What we've learned this month

I think a good blogmaster should post, at minimum, annually. I'm here to weigh in recent big news and our reaction to it.

Osama  Bin Laden is dead, and it was at the hands of the U.S. military acting on the orders of Barack Obama. My reactions follow.

1. Good.  Wish it had happened sooner.
2. The celebrations outside the White House was ridiculous. I honestly think some Spring Fling kegger just relocated at the word from CNN. What was more ridiculous was the news networks covering the party like it was reflective of how most Americans reacted. 
3. Release the pictures. It won't dispel the conspiracy theororists, but it will at least make them work harder.
4. I was saddened by my friends who immediately reacted by hoping OBL sudden exit from this life will bring about the end of the Kinetic Military Action to Mitigate Man Made Disasters. In other words, our troops are not coming home next week because their mission is not to get Bin Laden.
5. It is unfortunate that the White House/Pentagon press office seems to have changed details of the mission form say-to-day. Those who do not understand how and why this happens are also the same people who plant and fertalize conspiracy theories.
6. God Bless the Navy SEALs

Let's talk again in a few months or sooner.

My big announcement

It looks like I have to come out of the closet. I am announcing today that I am a fair weathered fan of certain sports. After the display the Cavs put on last night I decided that I don't not need to watch every game or check the score in the paper. LeBron left in July and so was our chance at a championship. Today's athletes are proving they are looking out for themselves and their families so I should not in the least feel guilty about being a fair weathered fan. I guess my true love in sports is baseball. The current status of the Indians is making it hard for me but at the end of the day I would love to watch a ballgame. Financially I can't afford to take my party of 6 to many major league baseball games but thanks to the TV deals I can still feel like I am contributing something by watching the game. Here's to hoping the glory days of all sports franchises in Cleveland return sooner than later!

YouTube's "Recommended for You" is Horribly Flawed

Recently, YouTube has introduced a prominent "Recommended for You" section on their homepage. They explain:

The "Recommended for You" module picks videos based on your viewing history. To see your viewing history, click on the History link at the top right of the page; if you want to clear your history and recommendations, click the "Clear Viewing History" button on that page.

Remember, you will get better, more specific, and more consistent recommendations by logging in (or signing up for a YouTube account, if you don't already have one).

That is all well and good, except for one major flaw. They seem to assume that you enjoy the recent video you watched. Being open to opposing viewpoints, I recently clicked on a video link from a blog that ostensibly supported a claim against Joseph Ratzinger. While slightly unflattering, it wasn't in any manner scandalous.

However, some of the videos that YouTube then started recommending to me were vile. Just "Because You Watched..." a video, it does not follow logically that you enjoyed it or desire exposure to similar videos.

Why ought I be compelled to shield myself from these bigots by clearing my history as YouTube requires? Perhaps YouTube and her parent Google should back off on this aggressive personalization by default.

I'm in the Hayek Posse

I can't pretend to be a smarty when it comes to collecting the Benjamins, but this is dope. (The boom plants the seeds for its future destruction.)

Dragnet Meets Obama

This is a bit of brilliant editing. Seems like we have passed this way before and we may pass this way again.

H/T The Anchoress

Go Captains! Play Ball!

The family went to see the Lake County Captains tonight. It was a great night at the ball park. A warm, muggy night, but some swirling breezes kept it bearable.

Before the game, the field announcer, Grover, asked the boys if they wanted to call "Play Ball" after the National Anthem. They did not have to think twice. They are big fans and a chance to get on the field was fun.

Later in the game we visited Mr Deas and Brother Drew in the booth. We must have brought a little luck with us. The Captains won 19-2!

Stars and Stripes Forever - Muppet Style

Wow. The Muppets celebrate Independence Day in the manner they are accustomed.

(Hat tip to Deacon Greg)

Flag Day and Baseball

I spent a good part of Flag Day at a ballpark today (Go Captains!), so it seems appropriate to post this.



(H/T Jonah Goldberg at NRO)

Reagan's speech on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day

"[T]here is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer..."

Brad Daugherty

I'll preface this post by stating that I am not an NBA fan. At times like this, I sometimes wish I could get excited about the NBA, but I'm not the "bandwagon" type. That is not to say that I don't read articles about the Cavs, or listen to news reports, or even watch moments of a broadcast (I do like Joe Tate, and will listen on occasion).

Now to the issue.

After I poured my morning cup of coffee, I began to peruse the PD. When I turned to the "Sporty Page", I noticed the following headline above "Cavaliers Insider": Daugherty's Cavs come out a winner

That intrigued me. The article began, "Former Cleveland center Brad Daugherty thinks his Cavs teams would beat the current edition." Daugherty concluded by stating, "...there's just no way that they could have matched up with us to stop our offense because we were too efficient." The body of the article allowed that James would be a handfull, but that Price ran the perfect pick-and-roll and Harper would have been the "X-factor" (whatever that means).

What the....?

Daugherty wrote this gem on ESPN's Media Zone Water Cooler. In other words, he wasn't asked about this, he just came up with it on his own.

I'm certain that Brad knows much more about the NBA than I do, but I remember his "edition" of the Cavs. They were good, but never won a championship. Never came close. Odds are better than even that this edition will.

Perhaps he's been commenting on NASCAR too long.

My ACM recap

First of all I LOVE Reba. She is such a great host! I miss Vince Gill hosting. I think he hosts the CMA's. The opening song was cool with Brooks and Dunn sprinkled in with Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. I thought it was weird they were singing their hits that were from last year. Interesting tatoo on Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland. Didn't care for Kellie Pickler's dress. The gold matches her skin color making you wonder is there a dress on or not?? Jennifer Nettles dress when they accepted the Group of the Year award - wow - can really bend over at the waist on that one. When Jamey Johnson won song of the year the other nominees and people in the crowd looked shocked like who is this guy that one?? Brad Paisely gave a cute acceptance speech from home - can't blame him. I loved Matthew McConaughey's story and Carrie Underwood's acceptance speach for Entertainer of the Year. I must admit I didn't think she had a chance to win.

March Madness

So far very exciting. I can't believe Syracuse and UConn went 6 OT's and how about Pitt - they beat the #1 team twice and then stub their toe on West Virginia. I hope some of these teams don't peak too soon. I hope CSU makes it to the Sweet 16 again!

Enough with the dead chimp, please!

Every few news cycles (which is to say every few hours) there is a super hot story that I regard as a complete non-story. What I mean is there is no reason a serious news organization should cover it because there is no benefit to be had by sharing with the public in great detail every bit of information. 

Stay with me. The peanut processing plant/salmonella story is news. You could die if you eat the wrong brand of peanut butter and crackers. The recently passed legislation is news because it will either ruin or save the country. Depends if you are watching NBC or FOX.

One story that is headlining everywhere is the crazed chimp story. Why? What are the chances that 99 ^44/100 of us are ever going to bump into a domesticated chimp. You pretty much have to seek out an encounter with a lower primate living as a slacker man-child.

 So the minute-by-minute BREAKING NEWS and UPDATES are not really in the interest of public safety or edification. They are driven by entertainment . Sorry, news people, I'm not entertained by the 911 call.  I don't really care to hear what Travis' "mom" has to say in recounting the details. 

My breaking point came when I visited my favorite local station's website (WKYC.com) and saw splashed at the top of the page -  ALERT: Woman mauled by chimp being treated at Cleveland Clinic.

If you work at a modern broadcast news establishment I'd imagine you must be pretty demoralized by now. You probably went to school to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." Now you've been reduced to Bonzo Goes Berserk. 

And too think February sweeps were delayed this year.

OK Disney - Why "Shamrock Day"?

With four little boys in the house, we inevitably will tune into Playhouse Disney. Most of the programming is enjoyable, and there are no commercials for toys, sugary cereal or whatever is being pimped to the kiddies on other channels.

I can sit through the multicultural PC stuff. Comes with the territory.

However, I saw something on the Playhouse Disney website that really "got my Irish up"! They are promoting party ideas for "Shamrock Day". See the picture of Mickey Mouse in a leprechaun hat.

I "get" that we all are encouraged to drop the Saint from St. Valentine's Day. It's about hearts and flowers. Have some candy hearts with corny or risque saying and pay no attention to that bishop and martyr.

But it does not work so well for St. Patrick's Day. I suppose you can call it St. Paddy's Day to make it a little more festive. But then you still have that problematic reminder that this is a day to honor a specific individual. And he was - please cover the children's ears - Catholic. It gets worse. He was a member of the clergy.

Hope your brogans are buckled tight. I've heard that some people actually observe this day by starting it in church.

So what is a multicultural politically correct network to do? It seems to only workaround is to rename it after a member of the clover family.

I would love to see the look on the faces of folks who came up with this solution when they find out the only reason anyone cares about the shamrock. Dig it, this dude Patrick used it to explain the Trinity to heathens. I expect next year we will find out all about Pot 'o Gold Day from Disney.

UPDATE: they are still at it in 2010 - Try to find the name Patrick or any mention of Ireland.

A little Chlorine in the Gene Pool!

125 fisherman rescued, one dead on Lake Erie. They apparently had built a bridge of pallets to reach the outer ice flow. Guess what? The pallets drifted away!

The kind of stimulus we can do without

I saw this first at The Corner at National Review. Reason.tv has a little fun with the snake oil we are being sold.

the steelers

Notice that I omitted capital letters? When you despise a team as much as I do, it makes a certain amount of sense. Don't want to show too much respect.

OK, the steelers are world champions. They played a great game. Sure. Blah, blah, blah, & blah. If you listen to the local media, you would swear that the entire team is made up N/E Ohioans. Not so. It's gotten to the point that the local media is fawning over the steelers.

Here comes the point of this post. The Cleveland/pittsburg rivalry is dead, and has been for quite some time. The local media wants to make sure that Mangini understands what the rivalry means. Does he understand it? Does he know the history? Will he ensure that the players understand the rivalry and its history? Excuse me! Where have you been?

In order for there to be a rivalry, there has to be, at the very least, a SNOWBALL'S CHANCE IN HELL that the two rivals will compete on a level field. Right. There should be some doubt as to who will win. We haven't seen that in what, 14 years? Truth be told, we haven't seen a competetive rivalry since the 1960s.

If you care to log onto www.nfl.com, you can look at the cold, hard stats. For the first three decades of the the Browns/steelers matchups, the Browns dominated. The steelers sucked-out-loud when it came to the win-loss column. They did, however, play the Browns competetively. The rivalry was born. Then, when the Browns began their decline (insert: "bradshaw"), they still played the steelers like it meant something.

Until Cleveland can field a team that stands a chance of beating the steelers, the rivalry is dead. Currently, the Browns are a joke in pittsburg. Need proof? Travel to pittsburg and take a look at the sidewalk vendors. The most popular t-shirt reads, "IT'S SO EASY TO BEAT THE BROWNS".

LJ

Eight Babies

Just caught the full story of the wonderful mother who gave birth to eight wonderful babies. The story broke through the British media (not the BBC). It is as bad as anyone could possibly imagine.

They name her (I won't). She already had six kids. She's 31. Never been married, no "boyfriend". No job ("professional student"). Lives off of parents and our tax-paying dime. Worked or volunteered for a time at a fertility clinic (presumably long enough to zero in on a donor or two). I can't make this stuff up.

Have at it! I'll comment later when I've fully digested how we've gotten to this point.

Limber Joe

Drumming up support?

I'm asking anyone who may have been in a marching unit...oh...perhaps even a pipe band...what to make of the story embedded below. I think there is more to the suspension of this drum major (or is he a pipe major?) than a wink and a nod.

Come to think of it, why are the anchors supporting this guy for such a harmless gesture? Wasn't Sarah Palin regarded as a ditzy yokel because of a wink and a nod? Could these reports be biased? You betcha!

Update: Check out the comments for an authoritative analysis.

Advice form the Bush girls to the Obama girls

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