Not Easily Defeated

Due to our morbid, human desire to know about the tragedy and the deceit, news outlets give the people what they want. I’d rather hear the story about Joe Kay. How Joe is overcoming a massive stroke by never giving up. Don’t stories like these actually help you in your own life? Wouldn’t it be great if ABC completely switched their format to reporting only the positive news stories? What do you think their ratings would be?

Quake Disturbed Earth’s Rotation

Here’s something excerpted from an AP story:

“All the planet is vibrating” from the quake, said Enzo Boschi, the head of Italy’s National Geophysics Institute. Speaking on SKY TG24 TV, Boschi said the quake even disturbed the Earth’s rotation.

People who study this kind of thing note that between 2 and 3 seconds were lost from the day. Doesn’t that mean the earth’s rotation is now a tiny bit quicker?

Cheerleader Toss

Cringe Alert! This poor girl almost loses that back of her skull and all the mush-heads are screaming and jumping all over each other. Give the girl some credit. Heck, give the girl the day off. [via Honzo]

Handheld Sirius

Wasn’t it just a matter of time before they came up with one of these? Unfortuately, 1st Generation=crap.

Boxer’s Judgement Problem

Satire is powerful. Powerful satire is nuclear. Look what the zany people at Beautiful Atrocities have done with Boxer’s latest immaterial ordures. Lots of goodies to peruse. [via The Llama Butchers]

A Call for Simplicity

Gerry McGovern makes the the point that in our world of ever multiplying information outlets, simplicity in design can be a huge competitive advantage. Well, McGovern didn’t exactly say that… but he should have. Now, if we can just obliterate the IRS and utilize a flat-tax, single-page form (online even better!) I’d die a happy man.

The Kid in Us All

Forgot to post this earlier, but the Cereality Cereal Bar has opened in Philly! For all you kids out there (and Jerry Seinfeld too) you might want to make the pilgrimage before the store closes down. Not that I want it to, but you have to wonder how they’ll make it when a breakfast only menu. Here’s hoping there are enough customers being led by their inner-child.

Tsunami Before and After

Some amazing photos of the tsunami ravaged countries in southern Asia. We humans shouldn’t think so highly of ourselves to believe we could hurt (or even help) something as large as nature with our puny efforts. [via A Youth Pastor]

Liberalism as Religion

Here’s some brain Bazooka. Many liberals treat their politics as their religion. To many, very little is as important. Sometimes family? I doubt friends, because true friendship doesn’t “rule out” people on the basis of their political beliefs. Certainly not faith. It’s becoming more and more clear that many democrats bow to the alter of liberalism because its primary plank is “do whatever you want.”

Orson Scott Card thinks similarly in Moral Stupidity. [via baldilocks]

Hip is Blogbox

Gotta love all the Blogbox goodies. See mine?

Tainting the Teaching Profession

I hate posting about negative crap. I mean, doesn’t every parent cringe when they hear about the 28-year-old, California school teacher (female, I should note) who’s been playing sex-time with two young boys (ages 12 and 14)?

Meanwhile, the interviews with the girls in Ms. Bench-Salorio’s class tell how much they admire her and how they all thought she was the greatest. Imagine that. A grown woman acting like “one of the girls.” And now we hear there was witchcraft involved as well? Wow. I wonder what it will take to start the mass exodus from the Golden State.

So… the solution? Sure it’s extreme but might we want to consider the ole, “eye for an eye” gimmick? Think future pedofiles will be be so bold if they thought they could lose their beloved genitals if they got caught?

And “no”, it’s not about rehabilitating the criminal. It’s about protecting society.

New Ideas in a Record Label

“Magnatune. We are not evil.”

How’s that tagline grab ya? Here’s a snippet. Quite revolutionary, no?

If you like what you hear, download an album for as little as $5 (you pick the price), or buy a real CD, or license our music for commercial use.

Artists keep half of every purchase. And unlike most record labels, our artists keep all the rights to their music.

This Year I Will…

In the spirit of Frank, I wanted to write my thoughts, er… pledges?… definitely not resolutions (fragile as balsa) but you get the idea:

• Eat lots of Qdoba (goes without saying)
• Find the courage to begin my book
• Spend a great deal of time assembling (and reassembling) toys for my boys
• Longingly await the 4th Lord of the Rings movie
• Cheer on my beloved Wildcats!
• Thoroughly enjoy our family’s annual beach vacation (not too tough)
• Patent my super-secret, high-tech health aide invention, and no it’s not a diet pill
• Grind my teeth and mutter about how Independance Air flights are always late
• Grow my own cilantro
• Continue the amazing progress I’ve made recently in balding
• Find the persistence to work on my book
• Consistently take my uber vitamins that smell like oregano
• Be nice to people
• Play lots of video games (you know, for the eye-hand coordination)
• Find the fortitude to complete my book
• Regularly tell my wife just how much I love her

The Power of the Eye Witness

We need more eye witness accounts of what is going on in the Middle East, not just what CNN thinks we should hear. Ahmad Al-Qloushi writes about what it was like when Iraq invaded Kuwait and how the American’s came to their rescue. [via Roger L. Simon]

Hand Washing Trumps Modern Medicine

Don’t want to get sick? Wash your hands. At least that’s what my wife says. And the experts agree.