The Internet Is Dead

Literally. Where is everyone? Nobody has posted on my favorite forum since 10:39 AM. You might say that I go on there a bit much and yeah, you'd be right. Matter of fact, the whole reason I go on there is to check out the variety of content which, as of right now, is minimal at best. In terms of weather, today is not special. It is raining pretty heavily, although it does look like it might clear up soon. As one of my friends told me "the internet is not the future." The kid, I think, is right.

A side note: I hate ranting like this because my grammatical structures come off as being a bit whiny. I could use all CAPs or talk in a language known as "dumbass", but that just isn't very cool.

This Day In History: August 2

Today is Saturday, Aug. 2, the 215th day of 2008. There are 151 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Aug. 2, 1776, members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

On this date:

In 1790, the enumeration for the first United States census began; the final total was 3,929,214.

In 1873, inventor Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car he had designed for the city of San Francisco.

In 1876, frontiersman "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.

In 1923, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, died in San Francisco.

In 1927, four years after becoming president, Calvin Coolidge issued a written statement to reporters: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928."

In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg died, paving the way for Adolf Hitler's complete takeover.

In 1939, Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program.

In 1943, during World War II, Navy boat PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the Solomon Islands.

In 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox suffered light damage from North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.

In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. (The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert Storm.)

Ten years ago: Cyclist Marco Pantani of Italy won the Tour de France, which had been marred by a doping scandal. Ventriloquist Shari Lewis died in Los Angeles at age 65.

Five years ago: Saddam Hussein's two elder sons and a grandson were buried as martyrs near the deposed Iraqi leader's hometown of Tikrit, where insurgents afterward attacked U.S. troops with three remote-controlled bombs. Liberian President Charles Taylor agreed to cede power.

One year ago: Mattel apologized to customers as it recalled nearly a million Chinese-made toys from its Fisher-Price division that were found to have excessive amounts of lead. A Marine Corps squad leader was convicted at Camp Pendleton, Calif., of murdering an Iraqi man during a frustrated search for an insurgent. (Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III was sentenced to 15 years in prison.) Two small Russian submarines completed a voyage below the North Pole where they planted the country's flag on the Arctic Ocean floor.

Today's Birthdays: Former Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., is 86. Actor Peter O'Toole is 76. Country singer Hank Cochran is 73. Rock musician Garth Hudson (The Band) is 71. Movie director Wes Craven is 69. Singer Kathy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 65. Actor Max Wright is 65. Actress Joanna Cassidy is 63. Actress Kathryn Harrold is 58. Singer Andrew Gold is 57. Actor Butch Patrick ("The Munsters") is 55. Singer Mojo Nixon is 51. Actress Victoria Jackson is 49. Actress Apollonia is 49. Actress Cynthia Stevenson is 46. Actress Mary-Louise Parker is 44. Rock musician John Stanier is 40. Writer-actor-director Kevin Smith is 38. Actor Edward Furlong is 31. Rock musician Devon Glenn is 28. Actress Hallie Eisenberg is 16.

Thought for Today: "A man who does not lose his reason over certain things has none to lose." — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German dramatist (1729-1781).

Courtesy of the Associated Press

Bay Helps Sox To Win

BOSTON -- Jason Bay made a smashing debut with Boston by tripling and scoring the winning run in the 12th inning as the Red Sox began the post-Manny Ramirez era with a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Bay was obtained from Pittsburgh on Thursday in the deal that sent the slugging Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The former Pirate took Ramirez's spot Friday night -- in left field and with clutch hitting.

He had failed to put the ball in play in his first five at bats -- two walks, a hit by pitch and two strikeouts -- before he came up with two outs in the 12th against Alan Embree (1-4). He hit the ball high to left field with the crowd hoping for a game-winning homer. - WHDH (Photo courtesy of Yahoo! through Getty Images)

This ought to have made Fallon happy.

Red Tide Wanes

BANGOR, Maine -- A decline in red tide levels has allowed the entire Maine coast to be open to clam harvesting.

While the gathering of mussels, oysters and some other shellfish is still restricted in some areas, the Department of Marine Resources hopes to begin lifting those prohibitions within the next week or two.

Darcie Couture, director of the department's biotoxin monitoring program, says "everything is moving in the right direction."

Red tide is caused by blooms of naturally occurring algae which produce a toxin that is absorbed by shellfish as they feed. Eating clams, mussels and other shellfish with high levels of toxins can cause sickness or death in humans. - WHDH

Great. I love clams and mussels.

King Crowned In Tonga

NUKU'ALOFA (AFP) — Tonga's Siaosi Tupou V was crowned king of his tiny South Pacific nation Friday in a lavish, pomp-filled ceremony attended by royalty from around the world alongside Tongans in traditional dress.

The sovereign of Polynesia's last monarchy sat on a huge golden throne, dressed in silk knee-breeches and a regal cloak trimmed with white ermine for the coronation ceremony, held in Nuku'alofa's Centenary Free Wesleyan Church.

Church bells tolled and a 21-cannon salute rang out as the 60-year-old king was crowned, two years after the death of his father, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, who reigned for 41 years.

Around 1,000 guests filled the church and hundreds more sat outside trying to catch a glimpse of the king, known as George Tupou V in English.

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito, Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Britain's Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were guests of honour along with regional political leaders and Tongans wearing traditional woven mats around their waists.

Haha, Tonga

A Rant, Courtesy of Me, Andrew P. Fallon

OK now, boys and girls! This rant's gonna be about Manny Ramirez's so-called "Manny being Manny" bologna that we fortunately won't have to deal with anymore. Ready?

Screw "Manny being Manny". I sure as hell won't miss that shit. The only people who bought into that were the people who like put their fucking dogs in Ramirez jerseys and shit. He was just a distraction away from baseball! Just a fucking sideshow to Boston Red Sox BASEBALL!

I hope Joe Torre can smack some sense into this clown.

Thank you. You may now return to your regularly scheduled News.

World's Oldest Jokes Found

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests that toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

It heads the world's oldest top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton on Thursday.

A 1600 BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second -- "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish."

The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th Century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons -- "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? Answer: A key."

That's interesting, no? You can see the whole story at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080731/lf_nm_life/britain_joke_dc

See the full list of ancient comedy at http://uktv.co.uk/dave/item/aid/604717

A Cure For HIV?

HOUSTON -- There is real hope that what’s happening in a Houston lab might lead to a cure for HIV.

“We have found an innovative way to kill the virus by finding this small region of HIV that is unchangeable,” Dr. Sudhir Paul of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston said.

Dr. Paul and Dr. Miguel Escobar aren’t talking about just suppressing HIV – they’re talking about destroying it permanently by arming the immune system with a new weapon lab tests have shown to be effective.

Ford Stuart has been HIV positive for 15 years. He’s on a powerful drug cocktail that keeps the disease in check.

“I’m on four different medications. Three of them are brand new, and it’s the first time that I’ve ever been non-detectible,” Stuart said. “I’m down to about – just for the HIV – about nine pills per day, five in the morning and four at night.”- KMOV 4

Tens of millions could be healed!

Lights Turned Off For GOP

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House, turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.
Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi's refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m., and they are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.
At one point, the lights went off in the House and the microphones were turned off in the chamber, meaning Republicans were talking in the dark. But as Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz..) was speaking, the lights went back on and the microphones were turned on shortly afterward.
But C-SPAN, which has no control over the cameras in the chamber, has stopped broadcasting the House floor, meaning no one was witnessing this except the assembled Republicans, their aides, and one Democrat, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), who has now left. - Politico

Each of the corporate shill parties should get a chance to speak...not that either of them have anything good to say.

Madden NFL 2009 Demo Review (PS3)

Graphics: 9.3 out of 10 - Madden NFL 2009 brings the most realistic player models and stadiums to date. The grass, which I thought was awesome in 2008, has budded even more out of the ground in this year's game. The player models, while still not perfect, have improved greatly. Each player's face and built has been scanned and transferred from image to 3D. Similar to the NBA 2K series, you can now see sweat on every player's forearm. Also, the sideline players, coaches, and personnel look like they are actually interested in the game.

Gameplay: 9.0 out of 10 - Again, I thought 2008 had so many different in-game features that that game couldn't be topped. Well, 2009 brings more realistic catching animations (more dropped balls, less spectacular catches) and a more realistic running game (spins are effective at the line and you can mash your way through defenders using a combination of the R stick and X). In terms of passing, the defense keeps you on your toes. You can't expect more than five seconds in the pocket without a hurd of defenders around you. Throwing the ball feels better (thanks to the 60 Frames Per Second upgrade), but user catching has gotten more difficult. The timing is a bit off (credit the new and improved on-field camera) so this will take some adjustments to get used to. Since I sucked so much in my first fifty drives (scoring a touchdown not once), I never got a chance to play defense. Kicking and punting controls are the same as last year.

Features: 10 out of 10 - I can already tell that this is going to be the deepest video game ever in terms of features. When you first turn on the demo, John Madden appears and instructs you to take part in Madden IQ, which is a system that determines which difficulties to put you at. The idea of setting different difficulties for each major aspect of the game is a good one. For instance, I blew past the defenders rushing the ball. As a result, my sliders for rushing were adjusted to All-Pro. I didn't do as great passing the ball. As a result, my sliders for passing were adjusted to Pro. To put defense into perspective, I didn't tackle the offensive player once (when they threw and when they ran!). My sliders were adjusted to the lowest level possible. At any time, you can go back to Madden IQ and play the mini-games over to improve your ratings.

Overall: 9.4 out of 10 - I might be over-rating the game a little because I have gotten a chance to play defense. In that case, hold tight for August 12 when I will do a complete review of the game.

Daily Recommendations

Quote of the day: :"It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one."- Voltaire- http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/voltaire.html

Song of the day: "Upside Down" (1984) by the Jesus and Mary Chain- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Su64Wxw7dE

Film of the day: Clerks (1994)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNd8nvnmhyM

Artist(s) of the day- Scratch Acid- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoZIH3Bm8qo&feature=related

Book of the day: American Hardcore: A Tribal History (2001)- http://www.amazon.com/American-Hardcore-History-Steven-Blush/dp/0922915717

Sacred Cow of the day: Aldous Huxley- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley

Songs of the Week

00s- Bright Eyes- Poison Oak (2005)

90s- Nine Inch Nails- Hurt (1994)

80s- Minor Threat- Think Again (1983)

70s- Stiff Little Fingers- Suspect Device (1979)

60s- Rolling Stones- She's a Rainbow (1967)

50s- Hank Williams- I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (1952)

Young Man Decapitated In Manitoba

A 40-year-old man is in custody in Manitoba after a young man was stabbed — and, witnesses said, decapitated — aboard a Greyhound bus travelling through the province overnight.

"When we came back on the bus, it was visible at the end of the bus he was cutting the guy's head off and pretty much gutting him up," said Caton.

The attacker ran at them, Caton said, and they ran out of the bus, holding the door shut as he tried to slash at the trio.

"While we were watching the door, he calmly walks up to the front with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stares at us and drops the head right in front of us," said Caton - CBC

As one Canadian remarked to me: "Manitoba is so boring that the only fun thing left to do is to start cutting each other's heads off."

Prince Fielder Is Big

And he's a vegetarian...

This Day In History: August 1

Today's Highlight in History:
On Aug. 1, 1907, the U.S. Air Force had its beginnings as the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division.

On this date:
In 1714, Britain's Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I.

In 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state.

In 1894, the First Sino-Japanese War erupted, the result of a dispute over control of Korea; Japan's army routed the Chinese.

In 1933, the National Recovery Administration's "Blue Eagle" symbol began to appear in store windows and on packages to show support for the National Industrial Recovery Act.

In 1936, the Olympic games opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.

In 1944, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, Poland, against Nazi occupation, a revolt that lasted two months before collapsing.

In 1946, President Truman signed the Fulbright Program into law, establishing the scholarships named for Sen. William J. Fulbright.

In 1946, America's Atomic Energy Commission was established.

In 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, went on a shooting rampage at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 14 people. Whitman, who had also murdered his wife and mother hours earlier, was gunned down by police.

In 1988, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh began broadcasting his nationally syndicated radio program.

Ten years ago: Dismissing as "an empty promise" GOP-backed legislation to create a patients' bill of rights, President Clinton in his Saturday radio address pressed Congress to pass a measure that would allow patients to sue their health insurers.

Five years ago: A suicide bomber rammed a truck filled with explosives into a military hospital near Chechnya, killing 50 people, including Russian troops wounded in Chechnya.

One year ago: The eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people.

Today's Birthdays: Actor-director Geoffrey Holder is 78. Singer Ramblin' Jack Elliott is 77. Cartoonist Tom Wilson (retired creator of "Ziggy") is 77. Actor-comedian Dom DeLuise is 75. Former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., is 71. Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 66. Blues singer-musician Robert Cray is 55. Singer Michael Penn is 50. Rock singer Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) is 49. Rock singer-musician Suzi Gardner (L7) is 48. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 48. Actor Jesse Borrego is 46. Rapper Coolio is 45. Actor John Carroll Lynch is 45. Rock singer Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) is 44. Movie director Sam Mendes is 43. Country singer George Ducas is 42. Country musician Charlie Kelley (Buffalo Club) is 40. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 35. Actor Jason Momoa is 29. Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 27. Actress Taylor Fry is 27. Actor James Francis Kelly is 19.

Thought for Today: "People say law but they mean wealth." — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, poet and philosopher (1803-1882)

Courtesy of Edwin19611 at the Catholic.com forums