Apparently the CIA and FBI use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to spy on “people of interest.”

So if you have “assassinating presidents” in your interests you should probably remove it quickly… I’m also deleting Osama Bin Laden from my friends list.

Sports are amazing/horrible. Where else can a complete stranger’s physical pain cause me such tremendous elation? When I received a text from my top NFL news source about Brady’s torn ACL, it felt like a victory. I felt great. There was no remorse, no thought about the hundreds of hours of surgery, therapy and rehab that he would go through, his family, friends……. nothing….. none crossed my mind. I just immediately thought that I’d much rather have my Buffalo Bills face a Brady-less Patriots and have a better opportunity at a run for the AFC East title.

Injuries are a part of sports. They create storylines, they provide opportunity, the enhance excitement. If nobody was ever hurt, teams wouldn’t care about position depth. If Tiger Woods wasn’t hurt when he beat Rocco Mediate at the US Open it would’ve just been another championship. If Drew Bledsoe wasn’t ever hurt it would’ve never allowed Tom Brady to start. He would’ve remained that 6th round draft pick from Michigan. A decent back up.

So while, yes, it is sad that a human being is suffering tonight. I do not feel guilt for my excitement over the opportunities it creates. Professional Athletes know the risk coming in. That’s why they get paid the big bucks. Now, I don’t think we should ever cheer or root FOR injuries to happen, but if they just so happen to occur you can feel good. Don’t feel bad. However, don’t cheer while they’re on the ground still (Talking to you Philadelphia). Wait and feel good in private. But go about your day in public without remorse.

Hilarious.

Kudos Nussbaum

Just saw a pretty funny commercial with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Up until the final logo shot I thought it would be an American Express ad. Apparently it’s the beginning of a $300 million campaign to boost up Vista in the public view.

I know they also have the advertisements for the “Mojave Project” about tricking people into using Vista on hidden cameras or something.

Truthfully, I have limited experience with Vista. It’s on Nicole’s laptop but I’ve probably spent a combined 20 minutes on that machine ever, plus I’ve never been a laptop fan so I’m biased against it to start. Hopefully, this PC lasts me for another couple years (knock on wood) and by then Vista is worked out or we have a new OS. I don’t want to deal with the nonsense going on now.

I suppose this is how people felt after Windows 3.1 too…

Nicole: Your birthday is the best day to die because it’s an even number.
Me: Yes, because what I care about most is people doing math in a cemetery.

Good article. From 2005, but still some solid numbers.

Here’s the jist of it:

The results are simple: Democratic presidents have consistently higher economic growth and consistently lower unemployment than Republican presidents. If you add in a time lag, you get the same result. If you eliminate the best and worst presidents, you get the same result. If you take a look at other economic indicators, you get the same result. There’s just no way around it: Democratic administrations are better for the economy than Republican administrations.

Couple other sites if you’re truly interested:

Democrats v. Republicans

Here are my 2008 NFL Predictions (***=Wildcard)

AFC EAST
1) New England Patriots 11-5
2) Buffalo Bills 9-7
3) New York Jets 7-9
4) Miami Dolphins 6-10

AFC NORTH
1) Cleveland Browns 10-6
2) Pittsburgh Steelers 9-7 ***
3) Cincinnati Bengals 7-9
4) Baltimore Ravens 6-10

AFC SOUTH
1) Indianapolis Colts 12-4
2) Jacksonville Jaguars 9-7 ***
3) Houston Texans 8-8
4) Tennessee Titans 5-11

AFC WEST
1) San Diego Chargers 13-3
2) Denver Broncos 8-8
3) Oakland Raiders 5-11
4) Kansas City Chiefs 4-12

NFC EAST
1) Dallas Cowboys 13-3
2) Philadelphia Eagles 10-6 ***
3) Washington Redskins 8-8
4) New York Giants 7-9

NFC NORTH
1) Minnesota Vikings 10-6
2) Green Bay Packers 9-7 ***
3) Detroit Lions 7-9
4) Chicago Bears 5-11

NFC SOUTH
1) New Orleans Saints 11-5
2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8-8
3) Carolina Panthers 7-9
4) Atlanta Falcons 6-10

NFC WEST
1) Seattle Seahawks 9-7
2) St. Louis Rams 7-9
3) Arizona Cardinals 7-9
4) San Francisco 49ers 4-11

AFC Playoffs
1) San Diego 2) Indy 3) New England 4) Cleveland 5) Jacksonville (over Buffalo based on Head to Head) 6) Pittsburgh (over Buffalo based on Strength of Schedule)

NFC Playoffs
1) Dallas 2) New Orleans 3) Minnesota 4) Seattle 5) Philadelphia 6) Green Bay

WILD CARD ROUND
New England over Pittsburgh
Jacksonville over Cleveland
Minnesota over Green Bay
Philadelphia over Seattle

DIVISIONAL ROUND
San Diego over Jacksonville
Indianapolis over New England
Dallas over Philadelphia
New Orleans over Minnesota

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Indianapolis over San Diego
Dallas over New Orleans

SUPER BOWL
Dallas over Indianapolis

MVP: QB Tony Romo, Dallas
Offensive Rookie of the Year: QB Matt Ryan, Atlanta
Defensive Rookie of the Year: DT Sedrick Ellis, New Orleans
Coach of the Year: Minnesota Coach Brad Childress

BET ON IT, Fearless Predictions (May add more later):
- Reggie Bush will prove he isn’t a “bust” and have over  1,200 all-around yards and score 10 TDs
- Buffalo Bills defense will be ranked in the overall top 10 of the league
- Tom Brady will miss a start due to injury this season

Nelson alerted me of Chad Johnson allegedly changing his name officially to Chad Ocho Cinco. I think it’s hilarious. Nelson is crying about it and thinks its idiotic. Ah well, should be a good season.

Pretty sweet that the Democratic ticket will be holding an event right across the river from me tomorrow. If I didn’t already have plans to go out to eat with Grandma I may have gone. Luckily, already saw Obama a few months ago so not as vital to go this time.

Haven’t caught as much of the convention as I would’ve liked… just some short videos online. The experts are saying they thought Biden’s speech was pretty weak, but most people I’ve talked to said they liked him. A quote I heard on Rush Limbaugh kind of makes sense, “Biden is a ham and cheese guy.” As in, he’s an every man and seems relatable. His friendship with McCain and mile long list of past soundbytes are going to be around until November, but so far I like him.

Nussbaum alerted me that Barack is planning to speak tonight in front of a “greek temple” type stage. It looks as if it could be some type of reference to the Chicago Soldier Field, but all it’s going to be seen as is some type of “elitist” or “chosen one” type stage. Whoever on the Obama team chose this needs to listen to the radio or follow the media. It’s basically handing the Republicans a truck full of ammunition. We’ll have to see how it plays out tonight.

I’m impressed with the LPGA’s recent ruling that all members must be able to speak a proficient level of English by 2009. You gotta think they would’ve anticipated some pretty heavy backlash from culture sensitivity and minority groups. However, it makes complete sense for this.

They are losing sponsorships and a lot of their best players are South Korean or other foreign states. If national sponsors don’t have a pick of the top 10 of your best players, they’re not going to have any interest at all. By forcing them to speak a level of English it’ll open up more corporate sponsorship.

I’m pretty surprised there hasn’t been more outrage over the subject. Even the players seem to agree with the ruling. Maybe finally people will see this as a smart business move rather then an “attack on cultural values.”

All I can say is….. it’s about freaking time.

I can’t get enough of this video. Makes me laugh out loud every time I watch. Made by these guys over at Those Aren’t Muskets.

Making Ordinary Things Extraordinary - Quarter from Casey Fenton on Vimeo.

Oh man, I feel like this should be a disney movie.

Australian media say a lost humpback whale calf has bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother.

The 1- to 2-month-old calf was first sighted Sunday in waters off north Sydney, and on Monday tried to suckle from a yacht, which it would not leave.