How Did Mexico Piss Off God?

As if an outbreak of "swine flu" wasn't enough, Mexico has suffered an earthquake. Next up, locusts, fire ants, HIV+, and the Rapture.

Sheesh, Mexico, what the hell did you do to deserve this?

MEXICO CITY – A strong earthquake struck central Mexico on Monday, swaying tall buildings in the capital and sending office workers into the streets. The quake rattled nerves in a city already tense from a swine flu outbreak suspected of killing as many as 149 people nationwide.

Quake jars already-nervous Mexico City residents

Former 'Mess USA' Tara Conner Faces Her Demons Again

 
Who the hell is Tara Conner? Oh, yeah, the ditz who almost lost her Miss USA beauty pageant crown because she's not as wholesome as Donald Trump!

FOXNews.com - Former 'Mess USA' Tara Conner Faces Her Demons Again - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

Rants - April 22, 2009

Welcome to the April 22, 2009 edition of Rants.




Gavin R. Putland presents Employment tax credits: the 'marginal' approach to full employment posted at On Line Opinion. 

NotYourDaddy presents Taxpayer Tea Parties All Across the Nation posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, "If the founding fathers could have even imagined the plethora of laws, regulations, ordinances, taxes, licenses, permits, fees, etc. that we are subject to today, and which are constantly increasing, they would roll over in their graves." 

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Republican Road To Remedial Math posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness. 

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Does Your Guilt Spring Eternal? posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog. 

Greg Laden presents Greg Laden's Blog : From Graduate School to Prison: What is the rational argument for ELF or ALF? posted at Greg Laden's Blog. 

David Lamb presents Are Keynesian Solutions a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? posted at Killer Buffalo. 

Wenchypoo presents Why the Scum Always Seems to Rise to the Top posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket. 

Archvillain presents Liberty Wept posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, "Since when are the police allowed to treat citizens like "the enemy"?" 

Aetius Romulous presents Economic Democracy Demands One World Balance posted at ScreamBucket. 

Aaron R presents An Immodest Proposal posted at Aaron Rogier, saying, "Yet another postmortem of the economy." 

Vianney Ausseil presents 32.2 million Americans received food stamps in January! posted at My 2 cents. 

Vianney Ausseil presents Bernie Madoff posted at My 2 cents. 

Vianney Ausseil presents France! France! We hear you! posted at My 2 cents. 

Kristian Bland presents It's Not Easy Not Being Green posted at Coquetting Tarradiddles, saying, "A humorous essay concerning the absurd mentality of many supporters of the "Going Green" movement." 

Papa Boomer presents Double Standards??? Fairness from the Far Left! posted at Consumer Boomer. 

The Whited Sepulchre presents The Whited Sepulchre: A Subtle Suggestion For Senator Charles Grassley posted at The Whited Sepulchre, saying, "Here's a rant about the hypocrisy of one of my least favorite Republicans - Iowa Senator Charles Grassley." 

Shot presents Obama’s New Maginot Line | Conunderground.com posted at Conunderground.com, saying, "such wounds are most often found on cadavers. The cadavers of victims that evidently tried desperately to defend themselves against violent and deadly attacks, but could not muster enough strength or will to inflict sufficient damage upon the attacker in order to stop the attack. The results often wear a toe tag." 

lavender presents Is it insanitea? posted at News for Freedom Daily. 

Whitney presents I Resolve to Take a Sundancing Shit on Utah posted at Whitney's Joint.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival

The Refrigerator Perry remains hospitalized with Guillain-Barre Syndrome

From 'The Refrigerator' Perry remains hospitalized - NFL- nbcsports.msnbc.com -

AIKEN, S.C. - Former Chicago Bears defensive lineman William “The Refrigerator” Perry remains hospitalized in South Carolina.

Aiken Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Melissa Summer said Wednesday that Perry is in serious condition. The 46-year-old Perry has been hospitalized to deal with complications from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a chronic inflammation disorder of the peripheral nerves.

Full story here - 'The Refrigerator' Perry remains hospitalized - NFL- nbcsports.msnbc.com

Celine Dion in Line to Ruin NHL Montreal Canadiens

OMFG - Celine Dion wants to buy the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Leauge! This is not only crazy talk, it's downright ungodly and evil.

Why would she want to taint the historic team with her brand of phony and pomposity?

TORONTO (Reuters) – A group of Quebec's elite including singer Celine Dion, Seagram heir Stephen Bronfman and Quebecor Inc head Pierre Karl Peladeau is considering a bid for the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, the Globe and Mail said on Thursday.

The newspaper, citing financial sources, said team owner George Gillett is mulling a second round of bids for the storied team which he bought nine years ago for $185 million.

Read the rest of the sad, sad story here - Celine Dion, others eye NHL's Canadiens: report - Yahoo! News

Stinky Man Is Stabbed

From the Department of Taking Things Just a Bit Too Far -

WACO, Texas – A man was stabbed after causing a stink — literally — in a motel room while eating with a friend, police said. Five men from the Houston area were sharing a Waco motel room Tuesday night, and two were inside the room eating when one had a flatulence problem, Waco police Officer Steve Anderson said. One man was so upset about the gas that he threw a large knife at him, cutting his leg, and then stabbed him in the chest, Anderson said.

Read the full story here - Man causing real stink in motel room gets stabbed

Pirate Bay Team Sentenced to Jail, $4.5 Million Fine

I don't condone copyright infringement, but I think the modern-day version of copyright law has to keep up with modern-day technology. It's kind of ridiculous for the movie and music industries to charge grandma for stealing intellectual property when there are bigger fish to fry (like mass-produced bootleg videos from China, and don't get me started on fake pharmaceuticals!)...

One argument is this: If I find $10 on the ground while I'm walking my dog, did I steal it? Or did I find it?

Same with the Internet: If I find unprotected music, is it a crime to pick it up?

Now, if there's an organization that takes the IP and puts it up for others to find, then I have an issue with that.

But that's not exactly what the Pirate Bay does. They simply tell you where to find content. They don't provide the content themselves. They don't house any of the copyrighted material.

The collective "entertainment" (and software, too) industry makes it kind of difficult to get the material that I want.

For example, I like "Deadliest Catch." It's on Discovery and it's about the crab fishing industry in the Bering Sea out of Alaska. It's a great show. I'd like to just buy the damn series before it's on TV so that I can watch it at my leisure. I have a TiVo, I have multiple computers, and I have a DVD player. But the pricing and terms are out of line - $145 for seasons 1-4. That's a bit steep.

After all, how much revenue do they squeeze out of me through ads if I watch the free version on TV? That's right, a big fat ZERO!

(By the way, I don't watch commercials. They're for chumps.)

So, if they priced an entire season at $9, they would get 9 bucks out of me they weren't going to get in the first place. And I'd gladly pay that amount. It's worth it to me to get the series on my terms.

It's like when airlines want to charge you $500 for a cross-country flight that's about to take off and the plane is half-full. Wouldn't they be better off charging me cost-plus some percent? Sure they would. Right now, though, their "plus some percent" is 1,000 or more (do the math. you get it.)

And don't give me any crap about "you're licensing this material; you don't own it." Fuck you. If I pay for it, I bought it. And don't call it rent, either. I bought it, I own it, I should be able to watch it when I'm 100.

One more thing: Settle on a goddamned format, would you? There's iTunes, mp3, WMA, and that's just for music! Sheesh, no wonder nobody wants to pay for your content!

Your content sucks!

Can I just buy ONE VERSION and play it in my car, on my iPod, at my house, on my boat I don't own, and in my corporate jet that I don't own either? C'mon, guys. There's one rule of sales:

Find out what people want and give it to them

"Give" does not mean "free." Give at a fair price.

Greedy bastards. Anyway, I'm a little off-track here. I wanted to tell you about a funny quote from the spokesperson for Pirate Bay (their programmer), Peter Sunde:

“It’s so bizarre that we were convicted at all and it’s even more bizarre that we were [convicted] as a team. The court said we were organised. I can’t get Gottfrid out of bed in the morning. If you’re going to convict us, convict us of disorganised crime.

“We can’t pay and we wouldn’t pay. Even if I had the money I would rather burn everything I owned, and I wouldn’t even give them the ashes.”

Pirate Bay Team Sentenced to Jail

High Speed Sex Has Its Costs

Couple having sex in the car while speeding on the highway were pulled over for - ahem - multiple infractions!

OSLO (AFP) – A Norwegian man faces a heavy fine and a driving ban after police caught him having sex with his girlfriend while speeding on the motorway, police said Monday.

Read the rest of the sordid story here - Police nab Norwegian pair during high-speed sex

Real Snakes on a Plane

4 baby pythons escaped from a plane in Australia. Real Mother Fu**in' snakes on a plane!

Baby pythons escape during flight in Australia

The Stanley Cup Playoffs Are All Set!

The NHL's second season (and almost as long) begins tonight, and it looks like a whale of a playoff. I love hockey, especially the post-season because everything is on the line. I'm a Sharks fan, and I really hope they do well this year.

They won the President's Trophy this year as the team with the most points. Can they parlay that into a Stanley Cup championship?

To me, it's doubtful. Maybe it's because they've always shown so much promise and failed to deliver. The past few years have been real heart breakers. But at least they're no longer saddled with Mr Lackluster (Ron Wilson); they have a new coach, Todd McLellan, from the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

As you may recall, I called for Wilson's firing on at least one occasion and it finally happened last year after their horrible showing in the playoffs.

But I'm still skeptical. This team has the best talent in the league: They're BIG, FAST, and TOUGH. At the beginning of the season, they had a LOT of Shots of Goal. But that all tapered off near the end.

I joke with my wife, who is a bigger Sharks fan than me, that they haven't played since December. She retorts, "Naw, they haven't played well since February."

In any event, I hope I'm wrong about doubting them.

Power rankings: Expectations met or missed … - NHL - Yahoo! Sports

Remember This Next Time You Frown!

A new study has come out on the relationship between propensity to smile and marriage success. As you can imagine, those who can smile under even the harshest circumstances (like marriage and raising kids) find the most wedded bliss.

Smiles Predict Marriage Success

The researchers scored each person's smile, and found that only 11 percent of the biggest smilers had been divorced, while 31 percent of the frowners had experienced a broken marriage.

Another Tampa Florida WWE Wrestler Is Dead

This has been a tough past several days for former superstars. Porn star Marilyn Chambers, baseball star Mark Fidrych, football coach Bruce Snydor, Philly announcer Kalas...now, another WWE star.

Former WWE Wrestler Andrew 'Test' Martin Found Dead in Tampa Apartment - Soap Chat

He is the fourth ex-professional wrestler to die in the Tampa area in the past two years.

Not a good place to retire, it seems, especially if you're a professional wrestler.

Mark Fidrych Is Dead

I was nine when this guy took the baseball world by storm. I remember his silly antics as if it was yesterday...we'll miss him.

Former All-Star pitcher Mark 'The Bird' Fidrych found dead

War on Pirates

The last administration threw out the window the idea that wars are fought between states; they thought they could wage wars on terrorists. Hence, "The War on Terror."

The current administration is apparently considering a War on Pirates, or more specifically, The War on Pirates off the Somali Coast (WOPOTSC). I didn't know this, but piracy has run rampant. There are more than a dozen ships with over 200 crew currently held hostage by these pirates.

The Obama administration is considering waging war against these bad guys. From FoxNews (so you know it's true) -

Defense officials said the U.S. military is considering attacks on Somali pirate bases on land and aid for the people there to help stop the hijacking of ships off Africa's coast, Bloomberg.com reported.

In fact, the war may have already started. I don't have the full story but it seems as if the American ship captain held hostage in a life boat off the coast of Africa was rescued by Navy SEALS. They shot and killed 3 pirates, in the same lifeboat, in the dark of night, and rescued the captain. The covert operation supposedly was approved by President Obama himself.

I was watching Fox News on the telly this weekend (I don't know why, I thought I had it blocked) and there was an "expert panel" all proclaiming that this hostage situation was President Obama's first "test" on the international front.

I'd say he passed, if results matter. They didn't matter during the Bush years, and he always got a pass from the Right Wingnuts.

So, Obama fans rejoice. He passed his first test, all within his first 100 days, with flying colors.

Now let's hope he either destroys the pirates or keeps us the hell out of there. From now on for me, it's all or nothing, baby.

Rants - April 1, 2009

Welcome to the April 1, 2009 edition of Rants

Angry Max presents The Quests for Truth and Blood posted at Pterodactyl Puke, saying, "Concerning who is responsible for the economic meltdown, and what to do with them."

Sidhusaaheb presents A Few Conclusions Based On The Mumbai Audio Intercepts posted at I, Me, Myself.

Alli presents Does Supporting the Constitution Make Me a Terrorist? posted at The Smoking Argus, saying, "Sourced credible analysis by Allison Bricker." 

Alli presents President Obama: Second Term May Depend on Holding Bush Administration Accountable for Torture posted at The Smoking Argus, saying, "The necessity of dealing with Bush administration policies and criminal acts against humanity." 

Ralph Sparkson presents Instead, It Turns Out Dick Cheney's Dog Was Darth Vader! posted at Best Funny Dog Pictures, saying, "Turns out Dick Cheney has a sense of humor in his private life. Here are his dogs dressed up as Darth Vader and Superman." 

Wenchypoo presents Mole Hills into Mountains Part II: from Pyramid Schemes to Money Laundering, with a Bonus posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket.

NotYourDaddy presents Economics Lessons for Liberals: Inflation posted at Government is not your Daddy., saying, "When the Fed prints new money, it devalues all the money that’s currently in circulation. Printing more money literally dilutes the value of everybody’s savings, investments, salaries, and retirement funds." 

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Tough Negotiators, Those Bushies! posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness. 

Aetius Romulous presents Free Markets Are Not Rational posted at ScreamBucket. 

Ian Bowman presents Dear Bruce, STFU posted at If It Feels Good Do It, saying, "Why can't the media get over Michael Phelps toking?" 

Jay Green presents Remote Computer Maintenance: RCM posted at Remote Computer Maintenance, saying, "Save Money" 

Michael Bass presents Haley Barbour’s Revealing Veto Pen posted at Debt Prison, saying, "You need look no further to determine what’s wrong with the Republican Party than to examine two recent bills which made its way to the Mississippi Governor’s desk." 

steven germain presents The Fatal Flaw In The System posted at Rough Fractals. 

steven germain presents Rough Fractals: Blog Bail-Out posted at Rough Fractals, saying, "A blog name is clawed back, blog is bailed out and Executive VP for blogging resigns..." 

Caterina Christakos presents Apple Martini Recipe posted at Martinis and Cocktails.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of rants using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival.