Though I favor legalizing the stuff, I must admit that habitual use seems to have an adverse effect on decision making.
25 April 2007
Word of the Day (Not Thinking Things Through Edition)
Though I favor legalizing the stuff, I must admit that habitual use seems to have an adverse effect on decision making.
24 April 2007
Separated At Birth? (Not A New Irregular or Regular Feature)
Steve Jobs, not busy enough running Apple, and influencing Pixar and Disney, tries out for the Blue Man Group.
Word of the Day (Steve Capus Edition)
Almost made it through the day with an unsmacked gob, but then Steve Capus opened his mouth.
I'm not calling for any boycotts of advertisers, or suggest how you receive your news, but I know that I will likely never again watch NBC Nightly News, but then Nightly Newses ceased being a habit personally sometime in the mid 90s (about the same time I started using the internet regularly).
(network Nightly Newses are too slow, too uninformative, too biased to be of any use, I don't need a filter for my news, I'll find the stories on my own, I don't need the likes of Steve Capus deciding what's newsworthy)
Also, I'll refrain from watching Oprah to see the context in which his comments were made, there are somethings I will not do, watching an 'Oprah tackles a serious issue of the moment' episode is one of them.
(dumb self-involved Oprah episodes (like ear piercing, or travels with Gayle) can be fun, these other kind are infuriating).
23 April 2007
Way Beyond Gobsmacking
I don't know what to say. I'm fairly certain this joker isn't joking, and probably is an agent of the North Korean government, or just nuts. It's a fascinatingly muddled and self-contradictory bit of YouTube-ness. Watch it to the end, you won't believe the ending.
Word of the Day (AP Spreading Cuban Propaganda Edition
Will Weissert of the AP is a dupe, an idiot, or a dishonest jerk who lets his blind hatred of the United States cloud his judgement of the truth.
Funny how totalitarian states always have wonderful standards of living, until their dictator is toppled, then we discover that their governments had been manipulating their statistics.
The CIA World Book relies on the statistics provided by each government, so just citing them as a source for a stat doesn't mean that the numbers are honest.
Compare the statistics on the two Koreas. South Korean statistics compared to North Korean numbers are very similar across the board. The one major difference is infant mortality which is 3x higher in North Korea. Why they choose to admit that number and not the others is a mystery, but one doesn't have to look too hard at the two places to come to the quick conclusion that these numbers being so close isn't exactly reality based, and might have a lot to do with lies and propaganda being put forth by a totalitarian dictator.
Just look at the plunge life expectancies took across the former Soviet Union after its fall, some of that was dislocation and an increase in drug and alcohol abuse, but a larger portion of that plunge was also more honest numbers.
I say this story is the worst kind of BS imaginable, the Cuban government is lying, and the AP is either incompetent or untrustworthy, either way, they are not to be believed on stories (more like fables) with regards to Cuba.
22 April 2007
Green Doesn't Rhyme With Hygiene
Being hygienic seems to be antithetical to being a good environmentalist.
Who knew?
First, Sheryl Crow suggests one square might be plenty of toilet paper for personal hygiene needs.
In England 140 councils are switching to fortnightly trash collection, "designed to be a green initiative".
If this what it takes to save the planet, I say screw the planet, I'd prefer to be unsmelly and disease free.
As far as the Sheryl Crow thing, how many times does it have to be pointed out that paper pulp is grown from trees expressly planted to be turned into consumer products, so the more paper you WASTE the more oxygen giving, carbon sequestrating trees get planted. Go ahead and wad up that paper and use as much as your plumbing can stand, that's the green thing to do.
As far as England, I suppose the council leaders responsible for these kind of decisions are hoping for an outbreak of plague, as nothing is better for the environment than wiping out scads of folks.
Earth Day has become anti-human day, it seems. It shouldn't be an "us against the planet" situation, but that seems to be the dichotomy "greens" set up in their strange little fantasies about global degradation.
Not only are these "greens" generally assholes, but judging from Sheryl Crow and "No Impact Man" (remember him ?), they are poorly wiped assholes, and there is no worse kind of asshole than a poorly wiped asshole (or an asshole with poor reasoning skills and a 'green for thee, but not for me' attitude).
And if you really believe this global warming stuff, then the only honest solution that doesn't require economic devastation, or calls for limitations on other people that you have no intention on following yourself, is the building of lots and lots of nuclear power plants (if it's good enough for France . . . ).
Who knew?
First, Sheryl Crow suggests one square might be plenty of toilet paper for personal hygiene needs.
In England 140 councils are switching to fortnightly trash collection, "designed to be a green initiative".
If this what it takes to save the planet, I say screw the planet, I'd prefer to be unsmelly and disease free.
As far as the Sheryl Crow thing, how many times does it have to be pointed out that paper pulp is grown from trees expressly planted to be turned into consumer products, so the more paper you WASTE the more oxygen giving, carbon sequestrating trees get planted. Go ahead and wad up that paper and use as much as your plumbing can stand, that's the green thing to do.
As far as England, I suppose the council leaders responsible for these kind of decisions are hoping for an outbreak of plague, as nothing is better for the environment than wiping out scads of folks.
Earth Day has become anti-human day, it seems. It shouldn't be an "us against the planet" situation, but that seems to be the dichotomy "greens" set up in their strange little fantasies about global degradation.
Not only are these "greens" generally assholes, but judging from Sheryl Crow and "No Impact Man" (remember him ?), they are poorly wiped assholes, and there is no worse kind of asshole than a poorly wiped asshole (or an asshole with poor reasoning skills and a 'green for thee, but not for me' attitude).
And if you really believe this global warming stuff, then the only honest solution that doesn't require economic devastation, or calls for limitations on other people that you have no intention on following yourself, is the building of lots and lots of nuclear power plants (if it's good enough for France . . . ).
21 April 2007
20 April 2007
The Only Thing I'll Say On the Subject
Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin seem determined to ensure that their daughter will be a porn actress, stripper, or both.
Just Cause You're A Criminal Mastermind Doesn't Mean You Can't Be Incredibly Stupid
Propane + High Wattage Lighting = Inevitable Results
A more serious discussion about the seeming proliferation of these suburban 'grow houses' would seem to be in order. Most pot users with access to even a small garden or window planter could grow a significant amount of their personal supply on their own land using good old fashioned solar power. Instead you have criminals buying houses in the suburbs and either stealing electricity off the grid (either from neigbhors or straight off the powerlines, either way, extremely dangerous), or as seems possible from the above story, using propane generators to power lights so as not to tip off law enforcement about their facilities.
Criminalizing pot has only profited criminals, and made everyone else less safe in the process.
Besides that, these hydroponic facilities must have grotesque 'carbon footprints' compared to what similarly sized operations of pot being grown in open fields would have.
So legalize weed, not only to take money away from criminals, not only to make neighborhoods safer, not only cause marijuana sales could add to the government's coffers instead of draining them, but do it for the planet.
Legal weed would be 'greener' weed, and 'greener' is alwasy better, right?
UPDATE:
The irony of doing a pot story on 4/20 is completely lost on me.
A more serious discussion about the seeming proliferation of these suburban 'grow houses' would seem to be in order. Most pot users with access to even a small garden or window planter could grow a significant amount of their personal supply on their own land using good old fashioned solar power. Instead you have criminals buying houses in the suburbs and either stealing electricity off the grid (either from neigbhors or straight off the powerlines, either way, extremely dangerous), or as seems possible from the above story, using propane generators to power lights so as not to tip off law enforcement about their facilities.
Criminalizing pot has only profited criminals, and made everyone else less safe in the process.
Besides that, these hydroponic facilities must have grotesque 'carbon footprints' compared to what similarly sized operations of pot being grown in open fields would have.
So legalize weed, not only to take money away from criminals, not only to make neighborhoods safer, not only cause marijuana sales could add to the government's coffers instead of draining them, but do it for the planet.
Legal weed would be 'greener' weed, and 'greener' is alwasy better, right?
UPDATE:
The irony of doing a pot story on 4/20 is completely lost on me.
19 April 2007
Word of the Day (Dirty Commie Bastard Scum Edition)
Gobsmacking.(I'm not sure which causes me to smack my gob harder, that there are still crazed despots who think nationalizing industries is a good idea, or that anyone for even half a second thought that Venezuela would deal fairly with the companies whose assets they're pillaging, or that this isn't bigger news (partly understandable given what's dominating the news cycle at the moment))
NBA Playoff Preview (aka Why I'm Right and Marc Stein Is Wrong)
Marc Stein has put up his NBA Playoff Preview with alarming alacrity, I'll do the same with my inevitable takedown of what he has to say.
You can go over to ESPN.com and absorb what Stein has to say, he's not an idiot, his rankings during the season are entertaining, and they could do worse for analyst, but that won't stop me from disagreeing with just about every one of his picks.
He ranks the matchups in order of "intriguing/wild/watchable", I'm not going to comment on the ranking, just comment on the picks, but to make comparisons easier, I'll use his order of matchups.
1. Chicago (5) v Miami (4)
Stein's Line: Heat in six.
Why he's wrong: Chicago's coach isn't stupid, and Miami is more vulnerable to the Haq-A-Shaq in this playoff series than any of the teams Shaq has been on. It will be ugly, it will be wave after wave of benchwarmers being sent Shaq's way, and Shaq will either sit, or be forced to make his free throws, he'll continue to miss as his form has regressed, and a major weapon for Miami will be nullified. The Bulls will prevail easily in a series of ugly, boring games.
Bulls in five.
2. San Antonio (3) v Denver (6)
Stein's Line: Spurs in six.
Why he's mostly right. The Spurs are good, and will dominate this series through defense. But Denver's pretty damn good, also, and will manage to win a few games through their shooters getting hot and sheer determination by AI. The key to this series will be defense. Will Denver be able to impose it's well and keep the tempo high? Or will San Antonio successfully bring the game to a crawl and turn each possession into a battle? I'm guessing, battle, mostly, with a few flashes of high tempo, the end result . . .
Spurs in six.
3. Phoenix (2) v Los Angeles Lakers (7)
Stein's Line: Phoenix (no number of games given, the only series he doesn't give a prediction on length)
Stein underestimates just how ridiculously good Kobe has been this season. If he gets any support at all, the Lakers will give the Suns a lot of trouble. Defensive intensity has been lacking for the Lakers since the All Star break, and their near plummet out of the playoffs resulted. But, it's the playoffs now, and I think they will all wake up and play with intensity for 48 minutes. Phoenix has some of the most talented players in the league, but they only go 8 deep. At times the Lakers seem to only go 2 or 3 deep, so that seems like it shouldn't be a problem for the Suns, but I think Jackson will figure out a method of throwing guards and small forwards at Nash that will keep him from making the passes he's used to making. Take his playmaking out of the equation and the Suns become suddenly very vulnerable. Also, either Kobe's going to scorch Raja Bell, or they are going to double and triple team Bryant so agressively that the other Lakers are going to eat up the Suns in the paint. Either Kobe will score an insane amount of points, or he'll be a very effective decoy, either way, the Suns won't know what hit them.
Lakers in five.
4. Dallas (1) v Golden State (8)
Stein's Line: Mavs in five.
Dallas has been superb this season. They've were unbeatable in one big stretch of the season, yet they have nothing but trouble against Golden State. Big guards are the Mavericks biggest weakness, and the Warriors have two of the best. Stein dismisses this advantage and figures that the stars on Dallas will step up and negate this, but I disagree. I think Coach Nelson will exploit this weakness, and the Warriors beating the Mavericks will go down as one of the biggest upsets since Man O' War suffered his only loss.
Warriors in five.
5. Toronto (3) v New Jersey (6)
Stein's Line: Nets in six.
Who cares?
Nets in five.
6. Houston (4) v Utah (5)
Stein's Line: Rockets in six.
May resemble a five on five wrestling match more than a basketball game at times. These teams will be throwing lots of bodies at each other. The team with the more skilled bodies will prevail. Also, the losing team may not break 85 points in any of these contests. Utah won't lose at home, but neither will Houston, so expect this to go the full seven games.
Rockets in seven.
7. Cleveland (2) v Washington (7)
Stein's Line: Cavs in four.
Book the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals right now. After dispatching an undermanned and overmatched Wizards team, they'll take on whichever crappy team prevails between the Nets and the Raptors. That means only the Pistons or the Bulls will be able to keep LeBron from stinking up the NBA Finals. The Cavs will manage to lose against the Wiz at least once this series, anyway.
Cavs in five.
8. Detroit (1) v Orlando (8)
Stein's Line: Pistons in four.
On paper, a massacre, in reality, a sweep. Dammit, I have to agree with Stein again, oh well.
Pistons in four.
Stein doesn't give his predictions for the rest of the rounds, but I might as well.
2nd round:
Detroit will have trouble with Chicago but prevail.
Cleveland will roll over the Nets without a problem.
LA Lakers will continue their string of upsets and beat San Antonio in a game seven on the road.
Houston will end Golden State's run, the Warriors matched up perfectly against Dallas, against Houston, not so much.
Conference Finals
Cleveland will discover a consistency they lacked all season and beat the Pistons
LA Lakers will be stretched to the limit against Houston, but will manage to pull off a game seven road victory to make another Finals appearance.
NBA Finals
LeBron v Kobe. 23 v 24. Oh, and there'll be some other guys on the court, too. 24 is one more than 23, and the Lakers will win one more game than the Cavs, the Lakers will win yet another championship in a classic 2OT game on the Cavs floor. Three series that make it to game seven, and three road victories by the Lakers. If that won't make Kobe one of the most legendary athletes of all time, nothing will, not to mention this championship run giving Phil his tenth ring. Party on Figueroa Blvd.!!!
You can go over to ESPN.com and absorb what Stein has to say, he's not an idiot, his rankings during the season are entertaining, and they could do worse for analyst, but that won't stop me from disagreeing with just about every one of his picks.
He ranks the matchups in order of "intriguing/wild/watchable", I'm not going to comment on the ranking, just comment on the picks, but to make comparisons easier, I'll use his order of matchups.
1. Chicago (5) v Miami (4)
Stein's Line: Heat in six.
Why he's wrong: Chicago's coach isn't stupid, and Miami is more vulnerable to the Haq-A-Shaq in this playoff series than any of the teams Shaq has been on. It will be ugly, it will be wave after wave of benchwarmers being sent Shaq's way, and Shaq will either sit, or be forced to make his free throws, he'll continue to miss as his form has regressed, and a major weapon for Miami will be nullified. The Bulls will prevail easily in a series of ugly, boring games.
Bulls in five.
2. San Antonio (3) v Denver (6)
Stein's Line: Spurs in six.
Why he's mostly right. The Spurs are good, and will dominate this series through defense. But Denver's pretty damn good, also, and will manage to win a few games through their shooters getting hot and sheer determination by AI. The key to this series will be defense. Will Denver be able to impose it's well and keep the tempo high? Or will San Antonio successfully bring the game to a crawl and turn each possession into a battle? I'm guessing, battle, mostly, with a few flashes of high tempo, the end result . . .
Spurs in six.
3. Phoenix (2) v Los Angeles Lakers (7)
Stein's Line: Phoenix (no number of games given, the only series he doesn't give a prediction on length)
Stein underestimates just how ridiculously good Kobe has been this season. If he gets any support at all, the Lakers will give the Suns a lot of trouble. Defensive intensity has been lacking for the Lakers since the All Star break, and their near plummet out of the playoffs resulted. But, it's the playoffs now, and I think they will all wake up and play with intensity for 48 minutes. Phoenix has some of the most talented players in the league, but they only go 8 deep. At times the Lakers seem to only go 2 or 3 deep, so that seems like it shouldn't be a problem for the Suns, but I think Jackson will figure out a method of throwing guards and small forwards at Nash that will keep him from making the passes he's used to making. Take his playmaking out of the equation and the Suns become suddenly very vulnerable. Also, either Kobe's going to scorch Raja Bell, or they are going to double and triple team Bryant so agressively that the other Lakers are going to eat up the Suns in the paint. Either Kobe will score an insane amount of points, or he'll be a very effective decoy, either way, the Suns won't know what hit them.
Lakers in five.
4. Dallas (1) v Golden State (8)
Stein's Line: Mavs in five.
Dallas has been superb this season. They've were unbeatable in one big stretch of the season, yet they have nothing but trouble against Golden State. Big guards are the Mavericks biggest weakness, and the Warriors have two of the best. Stein dismisses this advantage and figures that the stars on Dallas will step up and negate this, but I disagree. I think Coach Nelson will exploit this weakness, and the Warriors beating the Mavericks will go down as one of the biggest upsets since Man O' War suffered his only loss.
Warriors in five.
5. Toronto (3) v New Jersey (6)
Stein's Line: Nets in six.
Who cares?
Nets in five.
6. Houston (4) v Utah (5)
Stein's Line: Rockets in six.
May resemble a five on five wrestling match more than a basketball game at times. These teams will be throwing lots of bodies at each other. The team with the more skilled bodies will prevail. Also, the losing team may not break 85 points in any of these contests. Utah won't lose at home, but neither will Houston, so expect this to go the full seven games.
Rockets in seven.
7. Cleveland (2) v Washington (7)
Stein's Line: Cavs in four.
Book the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals right now. After dispatching an undermanned and overmatched Wizards team, they'll take on whichever crappy team prevails between the Nets and the Raptors. That means only the Pistons or the Bulls will be able to keep LeBron from stinking up the NBA Finals. The Cavs will manage to lose against the Wiz at least once this series, anyway.
Cavs in five.
8. Detroit (1) v Orlando (8)
Stein's Line: Pistons in four.
On paper, a massacre, in reality, a sweep. Dammit, I have to agree with Stein again, oh well.
Pistons in four.
Stein doesn't give his predictions for the rest of the rounds, but I might as well.
2nd round:
Detroit will have trouble with Chicago but prevail.
Cleveland will roll over the Nets without a problem.
LA Lakers will continue their string of upsets and beat San Antonio in a game seven on the road.
Houston will end Golden State's run, the Warriors matched up perfectly against Dallas, against Houston, not so much.
Conference Finals
Cleveland will discover a consistency they lacked all season and beat the Pistons
LA Lakers will be stretched to the limit against Houston, but will manage to pull off a game seven road victory to make another Finals appearance.
NBA Finals
LeBron v Kobe. 23 v 24. Oh, and there'll be some other guys on the court, too. 24 is one more than 23, and the Lakers will win one more game than the Cavs, the Lakers will win yet another championship in a classic 2OT game on the Cavs floor. Three series that make it to game seven, and three road victories by the Lakers. If that won't make Kobe one of the most legendary athletes of all time, nothing will, not to mention this championship run giving Phil his tenth ring. Party on Figueroa Blvd.!!!
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