Some Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- Shouldn't laugh at this

- Shouldn't laugh at this either (but I did)

- Maybe sometimes humans are the "dumb" animals

- Sad because it's true!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

It seems to me that the new PC culture infecting SNL means that current and future generations will never get the benefit of great comedy like John Belushi's Samurai Night Fever and other Samurai centric skits... Heh Heh... Going into the season Tom Brady was 20-1 to win the NFL MVP. After the trade for Antonio Brown and the Pats hot start Brady's odds are down to 5-1 (Pat Mahomes is still the favorite at 3-1)... This past week Hamza Bin Laden, son of Osama Bin Laden and high ranking al Qaeda leader was killed by the US military. You'd think this would be bigger story but the media has different priorities... The attacks on the Saudi oil plants did not really affect US oil prices (thank you fracking and energy independence) or impact our economy but I wonder what the impact the attacks had on China's economy. They are the largest importer of Saudi oil ($29.1 billion per year)...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The story of how the Obama Administration blatantly lied about the status of our battle against Al Qaeda, Iran and a whole host of other serious issues makes me mad. And the media knew. They knew.

- On a lighter note - here's the story of how the Choco Taco came to be.

- String theory may create far fewer universes than thought. Of course both string theory and the multi-universe idea are both untestable.

- Interesting - America's net oil imports at 14.9% is the lowest it's been in 60-years. The change is largely due to fracking.

- I can't stop watching this. Was that an egg at the end?

- Senator Diane Feinstein employed a spy for the Chinese government for 20-years! How is this not a bigger story?

- This is awesome! Hats off to the person who took the time to do this.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- The dad justice on drunk guy video is awesome. They took that guy down like they were a pack of velocoraptors.

- Thinking about Tyrone Woods. Rest in peace you very, very brave American.

- Obama Campaign accepts donations from Osama bin Laden.

- How big was Hurricane Sandy? Look at this side by side comparison to last year's Hurricane Irene

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

There was a hoax running on Twitter saying Todd Jones "the Navy Seal that killed Osama bin Laden" died in battle. Lots of people were taken in by the hoax. I have to wonder why someone would do this? Was there someone named "Todd Jones" desperate for attention? Someone who knows a Todd Jones who was having fun at his expense?.... I have to wonder if Roger Clemens wants to pitch in MLB this year just to reset his Hall of Fame clock... If on your calf you have a tattoo of a rooster with his head in a noose - that doesn't really mean  that you have a cock that hangs below your knee... I'm adding taking a trip on the Empire Builder train from Chicago to Seattle to my bucket list... Convinced that Clive Owen is the most over-rated big name actor in Hollywood. He was just awful in the last two movies I saw him in (the HBO Hemingway and Gellhorn and The Killer Elite). Just awful... 5 Myths about booze that you probably believe.

A Quibble

I like reading James Taranto's Best of the Web but I do have a small issue with yesterday's lead paragraph:

Imagine if President Nixon had decided to base his 1972 re-election campaign on the boast that he landed on the moon. His predecessors tried and failed for eight years. It wasn't an easy decision - what if something went wrong? But that's why you hire a president, to make those gutsy calls. Which path would George McGovern have taken?

I've liked the landing on the moon to killing bin Laden comparison but I have to take issue with the last sentence. I don't think any thinking person believes that Romney would have hesitated to also give the order to kill Osama bin Laden but McGovern actually might have decided against the moon landing. People forget but one of McGovern's campaign planks in 1972 was a pledge to end the nascent Space Shuttle program. McGovern planned to use those funds on domestic programs. Who is to say that if elected in 1968 he wouldn't have made the same decision when it came to the moon landing?

Credit Where Credit is Due

Obama Spiking the Football

President Obama's campaign ad touting the fact that he made the call to have Osama bin Laden killed (actually he made the call to have an Admiral make the call but let's not quibble) has created some controversy but I think the people complaining about the ad miss an important point. Yes President Obama said that bragging about killing bin Laden would be the equivalent of spiking the football but spiking the football can sometimes be awesome (as Rob Gronkowski keeps reminding us). Yes every President would have made the same call (even Jimmy Carter).

The thing people are over-looking is the timing. It was just revealed that Barack Obama has been to more fund raising events than all of the previous 20th century Presidents combined. President Obama also recently changed a $3 raffle from dinner with him to dinner with him and George Clooney (the equivalent of a late night pitch artist offering to double your order of Sham-Wow if you order today). There's a reason for all the events and needing George Clooney. The President is having trouble raising money.

His advisers know that his poll numbers received a bump when news of bin Laden's death were first announced. They also know that bump only lasted so long. Bringing up bin Laden's death will probably result in another bump but Obama's advisers must know that it is bound to be smaller and of less duration than the original. Why go for that bump now? Why not use that bump closer to the election? Using it now will probably just serve to fatigue the voters in the long run. "Yeah yeah - you made a phone call and killed bin Laden, you've told us a million times now but that still doesn't help my unemployed son get a job."

I think the reason President Obama is touting killing bin Laden now is simple. He's having trouble raising money. Yes - Republicans are right to complain that even Jimmy Carter would have made that same call but in their heart of hearts they should be a little pleased because the ad tips Obama's hand. Team Obama is worried because they got nothing else to sell. Obamacare? The Stimulus? Doubling the price of gas at the pump? Having killed bin Laden is the only trick their pony knows.

The President is having trouble raising money. That probably would not have been the case if he didn't spend the last 3-years blowing through all of our cash (and the cash of future generations).

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Lost in all the drama of last night's game - the Jorge Posada saga, the resurgence of Josh Beckett, the Sarah Silverman fiasco - was something truly amazing. Adrian Gonzalez did an impromptu Ichiro impersonation at the plate and hit a home run. Freaking incredible... So thanks to Sarah Silverman I guess one thing we learned last night is that you can't say the word "Mass-hole" live on Fox... Some things you learn are amusing some are not. Last night I had never heard of Derek Boogaard but Big Stupid Tommy recommended this profile of Boogaard in Men's Journal. I read the profile and came away thinking Boogaard was a pretty cool dude. Only later did I realize that people were posting things about Boogaard because he had died Friday. That put the whole Posada drama into another perspective... On a happier note - you should keep track of Teddy Bruschi's climb of Mount Kilimanjaro with some inspiring wounded warriors. Here's the first installment... With the news of Osama bin Laden's porn stash - how soon before someone asks President Obama if he has a porn stash? First off - how funny is it that the phrase "porn stash" is now appearing is so many "legitimate" news outlets? Secondly - Bill Clinton was the first President to be asked "Boxers or briefs" but will Barack Obama be the first President to be asked if he masturbates?... The Posada being asked to bat 9th made me think of this story of Kurt Vonnegut being asked to write a frivolous horse racing story... You know that the first Two and a Half Men show with Ashton Kutcher is going to have monster ratings. The ratings for the next couple will probably be strong as well but that's it. The producers are really squeezing the last drop out of that franchise... The one for The 6th Sense was my favorite - He's a Ghost. The 50 Funniest Movie Title Translations... What will be harder to explain to our grandkids - corduroy bell-bottom pants or why people did the Tomahawk Chop? Any time someone mentions the Tomahawk Chop - I always remember Norman Chad writing about it and asking people to do the Chop in front of a mirror without coming away feeling stupid. You would have a better chance wearing corduroy bellbottoms in front of a mirror and thinking you look cool than doing the Chop and thinking the same... How Australia does memes: The Plank.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The one thing that disappoints me about Osama bin Laden's death is I haven't seen a photoshop of him wearing a Yankees cap (yet!)... Abe Vigoda's friends got him a hooker. When Abe answered the door she said, "Let's go upstairs and have sex." Abe replied, "Darling I can do only one thing at a time"... There's a mini-controversy about Osama bin Laden not having a weapon when he was shot. This reminds me of some lines from the movie Unforgiven; Little Bill "You just shot an unarmed man!" Will Munny "Well, he should have armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend"... Are there circumstances in which feeding kittens to boa constrictors might be morally acceptable?... With Osama bin Laden dead - is Lebron James now the most hated person in America?... William Shakespeare, the greatest writer of all-time, was married to a woman who could neither read nor write... Speaking of Osama - this is awesome... America’s kitties eat 12 million pounds of flesh every day - some day the little old ladies with the cats are going to run out of Meow Mix. This would be a great premise for a movie - Zombie Kittens... The more President Obama legitimizes the policies of President Bush - the more the door opens for Jeb Bush in 2012.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

You just know that Danny Woodhead's thoughts about Osama bin Laden are 180 degrees opposite to Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall's. Advantage Patriots... Buddy Bell's nephew was a Marine killed by roadside bomb. Some enterprising MLB writer should get his reaction to the news of Osama bin Laden's death... I've come to the conclusion that Chris Moneymaker was to poker what Chumbawumba was to pop music... WTF? "It's Osama bin Laden!" scream US journalists in Islamabad in 2002... Just an observation but is seems like if an opposing player hits a HR you are supposed to throw the ball back but if it is a ground rule double it's OK to keep the ball. That just seems strange... Back in Colonial days a slang expression for being drunk was "getting half-way to Concord." I like that and will add it to my list of expressions... 10 Obscure Disney Characters... I wish a drug company would hire Tim McCarver for a genital herpes commercial just so I could hear him say "I'm Tim McCarver and I have genital herpes"

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I give lots of credit for the death of Osama bin Laden to President Obama. Of course the Navy Seal team and the people running the operation and those who gathered the intelligence deserve as much credit as possible but those folks generally will not be publicly known. If the operation went wrong - like Jimmy Carter's failed hostage rescue operation - Obama would have been blamed for it. With that in mind you have to hand it to President Obama for a successful operation... I'm always amused by Penn Gillette (NSFW language)... Visible Radiation would be a good name for a band... Like many people - I am really bothered by Pakistan's role in harboring Osama bin Laden. I don't know what will happen next but I'm really bothered by it... Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back? A: A stick... Hardhat Jesus would be a good name for a band... Heh heh - Donald Trump Responds To Bin Laden News... Hey Phillies fans - just a reminder, "Whomever designed that park in Philadelphia was an idiot." Peter Gammons from June of 2005... Another person who deserves some credit for the death of Osama bin Laden but who will not get much if any is Donald Rumsfeld. Here is Rumsfeld's statement on the death of Osama bin Laden. Rumsfeld is largely responsible for redesigning the Pentagon to allow for lightning fast strikes by mobile forces... Hypnotized Fish would be a good name for a band... Heh heh - the Taiwanese animation of Osama bin Laden's death... The things you learn on the Internet (via Mental Floss): In 1946, Boston owner Walter Brown chose the nickname Celtics over Whirlwinds, Olympians and Unicorns... Who knew? Peter Gammons is the great, great, great, great grandson of Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen

Valentine's Day Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations on this sunny Valentine's Day.

Interesting column on David Jonathan Drew (aka JD Drew). I think Bill James called him the guy who played for three franchises but was despised by four. I've never had a problem with Drew. It's just strange that so many will think him over paid while so many others will argue he's under-rated... On Valentine's Day in 1859 - Oregon is admitted as the 33rd US State... Best shuttle image ever... If you replace the words "My Sharona" with "Ray Liotta" - the song by The Knack becomes so much more fun... A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything - Very cool video... It occurs to me that there are many parallels between Drew and another JD - JD Salinger. Salinger is known for The Catcher in the Rye while Drew is the catcher in right field. Both shunned interviews and detractors said they wasted their talent. Fans of both tend to over sell their accomplishments (however Catcher in the Rye was not the best book ever written and there is more to baseball than OBP). Drew was supposed to be the next Mantle while Salinger was going to be Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald all rolled into one... Now I'm going to have nightmares about Derrek Lee trying to backdoor me... Twenty-one years ago Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie the author of The Satanic Verses. I'm amused at how ineffective the fatwa has been until I start thinking that we've had a defacto fatwa against Osama bin Laden and have been just as ineffective (of course we know for sure Rushdie is still alive - OBM? Not so much.)... I'm also amused that today is both Valentine's Day and Pat O'Brien's 62nd birthday. Here a blast from the past - Valentine's Day Pat O'Brien Style.