Random Thoughts On A Sunday Morning Updated To 7-28

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 9-16

...The Taliban is at it again and this time they are going after Prince Harry of England, who has just begun serving a four-month tour of duty as a chopper pilot in Afghanistan. Declaring that they will use all their strength to kidnap him or kill him they have given carte blanche to all their commanders to accomplish this unless Harry agrees to have another party like he had in Las Vegas last month and this time invites them.

...A 63 year old man got a little too involved during a recent flight he took when he was arrested for viewing pornography on his laptop and fondling himself during a Southwest airlines flight. Passengers around him became aware of his activity and at times he tried to use his laptop to conceal what he was doing but that proved fruitless since he didn't have enough hands. When the plane landed he was taken into custody and faces up to 90 days in jail and up to a $250,000 fine. All this could have been avoided had he just dealt with whatever the on-flight movie was instead of finding his own entertainment.

...A woman in North Carolina thought there was something strange going on in her attic when she was hearing noises and then saw some nails start popping out from her bedroom ceiling one night. Immediately she thought it was some supernatural occurrence but when she sent her older sons up there to check it out they discovered that it was her ex-boyfriend that was up there and he had been there for the past two weeks. That guy was up there that long before they got wise to it? He must have been pretty quiet. A woman could never pull this off because they'd never be able to shut up.

...When this was going on I wonder how many times the kids got blamed for eating food out of the refrigerator?

...A professor at American University in Washington, D.C. brought her sick infant to work with her one day after she could not find any suitable child-care options. Everything was going fine during the 75 minute lecture until the baby started to get restless. That's when the mother decided to pick up the baby and breast feed her in front of the entire room. After the kid finished her milkshake she fell asleep for the remainder of the lecture. The name of the class that was being taught was "sex, gender and culture". Evidently she wanted to make the class a show and tell.

...I firmly believe that anyone who is a public figure should avoid Twitter like the plague because no matter what you say -even if you are right- you are wrong. After the Kansas City Chiefs lost their week one opener to Atlanta some loudmouthed Chiefs fan ran to Twitter to complain in an explicative-filed rant that he wasn't much of a fan of theirs anymore and the ownership is always well below the salary cap because they are greedy. This guy must live on Twitter because he has over 124,000 followers. Well, someone from the Chiefs organization saw this and sent him a tweet telling him that it would help if he got his facts straight and it was his choice to be fan and to get a clue. That was it but it was all this guy needed to make it seem worse than it really was. The Chiefs were forced to apologize for what they said and they went on to state that there was no excuse for their actions. What actions? What did they say except asking someone to get their facts right. Gee you can really see how someone would be boiling mad over that. He then made himself look more stupid as he went on TV to complain about the team and that they should have some Midwestern values which meant that they should communicate effectively with the fans because they pay for everything. We've never heard that before, have we? I'm also sure that if Kansas City had beat Atlanta he'd of never gone off on this little tirade, although I am not really sure what is more pathetic, someone who posts an obscenity-laden tweet who talks about values and effective communication or that this guy has 124,000 people following what he has to say on Twitter.

...Levi Johnston, who is the perfect example of his shoe size being greater than his IQ, welcomed his second child into the world with as many bimbos last Thursday. He named the baby Breeze Beretta because the child was accidentally conceived during a hunting trip and that Beretta is his favorite shotgun. This guy is 22 years old, uneducated, unemployed and just had his second out-of-wedlock child. What a catch! What this guy needs is a vasectomy but he might be going for one more because the Benelli company makes a pretty good shotgun also.

...At last the media found someone even more irrelevant than Kim Kardashian to write about.

...Um, let me get this straight. Islams are killing and destroying property to protest a film that accuses them of barbaric behavior? No wonder why I have such a hard time understanding that Islam is the religion of peace.

...Down in Mexico, authorities have captured a hitman who is believed to have participated in at least fifty murders at the behest of a drug gang since February. What's most shocking is that this killer, who was so capable in carrying out these orders, was only sixteen years old. Most kids his age were playing Call of Duty on their consoles. This kid was doing it in real life.

...What's next? Drive-by's on tricycles?

...Don't look now but there could be another NHL lockout coming.

...The easiest way to beat the Yankees is to let them get runners on base - preferably in scoring position. Then just sit back and watch them go down quietly.

...Angelina Jolie recently visited a Syrian refugee camp in Baghdad for her work at the United Nations in her role as a special envoy for their refugee agency, which is another way of saying she volunteered to visit the thousands of people who were forced to flee from their homes because of the war in Syria. She hoped that by being there she can make other countries more aware of their suffering and to ask for international humanitarian assistance. Say what you will about her but this woman gets involved. She has taken more than forty trips to places like this which is forty more trips than I'd take.

...I wonder if the people escorting her around these refugee camps she's visiting have a pool going amongst themselves to see if she adopts someone?

[sabugo]

I respect Prince Harry for going to the field, like he is supposed to, setting an example by showing that the ones who start wars should be the ones to fight it. Nevertheless his presence there might be in millitary terms, counterproductive and or dangerous to everyone who happens to be around him.

Man, I've never been in a flight THAT boring...Weird things happen on the sky!

That poor child...We have a similar case in Portugal with a much publicized relationship between a soccer player and a singer-actress-dumb as a rock-socialite-(insert random followed by the media job here) who named their two baby girls some absolutely insanely ridiculous names. Which are supposed to be a merger between his and her names.

The sad thing is that the guy who made that video was expecting this sort of reaction and he got exactly what he wanted, only double. And for one lousy video people get killed.

And the situation in Mexico isn't much better either. My hope goes out to all the decent people in Mexico.

The Yankees have a serious case of too much time spent playing themselves on computer games. They get this weird idea that because of their high power ratings in games they can smash at will during real life games.

I wonder if Angelina Jolie reverses the whole idea of a guy having multiple wives. Pretty soon she's going to have get a second or third husband, because Brad Pitt must be going nuts trying to raise 27 kids - with possibly more on the way - and still find the time to look good, make movies and keep up with all she does.

Edited September 19, 2012 by sabugo

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 9-23

...After more than a week, Chicago's teachers have agreed to leave the picket line and return to their classrooms which ended a standoff with the mayor of Chicago over teacher evaluations and job security. The vote last week was not on the contract offer itself, but on whether to continue the strike. The teacher evaluations is what really concerned the striking union because Chicago's school system is one of the worst. Now the kids can go from learning nothing when this strike was going on to, well, learning nothing.

...A newly discovered piece of fourth-century scrap of papyrus has started a debate that Jesus Christ had a wife and it has reignited several old debates like was Mary Magdalene his wife and did he have any female disciples? Honestly, who knows? Everything people know about the son of God is written in the Bible and for centuries now that was good enough. I'd hope he didn't have a wife because he did die on the cross for us. Why wish him any more misery?

...After this bit of news was released to the public I didn't see Christians burning any flags, houses or businesses, storm an Embassy or murder people like those Islamic lovers of peace did last week.

...Dennis Hopper is someone you don't want to mess with even if he's been dead these past two years. Recently he left his little nine year old daughter 2.85 million dollars in his will and at the same time stipulated that his ex-wife have absolutely no access to the money. During the time that lead up to Hopper's death in 2010 they were going through a nasty divorce because his wife was, to describe her one word, a golddigger. One can not help thinking how she is going to try and get her hands on her daughter's hefty nest egg. She has nine years to do it before she turns eighteen and takes off. Here's hoping Hopper thought of ways to protect her.

...Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White was arrested and charged with public intoxication and vandalism after police accused him of pulling a hotel fire alarm forcing guests to evacuate and destroying a hotel phone. After being booked he was released by police on his own recognizance and then immediately started apologizing to anyone who would listen for his poor behavior, which is what you'd expect him to do once the drugs wore off along with a bottle of scotch.

...Steve Sabol died last Tuesday of brain cancer. Sabol was the President of NFL Films, the company responsible all these years for the wonderful highlights and documentaries from the National Football League. The wrap ups of the games week after week, especially when the late John Facenda was narrating, was the best I have ever seen. R.I.P

...Sometimes I wondered if baseball would ever have something similar to NFL Films for themselves but I figured they'd undoubtedly run out of film during a Yankee - Red Sox series.

...An Ohio woman is suing her ex-husband after she said he spied on her with a hidden video camera, microphone and a GPS for months in their home. He has admitted to installing the equipment but has denied doing anything wrong and has offered no explanation as to why he did it. I got to thinking that if I ever pulled anything like this on my wife I would finally catch her ordering stuff on the internet when she says she doesn't.

...If Curtis Granderson can't get through one game without striking out he wouldn't know what to do.

...And just when you are ready to write off the Yankees they go and do something completely unexpected like coming from behind and beating the Athletics yesterday in extra innings. The way this team has been playing dead recently I never thought they had it in them.

...The Tampa Bay Rays may not put people in their park but that doesn't stop them from having some pretty good promotions. Recently Guy Boucher, the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning was invited to throw out the first pitch to celebrate the Lightning's 20th anniversary season. Instead of throwing the ball to the catcher he brought a hockey stick out to the mound and shot the ball into the mitt of the catcher for a perfect strike. Now Boucher can only hope his players can start doing the same thing on the ice as soon as this NHL lockout is over.

...A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair yesterday inside a group home after the police say the double amputee angrily threatened the officer when he waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen. How the cop did not know that the guy only had a pen in his hand is something I can't quite grasp especially when a police spokeswoman said the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer. And you still couldn't tell it was a pen? How come he wasn't tasered or at the very least knock over his wheelchair if they really felt the need to subdue this person? Maybe the real reason why they shot him was because they couldn't figure out how to handcuff a one armed man.

...MAKE YOUR WISH COME TRUE DEPT: A 25 year old man jumped out of the monorail car into the Bronx Zoo's tiger den because he wanted "to be one" with the animal. He accomplished his goal and all it cost him was a broken shoulder, a broken rib, a collapsed lung, a broken ankle and pelvis and multiple puncture wounds. As an added bonus he will be charged with trespassing and criminal trespassing as soon as he is released from the hospital where he remains in stable condition. If he was in stable condition he wouldn't have jumped in the first place.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 9-30

...Watching the Packers get screwed in Seattle last Monday night on the final play of the game should make a lot of NFL fans realize how bad the Raiders have been getting stiffed for years now.

...The result of this play forced the NFL and the regular referees to settle their differences and beginning in week four it is out with the lousy replacement officials and in with the lousy regular officials. I don't know why everyone is so excited to have the regular ones back because after a few weeks people are going to be grumbling about them too.

...Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers blamed his recent problems with blurred vision and balance on the high caffeine consumption that he was putting himself through. Each day he said he was drinking multiple cups of coffee along with energy drinks and having chocolate after games which they say explained the issues he was going through. Sure, sure. You also can have the exact same symptoms when you drink too much whiskey. Just saying.

...As I post this the Yankees and Orioles are tied for first place with four games to go and if Baltimore ends up winning this they can thank the Yankees for not doing their job with runners on base all year. They can dazzle you with the home runs but when it comes down to moving a runner over or hitting a sacrifice fly that's when they'll hit into a double play or strike out. If they make the playoffs, whoever plays them in the first round should feel pretty good about their chances.

...A factory in China that is responsible for manufacturing Apple products like the new iPhone 5 temporarily shut down last week after security workers violently beat some of the workers after a fight that escalated to the point that it involved 2,000 company workers. The cause of the fight is unknown and police were called to restore order although they arrived forty-five minutes late because they were trying to follow directions to the factory using iMaps and got lost three times.

...Who else in here besides me was envious of that kid who got his first kiss from Carrie Underwood?

...A fraternity at the University of Tennessee has been suspended after a weekend incident involving alcohol enemas in which one student was hospitalized. These enemas were done so the person receiving them can get drunk faster. One student was taken to the hospital in critical condition with a blood alcohol level of 0.40, which if you were driving is five times the legal limit. The good new is this kid has been treated and released but has denied taking part in any alcohol enemas. Of course he denied any involvement. The first rule of butt-chugging is that you don't talk about butt-chugging.

... If this is what they do for fun, can you imagine what the Hazing is like???

...There is an Asian airline aptly named AirAsia that will be adding a no-kids section to its flights beginning in February, 2013 and no travelers with a person under 12 in their group will be able to book those seats. The airline is calling this area Quiet Zone and I am personally so impressed with this that I am considering sending them an e-mail commending them on this idea. With this idea being put into effect by this airline it just continues a growing trend for people to want to avoid children these days. Child-free restaurants and theaters have popped up all over the country. There's even a store in Missouri that offered child-free shopping hours this past summer. This has nothing to do with people disliking kids, so don't blame this on an airline or a store or your favorite place to grab a bite to eat at. It's just that people are fed up with parents who refuse to discipline their kids in public and let them do what they want. When a child is screaming and carrying on people do not think he or she is cute even though they happen to be your offspring.

...Somehow I think if United or Delta or American Airlines ever started doing this they would have a lot more people on their side than against them and people would be even willing to pay more for this.

...Now I might be able to guess what some of you out there in our Mvpmods community may be thinking, that I'm way off base and that your kids don't do this kind of stuff. All I got to say to that is that it makes you good parents but at the same time you can think back when you were out some place and you wished you were someplace else because some kid was screaming as loud as a train whistle.

...There's a new league that is going to begin playing next summer called the Bikini Basketball League. I might have to miss a few Yankee games to watch this.

...Adam Greenberg, the Chicago Cubs prospect who was beaned in his only at-bat for the team seven years ago is finally getting another chance to appear in the major leagues again after he was granted special permission from baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. Greenberg will be suiting up for the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, which is their second to last game of the season against the New York Mets. Greenberg is receiving this chance thanks to a campaign started by a huge Cubs fan who wanted to see him get another at bat in the majors because the beaning he got in 2005 resulted in ongoing concussion problems that made him feel dizzy just by standing up. The Cubs were asked if they would let Greenberg come back this month for his at bat but they said no. Who knows? I guess they felt that they were still in the pennant race and didn't want the distraction.

...I just realized that this is the first time that I am agreeing with something Bud Selig did. Took long enough.

...This past Thursday a woman traveled from Florida to New Jersey with a loaded gun in her purse that somehow got past the TSA's airport screeners. The woman, an Orlando firefighter, had a license for the gun and kept it in her purse for the entire trip and then surrendered the gun to the Port Authoritys once she landed. You just never know what you are going to find in a woman's purse anymore. Before anyone goes around saying that the TSA doesn't know what they are doing I have to say in their defense that they did stop a large container of shampoo from getting on board on that same flight.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 10-7

...Did you hear about that guy in Hong Kong who is offering 65 million dollars to the man who is able to get his lesbian daughter to fall in love with him ? When I told my wife about this she offered to buy my air fare to China. It goes without saying that this would be one interesting marriage because in this one you'd have a wife who would have her own mistress.

...The power that Facebook has continues to amaze me. A prison sergeant in the Texas Corrections System was fired for "friending" an inmate because the inmate happened to be a friend of his from high school and the guy didn't know he was in jail at the time. He eventually got his job back when the department of criminal justice in Texas determined that there was no practical way to monitor the Facebook accounts of 40,000 employees and 154,000 convicts. In case you are wondering the Lonestar state allows their prisoners Facebook access, presumably to keep up with other gang members on the outside that haven't been caught yet.

...Makes me wonder though how letting them have a Facebook account can lead to problems like this.

A. One guy might snap because his entire cell block keeps sending him requests for Farmville every day.

B. I wonder how many inmates list themselves as "in a relationship"?

C. I'd love to see their status updates. Well, dropped the soap in the shower again. Don't want to talk about it.

D. They'd be afraid to de-friend someone because that's just going to invite a shanking or a beating.

E. They'd have a hard time distinguishing who is who on there because over half of the inmates are named Bubba.

...Chicago police last week discovered a marijuana crop on a chunk of land the size of two football fields that were ready to harvest. Police cut down the 1,500 plants that were over seven feet high apiece and it could have earned the growers as much as ten million dollars. Police later burned all the plants and soon after that for some reason the entire city of Chicago became really, really hungry.

...Got to admit, whoever planted that stuff has a natural gift in agriculture.

...This was an unusually fast baseball season this year, wasn't it?

...Correct me if I'm wrong but back in April weren't the Miami Marlins and the Los Angeles Angels supposed to run wild in their respective leagues?

...Hey Albert, the Cardinals still made the playoffs without you and you're home watching them. Now go back to counting your money.

...A.J. Burnett won sixteen games for the Pittsburgh Pirates this year which was sixteen more than I thought he'd win. And speaking of the Pirates, they finished this year with their 20th straight losing season in a row. There was danger for awhile that they'd win more games then they'd lose but in the end they got it together and finished under .500.

...I was just as amazed by the Athletics as the rest of you probably were. I started to believe they were a good team when they swept the Yankees back in July in Oakland four straight games and all by one run. Of course the Yanks helped out in each game by refusing to hit in the clutch but that didn't matter. Oakland played great as a team and they deserved to win the west.

...The Red Sox had a terrible season this year and I enjoyed it every step of the way. I've been waiting twenty years to watch them finish in last place again and believe me it was well worth the wait. I knew Bobby Valentine was going to be made the scapegoat and despite the fact that I can't stand the **it eating grin on his face I will be the first to admit it wasn't his fault. The Red Sox players don't want to be told anything. The perfect manager for them is a guy who's going to look the other way and then when that happens they'll be praising him in the newspapers and won't have any secret meetings with the team owner about getting rid of him.

...Anyone that watched the Braves - Cardinals wild card playoff game couldn't have been that surprised that Atlanta lost. It's what they do in October and no one in baseball has done that more consistently over the years then these guys. But this time just about everyone (including Cardinal fans) will admit that they got screwed because that was no infield fly rule unless left field is now part of the shortstop's territory. And unlike the NFL, baseball can't blame this blown call on replacement umpires.

...At least most of the Braves fans were nice enough to finish their beer before they threw the bottles out on the field.

...Miguel Cabrera winning the Triple Crown in baseball was something special but what baseball is doing to capitalize on it is disgraceful. Bud Selig and his sales team came up with the promotion of selling the dirt from the Kansas City batter's box where Cabrera won his Triple Crown last Wednesday night. The price for this dirt? Only $39.99. You better place your orders fast before the Tiger fans buy them all. And just in case any of you are shut out on this and want some dirt I want you to know that I have some in my backyard that I will sell for a reasonable price. I have it on good authority that this dirt is related to the dirt in the Royals batter's box, first cousins on the mother's side.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 10-14

...One thing about Philadelphia is that you never have to worry about making up something when you are making a joke at their expense because they are always too willing to provide you with something. Take last Sunday for example. Police had to come to a hotel in Philadelphia's Society Hill district to break up a violent brawl between two different wedding parties. Three men were arrested and one man, an uncle of the bride, suffered a heart attack and later died at the hospital. The fight began as a confrontation between relatives and friends attending the wedding held at the hotel earlier that evening. And when people attending a second wedding that was held somewhere else began to show up and started hanging out at the hotel bar, that is when the fight began and became out of control. Police later said that alcohol was the main reason for the fight. No kidding. It just shows that wedding cake and Jack Daniels don't mix. The next time they have a wedding in that hotel the management will be hiring bouncers and watering down the drinks.

...I would love to read the thank you notes that the newlyweds get. Thanks for the black eye I got at your reception. Sincerely, Cousin Jim.

...Ok, ok. I can't resist one Philadelphia joke. I can't help it, it's funny. There was a contest that I heard that one time the first prize was a week's vacation in Philadelphia. The second prize was two weeks vacation in Philadelphia.

...One of Apple's selling points for the new iPhone 5 is that it's the lightest smartphone ever. So it just stands to reason that some of the people who have purchased this new phone have been complaining that it's the lightest smartphone ever. Finally Apple is honest about something and they still have to hear criticism.

...Indians fans better get used to staying at the ballpark longer next season after learning that Terry Francona was named the new manager of the Cleveland Indians because with this guy running things down there the games are going to take longer to complete.

...Even when the Red Sox are looking for a manager they can't help themselves by being annoying. Their top choice is John Farrell and it doesn't matter to them that the guy is already employed as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. Their needs, of course, overshadow everyone else's.

...A 32 year old Florida man who was participating in a contest to win an $850 python from a reptile store along with twenty to thirty other contestants died after consuming dozens of roaches and worms, which was the requirement each person had to do in order to win the snake. If the idea of eating roaches and worms makes your skin crawl, you are not alone. The really shocking thing here is that they found twenty to thirty people willing to eat insects for a chance to win a snake.

...This has got to be the worst last meal I have ever heard of.

...It seems like every week something that the TSA does gives them bad press and to be honest, they deserve it. Their latest victim was a young leukemia patient who was taking a trip to Hawaii that she called an "end of life trip" for her. She prepared well for the trip,even going as far as contacting the airline to find out what their procedures would be for traveling with prescription medicines and to request a wheelchair for her. She did everything in her power to ensure that this trip for her would be comfortable but she couldn't do anything about the TSA who seem to operate on their own rules that change on a moments notice. These "officials" lifted bandages from recent surgeries, lifted her shirt to check feeding tubes and broke open an IV bag of saline solution which ended up contaminating the bag. When she asked to go to a private area to be searched the TSA goons denied it. If any of this sounds familiar to you then you're right. If you are a sick person or if you're old you are a perfect target for the TSA. Just a few weeks back some lady brought a loaded pistol on a flight and that got past these people. But a woman who is too sick to go anywhere without wheelchair assistance that has tubes sticking out of her gets frisked and felt up. The only way this is going to stop is when some big shot Senator's relatives get the same kind of treatment. Then watch what happens. There's nothing worse than brainless little nobodies who are feeling powerful due to their jobs.

...The Taliban, that fun-loving close knit group of Islamic terrorists, made headlines again by taking credit for the shooting of a fourteen year old girl who for the past three years has been speaking out for the right of all girls in her blog to become educated because under Taliban rule any schooling for girls after the fourth grade was forbidden. By maintaining this blog she was shot in the neck and in the head when she was coming home from school last week and it the Taliban immediately and with pride told the world that they did it. Doctors have said that the young girl only has a 70 percent chance of survival from this attack and if by chance she happens to survive the Taliban has promised that they will try it again. Allah must be so proud of these guys that they are going after a fourteen year old kid with the intent of ending her life all because of her opinions.

...Microsoft opened its Windows 8 operating system for pre-orders last Friday to prepare for the launch of the new Operating System on October 26th.I will be getting Windows 8 but not right away. I'm going to wait until Windows 10 is released just to give them enough time to get the bugs worked out in this one.

...Three years after being released from federal prison Michael Vick is a dog owner again. This makes as much sense as allowing Casey Anthony to adopt a child.

...The key for the Yankees to beat the Tigers in the ALCS is to try and contain Cabrera and Fielder and to make sure their relievers don't go around kissing baseballs and acting like someone gave them a hotfoot out on the mound.

...I know as I write this the American League Championship Series is only one game old but after learning that Derek Jeter will be out for as Joe Girardi put it "a three month recovery period" you can count on something right away. If the Yankees end up losing to Detroit in this series some of the Yankee fans are going to blame Jeter's injury on why they lost while ignoring the fact that Rodriguez, Swisher and Granderson are locked in a close battle to see who can strike out the most and contribute the least.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 10-21

...A twenty year old woman from Afghanistan had her head chopped off for refusing to prostitute herself and one of the killers was her own mother-in-law. The other killer was the cousin of the mother-in-law. Police say both women admit doing it. When the woman's husband went off to work his mother and cousin came by to force her into the world of prostitution, presumably so she can meet new people and earn a few bucks but she said no and they beheaded her. This is the prime example of marrying into the wrong family.

...When you're at the very bottom, it takes effort to go even lower. The Muslim world always makes the effort. I hope those two women go to jail for life although in Afghanistan they'll probably only stay behind bars a few days and then be let go.

...Republican VP hopeful Paul Ryan visited a soup kitchen in Ohio last weekend where he spent fifteen minutes wearing a white apron and washing some dishes for a campaign photo opportunity to thank everyone who works there for all that they do. As usual with politicians on the surface they make it appear that they are doing something nice but when you take a closer look you see the truth. This upset the president of the charity that runs the soup kitchen because he said that Ryan did not have permission to do this and when they arrived, they got one of the charity workers to open the doors to let them in meaning that they tried to con Ohio voters with a fake volunteer event. One witness to this said that Ryan was washing dishes that were already clean. Well, maybe he just wanted to make sure. Probably it's a good thing he stopped by because once the election is over next month he has a job to fall back on.

...Maybe Ryan should be cut some slack here. This was probably the first time he has come this close to poor people.

...I feel bad for President Obama. His campaign for re-election suffered a huge setback this week when Honey Boo Boo went on Jimmy Kimmel Live and told him that she hoped he'd win.

...A Cuban newspaper last week published a letter from Fidel Castro where the former leader of Cuba took the time to squelch rumors about his health. I just hope for his case Ozzie Guillen doesn't comment on this because the Marlins have enough problems as it is.

...If someone you know already has an iPad, an iPhone, an iPod and an iPod Nano and they are looking to get iPad mini, make sure you give him an iSlap.

...It was bad enough for Reds fans to watch their team blow a 2 - 0 lead in games in the NLDS but now they find out that Dusty Baker agreed to a two-year contract extension with the team.

...The St. Louis Cardinals denied offering to pay for the additional years on Baker's contract because the belief of him leading the Reds again next year they'll be the favorites to win the division.

...What concerns me the most about Derek Jeter's injury is not the amount of time it is going to take for him to heal but how he is going to be once he gets back on the field. His range at shortstop isn't that good in the first place and this injury could -and probably will- make it even worse.Right now this is nothing but speculation, but if he does lose another step how long will the Yankees turn a blind eye to it?

...Alex Rodriguez? This guy's another story. I've been defending this guy since he became a Yankee. Always trying to come up with some kind of reason why he -with the exception of 2009- failed over and over again in the playoffs. But since '09 he has reverted back to form and it seems that every time he comes up to the plate he strikes out looking or swinging. But by watching the Yankees pinch hit for him this year tells me they've probably had enough of him. Many people have felt that way about him for years. If the Yankees trade him this off season you are not going to hear a lot of complaining about it. Something needs to be done and it starts with Rodriguez. He should be the first one to go but not the only one. The Yankees have done nothing since the All-Star break and were lucky to make the playoffs. It's not all his fault but all the Octobers that ARod has not shown up for has finally become too much.

...It made me laugh when I heard some people say ARod was "distracted" when he gave that ball to the hot looking girl behind the Yankee dugout. How could anyone tell he was distracted? He was having his typically horse**** post season for the Yankees so nothing was different. This guy must have a screw loose if he thought he could get away with doing something like that during a game without the Yankees or the writers finding out about it. This is what I think is going to get him out of the Bronx even more than his post season failures.

...Nick Swisher's another one. He's a free agent who reportedly wants a "Jayson Werth type" contract. If that is what he really wants he should grow a beard and sign with someone else because it won't be with the Yankees.

...I'd love to be a fly on the wall to hear what Brian Cashman really thinks of this current group of Yankees. He said the right things when being interviewed after game four was over but just once I want to hear what he has to say with his guard down about Rodriguez and Swisher and their yearly failures at the plate once the post season starts.

...As soon as Jayson Nix hit that popup that landed in Prince Fielder's glove that finished the fourth game of the ALCS and the 2012 season for the New York Yankees I let out a sigh of relief because I was honestly glad the post season was over for the Yankees. They embarrassed themselves enough and it was best for them to get out of there and let the Tigers enjoy their moment. The Yanks got a lot of people to blame for what happened and if people just think Alex Rodriguez is to blame then they're nuts. Swisher, Granderson and Cano were just as bad if not worse.

...The best part of the 2012 Yankee season for me was not having to look at Jorge Posada.

...I liked the way TBS broadcasted their games and the announcing crew that they used. Then again if I don't have to listen to Joe Buck, Tim McCarver or Michael Kay doing a game I'm happy. The only thing I wish TBS would do is have more of a variety of commercials. If I have to watch those Galaxy S3 commercials one more time I am going to kick something. Have you ever had Deja-deja-deja-deja vu?

...Every time Joe Girardi was interviewed during the game by the TBS broadcasters I immediately thought of another Yankee manager and what he might do if he was put in that position. Can you imagine what Billy Martin would have said if he had to be interviewed live while managing this team? Every other word would have to be bleeped out.

...With all the money that the owner of the Tigers has you would think he could buy himself a better looking toupee.

...Jets quarterback Tim Tebow has patented "Tebowing," the bow-down gesture that he does on the field after everything he does out there. I've been seeing NFL players get on one knee for years thanking God, Mom and country for everything and because this guy started kneeling down like he was some Roman warrior there's a big deal about it. Tebow shouldn't stop there. He should also patent the words "benching" and "second string" because those two words are associated with him as much as Tebowing is.

...A special wedding took place in London on Friday but this one had nothing to do with the Royals. A Swedish couple came to England this weekend to marry at a Star Trek convention that is going on all weekend there. The couple dressed up as Klingons and the ceremony was performed in the "official" Klingon language. After this, the word "loser" has just been redefined. And Star Trek fans wonder why they get laughed at so much.

...On the very same day Jessica Biel wed Justin Timberlake in Italy surrounded by family and friends. No gimmicks involved in this wedding. I'm sure the only thing Timberlake had on his mind was to get the reception over with.

...Next week's random thoughts will be delayed for a bit on the 28th because I will be out of town at the in-laws and will be returning Sunday afternoon at the earliest.

[Kccitystar]

...I'm going to get this as a poster to have one of the worst calls in MLB history immortalized:

[scottybilly]

YES!! Especially if the Cardinals win it all again. The Cardinals are agreat team steeped in baseball history and a terrific fanbase. As well as they have played its no wonder they are where they are. However, a horrible call by an umpire decides a one game wildcard playoff. The other umpires were too afraid to overrule his decision, and MLB immediately denies Atlanta's protest. This wasnt a close call at a certain base where the runner is out or safe, or a close pitch. This was envoking the infield fly rule on a shallow fly ball to left field that wasnt caught, period. If anything good is to come from a horrible call by the unpire, then expand the wildcard playoff to best 2 out of 3 and not this single game elimination crap.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 10-28

...So good to be back home. Since Friday afternoon I have been down at my mother-in-law's house paying a visit because it was her birthday yesterday. I'd love to come here just once and tell you something exciting that I saw down there or interesting but I can't. I've just about given on that. The closest thing I can tell you is something my wife saw. Around 2 am early Saturday morning she was letting the dogs out to do their business when she heard a noise across the street. Some guy was raking his leaves and bagging them up. I can vouch for this happening around 2 am because for some reason she had wake me up to tell me what happened. I did not see this myself because I did not want to get out of bed. But I still believed her. And so should you. That's it. That's my exciting story. And it wasn't really even mine.

...I finally figured out the good thing about having to go down there every so often. It makes me want to be the best person I can possibly be because going down there and spending my time there makes me realize what hell is going to look like for me and I have no plans on going there when I'm all done.

...Two female members of the Russian punk band Pu ssy Riot were sent to prisons far from Moscow to server the remaining time of their two year sentence because of their protest against President Vladimir Putin. "Far from Moscow" translates into Siberia. The only question remains is who is going to be happier to see them when they get there, the guards or the inmates?

...A nine-year-old Pennsylvania girl was shot by one of her relatives last week outside a Halloween party when the man mistook the costume she was wearing for a skunk. The little girl went outside still wearing her costume (she was dressed in black with a black hat) and the relative spotted what he thought was a skunk and fired his shotgun, hitting the girl in the neck, back and arm. What I don't get is how you can mistake a kid with a skunk and why you would bring a shotgun to a Halloween party knowing that kids are going to be there. The child was immediately flown to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The relative had his shotgun taken away and was told he would not get it back until he made an appointment with an optometrist.

...Ozzie Guillen's Marlins career is over. Next stop, the Cuban Baseball League. There's a guy down there who will get him a managerial position with the snap of a finger.

...The first thing I thought of when Hunter Pence hit that broken bat double against the Cardinals in game seven was that it evened the score against them for that infield fly rule call.

...We all know how bad the Yankees hit in the playoffs but once you read this little tidbit you'll agree that it was even worse. The total amount of hits that Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez got combined against the Orioles and Tigers was fourteen. In the National League Championship Series, Marco Scutaro got fourteen hits all by himself.

...In three at-bats in game one of this year's World Series Pablo Sandoval did more than Alex Rodriguez and company ever did in the post season.

...The Boston Red Sox were finally able to get what they wanted out of the Blue Jays as they took their manager John Farrell (who was still under contract for them until the end of next season) and named him manager of their team next year. Toronto willingly participated in this transaction and made sure the Red Sox got exactly what they wanted. In return for giving up Farrell Boston gave the Jays shortstop Mike Aviles and no one else. In addition, Toronto sent right handed pitcher David Carpenter to Boston as part of the deal. So, the Blue Jays give up their manager and one of their players for Aviles. With deals like this now you know why they haven't been anywhere near the playoffs in twenty years.

...You got to hand it to rich people like LeAnn Rimes. Her career has tanked over the past few years as she's created more tabloid hits than song hits. She has denied having an eating disorder, slept around and cheated on her first husband while screwing around with her current husband when they were both married at the time while facing the fact that she hasn't done anything worthwhile since she burst on the country music scene at fourteen singing Blue. So what does she do at the age of thirty? She checks herself into a month-long treatment program for "anxiety and stress" and then as soon as she's released immediately runs to Katie Couric for a on-camera interview. Look at me, everything's fine! Nothing that happened to me was my fault! Maybe she should be given a break. She jilted her own husband, stole someone else's husband and has millions of dollars in the bank. This is a hard life you would wish on no one.

...I really wanted to start off this week's random thoughts with this but I kept on thinking of funny things to say about it that I kept on putting it off. Ok here goes. There was a family in Brazil who was holding a funeral for their 41 year old son who was employed as a car washer. The family's confusion began when they heard on the news that a car washer had been shot dead and the police called and said it was their relative that was shot. The man's own brother went to the morgue and identified the body as his late brother. (Later, when the brother was asked how he could have made this kind of mistake he said that the two men closely resembled each other and both worked as car washers, confirming the fact that all Brazilian car washers look alike.) You can imagine what happened next. The brother goes back to the family and says yeah, it's him, I saw him. Next, the body was delivered to the mother's home where a wake was held a few hours before the burial. While this was going on, a friend of the family sees the guy -who keep in mind is supposed to be dead- walking down the street minding his own business. He's told that his whole family is gathered together paying their last respects to him and tells him where they are. When he finally showed up there to let his mother know this was all a terrible mistake and that he is just fine, some people fainted as soon as they saw that he was standing upright and moving around. Other people after seeing him again got so scared that they started screaming and ran away. Some probably are still running. They might not have recognized him when he was dead,but they sure as hell recognized him alive!

...Can you just imagine what was said and what went on once they all calmed down and realized that he was alive and right there with them?

Hey, I thought you were dead? I was, but I got better.

Wait a minute now... if you're here who's the stiff in the coffin?

It would have been really funny if the guy walked in the room and said "So, who died?"

What kind of spread do you have laid out for after the funeral? I'm starved!

So, anything new with you?

Go help up Uncle Alberto. He passed out in the flower bed after saw you come in.

Where's your brother? He couldn't even do one simple thing like identify you at the morgue. No one go anywhere - we can still have a funeral!!

Does this mean we have to give back the TV we took from your house?

...NBA Commissioner David Stern will be retiring in 2014 after thirty years on the job. Can anyone imagine if Bud Selig held his post for that long and how much damage he'd end up causing? That guy wouldn't be happy until he found a way to make us pay to watch the post season.

...For those of you who are going to be taking your kids out this Wednesday evening for Halloween I hope you have a nice time and that the weather co-operates for you. At my house we won't be passing out candy this year because the last four years or so no one has gone house-to-house in my neighborhood. We've had candy but no one to pass them out to. I did my best to help get rid of the bags and my wife brought some to work but this year she didn't buy any. Every time she's one step ahead of me.

...Got a new water heater this week. All I had to do was wave goodbye to $1,100.

...This is the last full week of election news and coverage. If that doesn't put a smile on your face nothing will.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 11-4

...Baseball's been done for a week now and since then I have been re-discovering the other channels on DirectTV besides YES and the MLB Network. It was another season that flew by faster than I had time to appreciate at times and now that everything's wrapped up I miss it more than ever. Congratulations to the Giants who deserved their series victory. They played like I remembered the Yankees of years ago playing before they turned into a team of quitters and strikeout kings.

...If Prince Fielder wants to know how to deal with not doing anything at all in the Series (.071 batting average) all he has to do is call up Alex Rodriguez, who has become a master of letting his team down in October.

...A little over a year after Steve Jobs died the yacht he spent years designing was finally completed by shipbuilders over in Holland. The yacht is built entirely out of aluminum and is shaped like an iPhone and the bridge has seven 27-inch iMacs to help handle the ships navigation and controls. Because the ship is made out of aluminum it is lighter than the average yacht which gives it an edge when it comes to speed. Although if this yacht is anything like the real iPhone it will be useless once it gets wet. To show their appreciation for the hard work done on the yacht by the shipbuilding staff, Jobs' family gave them an elegant thank you note and an iPod shuffle, which is the cheapest thing Apple makes as far as mp3 devices. Makes you wish you could have been there working twelve hour days to build this just to get your hands on one of those.

...When Jobs had something built for himself he didn't have it done by kids in China. He made sure he went somewhere else so he could be sure it was done right the first time.

...For some reason only they understand, Major League Baseball is blaming Hurricane Sandy for posting photos of the Houston Astros players in their new uniforms on the team's website. Bud Selig and the people that work for him can't even admit to a mistake. They always have to find something around them to blame. This time it happened to be a hurricane.

...One thing I did not understand about Hurricane Sandy is that it made sense that people were ordered as far away from the shore lines as they possibly could but TV reporters were still allowed to be right there doing their news pieces in an area where something could have gone very wrong in a split second.

...The Walt Disney company is now the owner of the Star Wars franchise as they bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas for 4.05 billion dollars. They plan on releasing a new Star Wars movie every two to three years beginning in 2015. There's been a lot of grumbling about this from some Star Wars fans because they didn't want Lucas to sell but they will be the same people who will be first in line when Disney comes out with their first movie.

...It would be funny if they had Jabba the Hut return in the next movie. They can get Honey Boo Boo to play his daughter and her mother to play Jabba's wife. No makeup would be required.

...Walking around town last week on Halloween I noticed that this is the only day women can walk around in public dressed like hookers without having people stop twice to look at them.

...I have a hard time believing that a little four-year-old girl who lives in a house without a TV set is tired of the political advertising between "Bronco Bamma" and Mitt Romney. More likely the kid missed her afternoon nap and she picked this for some reason to complain about. I am tired of the election too. The politicking has gone on too long. But I am more tired of people using their children to get their fifteen minutes of fame.

...A California lottery winner has finally come forward to claim her 23 million dollar prize with the ticket that she bought back in May. She was in danger of forfeiting the entire winnings back to the state by the end of this month because she did not redeem the ticket. California in turn would use the money towards their school system. All this time her ticket has been in her car right where she left it after buying it five months ago. Talk about luck! Five months without cleaning the crap off the floor of her car. Who said laziness doesn't pay off?

...While there's a winner here there's also a loser and the loser here is the California school system because now they have twenty-three million dollars less on they can waste on educating illegals.

...Initial reviews of the iPod mini have come in and -surprise- people have loved it. Despite the fact that it is being sold for $329, which is $130 more than the asking price of the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD. Both of these tablets are sold for $199 but reviewers are still falling over themselves praising Apple for another job well done while ignoring the fact that the Nexus and Kindle are just as good and much cheaper. I don't know what it is about this company but if anyone other then Apple released this product people would be trashing it.

...Don't forget for those of you who have to turn your clocks back one hour it gets done tonight.

[laroquece]

...It would be funny if they had Jabba the Hut return in the next movie. They can get Honey Boo Boo to play his daughter and her mother to play Jabba's wife. No makeup would be required.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[DonSPa]

lololol y4l,ur mean but was funny lololol,and yep id stand in line,couldnt have had a better company take over i say

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 11-11

...Ever since last Tuesday my mailbox hasn't had that much stuff in it and no one's been calling my house four times a day to remind me to vote for God knows who. I'm very satisfied with the way this election turned out. Let me put it another way. There was no chance in hell I was voting for someone from Massachusetts.

...For long time members of this website you must have noticed that this was the first election that took place that did not cause major fireworks around here. In 2004 and 2008 there were threads and shoutbox debates almost every day leading up to voting day. You can even find the official '08 Democrat and Republican and the debate threads buried in the left field forum in case you are interested. It also did not surprise me that not one word was said this year about it considering the lack of posting that goes on and take away the fact that we had one guy in here that was a Giants fan (scottybilly) who was so happy with the way the World Series turned out we would have never had anyone talk about that either.

...I'm no expert when it comes to talking politics and I really don't know why one person wins and the other loses but when people like Donald Trump are card carrying Republicans that right there brings the GOP down. As soon as it was announced that President Obama won he went on his Twitter account and told the people that actually read what he writes that "we" could not let this happen and that "we" should march on Washington to stop this travesty. What travesty? An campaign was held and a President was elected. Just like it always has. He should stick to intimidating people on The Apprentice.

...The most interesting law that got passed was the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and the state of Washington. Even as you read this now potheads from all over the country are relocating there as quickly as they can.

...Now if Josh Hamilton signs with the Rockies or the Mariners we'll all know why.

...Shoppers Drug Mart, which is a drug store chain in Canada has suspended playing Christmas music in their stores until further notice due to numerous complaints from their customers who thought listening to songs of the season during the first week of November was much too early. People weren't even finished with their halloween candy yet and then they had to hear that Santa Claus was coming to town followed closely by Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman. Since when did Christmas become a two month affair?

...Meanwhile in this country Walmart announced that they will kick off their Black Friday sales rush at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, its earliest start ever. The reason for this early start is that Walmart claims that they received feedback from customers saying that they would like to shop earlier so that they can get to bed earlier. They're always thinking of us.

...I guarantee you that Walmart will end up moving their Black Friday sales to begin before Thanksgiving within the next few years.

...This must have been a slow week because not one announcement was made reporting that another new computer tablet hit the market.

...I was saddened to hear about the death of that two year old boy who fell into the African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo. However tragic this is, if the family of that kid tries to sue the zoo for what happened it should be thrown out of court because the mother put the kid on top of the railing because that is what directly lead to him falling in. It's too bad a child's life had to end so soon because of what this woman did. What I'd like to see is a photo of this woman because I want to see if she looks as stupid as she is. You know damn well a lawsuit is coming because people like this are never responsible for their own actions.

...A Pakistani couple is in jail because they killed their fifteen year old daughter by pouring acid on her because they thought she sullied the family's honor when she turned to look at a boy who drove by on a motorcycle. The girl's mother went on to say that it was her "destiny" to die this way. What the hell do these people do over there, walk around with acid just waiting for an excuse to use it? I guess they sell acid over the counter in Pakistan because I can't walk in my local CVS to get it. This probably won't get a lot of coverage over there because those people are still fuming about a Youtube video about their religion. They have to have their priorities you know.

...Although we have been told many times in the past that Islam is a peaceful religion, I once would like to see an example of when it is.

...Gabrielle Giffords and her husband faced Jared Loughner last Thursday in Tuscon when he was sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison without any chance of parole. On top of that he was given seven consecutive life terms plus 140 years. By the way that's one thing I've never understood. Seven life sentences? And who's going to make sure they're carried out?

...The strength of this woman is amazing as I've said many times. She survived a bullet to her head and looked her shooter in the eye on the day he went away forever. She's what being a hero is all about and people who think baseball players are heroes are badly mistaken. We like them because they happen to play for our favorite team and they help our team win. But other than that, what do they do? They make us happy when they drive in the game winning run and then when the playoffs start they catch the Alex Rodriguez disease and strike out three times a game. They're not heroes. We're just cheering for the uniform. Gaby Giffords went through hell to build herself up to what she is today and she's done a remarkable job. And she's just getting started.

...After taking one look at the uniforms of the Dallas Mavericks Dancers I have decided to tune into a few NBA games this winter provided of course that the game is played in Dallas. There's nothing more than I can say about this except look at the picture and you'll see what I mean.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

...The only thing that's missing from those uniforms are dollar bills tucked into the waistbands.

...Here we are in early November and Andy Pettitte is playing his usual will-I-come-back-or-not game with the Yankees. Make up your mind one way or the other. But just get it over with.

...The Los Angeles Lakers fired their coach after a 1 - 4 start to the season. This should prove to everyone that your last name does not have to be Steinbrenner to do something like this.

...R.I.P. to Lee MacPhail, former American League President who died at age 95 down in Florida.

...Updated my Kaspersky for another year. Twenty-nine dollars for a one year three PC license. I'm always happy when I can get a good deal on things I really need to have.

...Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. If you remember, thank a veteran when you see them.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 11-18

...Starting out this week's random thoughts with two separate but equally stupid stories that had something to do with this past election. One's dumb and the other one's dumber. I'll leave it to you to decide which is worse. Just keep in mind that they are both true.

...There's this one guy who I will call Eric Hartsburg because that happens to be his name. Hartsburg is a huge Romney fan and he was confident that his guy was going to win. So confident in fact that he got the Romney campaign logo tattooed on his face. He got the red and blue tattoo on the right side of his face and there is no way this can ever be covered up. By this action we all should be able to clearly see what the definition of stupidity really is. And with this slapped on his mug he just eliminated his chances with 70% of women but the good news for him is he'll be really popular among older white men.

...An Arizona woman who was so upset that President Obama got re-elected ran down her husband with her car because he failed to vote in the election last week. She believed that her family would face hardship as a result of Obama winning another term and blamed her husband because he did not vote as a big reason why Obama won and completely ignoring the fact that Romney won Arizona and their eleven electoral votes so her husband's vote, for or against Romney, would not have mattered. If you're worried about your family facing hardship you should start with not running down your husband. It's a good thing she didn't catch him having an affair. Can you imagine what she would have done then?

...Whether this guy stays with this woman or not is another story but I'll bet that when the next election rolls around this guy is going to be sure to vote just to be on the safe side.

...Texas has collected over 99,000 signatures to have their state secede from the union after President Obama was re-elected last week. There's as much a chance as that happening as sneaking a shoe sale past a woman.

...Five college kids sent a hamburger into space in a balloon last week just to see what would happen. If C.C. Sabathia had been around that burger would have never had a chance.

...Speaking of Sabathia I had to wonder how he was taking the news that Hostess, the company that makes Twinkies, Ho-Ho's and Devil Dogs will be going to be permanently going out of business . He must be going to every grocery store within a one hundred mile radius of his home to stock up before they're off the shelves for good.

...Good thing Prince Fielder doesn't live near him or this could have turned ugly fast.

...Janeane Garofalo found out this week that she has been unknowingly and legally married for the past twenty years. Her and screenwriter Rob Cohen were in Las Vegas and drunk, which is never a good combination and they decided to get married at, of all places, a drive-through chapel. Only in Vegas does a place like this exist. You can get married and get a burger and fries all at the same time. Twenty years comes and goes and now Cohen is getting married for real where he actually has to park his car and stand up for the ceremony. Cohen's lawyer somehow discovered that his client was a legally married man and he and Garofalo were divorced in New York as quickly as it took them to get married. Hey, if you have to marry Janeane Garofalo it's best that not even you know about it.

...Jeffery Loria proved once again that he is the worst owner in baseball after he traded five of his best players to the Blue Jays for a few unproven prospects, a back-up catcher and an overrated shortstop. All he's going to have to show for what he did next year is a brand new ballpark with a lot of nice, comfortable empty seats all over the place. We've seen this before. Just ask any Expo fan.

...Two years for sixteen million dollars. Not bad for a guy who got suspended for the last fifty games of the season for performance enhancing drugs, right Melky?

...Isn't it kind of funny that a lot of people have made the Blue Jays favorites next year in the A.L. East? Maybe they should play the games first because you never know if people get hurt and with Jose Reyes on the team you know that's going to happen.

...Hey, any chance the Yankees can take Giancarlo Stanton off the Marlins hands before they say they are done getting rid of players? They can take Granderson or Rodriguez for him. Even better, take both.

...I was so happy to see that Torii Hunter signed with the Tigers. Really, I didn't care where he went. I was just worried he'd end up with the Yankees.

...Some of my favorite videos on the web that I watch are the ones featuring military personnel who surprise their families upon their arrival home. The looks on their faces, especially the kids, are well worth the time to watch them.

...Jon BonJovi's nineteen year old daughter was arrested and hospitalized after suffering an accidental heroin overdose in her college hotel room last Wednesday night. They grow up so fast.

...Well I'm all alone at home these next seven days as my wife flew to Texas with her mother to visit her sister. I could have gone with her but as I kindly reminded her ten or twenty times someone had to stay home to watch the dogs and that person (thankfully) was me. Besides there's going to be a little ten year old SOB there and if she had any thought in her head that I was going to spend a week watching him jump on furniture and run around she had me mixed up with someone else. The house is much quieter as I post this and the dogs know something's different around here and they're right.But her sister was alone this holiday and they wanted to be with her. No problem. It's only a week. Then the noise will start again.

...I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are. And if any of you who are readers of these weekly postings of mine that work in those retail stores like Walmart and Target who are opening up early on Thanksgiving night, I really feel for you. They can spin it any way they want but this has nothing to do with making this more convenient for the customer. It has everything to do with getting more money out of them and you guys are the ones suffering for it. Have the best holiday you are able to have!

...Of course, the only way to stop this is for the customers to not go shopping that early. And don't bother telling me that this will never happen. I already know.

...Final thought for this week: There's three games again this year but the late game won't be on the NFL Network. Houston is at Detroit to start off Turkey day. That's on CBS. Followed by the Redskins at Dallas on FOX and the late game is the Patriots at the New York Jets on NBC. I'll watch the Lions until they start putting me to sleep and I'll stay with the Cowboy game unless they are winning. Same goes for the late game. If the Patriots are winning I'll watch a movie or grab some more potatoes.

[BashBros4Life]

Might as well post.

The Oakland Raiders (yes, I'm still a Raiders fan) are taking on Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Should be a good one. 2 great passing offenses and 2 terrible defenses. It's rained hard in the East Bay over the past few days, and if the Raiders can use that to their advantage (the Saints are a dome team, and are not used to marshy field), they could take this one.

It's really sad that Hostees is closing down. They're still being sold in Mexico by Bimbo as submarinos. Mexican government preparing for large American refugees due to shortage of Twinkies in the United States, Prince Fielder and Bartolo Colon spotted (of course, I made the last part up. Still, Mexican twinkies).

Josh Reddick visited Disneyland in Anaheim, California (let me remind you this is the heart of Angels Territory) and did the Bernie Lean in Space Mountain. Wonder if any Angels fans noticed him.

....While other Oakland Athletics players were all tweeting about video games during the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Brett Anderson, Brandon McCarthy, Dan Straily). Dan Straily took a photo of his copy.

In general, I'm glad about this Sunday. My workplace was nice enough to give me a whole freaking week for Thanksgiving. Look forward to meeting up with family and friends and feast on some homemade food, and I'll enjoy the Raiders-Saints game today.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 11-25

...A few minutes before midnight last night I brought my wife home from the airport as she returned home from her week long trip in Dallas last week.Arriving home at that time is a story unto itself. She was originally supposed to arrive home at a more reasonable time at 2:00 p.m. but she was bumped from her flight in Washington, D.C. because United Airlines overbooked the flight she was on. Despite having a ticket, she was stuck in D.C and was also bumped from the 4:45 p.m. flight home. She finally left Dulles airport at 10 p.m. last night and arrived home shortly after that. By the time I got home I was so tired from lugging her suitcase around I went to bed and for being stuck in Washington for over twelve hours she was compensated by the airlines with a check for one thousand dollars.

...That suitcase of hers was so heavy it must have taken two of the airport baggage handlers to move it. I got a lot of respect for the people who do this job. God knows what she has in it but I'm sure I'll find out once she wakes up.

...I hope the Thanksgiving Day holiday was good for everyone here at Mvpmods. I made it a point going into the day not to have that much but that plan blew up in a hurry as soon as the mashed potatoes were set down in front of me.

...The games were pretty good too. I thought that 97 yard drive by the Texans to tie the game was impressive and just once I'd like to see the Raiders do the same thing. Watching the Cowboys lose any time has been a favorite pastime of mine since I was a kid and in the late game I had the channel changed long before the Patriots started pounding the Jets again.

...How dumb can you be Dept: When you combine an airhead, a digital camera and a Facebook account you can rest assured that something stupid will develop. And that's exactly what happened at -of all places- the Arlington National Cemetery,a place where people have paid homage to loved ones lost at war for almost 150 years. A woman who was old enough to know better posted a photo of herself standing next to a sign asking visitors for silence and respect and she then proceeded to have a picture taken of her giving the bird at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and yelling at the casket. Before long the photo became viral and someone started a page to have her be fired from her job and that seems to be working because the non-profit organization that she works for has placed her on unpaid leave. Of course as soon as this woman found out how much of a stink this really caused she started apologizing and saying she didn't mean it. She almost sounded like a ballplayer after being caught for steroids. I'm sorry. I didn't know this cream was illegal. Maybe the next time she wants to disrespect the military they should put her on a plane and drop her off in Afghanistan so everywhere she turns she can give someone the finger. Then we'll see how much she respects them as she hides behind them in fear.

...As for the daughter who had a picture of her falling off a cliff sent to her mother, who was worried for her because of the trip she was taking to the Grand Canyon, all I can hope is that you get married one day and you have twins. Both girls. And they prank you ten times worse then you did to your mother.

...A father, son and daughter were arrested last week for robbing a credit union in Texas and have been linked to the robberies of seven more banks in two states. Dad and the chip off the old block would enter the banks in disguise while daughter dearest would drive the getaway car. It's kind of heartwarming to see that some American families still make time to share hobbies and interests together because family activities are important for the development of character and everlasting memories.

...After reading about these people all of a sudden my family outings seem dull in comparison.

...Did you hear about that guy who died last week and his obituary said that part of the reason why he died was he a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs. If he'd had been a Browns fan he would have been dead years ago.

...Last Tuesday a public nudity ban was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors which will now force nudists to cover up or limit what they show. In other words they're asking them to put on a pair of shorts when you are outside because there is no one out there who wants to see a naked man who looks like he's a member of The Grateful Dead. San Francisco is a beautiful and gorgeous city and the only thing that ruins it is the people who live there that forget to put on a pair of pants.

...I'd like to see what would happen if that city ever got hit with a snowstorm. Let's see how fast they put their clothes on then.

...The Pittsburgh Steelers resigned former first round draft pick Plaxico Burress due to the many injuries their wide receivers have had this year. The Steelers are only two games behind the Ravens in the AFC North division and they're hoping that signing Burress will be the shot in the leg they need for a playoff run.

...Sorry, couldn't resist that last one.

...Anyone notice that the NHL is still on strike? Didn't think so.

...Although you must give that Flyer fan who went to New York City and gave NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman a piece of his mind on how to solve this strike a lot of credit for doing what he did. He spoke for a lot of fans who just want to go back to watching their favorite teams play. Despite doing this does this guy actually think that the owners or players actually care about him or any other fan?

[Gordo]

What's really sad about the NHL is that on the NHL.com website (I do believe ..... or is it ESPN? meh...who cares), they are publishing NHL13 simulated games as if they are real regular season games. Ok.... again..... a fake game is almost being treated like the real game and we are supposed to "get into" it? Maybe they should film some guys playing bubble hockey after they dress their respective teams after their favorite ones.

NHL was my favorite spectator sport....even more than baseball. It's going to take a long while to win me back.

[Yankee4Life]

What's really sad about the NHL is that on the NHL.com website (I do believe ..... or is it ESPN? meh...who cares), they are publishing NHL13 simulated games as if they are real regular season games. Ok.... again..... a fake game is almost being treated like the real game and we are supposed to "get into" it? Maybe they should film some guys playing bubble hockey after they dress their respective teams after their favorite ones.

NHL was my favorite spectator sport....even more than baseball. It's going to take a long while to win me back.

I got curious about this and checked. They're doing this on ESPN to promote that game for EA Sports. The sad thing is I bet you can find some people that are actually buying it.

That league has destroyed itself. I'm hoping their season can be saved because it's a good sport. But if this season is history like they had just a few years back I don't know if they can ever recover.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 12-2

...I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I am not as much of a football fan as compared to being a baseball fan because if I was I would have flown off the handle years ago watching the Raiders play. It's the same every year. A lot of potential in the summer and then it falls apart before the month of November is in the books. With their season record at 3 - 8 they're done. They're going to have another losing season and if by some chance they win their last five games, so what? It'll be too late to matter and too late for anyone to care.

...The wife of the shoplifting suspect who died last week after he was wrestled to the ground outside an Atlanta Walmart said the employees used too much force to subdue him. That's debatable since the guy tried running off with two Blu-Ray DVD players and when he was caught he was brought down to the ground and instead of laying there and surrendering, he fought back and punched one of the employees in the face, neck and chest. That's when the security guard got into it and he subdued the suspect in a headlock because the guy was still fighting to get free and run off. The only thing this woman said that I agree with is that her husband did not deserve to die over a DVD player. No one does, not even if you are stealing one. I don't know what kind of stink she's going to cause because of this but if Walmart lets her keep the blu-ray players and throws in a few movies she just might go away.

...Angus Jones, the actor who plays the kid on Two and a Half Men said in an online interview this week that the show he's on is nothing but "filth" and he does not want to be on it and has begged people to stop watching it because of his new found religious beliefs and that the show he is on does the work of the devil. The devil must pay pretty well since he's making about $350,000 per episode. What else should anyone expect from a kid who's worked around Charlie Sheen for all those years? By the way, he shouldn't have to ask most people to stop watching this show because they already have.

...Marvin Miller died last Tuesday. As a rule I don't like to talk ill about the dead even if in life they were members of the Boston Red Sox. Miller was the head of the Players Association from 1966 to 1984. Thanks to this guy a player who can't hit above .240 makes millions of dollars a year and the same for pitchers who can't pitch and can't win. So next year when you are going to a major league game and you are paying over one hundred dollars for tickets, thirty dollars for parking, nine dollars for a beer and seven dollars for a hot dog, stop and think of Marvin Miller because he was the guy who started it all.

...Just this week there was a perfect example of the lasting damage that Miller started. Russell Martin received a two year 17 million dollar free agent contract from the Pittsburgh Pirates even though he hit all of .211 last season with 21 home runs and 53 RBI. Someone who puts up those kind of numbers gets 17 million a year? The first thing Martin should have done once he finished signing on with the Pirates is send flowers to the funeral parlor where Miller was laid out.

...It is a shame that this guy's death got all the attention it did last Tuesday as compared to the lack of attention that Joseph E. Murray got when he died just one day before Miller. All Doctor Murray did was perform the world's first successful kidney transplant and won a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work. So if any of your family members or friends have received one of these this man was the one who started it all. I'll remember a man any day whose work continues to save lives every day as compared to a man who did nothing but stir things up and cause strikes.

...I hope Evan Longoria knows what he's doing after he agreed to a contract extension with the Rays that will keep him in Tampa until 2023. Tampa's a town that doesn't support their team, has no revenue and when their players approach free agency, they leave. But Longoria said he was happy there and that's all that really matters.

...I don't know what the hell Gangnam Style is and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know either.

...Police have learned that a prayer group leader convinced one of his members to kill his wife because he was afraid she was going tell the therapist that she started to see about the months of sexual abuse she was going through at the hands of the male roommates of the religious group she was in. The man who was chosen by the group leader to carry this out was picked by him because he knew he "had it in him to do it." It must be so nice to be able to be in a position of authority to pick the right person to take care of work like this and have the confidence that it will be carried out. Only in these religious cults do you find people like this who hide behind God while they gang-bang a woman.

...A gay Muslim is planning to open Europe's first gay-friendly mosque in Paris at the end of this month. This ought to be good. These people already treat their women like crap. I can't imagine what they're going to do to the people who visit this place once it is open to the public.

...You must admit this does give a whole new meaning when you hear someone talk about "Gay Paree."

...Damian Lillard, who is a rookie point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers has admitted that he has a unique fear in that he is afraid of statues which stems from a bad experience he had once in a wax museum. If that's the case it's a good thing he didn't play with Shaquille O'Neal during his last few years in the league.

...With Windows 8 sales not going as well as they expected to, Microsoft will be releasing a new Xbox just in time for Christmas next year. Some of the things included in this new console will be 8GB of RAM and a blu-ray player. It's called the Xbox 720, which is probably what the starting price is going to be.

...The first thing I thought of is how the people behind the Playstation will respond. How soon for the PS4 now?

...Lindsay Lohan could be on her way back to jail very soon and this time may have to spend more than a few days there. Early last Thursday morning in New York she punched a woman in the face at a nightclub the two of them were at and was arrested and charged with third-degree assault. Meanwhile, back in California, Santa Monica prosecutors charged her with three misdemeanors from an incident back in June. That's when she crashed her car in the back of a dump truck and told the police that she wasn't behind the wheel. Police later found out she was and she is charged with lying to police, reckless driving and obstructing a police officer from performing duties. If it's found that she violated her probation she could face up to 245 days in jail. It's about time. Leave it to Lohan to be charged with crimes on the east coast and west coast on the same day.

...Not for nothing, but she should have also been arrested for her portrayal of Liz Taylor.

...Kim Kardashian caused a stir when she visited Bahrain, which by the way is a small island country near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. I actually had to stop and look up where this was because I've never heard of it before. She's there because she's promoting a Millions of Milkshakes franchise at a local mall there. Trouble began when some people began demonstrating outside the mall as they wanted to block her visit because they viewed her as "an actress with an extremely bad reputation." That must have made Kardashian feel really good. Very rarely does anyone refer her as an actress.

[Jim825]

Just a small correction -- Martin is getting $17m total for two years, not $17m per year. According to this article http://www.ydr.com/sports/ci_22100891/catcher-martin-signs-2-year-deal-pirates Martin gets a $2 million signing bonus payable by Dec. 31 and salaries of $6.5 million next season and $8.5 million in 2014.

Even at that, I don't think he's worth it...

[Yankee4Life]

Just a small correction -- Martin is getting $17m total for two years, not $17m per year. According to this article http://www.ydr.com/s...ar-deal-pirates Martin gets a $2 million signing bonus payable by Dec. 31 and salaries of $6.5 million next season and $8.5 million in 2014.

Even at that, I don't think he's worth it...

I'm sorry about that Jim. It was a typographical error on my part. But I will say that this guy is worth no where near 17 million for any amount of years.

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 12-9

...A construction company in Bordeaux, France has a lot of explaining to do after they completely bulldozed an 18th-century chateau "by mistake." The construction crew misunderstood the renovation plans of the owner of the chateau who just wanted them to clean up the manor and restore it to its former glory. In other words, fix the place up. How the order to work on the house got messed up that bad is anyone's guess. Heads should roll for this and the French know just how to do it.

...If there's an Angie's List in France these guys can forget about making it.

...The Yankees received an early Christmas present last week when they found out that Alex Rodriguez will be missing almost half of the 2013 season because of hip surgery that he will be undergoing in January. Once the surgery is completed it will take four to six months to recover from it. The first thing I thought of was why doesn't he get this done right away so he can come back sooner but then I realized that it didn't matter because the longer that he's out of the lineup the more he'll help the Yankees.

...Remember all that "trade A-Rod" talk right after the four game sweep to the Tigers in October? You can forget it now.

...Now the Yankees must backtrack to find another third baseman until Rodriguez returns and it didn't matter if Eric Chavez signed with Arizona because it was unlikely that they were going to bring him back. Chavez is only 34 and that's too young of an age for the Yankees to offer a contract to during this time of year.

...The Yankees made an offer to Kevin Youkilis? I can hear the snickers of some of you people in here when you read that because you know how much I can't stand that guy. If I can cheer for Jorge Posada I can cheer for this guy.

...Don't look now but Apple's done it again. They've released their latest version of iTunes, which is the same piece of bloated software that slows your system down but is still used by millions of people because its an Apple product and they're going to like it because they just don't know any better.

...Angelina Jolie made news this week when she said she was going to quit acting when her kids become teenagers so she can be home with them. Why wait? If she bothered to watch her last few movies she'd quit tomorrow.

...The people that are on your Christmas giving list that like to get gift cards are the ones I like the most. Luckily we have quite a few of them so it really helps us finish our shopping every year earlier than most people. At the same time I don't mind giving something that they can open on Christmas morning but when I get the idea to tell my wife that we should do that with everyone I immediately think back in time to one of my cousins. This kid would complain about everything he got for Christmas. Finally his mother told him to look in the catalogs and write down what he wanted. Also when the Sunday flyers came she had him sit down and look through them. Finally he made a list of the few things he wanted. Are you sure, she asked him. Yes, this is what I want. Christmas morning comes, they open up their gifts and he still finds fault in what he got. I guess it wasn't what I really wanted, he replied. Later that day I my mother told me they almost killed him that Christmas. And that my friends is why I like to give gift cards to the people we give gifts to for Christmas.

...After reading about that 125 mile traffic jam in Russia because of the three feet of snow they had I didn't complain much about being stuck in traffic the other day for ten minutes when I was out running errands. Ok, so I still was a little impatient at the guy ahead of me but not a lot. It's a law in New York State that you can't talk on the phone while driving and the guy in front of me showed me he can't do two things at once. Give New York State credit. Every once in awhile they know what they are doing.

...Before last Saturday I had no idea who Jovan Belcher was and now that I do I am sorry that I know. I'm not going to try to pretend to understand what made a twenty-five year old man shoot his girlfriend and then later on turn the gun on himself. And it was nice to see that the moment of silence observed before last week's game was not for Belcher but for domestic abuse victims everywhere because it wouldn't have been right to mourn this guy because in the end he was nothing but a murderer who brutally killed a twenty-two year old woman and also leaves behind a three month old baby that never will get the chance to know her mother and father.

...There's only a few more weeks left in the NFL season and instead of watching to see what teams make the playoffs everyone should just pray and hope that the season can be completed without any more tragedies. Yesterday a twenty-five year old practice squad member of the Dallas Cowboys was killed when he was driving with a teammate that had too much to drink. Josh Brent's car hit a curb and traveled about 900 feet before stopping. Jerry Brown, Jr. was then taken to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Just like the Jovan Belcher incident last week this one could have been avoided. But these are NFL players and the NFL can always get more. Roger Goodell is more concerned with whether or not to eliminate kickoffs.

...You tell me what sport is looking the worst right now, the NHL because they haven't played any of their games or the NFL, whose games are still being played?

...The way I see it those two Australian DJ's who made that call to the hospital ward where Kate Middleton was staying should not be held responsible for the suicide of the nurse that let their call through. Prank phone calls have been going on ever since people have been using phones. Remember back in the nineties when The Jerky Boys were at their peak? They had a least five CD's out where they called half of the city of New York and there were no reports of anyone jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge because of it. What happened with that nurse was terrible but I can't help thinking she had other issues going on that were bothering her a lot more than this phone call did.

...A sorority from Penn State university is under investigation because they held a Mexican-based Halloween theme party and some pictures were leaked on the internet showing the women dressed in sombreros and mustaches with some of them holding signs that said 'I don't cut grass, I smoke it'. How do you like that? A bunch of college kids getting together to have a party to let off steam and act stupid. I bet that's never happened before. Now if you want to make a bet that some stuffed shirt representing the university came out with a statement saying that the situation was brought to their attention and they are looking into it and they are appalled that a sorority at their school would act like this, well you would be right. In conclusion the sorority had to make a statement to express their "deep remorse" over the incident. This just shows that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who have a sense of humor, and those who don't. Those people become politically correct whiners.

...Isn't it odd though that Penn State nipped this in the bud right away but allowed pedophilia to go unchecked for years?

...Every time that I hear about someone doing something really dumb I wonder to myself how someone is going to top it and with this latest one it is going to take some doing. A nineteen year old Nebraska girl stole a car and then relieved a bank of over $6,000 a few days after Thanksgiving and was caught last week after she made a video on Youtube bragging to everyone about what she did. In it she admits stealing the car and robbing the bank. She should look at this in a positive way even though she's going to jail for a long time. Now she'll have plenty of time to think about what she did wrong and maybe improve upon it once she gets out. Also, she bought herself some TV time because the next time they air America's Dumbest Criminals she's going to be on it.

...Not even Lindsay Lohan would post a video on youtube to talk about this. Maybe she'd brag about it at the first nightclub she visits but that's about it.

...During a recent quail hunting trip Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum was accidentally shot in the right ear with a bee-bee by Robin Yount when Yount lost track of where Sveum was and shot at a bird behind him. Cubs fans are hoping that the next time Yount goes hunting that he will bring Alfonso Soriano along.

[GoRedSox34]

...During a recent quail hunting trip Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum was accidentally shot in the right ear with a bee-bee by Robin Yount when Yount lost track of where Sveum was and shot at a bird behind him. Cubs fans are hoping that the next time Yount goes hunting that he will bring Alfonso Soriano along.

This really got me laughing :rofl:

Edited December 9, 2012 by GoRedsox34

[Yankee4Life]

Updated to 12-16

...Beginning next month the State of Florida is going to be holding a competition for whoever can kill the most Burmese pythons in a thirty day period. The winner will receive $1500 for the most pythons killed and $1000 for the longest python killed. I don't know about you but they'd have to pay me $1500 just to be in the same area as one of these things, let alone kill it. Florida also wants the people participating in this to dispose of the snakes by "using humane methods." I'm sure that's going to be the first thing on everyone's mind when they're out there when they see one of these fifteen foot snakes out there moving around all of a sudden the humane way of killing them is thrown right out the window and your twelve gauge shotgun takes over.

...You got to at least give the people that think up reality shows credit because they always seem to come up with something that sounds as stupid as it is funny. At least that's what I thought of when I heard that a show called Amish Mafia was getting ready to debut on the Discovery Channel. It's about four Amish guys who go around keeping the peace in their community and making sure that everyone is obeying the rules. For example if they catch someone smiling or even worse if some Amish man takes his hat off while he's outside. Then they get in their horse and buggy and either do a drive by or when the offending person is not looking they let his cows loose so he has to go round them up.

...If this show makes it how about a Amish Girls Gone Wild next? Imagine the possibilities with that one.

...Taylor Swift turned twenty-three last week and it was written somewhere that the guy she celebrated it with was the twenty-fifth boyfriend she's had. So that's one for every year she's lived plus two for good luck. If she's trying to set a record for notches on her dashboard then she's off to a good start.

...The Atlanta Falcons got approved for a new stadium that will cost between $948 million and just over $1 billion and it will replace the Georgia Dome where they currently play. They are not exactly playing in an old and outdated stadium right now since the Georgia Dome opened in 1992 and is only twenty years old. The Falcons must have sweet talked all the right people to get the funding for this one. Now only if the Raiders can do the same.

...The Dodgers are going to learn very fast that Zack Greinke is not worth $147 million over six years. And with all the people that the Dodgers have been adding the thing that really stands out is the amount of money that they have spent. The best team in that division is still the Giants because you can't take away being the champions two of the past three years.

...Final thing about the Dodgers and that's it. You've got to play the games before you celebrate your championship. I have been saying the same thing about the Yankees when people assumed that they should win every year because of their high payroll but we've all seen what that's done for them. Exactly what did the Dodgers get for their money? Josh Beckett, a pitcher who has been terrible the past few years in Boston. Carl Crawford, an outfielder with a bad arm and a so-so hitter. His speed was a big reason why he got his huge contract from Boston a couple years ago. Adrian Gonzalez, solid hitter and a good fielder but when things got tough in Boston last year when they were losing he quit on the team. Not a guy you expect a team leader to be and finally Zack Greinke, an overrated pitcher who was in the right place at the right time while the Dodgers were on this $650 million spending spree. They've got the big names now but the hard part is getting that ring. Just ask the Yankees.

...One thing I try to do each day is to make someone laugh. Whether it is a post I make online or something else. Usually the one I make laugh is my wife and that's when I try to do odd jobs around the house and mess them up. But the other day I was at the supermarket picking up some stuff that we needed and the guy ahead of me was having a hard time checking out. You know when you sometimes say to yourself that you got in the wrong line? Well this time I did. Apparently this must have been the first time this person has been in a grocery store because it looked like he didn't want to leave. He kept on asking what the prices were of the things he was buying. The stickers in front of each item in the aisles must have meant nothing to him. Then he wanted the plastic bags double bagged but not the one for the bread. Sure, no problem sir. As he was about to pay he gave the cashier the wrong credit card because the one he provided didn't go through. More waiting as the one of the managers of the store is called over by the cashier. No wait! As the store manager is making her way towards the checkout the guy finds the right credit card and this card goes through and I'm thinking this is good. Maybe I can get home before my wife gets out of work in three hours. But there's one final thing before this guy leaves. He had a separate order that he had to pay for but luckily for me, the cashier and the people behind me he paid for the two items in cash. Then he left. Finally it was my turn. I looked at the cashier and smiled because he knew I witnessed the entire thing. How could I not? I was stuck there. I said to him I bet you must have a lot of good stories you can tell every time you go home at night. And as soon as I said that the kid just started laughing and kept on laughing as he rang up my items.

...Ok, ok it wasn't Letterman material but it went over well.

...Students in Amsterdam will have things a little harder on them beginning January 1st of 2013 because the mayor of their city has introduced a law that will formally ban them from smoking marijuana at school. How do you like that? Just when the Dutch kids were really enjoying their school year this has to happen. Recess just won't be the same for them. It's beyond me how they expect the kids to concentrate and pay attention now.

...One thing about this new rule is it should save them a lot of money on their school lunch budget.

...As expected, Lindsay Lohan got her probation revoked for her recent run-ins with the law a few weeks back. A probation violation hearing is set for January 15th and if it is found she did violate her probation, she could face 245 days in jail. This gives her a little less than a month to get herself into more trouble before she goes in front of the judge. Piece of cake!

...There's two people in Oregon that won't be spending this holiday season let alone anything else with their families from now on and a fifteen year old girl who's fighting for her life in a hospital right now because some twenty-two year old nut decided to open fire at a mall by shooting at anyone he saw. Before taking his own life he made sure to take two others with him. Just the other week Bob Costas went on the air to advocate gun control in the aftermath of the Jovan Belcher incident. By doing that he was widely criticized for what he said. After this and what happened in Connecticut on Friday he's making more and more sense.

...Serious gun control will not take place until people start demanding it and not letting up. When incidents like this happened in the past gun control measures would be called for but then like all talk it would die down. After yesterday it can't. After we read about who those twenty kids were and find out how old they were and we see pictures of them we can't let this drop because it is getting worse and worse and I am worried about how bad the next one will be if nothing is done about this now.

...Last week at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport the TSA proved once again that they are nothing more than a jobs program for the otherwise unemployable as they targeted a twelve year old girl in a wheelchair because they said she had bomb residue on her hands. It's not really shocking that this was done because this little girl fits into one of the categories that these people really zero in on. If you are old or if you are handicapped -and God forbid you are both- the TSA is going to pay extra special attention to you. This time they must have confused a disabled twelve year old girl for a muslim cultist. The next thing you know they will be doing ultrasounds on pregnant women just to make sure she's carrying a baby and nothing else.

...A stack of love letters written by Mick Jagger to the woman who inspired the Rolling Stones hit Brown Sugar were sold at an auction to a private collector for $300,000. Why anyone would want to spend that amount of money to own these letters between two people is something I won't try to answer here but if you have 300 grand to throw away I guess it doesn't matter what you spend it on.

...Incidentally the love letters I wrote to my wife can be purchased at auction with the beginning asking price of $250. All interested parties can send me a private message here at this website. Each letter has been put away for safe keeping by my wife but I know where she keeps them so I'll have no trouble getting them.

...Bode Miller, a World Cup Champion alpine ski racer showed everyone last Thursday that his golf game is no where near as good as his skiing when one of his errant drives hit his wife in the eye, requiring her to have stitches and leaving her with a very bad headache. Once she recovered enough to walk around again without experiencing dizziness he brought her back out on the course and had her stand in the fairway as he teed off again to continue his round.

...A man wearing a Mitt Romney mask robbed a Wells Fargo bank in Virginia last Thursday and got away with an undisclosed amount of money. Police said the robber spent a lot of time in the bank as he robbed all five tellers before fleeing. The tellers later told police that they knew it wasn't the real Mitt Romney because the guy in the mask had more personality.

...So, Kevin Youkilis is now a New York Yankee? Oh well. I just have to remember not to cheer when the first time he is hit by a pitch. :)