a community organizer, but with actual responsibility."
Obama Supporters: "Jesus was a Community Organizer, Pilate was a Governor"
Now asside for historical/theological inaccuracies, but honestly, how often do liberals really read the Bible and keep it in context.
Sure, Pilate was a governor, but it was Jesus' own people (the Jews) who condemned him. Pilate was just under pressure from Rome to not loose control of Judea. When Jesus came in with his ideals that upset the existing Jewish status-quo (kind of like Palin in the Alaskan political system) it was the Jewish Leadership who wanted him killed. Pilate offered them Barabbas, a convicted murderer, but mob rule demanded Jesus be crucified...
Okay that was a long-winded explanation for something that all worked out in the end, but I think the best way to say it is:
"I know Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is a friend of mine. Barack Obama, you're no Jesus Christ!"
Well here's a brief synopsis of some back-and-forth.
Palin: "(A small town mayor) is kind of like being a community organizer, but with actual responsibility."
Obama Supporters: "Jesus was a Community Organizer, Pilate was a Governor"
Now asside for historical/theological inaccuracies, but honestly, how often do liberals really read the Bible and keep it in context.
Sure, Pilate was a governor, but it was Jesus' own people (the Jews) who condemned him. Pilate was just under pressure from Rome to not loose control of Judea. When Jesus came in with his ideals that upset the existing Jewish status-quo (kind of like Palin in the Alaskan political system) it was the Jewish Leadership who wanted him killed. Pilate offered them Barabbas, a convicted murderer, but mob rule demanded Jesus be crucified...
Okay that was a long-winded explanation for something that all worked out in the end, but I think the best way to say it is:
"I know Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is a friend of mine. Barack Obama, you're no Jesus Christ!"
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
In the name of Obama, Amen
Last week Republican Presidential Nominee, John McCain, decided that while he’s locked up the moderate and crossover Democrat vote, he might want to consider working on the Republican vote. This was the determining factor in his choosing pro-life, gun-shooting, animal-killing, oil-drilling, free-market-loving Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential Nominee.
Psst, Sarah Palin is a girl!
Now this prompted me to notice that Democratic nominee Barack Obama seems to have constant woman issues, first it was Hillary, now it’s this feisty Alaskan babe.
Since it seems to be Women who keep getting in Barack’s way, what would his response be to such opposition. I created the following phony Obama ad and posted it on Rupart Murdoch owned Myspace, specifically sending it to a few Obama-supporting friends.
The replies back were stunning…
First, a girl:
“That’s what I’m talking about… no girls!”
And a Canadian:
“If I were American I would (vote for Obama)…”
Now that I’ve back-handedly stated that Obama Supporters are trampling on the woman’s movement on the way to the Whitehouse, the Obama Supporters just don’t see it like that. To them anything done in the name of Obama is good. From his stance of infanticide to his acceptance as the party’s nominee in front of a Julius Caesar-like Roman Coliseum. It appears you can do anything in front of an Obama supporter when you pretend to be one of them.
Psst, Sarah Palin is a girl!
Now this prompted me to notice that Democratic nominee Barack Obama seems to have constant woman issues, first it was Hillary, now it’s this feisty Alaskan babe.
Since it seems to be Women who keep getting in Barack’s way, what would his response be to such opposition. I created the following phony Obama ad and posted it on Rupart Murdoch owned Myspace, specifically sending it to a few Obama-supporting friends.
The replies back were stunning…
First, a girl:
“That’s what I’m talking about… no girls!”
And a Canadian:
“If I were American I would (vote for Obama)…”
Now that I’ve back-handedly stated that Obama Supporters are trampling on the woman’s movement on the way to the Whitehouse, the Obama Supporters just don’t see it like that. To them anything done in the name of Obama is good. From his stance of infanticide to his acceptance as the party’s nominee in front of a Julius Caesar-like Roman Coliseum. It appears you can do anything in front of an Obama supporter when you pretend to be one of them.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
In the news:Biggest Celebrity in the World Edition
This is my rundown of the biggest celebrities in the world:
Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad
Hilton released a Web video of her own Tuesday saying her inclusion in McCain’s ad must mean she’s running for president.
The tongue-in-cheek video is laced with age-based insults. Hilton may not be known for her trenchant wit, but the two-minute spot is a satirical blend — part “Daily Show,” part “Legally Blonde.”
McCarthy: Favre not ready to play for Packers
Speaking publicly for the first time about his series of meetings with Favre, Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy said the quarterback was not in the "proper mindset" to continue as a member of the team.
Olsen seeks immunity over Ledger
Actress Mary-Kate Olsen will not speak to investigators about Heath Ledger's death unless she is granted immunity from prosecution.
An official said the 22-year-old wants the assurance before speaking to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Olsen was the first person contacted by the masseuse who discovered Ledger's body. Her lawyer said she has told the authorities all she knows.
Poll: Nearly half hearing too much about Obama
With Election Day still three months away, 48 percent said they're hearing too much about the Democratic candidate, according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 26 percent said the same about his Republican rival, John McCain.
Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad
Hilton released a Web video of her own Tuesday saying her inclusion in McCain’s ad must mean she’s running for president.
The tongue-in-cheek video is laced with age-based insults. Hilton may not be known for her trenchant wit, but the two-minute spot is a satirical blend — part “Daily Show,” part “Legally Blonde.”
So if Paris has to respond to the McCain ad comparing Barak Obama to her, this
must mean that she doesn’t want to be associated with Obama. Or maybe she’s just
upset that she’s no longer considered the biggest celebrity in the world.
McCarthy: Favre not ready to play for Packers
Speaking publicly for the first time about his series of meetings with Favre, Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy said the quarterback was not in the "proper mindset" to continue as a member of the team.
Well with the way Brett has been bellyaching about wanting to play again his
mindset must be that he’s the biggest celebrity in the world!
Olsen seeks immunity over Ledger
Actress Mary-Kate Olsen will not speak to investigators about Heath Ledger's death unless she is granted immunity from prosecution.
An official said the 22-year-old wants the assurance before speaking to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Olsen was the first person contacted by the masseuse who discovered Ledger's body. Her lawyer said she has told the authorities all she knows.
Ah the plight of being the most wanted celebrity in the world and having to deal
with the deadest celebrity in the world! It could be worse. These two could be
the biggest celebrities in the world.
Poll: Nearly half hearing too much about Obama
With Election Day still three months away, 48 percent said they're hearing too much about the Democratic candidate, according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just 26 percent said the same about his Republican rival, John McCain.
Much like Paris, Brittney, Brett Favre, The Oleson Twins, Mylie Cyrus, P
Diddy, and anyone else that has been over-exposed by People Magazine, it’s not
long before people get fed up by the Biggest Celebrity in the World.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Take Me Out To The Ballgame...
Take me out to the ballgame… That simple song about rooting for the home team, eating peanuts and cracker-jack and counting the outs with the umpire is a true reflection of the innocence and simple pleasure of watching baseball. That song alone may be what separates baseball from the other major sports. But shouldn’t other sports have songs too?
Soccer:
Take me out to see Soccer
Take me out with the crowd of ninteen
Buy me the jersey of some European team
I don’t care that nobody here speaks English
So let’s root root root for the home team
If they don’t win there will be a riot
For it’s 1, 1, 1 goal score
in this whole damn game!
Football:
Take me out to see football
Take me out with the crowd, that has been drinking beer in the parking lot since 5 AM this morning
Buy me a six dollar hot-dog
I won’t get any change back
So let’s root, root, root for the home team
If they don’t win they’re out of the playoffs and may move to another city.
For it’s 1, 2, 3, player convictions
At the Football game!
Basketball:
Take me out to see Basketball
Take me out with the crowd of celebrities in the front row while the rest of us are stuck in the nosebleed seats
Buy me a replica jersey of the guy who just got injured
I don’t care if he ever comes back
So let’s root root root for the home team
If they don’t win the refs probably have the game fixed
For it’s one, two, three steps and no travel called
At the Basketball game!
Hockey:
Take me out to see Hockey
Take me out with the crowd
Buy me something to throw at the penalty box
I don’t care that the game isn’t being shown on TV
So let’s root root root for the home team
Just hoping they don’t strike again
For it’s one-two-three teeth knocked out in the hockey fight!
Take me out with the crowd, that has been drinking beer in the parking lot since 5 AM this morning
Buy me a six dollar hot-dog
I won’t get any change back
So let’s root, root, root for the home team
If they don’t win they’re out of the playoffs and may move to another city.
For it’s 1, 2, 3, player convictions
At the Football game!
Basketball:
Take me out to see Basketball
Take me out with the crowd of celebrities in the front row while the rest of us are stuck in the nosebleed seats
Buy me a replica jersey of the guy who just got injured
I don’t care if he ever comes back
So let’s root root root for the home team
If they don’t win the refs probably have the game fixed
For it’s one, two, three steps and no travel called
At the Basketball game!
Hockey:
Take me out to see Hockey
Take me out with the crowd
Buy me something to throw at the penalty box
I don’t care that the game isn’t being shown on TV
So let’s root root root for the home team
Just hoping they don’t strike again
For it’s one-two-three teeth knocked out in the hockey fight!
Soccer:
Take me out to see Soccer
Take me out with the crowd of ninteen
Buy me the jersey of some European team
I don’t care that nobody here speaks English
So let’s root root root for the home team
If they don’t win there will be a riot
For it’s 1, 1, 1 goal score
in this whole damn game!
Friday, July 18, 2008
In The News
Seriously, I haven’t done one in entirely too long….
Gore urges U.S. to have carbon-free power in decade
http://www.star-telegram.com/869/story/766574.html
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore urged the United States on Thursday to convert the nation’s entire electricity grid to carbon-free energy within 10 years, warning that drastic steps are needed to avoid a global economic and ecological cataclysm.
I haven't picked on Mr. Gore in a while, but this is just too easy: Gore plans on helping this along by using up all the fossil fuels by flying all over the world making these statements in his personal private jet.
FDA gives all-clear on tomatoes, not peppers
Jalapeno, serrano varieties focus of salmonella hunt
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration declared on Thursday that it is again safe to eat all tomatoes now on sale in the U.S., canceling its warning in June that some tomatoes were the cause of a still-unsolved outbreak of salmonella poisoning.
This further proves my theory that Al-Quaeda is trying to kill us with Salsa!
Britney Spears gives sole custody to Kevin Federline. For now.
isn't she dead yet?
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline have reportedly reached a settlement in their acrimonious 1½-year-long court battle over custody of their two sons.
Federline has sole custody of Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1. And Spears keeps her current status of two visits and one overnight per week.
We all knew Britney was a bad parent, but how bad was she that these kids are better off with the jagdork willing to marry her! Reportedly the chidren get along with K-Fed’s illegitimate child he conceived just before marrying the pop star.
Starbucks identifies stores slated for closure
No coffee no peace, know coffee know peace?
Coffee chain to shutter more than 600 stores in response to slowing sales, sluggish economy.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starbucks Corp. released a list Thursday of the 616 company-owned stores it will shutter by the first half of 2009.
The closures accompany planned layoffs of 12,000 workers. Starbucks currently operates 7,087 stores in the U.S.
Can we blame the coffee bean speculators for keeping the prices high? Or is it just the CEO’s of Big Coffee? Maybe it's a supply and demand problem with the growth of Chinese coffee drinkers. It's actually because Gas prices so high people are choosing to fill up their car than their mug. Now every one of those pansy-assed late-sipping New York Times reading, Ed Hardy wearing pseudo-sophisticated coffee shop socialites now have a reason to expand offshore drilling too!
Gore urges U.S. to have carbon-free power in decade
http://www.star-telegram.com/869/story/766574.html
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore urged the United States on Thursday to convert the nation’s entire electricity grid to carbon-free energy within 10 years, warning that drastic steps are needed to avoid a global economic and ecological cataclysm.
I haven't picked on Mr. Gore in a while, but this is just too easy: Gore plans on helping this along by using up all the fossil fuels by flying all over the world making these statements in his personal private jet.
FDA gives all-clear on tomatoes, not peppers
Jalapeno, serrano varieties focus of salmonella hunt
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration declared on Thursday that it is again safe to eat all tomatoes now on sale in the U.S., canceling its warning in June that some tomatoes were the cause of a still-unsolved outbreak of salmonella poisoning.
This further proves my theory that Al-Quaeda is trying to kill us with Salsa!
Britney Spears gives sole custody to Kevin Federline. For now.
isn't she dead yet?
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline have reportedly reached a settlement in their acrimonious 1½-year-long court battle over custody of their two sons.
Federline has sole custody of Preston, 2, and Jayden, 1. And Spears keeps her current status of two visits and one overnight per week.
We all knew Britney was a bad parent, but how bad was she that these kids are better off with the jagdork willing to marry her! Reportedly the chidren get along with K-Fed’s illegitimate child he conceived just before marrying the pop star.
Starbucks identifies stores slated for closure
No coffee no peace, know coffee know peace?
Coffee chain to shutter more than 600 stores in response to slowing sales, sluggish economy.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starbucks Corp. released a list Thursday of the 616 company-owned stores it will shutter by the first half of 2009.
The closures accompany planned layoffs of 12,000 workers. Starbucks currently operates 7,087 stores in the U.S.
Can we blame the coffee bean speculators for keeping the prices high? Or is it just the CEO’s of Big Coffee? Maybe it's a supply and demand problem with the growth of Chinese coffee drinkers. It's actually because Gas prices so high people are choosing to fill up their car than their mug. Now every one of those pansy-assed late-sipping New York Times reading, Ed Hardy wearing pseudo-sophisticated coffee shop socialites now have a reason to expand offshore drilling too!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Playing the Brett Favre Lottery (revised)
Here's a list of every NFL team and the likelihood that one of them will sign Brett favre. Given Favre only wants to start, he really wants to win, and there are salary cap issues to consider. Of course with two years left on his contract the Green Bay Packers aren't just going to let him go to any team who needs an experienced quality quarterback. So assuming the Packers do make a trade, this is a list of teams the Packers are most likely to deal with.
| Buffalo | **** | It's as cold as Green Bay, and they probably have the salary room |
| Kansas City | *** | Does this team even have a quarterback right now? |
| New York Jets | *** | He's a country boy at heart, but we know he looks good in green |
| Tampa Bay | *** | John Gruden loves Quarterbacks and would probably be willing to sign Favre |
| Carolina | *** | Given how banged up they were under center last year you may have John Fox's attention |
| Washington | *** | Could happen, and this team does like to finagle with salary cap numbers |
| Seattle | *** | Reunion with Holmgren? And Hasslebeck has experience backing up #4.Okay realistically this should only be a 1-2 star ranking, but a guy can dream can't he? |
Baltimore | *** | When you spend your first pick on Joe Falco, Favre for a year could be an upgrade. Then again after seeing Steve McNair last year Baltimore may be the new place Quarterbacks go to die. |
| Houston | ** | Matt Schaub was an upgrade from the perpetually sacked David Carr, however Favre would be a better upgrade… if he can be protected |
| Denver | ** | Willing to look into Favre's glucose levels |
| Miami | ** | Would be a good one-year mentor for rookie draft pick Chad Henne |
| Atlanta | ** | Yes, but only if he's an animal lover! |
| San Francisco | ** | This would make Joe Montana the second best QB to have played in the City by the Bay |
| Cincinnati | * | Carson Palmer is still the starter, but depending on how this plays out, Palmer may be taking notes on how to get a new team. |
| Tennessee | * | Only if Vince young is willing to switch to slot receiver |
| San Diego | * | It really doesn't matter who the QB is here as long as LaDanian Tomlinson is healthy |
| Oakland | * | This is JaMarcus Russell's year… to finally see a down |
| St. Louis | * | Probably looking more to the future than giving a semi-retired all-star another shot |
| Pittsburgh | Just resigned Ben, not looking for another starter | |
| Cleveland | Just hoping to avoid a QB controversy without a future hall-of-famer stirring the pot | |
| Indianapolis | They should just rename this team the "Peyton Mannings" | |
| Jacksonville | After David Garrard's unbelievably low interception numbers, he's under center for the foreseeable future | |
| New England | Two words: Tom Brady | |
| Green Bay | Hell no! | |
| Detroit | Traded out of the division before this happens | |
| Minnesota | Traded out of the division before this happens | |
| Chicago | Sacralige! | |
| New Orleans | Of all the offensive tools this team needs, Quarterback is not one of them | |
| Dallas | Can you say Tony Romo? | |
| New York Giants | Only Baltimore is stupid enough to replace a quarterback the year after winning a superbowl | |
| Phillidelphia | How's Brett's 40? What this team really needs is another receiver. | |
| Arizona | Already has one old guy who thinks he's better than the young hot-shot. |
Of course there are other factors, that could be used to further wittle down this list. It's unlikely that the Packers would deal with another playoff team in the NFC. They definately will NOT deal with any team in the NFC North. Finally the Packers definately won't deal with a team on their 2008 schedule. That discounts the following teams:
Detroit
Dallas
Tampa
Atlanta
Seattle
Indianapolis
Tennessee
Minnesota
Chicago
New Orleans
Carolina
Houston
Jacksonville
But what happens if Favre goes to a mediocre team and after 8 weeks, it gets colder the practices are harder and he's looking at a 4-4 record at best? Does Brett remember that he said he still wanted to play but wasn't willing to put in the work? Has he taken an attitude that the NFL is all about him and what he wants, and then just screws a team by re-retiring midseason?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Let's face it, all the good songs have already been written
Musings on the Music Industry between Dustin and Andy
From Dustin:
I think I just figured out what makes classic rock so great and today's music so bad. It's all opposite of how it used to be. The music industry takes people and tries to create something. When they take a song they try and create some type of emotional hook so the fans like it.
Years ago in the age of classic rock you had bands whose works evolved from their own feelings, experiences, and emotions. Then, they went to the companies themselves to try and make it big.
My Reply:
Your theory would explain the rise of independent rock.
The other thing is that the music industry isn't just a music industry anymore. Look at the pictures of bands from the 70's like Humble Pie and Grand Funk... or even how the Beatles looked on the Hey Jude album.
They had scraggly beards, wrinkled clothing and weren't much to look at. However it was the music that mattered so nobody cared and they created classic rock.
Then came the 80's. You have MTV as the new major outlet for music and all of a sudden it was visual. Now it mattered how you looked, so much so that we had Twisted Sister wearing Makeup.
I recently heard someone on the radio comment that some early 80's one-hit-wonder would have been HUGE if he had debuted 5 years earlier, but when looks started to matter his career was cut short.
Not to say that there weren't some great bands after that. But for every Bon Jovi, Def Leopard, and Van Halen there were 4 ugly bands that was at least as talented.
But when the corporations who analyzed that the great 80's rock bands were really just an extension of classic rock bands who showered regularly we had record companies putting studio musicians together and calling them a band. This gave us crap like Winger.
This was the start of what you described as unemotional corporate rock. The grunge movement was a brief backlash to that, but while rock had become pseudo-emotional grunge was itself unemotional.
Now more than ever we have the music corporate entities telling us what we want instead of letting us decide what we want. From radio to record sales to any commercial musical venture the music industry is forcing us to listen what THEY want us to listen to.
Guess what, the music industry is hurting. They blame MP3 file sharing over the internet, but why do I pay $9 a month for Sirius? It's because I get 4 classic rock stations that play different brands of classic rock, and every other segment of music I can think of. the majority of Americans own iPods, not because we're gadget obsessed consumers, but because it gives us a chance to create a play list of only the music we WANT, not what we're told to want.
The music industry is hurting because they're trying to dictate the rules of the free market instead of abiding by the will of the free market.
From Dustin:
I think I just figured out what makes classic rock so great and today's music so bad. It's all opposite of how it used to be. The music industry takes people and tries to create something. When they take a song they try and create some type of emotional hook so the fans like it.
Years ago in the age of classic rock you had bands whose works evolved from their own feelings, experiences, and emotions. Then, they went to the companies themselves to try and make it big.
My Reply:
Your theory would explain the rise of independent rock.
The other thing is that the music industry isn't just a music industry anymore. Look at the pictures of bands from the 70's like Humble Pie and Grand Funk... or even how the Beatles looked on the Hey Jude album.
They had scraggly beards, wrinkled clothing and weren't much to look at. However it was the music that mattered so nobody cared and they created classic rock.
Then came the 80's. You have MTV as the new major outlet for music and all of a sudden it was visual. Now it mattered how you looked, so much so that we had Twisted Sister wearing Makeup.
I recently heard someone on the radio comment that some early 80's one-hit-wonder would have been HUGE if he had debuted 5 years earlier, but when looks started to matter his career was cut short.
Not to say that there weren't some great bands after that. But for every Bon Jovi, Def Leopard, and Van Halen there were 4 ugly bands that was at least as talented.
But when the corporations who analyzed that the great 80's rock bands were really just an extension of classic rock bands who showered regularly we had record companies putting studio musicians together and calling them a band. This gave us crap like Winger.
This was the start of what you described as unemotional corporate rock. The grunge movement was a brief backlash to that, but while rock had become pseudo-emotional grunge was itself unemotional.
Now more than ever we have the music corporate entities telling us what we want instead of letting us decide what we want. From radio to record sales to any commercial musical venture the music industry is forcing us to listen what THEY want us to listen to.
Guess what, the music industry is hurting. They blame MP3 file sharing over the internet, but why do I pay $9 a month for Sirius? It's because I get 4 classic rock stations that play different brands of classic rock, and every other segment of music I can think of. the majority of Americans own iPods, not because we're gadget obsessed consumers, but because it gives us a chance to create a play list of only the music we WANT, not what we're told to want.
The music industry is hurting because they're trying to dictate the rules of the free market instead of abiding by the will of the free market.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Obscene Oil Profits and How to Put an End to Them
Barack Obama is an idiot. And because John McCain can’t come up with this idea on his own he’s likely not much better. Now I know that the biggest criticizer of “big oil” (By the way, I looked it up, there is no single entity called “big oil” just a group of publicly held companies operating in the oil industry) and coiner of the phrase “obscene profits” is Hillary Clinton, but aside from a potential VP nod and subsequent plot to take the Oval Office from within the administration, she’s a non-factor right now.
That leaves us with Barack and John. I pay their salaries; I think its okay for me to address them on a first-name-basis.
Obama’s position on $4 gasoline is summed up in his statement “We can’t drill our way out of this,” meaning that he would rather see more hybrid cars, mass transit and people turning off their Air Conditioning and Heat. His statement “we can’t” doesn’t refer to a physical inability; it is actually an ideological roadblock: “we shouldn’t.”
McCain’s solution to high gas prices has been to have a gas-tax holiday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Essentially, during the summer the government gets none of what you pay at the pump. If anything this just keeps the gas companies from having to collect taxes on behalf of the IRS and isn’t much of a long-term solution at all.
Others have proposed further taxing the oil companies “obscene” profits. This just exacerbates the high price at the pump because in everything you buy from t-shirts to stereo equipment to mayonnaise has a tax built into the price. Taxes on corporations are just the IRS’s way of outsourcing their collections department.
But what if we did drill our way out if this? Keep in mind I believe we can and we should. The reason for high gas prices is primarily the industrial revolution currently happening in India and China. More industry needs more fuel and outside of smashing atoms, oil provides the best bang-for-your-buck ratio. We know from the first law of Economics that when demand rises, and supply stays stagnant so the price goes up.
Drilling domestically, and all signs point to there being at least as much Oil in North America as there is in the Middle East, would provide a significant boost to the world’s oil supply. This would increase supply at some point to approach the increased demand. Continuing with the economics lesson when supply rises to meet demand the price comes down.
So in response to Barack, Yes, we can drill our way out of it, in fact, the best, easiest solution in the world is to drill our way out of it.
Now what would be the long-term ramifications of this? With oil trading currently at approximate $140 a barrel, based on future speculation of supply and demand the speculation would then shift toward rising supply and thus lower price per barrel. Since we are dealing with long-term speculation and not physical supplies the price for a barrel of crude would likely drop rapidly and significantly.
How significant? Well let’s assume that ANWR provides ten years of US supply. Oil would become more readily available concequently the price per barrel would drop; the profit margin from extracting the oil from the ground would become razor thin.
Oil companies now get $140 per barrel. Let’s assume that their overhead costs, including facilities, transport and labor costs are $50 per barrel. Droping the price per barrel to $80 significantly cuts into the profit margin per barrel. Dropping the price again under $50 creates a loss for the oil company.
And that’s how you cut Oil profits without hurting the consumer!
That leaves us with Barack and John. I pay their salaries; I think its okay for me to address them on a first-name-basis.
Obama’s position on $4 gasoline is summed up in his statement “We can’t drill our way out of this,” meaning that he would rather see more hybrid cars, mass transit and people turning off their Air Conditioning and Heat. His statement “we can’t” doesn’t refer to a physical inability; it is actually an ideological roadblock: “we shouldn’t.”
McCain’s solution to high gas prices has been to have a gas-tax holiday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Essentially, during the summer the government gets none of what you pay at the pump. If anything this just keeps the gas companies from having to collect taxes on behalf of the IRS and isn’t much of a long-term solution at all.
Others have proposed further taxing the oil companies “obscene” profits. This just exacerbates the high price at the pump because in everything you buy from t-shirts to stereo equipment to mayonnaise has a tax built into the price. Taxes on corporations are just the IRS’s way of outsourcing their collections department.
But what if we did drill our way out if this? Keep in mind I believe we can and we should. The reason for high gas prices is primarily the industrial revolution currently happening in India and China. More industry needs more fuel and outside of smashing atoms, oil provides the best bang-for-your-buck ratio. We know from the first law of Economics that when demand rises, and supply stays stagnant so the price goes up.
Drilling domestically, and all signs point to there being at least as much Oil in North America as there is in the Middle East, would provide a significant boost to the world’s oil supply. This would increase supply at some point to approach the increased demand. Continuing with the economics lesson when supply rises to meet demand the price comes down.
So in response to Barack, Yes, we can drill our way out of it, in fact, the best, easiest solution in the world is to drill our way out of it.
Now what would be the long-term ramifications of this? With oil trading currently at approximate $140 a barrel, based on future speculation of supply and demand the speculation would then shift toward rising supply and thus lower price per barrel. Since we are dealing with long-term speculation and not physical supplies the price for a barrel of crude would likely drop rapidly and significantly.
How significant? Well let’s assume that ANWR provides ten years of US supply. Oil would become more readily available concequently the price per barrel would drop; the profit margin from extracting the oil from the ground would become razor thin.
Oil companies now get $140 per barrel. Let’s assume that their overhead costs, including facilities, transport and labor costs are $50 per barrel. Droping the price per barrel to $80 significantly cuts into the profit margin per barrel. Dropping the price again under $50 creates a loss for the oil company.
And that’s how you cut Oil profits without hurting the consumer!
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