An Inconvienent Lie

What now, Al Gore? What now? You have lied to us.

Where is the mild winter climate?

Where are the palm trees?

Theyz Gonna Stop Teh Internets! OH NOZ!

GLOBAL RESEARCH - Researchers funded by the federal government want to shut down the internet and start over, citing the fact that at the moment there are loopholes in the system whereby users cannot be tracked and traced all the time.

Time magazine has reported that several foundations and universities including Rutgers, Stanford, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are pursuing individual projects, along with the Defense Department, in order to wipe out the current internet and replace it with a new network which will satisfy big business and government:

One challenge in any reconstruction, though, will be balancing the interests of various constituencies. The first time around, researchers were able to toil away in their labs quietly. Industry is playing a bigger role this time, and law enforcement is bound to make its needs for wiretapping known.

There's no evidence they are meddling yet, but once any research looks promising, "a number of people (will) want to be in the drawing room," said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor affiliated with Oxford and Harvard universities. "They'll be wearing coats and ties and spilling out of the venue."

Songs of the Week

00's- The Mabuses- Dark Star (2007)

90's- A Tribe Called Quest- Excursions (1991)

80s- Sonic Youth- Cross the Breeze (1988)

70's- Lou Reed- Make Up (1972)

60's- Love- The Red Telephone (1967)

50's- Frankie and The Teenagers- Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (1956)

It Looks Like......

Well, I don't want to say anything quite yet. It is 5:55 AM and there has no announcement regarding Wakefield. I would say the latest possible time they will make an announcement will be around 6:05-6:15. If they don't make one by then, we will almost definitely have school.

Yeah, it is 6:23 AM. Go to school now.

No School Tommorow?

Approximately 90% of the student body at WHS hope for no school tommorow. There then is the 10% students who love to learn and really don't want to miss out on anything! These kids love to take tests since they most likely already prepared for them (and don't want to forget the information). I am in the 90% that hopes that we don't have school tommorow. It would be a great start to a potential 4 day weekend (a second major storm is scheduled to hit Sunday afternoon). We, however, are likely to have school both days. Yes, we are supposed to get about 8" total from today's storm. Looking outside it looks like about 5 or 6 inches have already fallen. According to weather reports, snow will fall at a 1-2 inch per hour rate until 9 PM. That gives the DPW more than 8 hours to salt and clear off the roads. It looks like there will be at least one layer of snow on the roads that won't disappear by morning. The morning commute could be disastrous if there isn't enough work done. We could always have a delay, but since the DPW will have 8 hours to clear away the snow from the school a delay would be pointless. Thus, it is either no school or school. I'm sure everyone will be pissed if we do in fact have school. And who likes to see teenagers angry? Word around the town is that a group of students are planning on making snow and unloading it in front of the school. Actually, that is a joke. I politely ask whoever is in the position of making this decision (superintendent) to cancel school with any reservation (delay). Thank you.

P.S. If the Etudiant happens to be your homepage and you go to WHS, you can check here tommorow morning as early as 5 AM for the latest school closing information. Don't worry a source (most likely from the school's website) will be provided.

Remembering Graveside 2 Years Later

Three members of Graveside, 21-year-old Edwin Duncan, 21-year-old Jason Bachiller and 19-year-old Christopher Vieira, were gunned down Dec. 13 in Boston's worst crime in a decade. Their friend, 22-year-old Jihad Chankhour, was also killed.

Duncan had produced Graveside's recordings in the same basement recording studio on Bourneside Street in Dorchester where they were shot.

His mother granted The Boston Globe permission today to broadcast audio clips from Graveside's mix tape, "Official Basement Files, Volume I." The clips have been edited for profanity.

Graveside clip 1 | Graveside clip 2 | Graveside clip 3

Is (Was) Your Favorite Baseball Player On Steroids?

1.Jason Giambi
2.Jeremy Giambi
3. Gary Sheffield
4. Benito Santiago
5.Lenny Dykstra
6.Larry Bigbie
7.David Segui
8.Jack Cust
9.Todd Hundley
10.Matt Franco
11.Rondell White
12.Roger Clemens
13.Andy Pettitte
14.Greg Zaun
15. Glenallen Hill
16.Mo Vaughn
17.Ron Villone
18. Todd Williams
19.Todd Pratt
20.Mike Lansing
21.Jason Christiansen
22.Steven Randolph
23.Jerry Hairston Jr.
24.Paul Lo Duca
25. Larry Bigbie
26. Tim Laker
27.Josias Manzanillo
28.Mark Carreon
29. Hal Morris
30.F.P. Santangelo
31. Denny Neagle
32.Ryan Franklin
33. Chris Donnels
34.Phil Hiatt
35.Kevin Young
36. Cody McKay
37.Kent Mercker
38.Adam Piatt
39.Stephen Randolph
40.Adam Riggs
41.Bart Miadich
42.Fernando Vina
43. Eric Gagne
44.Mike Bell
45.Matt Herges
46.Gary Bennett, Jr.
47.Jim Parque
48.Brendan Donnelly
49.Chad Allen
50.Jeff Williams
51.Howie Clark
52. Nook Logan
53. Randy Velarde
54. Kevin Brown
55. Daniel Naulty
56. Rick Ankiel
57. David Bell
58. Paul Byrd
59. Jose Canseco
60.Jay Gibbons
61.Troy Glaus
62.Jason Grimsley
63. Jose Guillen
64. Darren Holmes
65.Gary Matthews, Jr.
66. Scott Schoeneweis
67. Ismael Valdez
68. Matt Williams
69. Chuck Knoblauch
70. Miguel Tejada
71. Mike Stanton
72. Brian Roberts
73. David Justice
74. John Rocker
75. Steve Woodard
76. Marvin Benard
77. Barry Bonds
78. Bobby Estalella
79. Alex Cabrera
80. Ricky Bones
81. Mark McGwire
82. Rafael Palmeiro
- The Mitchell Report

If I am reading correctly, none of the players accused on the list are Red Sox stars.

EDIT: Jason Varitek is on some unofficial lists.

Jail Stories II: Return of the Cannibal

As you all know (I hope), I posted a "newsletter" a while ago about a cannibal in Mexico. Well what do you know, he went to jail! And it said on http://www.chosun.com/international/ that the cannibal from Mexico was found "dead" inside his jail cell. It is believed that he killed himself while in the jail cell. There might be even theories that the cell mate killed him. But no one is sure for now. I believe they might do a DNA test on the knife. But in my opinion, that wont happen.

Steaming Black Guy Heads

NEW YORK—Steaming black-guy heads, the traditional sign of approaching winter for generations of football fans, have been occurring later in the season with every passing year, a fact that may be evidence of a climatic change with long-term effects on football itself, top scientists in the meteorological department of the National Football League said in a study released Monday.

"The phenomenon of weather-related African-American supracranial vaporous emission, or 'Steaming Black-Guy Heads,' as it is colloquially known, occurs when cold dry winter air comes into contact with hot, humid, shaven heads of football players, causing their personal water vapor to condense and rise on a column of heated air," the statement read in part. "It is then observed by network cameramen, who overwhelmingly choose to film African-American players due to the dramatic contrasts that result—especially when the player in question is backlit—and beamed to millions of households during time-outs, replay reviews, and other stoppages of play. The viewers then realize that winter has come to America." - Source: The Onion

w00t!

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Expect cheers among hard-core online game enthusiasts when they learn Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year—or a big "w00t."

"W00t," a hybrid of letters and numbers used by gamers as an exclamation of happiness or triumph, topped all other terms in the Springfield-based dictionary publisher's online poll for the word that best sums up 2007.

Sweetness.

2007 In Sports

IN THE NEWS

January 9 - Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn are elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame
January 27 - Serena Williams defeats Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open
February 4 - The Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears to win Super Bowl XLI
March 1 - Wakefield's own Stephen Carriere wins gold in the mens event at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships
April 2 - The University of Florida men's basketball team defeats the Ohio State Buckeyes
May 12 - The Rochester Nighthawks win the National Lacrosse League Champion's Cup
June 6 - The Anaheim Ducks defeat the Ottawa Senators to win the Stanley Cup
June 14 - The San Antonio Spurs defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA Championship
July 31 - The Red Sox acquire closer Eric Gagne from the Texas Rangers
August 7 - Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run and with that becomes the all-time leader in the home run category
September 9 - Roger Federer wins the U.S Open Men's Singles title after defeating Novak Đoković.
September 21 - Josh Beckett wins his 20th game of the season
October 28 - The Red Sox win the World Series after 4 game sweep of the Rockies
November 4 - Adrian Peterson sets a single game NFL record with 296 rushing yards

DEATHS

January 1 - Darrent Williams (Age: 24) February 22 - Dennis Johnson (Age: 52)
March 15 - Bowie Kuhn (Age: 80)
April 29 - Josh Hancock (Age: 29)
May 28 - Marquise Hill (Age: 24)
June 24 - Chris Benoit (Age: 40)
July 30 - Bill Walsh (Age: 75)
August 17 - Eddie Griffin (Age: 25)
September 12 - Colin McRae (Age: 39)
October 13 - Alec Kessler (Age: 40)
November 27 - Sean Taylor (Age: 24)
November 30 - Evel Knievel (Age: 69)
December 4 - Chip Reese (Age: 56)

Mrs. Youkilis?

Less than four years after she became grist for the gossip mill by dating Ben
Affleck, Enza Sambataro says she can't remember much about the
experience.
"It feels like a long time ago, and a lot of the firsthand
emotions are gone," she says. "It ended because I really didn't want to get
caught up in that whole scene."
If she was intent on avoiding the spotlight,
she hasn't succeeded. Sambataro is now engaged to Kevin Youkilis, the Red Sox
first baseman whose public profile, at least in New England, is on par with any
Hollywood actor's.

Yeah, so boston.com has a profile of Youkilis's fiancee, check it out. Oh, and NESportsNews.

On The Topic of College Essays

It’s December, the height of college application season, and students across Massachusetts are hunched over their desks, putting the finishing touches on their college application essay. Traditionally, that essay has been viewed as a chance to break loose from the drone of dry figures and bullet points, and get to a place where unadulterated personality and a compelling story are enough to put a hopeful over the top. Or at least that was the case when students were still writing their own essays, which, increasingly, they aren’t. - Boston Magazine

I don't see how having other people write a college essay for you is ethical. Is a professional the one applying to college? No. This is unfair and I know that millions of kids are going to be doing this every year. That pisses me off. Even though the essay isn't worth a whole lot in terms of college admission, kids who write their essay themselves are at a disadvantage. Now, I am starting to believe that there shouldn't be an essay at all if this is so widespread.

Myanmar update

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US House of Representatives Tuesday adopted sanctions against Myanmar's multi-million dollar gemstone exports and natural gas industry, in response to the military junta's lethal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Nice to see Washington sending the junta a message. However, if democracy in Myanmar is what we want, more must be done.

Darfur update

BENTIU, Sudan (AP) — A Darfur rebel group claimed it attacked an army garrison in a Chinese-run oil field in central Sudan on Tuesday, forcing more than 1,000 soldiers to flee the area.

Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement, claims many government forces were killed and injured. There are unconfirmed reports of Sudanese army fatalities. The Justice and Equality Movement wants China out of the Sudan...funny, because some think China needs to get more involved in the situation. China is the world's emerging superpower. If anyone can end this, it's China, right?