End of an Era?
Manny is heading out to Red Sox West to join the LA Dodgers.
Jason Bay will be joining the Red Sox.
Labels: Sports
An Oil Company has Record Profits?
Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results were well short of Wall Street expectations and its shares fell.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $138.1 billion from $98.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion, or $2.27 per share.
Shocking that in this time of an oil crisis a company that imports oil is able to set a ridiculous profit. $11 billion profit? Wow. Record setting oil profits while consumers are paying record high oil prices? Shocking how those two coincide. Sure I am a supporter of the free market system but this is ridiculous. One industry (oil) is killing the entire economy of a country and are laughing all the way to the bank. Not quite sure how this helps anyone other than the oil company's board members.
Artest Deal Off to Rocky Start?
Ron Artest was traded to the Houston Rockets this past week and joins Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Artest is best known for inciting the riot in Detriot where (along with Stephen Jackson) he entered the stands throwing punches.
"Hopefully, he's not fighting anymore and going after a guy in the stands," Yao said, according to the Chronicle.
When asked about those comments, Artest said Yao had bought into "all the propaganda" about him, according to The Sacramento Bee.
"I understand what Yao said, but I'm still ghetto," Artest said, according to the report. "That's not going to change. I'm never going to change my culture. Yao has played with a lot of black players, but I don't think he's ever played with a black player that really represents his culture as much as I represent my culture. Once Yao Ming gets to know me, he'll understand what I'm about.
Labels: Sports
Rush plays "Tom Sawyer" on Rock Band
Not to spoil the ending but they get 31% on their OWN song! Rock Band isn't so easy now is it?
Will Ferrell And John C. Reilly's to host the ESPYs?
Here are the list of demands they would need in order to host the award show.
Some of the Gems:
Reilly: I want the cold war to start again so the olympics can be interesting.
Ferrell: we want to go to super bowl 13, from 1979 Steelers versus Cowboys.
Ferrel: I want Harry Carey riding Mike Ditka at my kid's birthday.
Insurance Companies Rules.
A good video that portrays how insurance companies actually work. Yes, it is humorous so give it a view.
Why mosquitoes bite some people more.
Carbon dioxide and lactic acid are released whenever we breathe or sweat, but the emission rates vary by person. Larger people and pregnant woman, for example, have higher levels and are more likely targets. According to Susan Peskewitz, a mosquito researcher and entomology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the scents of these compounds coupled with body heat are the biggest attractors. So if you've recently exercised, watch out: The combination of lactic acid (which builds up when muscles are exerted), sweat filled with carbon dioxide, and an increased temperature make you an ideal host.
So apparently there are a few characteristic of your body that cause you to attract more mosquitoes than other people. That's not really a surprise as there is always one person in the group who is saying "I'm not getting bit at all!" and people are always irritated with that person. Luckily the CDC has approved four repellents that will help eliminate or reduce the bother of mosquitoes.
Sprays and lotions including DEET, Picaridin, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus or IR3535 (which has made Avon's Skin-so-Soft lotion a popular choice) have all been deemed effective and safe to keep the bugs at bay.
I can't drive 55
The federally mandated 55 mile per hour speed limit put into force in 1974 by the Nixon administration did curb fuel consumption. But it was one of the most unpopular moves the government made during the energy crisis of that decade.
But now, a few politicians are daring to raise the "C" word -- conservation -- in public. Among them is Sen. John Warner (R., Va.), who last week sent an open letter asking the Energy secretary and the Government Accountability Office to study whether it's time to drop the speed limits on the nation's roads -- again. He's expecting an answer in time to raise the issue in the Senate before Congress breaks for the election in September.
Sen. Warner's letter makes reference to the old 55 mph speed limit, which was repealed in 1995. In an interview, he says he's not necessarily advocating a return to 55 miles per hour now. He's urging government analysts to marshal facts to determine at what speed modern automobiles, with electronic-fuel management, five- and six-speed transmissions and more aerodynamic designs, could run most efficiently.
Sen. Warner knows perfectly well that the old national speed limit was deeply unpopular. Talk of conservation has been mostly missing from the national energy debate, he says, because "none of the options are politically beneficial." But conservation measures such as dropping highway speeds are the best way to bring relief in the short term to families struggling with high fuel prices, he says.
So it looks like the government wants to put the blame on the average American for the oil crisis. Not the car companies and sure as hell not itself. Lowering the speed limit isn't going to slow many people down, only increase their insurance and speeding violations. The roads I already drive on are 55 mph roads. Guess what, I am still doing 70-80. Maybe we should focus more on making car companies develop more fuelcell cars and upping their mediocre mileage per gallon. Let's focus on that before deciding to ask the average person to either risk more penalties for speeding or add to their already historically long commute times!
Rock Band
The Rock Band manual only has 3 steps. It attaches the head of the guitar and then the plug into the system.
But while Rock Band's one-page pamphlet was handy, I couldn't help but feel it was missing some essential information for those of us who truly want to ROCK. Fortunately, it's not too late to make some last-minute changes before the product goes to retail. Here are some suggested additions:
I wish I had known that last part before Wednesday night.•
Or you can Mail the author!]
Toilet Paper Hanging -- The Right Way
This is a little pet peeve of mine and I am glad someone undertook this great battle! And with Bonus images!!
Notice the dramatic difference in the amount of visible toilet paper. Ironically, it is the over-hung toilet paper that has both the most visible free sheetage and the least amount of sheetage free from the roll to do it. Now, this may not seem like a big deal on its own, but in these extra sheets lies your undoing. Observe.
When you illustrate it and write some words up it really does make sense. So please, for the children, hang toilet paper the right way!
19 Stellar Cameos
1. Alec Baldwin, Glengarry Glen Ross
2. Ray Charles, The Blues Brothers
3. Pamela Anderson, Borat
4. Dean Stockwell, Blue Velvet
5. Janeane Garofalo, The Cable Guy
6. David Letterman, Cabin Boy
7. Billy Ray Cyrus, Mulholland Dr.
8. Ned Beatty, Network
9. Chris Rock, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
10. Topher Grace, Ocean's Eleven
11. David Spade, Reality Bites
12. Sammy Davis Jr., Sweet Charity
13. Vanessa Redgrave, Atonement
14. Charlie Sheen, Ferris Bueller's Day Off
15. David Bowie, Zoolander
16 and 17. John Carroll Lynch and Charles Fleischer, Zodiac
18. Samuel L. Jackson, Kill Bill Volume 2
19. William Hurt, A History Of Violence
How does Billy Idol in Wedding Singer not make the list? "You better get out of my way, Billy, or you're gonna get hurt." Come on it was classic.
I like #10 Topher Grace who mentions mailing in the movie with Dennis Quaid.
#6 has a great line "Would you like to buy a monkey?".
Charlie Sheen (in #14) plays the bad boy whom Ferris's sister meets in the police station.
New Milk Bottles.
Enter the stackable milk jug. The new milk jug is a bulk cylinder, without the tapered top of the standard jug. The plastic composition has also changed and benefits are tremendous. The square design allows it to be packed more tightly saving shelf space and shipping costs. Companies are passing on the savings. The cost of the average jug was $2.18 to $2.58 a gallon. On average they were around 10 to 20 cents a gallon cheaper than traditional jugs.
This is great news for the consumer. Sure it might be more difficult to pour out of the jugs (as some complain) but an easy solution to that is to have a nice glass jug in the fridge where you can pour all the milk into. That might help make it easier to get the individual glasses of milk.
The new size of these milk cartons makes it much easier to ship and store. No longer must milk crates be used (and washed and reused).
They have cut their labor costs in half and their water costs (used to wash the crates mainly, formerly) by 60 to 70 percent. Meanwhile, they now only need two trips a week to each Sam's Club store, instead of five. And Sam's Club is happy as it can now store 224 gallons of milk in its fridges, up from 80 gallons.
McDonald's ripping off Devo?
Post-punk pioneers Devo say they are suing McDonald's in the US over a Happy Meal doll that sports the band's signature red flower pot hat.
Bass player Gerald Casale Had this to say:
"This New Wave Nigel doll that they've created is just a complete Devo rip-off and the red hat is exactly the red hat that I designed, and it's copyrighted and trademarked.
"They didn't ask us anything. Plus, we don't like McDonald's, and we don't like American Idol, so we're doubly offended."
Labels: American Idol
Wanted: Kool Aid Man
You fix that wall before my dad gets home from work! ... He's not going to believe a talking bowl of fruit punch came in here!
Police vs. Rioting Fans
So there is more outrage being misdirected at Boston's Police Department. After the Boston Celtic's won the NBA championship many fans were out on the street "celebrating" en masse. Of course with many championships in the past few years the BPD were out in force with a plan to subdue the crowd.
We don't know exactly what happened during the Celtic's celebration. All we have accounts from two parties.
"While our investigation is still preliminary," he said Monday, "it appears from the evidence that we have reviewed thus far that officers did not use excessive force."
How does he know this? Why, his police officers told him so, of course. And other witnesses backed them up. And the officers involved did not use their spray or batons.
All of which, apparently, cancels out the accounts by Woodman's friends, who said they were forced to leave the area because the police, who had already surrounded Woodman, had threatened to arrest them.
All nine of the police officers directly involved in the arrest went to the hospital that night with stress-related complaints.
Of course we are a city who is still sensitive over the police be cause of Victoria Snelgrove who died during a Red Sox "celebration" when she was shot in the eye by a police officer's pepper pellet gun.
Maybe it is time all these kids listen to the Mayor and the Police when they ask the people to stay inside and not fill the overcrowded streets where a few bad apples can change the mood of a scene real fast.
I was out after the 2004 world series. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was just running around the stadium checking out the scene, high-fiving and yelling. After the Celtic's win I saw grown men (easily 30+ prob 40+) leaving the Fleet Center with chairs from the arena and ripping down posters from the wall.
The police are in charge with controlling a situation when they are outnumbered at LEAST 10 to 1. If you want to avoid the dangerous situation then stay home.
Victoria was in a much more riotous situation and was probably just like me, causing no harm just taking in the scene. She just happened to be hit by a fluke shot in an attempt to control the crowd. Luckily for all of us the Police learned from this situation and have taken proactive measures to control crowds with out potentially lethal devices. Imagine being deathly allergic to pepper and then going out to celebrate a victory. If the police used pepper spray (as they frequently do) then you would be done for. Would that be the police's fault?
I'm not saying the police are off the hook in this. It is fine to suspect that they may have overstepped their bounds. However we should be fair and wait to see the cases presented by both parties before painting the police and heavy handed monsters. I would probably side on the police before some young drunk kids. Why do we always assume they did no wrong? Is it the attack of the helicopter parents? Their kids do no wrong?
That is my biggest fear.
Labels: Sports
WTF License Plates.
Thanks to some text message-savvy grandchildren, North Carolina drivers whose license plates have the potentially offensive "WTF" letter combination can replace the tags for free.
However 'brb' and 'lol' are still acceptable. You know kids are always going to have their little jokes. I wonder how many of the nearly 10,000 plates are going to be swapped. I would most likely keep mine, at least it'd be easy to remember.
Want to get updates as I blog?