Out of Action

I am out of action on the blog front this week. Busy with work and putting in wood flooring. Catch ya later.

Hot Stock Tip

Here is a hot stock tip or business idea for all of you out there. Invest in a flag company. Just this week, there have been burnings of Danish, British, and American flags in the Arab world. If you ever thought about jumping into this exciting market, now is the time. The demand for flags to burn is high, and it is only expected to grow.

Warrantless Surveillance

A federal judge dealt a setback to the Bush administration on its warrantless surveillance program, ordering the Justice Department on Thursday to release documents about the highly classified effort within 20 days or compile a list of what it is withholding. Article

What really got my attention was the at the end of the article it stated;
"Routine FOIA requests are to be handled within 20 days while expedited requests have no set time limit under the law, prompting the Justice Department to take the position that the amount of time for expedited requests could be longer than that for the routine 20-day handling."

That has to be one of the most backwards legal arguments I have ever heard. It makes you wonder what the government is hiding. As Nixon showed us, it often isn't the act that gets people into trouble, but rather the coverup.

Guantanamo

Does it bother anyone else that the US has held "unlawful combatants" at the military detention center in Guantanamo for over three years without a trial? Now, the United Nations has issued a report calling Guantanamo a "torture camp".

Brown Shifts Blame

He is a microcosm of the ineptitude of the Bush administration.

Melo Snubbed

The NBA coaches left Carmello Anthony off the All-Star team this year, which is a load of crap if you ask me (and others). Chris Paul also should have made the West team.

H2Oh

Why pay for water when you can get it out of the tap?

Not so Super Bowl

Watching the Pittsburgh Steelers make their run through the AFC playoffs, knocking off the Bengals, Colts, and Broncos on the road, I just couldn't shake the thought that the Steelers were destined to win it all this year. To be cliche, the ball seemed to always bounce their way. The more I think about last night's game, the more that is reaffirmed.

The Seahawks had more yards, fewer turnovers, and more time of posssession. Roethlisberger only threw for 123 yards and had a passer rating in the twenties. Yet, Pittsburgh still won by 11 points. The ball game pretty much boiled down to three plays by the Steelers and three calls by the referees.

The Steelers made the big plays to win the game. Roethlisberger's Hail Mary-like pass (one of several ducks he threw and it should have been picked off or at least defended) led to the first touchdown. Willie Parker busted loose for a 75 yard touchdown run. Later, Randle El hit Ward for a touchdown pass on a trick play. That's 21 points.

Then there were the three calls against the Seahawks. The offensive pass interference call against Darrell Jackson was pretty weak. He extended his arm out, but didn't push off the defender. The referee bought in to the defender's acting after the catch. The Seahawks settled for a field goal rather than 7.

In the second half, the momentum had turned, and Seatle was mounting a comeback. Hassleback hit Stevens for an 18 yard gain that put Seattle on the 1 yard line. But the refs called holding on the Seahwks, bringing the ball back. Even in the slow motion replay, it didn't look close to a hold.

Three plays after the holding call, Hassleback threw an interception to the Steelers. Hassleback made the tackle himself, but the refs called him for a 15 yard yard penalty for a low block. Since when is a tackle a block? That helped set up Pittsburgh for a touchdown four plays later on the trick play.

Those penalties resulted in an 11 (maybe even 18) point swing and the Steelers won 21-10. Now, I am not naive enough to say that if the calls weren't made, the Seahawks would have won. Without those calls, Pittsburgh may have shown even more resilience and determination and still won the game. It was just frustrating to me to see a game decided by just 6 plays. Maybe it was the Steelers' destiny.

Last Poll Results

Who will win Super Bowl XL?
Pittsburgh Steelers 70% (7)
Seattle Seahawks 30% (3)
10 votes total

Super Bowl Capitalism

You can catch the commercials here.

Top 10:
1. "Magic Fridge" - Bud Light
2. "Caveman" - Fed Ex
3. "Hide and Seek" - Bud Light
4. "The Game" - Budweiser
5. "Cleaning the Gutters" - Bud Light
6. "Security Wand" - Sierra Mist
7. "Mile High Club" - Ameriquest
8. "A Little Darker" - Michelob
9. "Bear Attack" - Bud Light
10. "Pirate" - Sharpie

Worst commercial:
"Agent" - Diet Pepsi (Brown and bubbly doesn't exactly sound refreshing. P-diddy needs to change his name again after that turd of a commercial.)

What started as the worst commercial, but had a good payoff in the end:
"Whopperettes" - Burger King (and, at least it didn't show the king waking up in bed next to some dude with that creepy ass expression.)

Commercial that actually meant something:
"Self Esteem" - Dove

And last, but not least, Gillette's fusion ad reminded me of this article in The Onion.