In honor of MJ, here’s the best use of one of his songs in a song (after the commercial).
Page 64 of 87
The Onion once again crunches complicated intelligence data and breaks it down to a level even I can understand. Slideshows like this one are the only thing Power Point is really good for.
Jigga’s problems have been documented here before, but his latest beef with The Game is seemingly unilateral. It’s the genesis of a very interesting post at ForeignPolicy.com:
The changes in Jay-Z’s approach over the years suggest that he recognizes the realist and liberal logic… but is sorely tempted by the neo-conservative impulse. Back when he was younger, Jay-Z was a merciless, ruthless killer in the “beefs” which define hip hop politics. He never would have gotten to the top without that. But since then he’s changed his style and has instead largely chosen to stand above the fray. As Jay-Z got older and more powerful, the marginal benefits of such battles declined and the costs increased even as the number of would-be rivals escalated. Just as the U.S. attracts resentment and rhetorical anti-Americanism simply by virtue of being on top, so did Jay-Z attract a disproportionate number of attackers.
See, you can learn something from rap.
I’m not into watching sports as much as I used to be. Like, hardly at all. But I saw two interesting things about sports today.
First, check out the card for UFC 100–the biggest event in the history of the UFC.
- 265: Brock Lesnar (c) (265) vs. Frank Mir (c) (245)
UFC Heavyweight Championship Unification - 170: Georges St-Pierre (c) (170) vs. Thiago Alves (170)
UFC Welterweight Championship - 185: Dan Henderson (185) vs. Michael Bisping (186)
- 185: Yoshihiro Akiyama (185) vs. Alan Belcher (186)
- 170: Jon Fitch (170) vs. Paulo Thiago (170)
- 205: Mark Coleman (205) vs. Stephan Bonnar (205)
- 155: Mac Danzig (154) vs. Jim Miller (155)
- 205: Jon Jones (206) vs. Jake O’Brien (206)
- 170: Dong Hyun Kim (171) vs. T.J. Grant (170)
- 185: C.B. Dollaway (186) vs. Tom Lawlor (184)
- 155: Matt Grice (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (156)
What would you have said 3 or 4 years ago if I told you that the light heavyweight fight at the UFC’s biggest event ever would get 6th billing and would feature Stephan Bonnar as its top name?
The UFC is all about the welterweights right now, huh?
The second cool thing I saw today was in a tweet from @alyssa_milano on 11 things that have happened only once in MLB. I was shocked at how many of these are from the recent past and how many of them I actually remember. But this was my favorite:
During the September 4th, 1908, game between the Tigers and Cleveland Indians, Schaefer was on first and a teammate was on third. The Tigers wanted to do a double steal — Schaefer would break for second, and, when the Indians tried to throw him out, his teammate would steal home. But when Schaefer broke for second, the Indians’ catcher didn’t make the throw, so Schaefer stole the base without the run scoring.
That wasn’t the plan so, on the next pitch, he broke back for first… and successfully stole it without a throw. Then, on the next pitch, he broke for second AGAIN, to try to make the double steal work… but again, the Indians didn’t throw.
That makes him the only player in MLB history to steal the same base twice in one inning. (And one of only two players to ever steal first base from second.)
Sorry, this isn’t a post about True Blood
But Vampire Economy
The national demand for “stimulus” replaced private decision making entirely, as businessmen were required to produce and avoid any economic downturns that might embarrass the state.
Ironically, this isn’t about 21st century economics in the United States. Yet.
That’s usually why the same clowns keep getting sent back to Congress.
But in this case it’s true–it really isn’t my representative who is the problem. Congratulations to Jimmy Duncan for getting a perfect score on Freedom Index.
The average House score for this index is a dismal 38 percent and the average Senate score is an even worse 35 percent. Three representatives earned perfect scores: John Duncan (R-Tenn.), Jeff Flake (R.-Ariz.), and Ron Paul (R.-Texas).
My Senators need some work though.
Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vt.), an avowed socialist, is the same score garnered by two GOP senators — Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and George Voinovich (Ohio)
I think the purpose of this video was to make me feel sympathy for prisoners at Riker’s Island. I came away with two thoughts I don’t think were intended…
- What did these guys do to land them in prison?
- Who the hell let them out?!?!
**Not for the office–adult language and descriptions of extreme violence**
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em and Then Say You Beat ‘Em
Any move toward greater government involvement in health-care is going to lead toward increased health-care lobbying of government.
Interesting.
If I didn’t know for a fact that every single member of Congress is there for no other reason than to do what is best for the long term strength of the country, I’d say the whole discussion of health care reform was nothing more than an attempt to shake down the health care industry.
But I know better than that.
It’s been highly recommended by so many people, so I finally broke down and read Outliers: The Story of Success
Why does everyone else get all the breaks while nothing good ever happens for me?
Heh…just kidding.
It is encouraging to know that I’m good at math despite having to translate my native language to numbers for calculating things in my head without being angered to the point of violence due to my honor society heritage. 😛
Good book. Recommend it.
I saw this comment to a comment on Facebook and thought it was pretty powerful…
So far this month, 10 members of our military have lost their live in Iraq, and 22 have lost their lives in Afganistan.
These were mostly young people in their 20s and 30s who put themselves in harm’s way to perform a job most of us don’t have the courage to perform. The fact that they were willing to do so affords us the opportunity to watch 24 hour “news” coverage on the deaths of entertainers who are at least 50 years old.
Yeah, 50 is young too. And it’s shocking. But let’s keep this in perspective.
I’m not saying I’m any less guilty than anyone else is of getting distracted by day-to-day life–I don’t mean to cast any stones. But it is shame when so much emphasis is placed on the death of a few celebrities while we all but ignore the sacrifice of people who, at the very least, deserve to be recognized on television/radio/print by news organizations.
I have to give props to George Stephanopoulos. He recognizes all of our fallen service people every week on his show.
This is hilarious!
I think we should also explore running federal vehicles through title pawn services and getting payday advances on quarterly tax filings.
Oh wait, I guess we are kind of doing that already.
If you offer to buy this house, make sure you stipulate that the seller will leave all accessories!!!!
Seriously, this is some great link bait.
Welcome Home! Home is where you hang your hat. Look closely…can you find the hat in this picture?
Welcome Home!!!
Having a tough time seeing the TV because the figurines decided to hold a town hall meeting in front of it? Check out the top shelf…you’re covered.
If you look closely you can get a glimpse of the beautiful floors!
Luckily, the right side of the photo isn’t blurry, so we can see ALL the doll heads clearly.
I think I see a spot where we could squeeze in a pillow
Just follow the links in the photos. There’s more there, and I can’t really do it justice. You just have to see it for yourself. Luckily there is a pool, so if you can find enough heavy knick knacks you could make a belt out of them and possibly escape.
I was wondering the other day if/why the equal protection clause doesn’t protect people from the injustices of a graduated tax rate. Sure enough, someone else has wondered that already.
I guess since taxes are inherently punitive, “protection” doesn’t really come into play. I don’t remember reading anywhere that we are guaranteed equal penalty under the law.
I don’t expect anything to be changed, I was just wondering.
I remember watching an episode of Cheers a long time ago, and one of the characters made the remark that, “you can get more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.”
Woody responded, “Yeah, but a dead squirrel gets the most.”
I think there’s actually some wisdom in that statement. A dead squirrel is much more useful to a fly than honey is. Honey just feeds the fly, but the dead squirrel provides it a place to lay eggs and reproduce–to allow its genes to continue. And you get used to the smell after a while I’m sure.
I think what I’m getting at here is that you don’t always have to be sweet, as long as you are useful. Or something like that.
Someone who’s articulate should take that idea, expand on it, and write a book.
With our newfound ability to reach blatant disregard for the Constitution information more rapidly, the calls for impeachment of the holder of the top executive position in the land are speeding up proportionally.
This is no hyperbole. I am not simply spouting off. I believe, and will from this point forward, work to see, Barack Obama impeached, charged, indicted, tried, and imprisoned, for the crimes he and his cronies have committed against this nation, and its people.
That was quick. Politically, wouldn’t it be more prudent to hold off for a while and give him the chance to anger more of the people who helped him get elected?