Senator Dodd Has Prostate Cancer

Senator Dodd Has Prostate Cancer, Aide Says - NYTimes.com

This is pretty sad. The guy ran for President, and in the process, if you watched his interviews, the guy seems to be a very decent and good man. A really rare thing in D.C., in my opinion. Luckily it sounds like it was caught early so I bet he's now glad he went ahead and bent over and had that finger shoved all up in there. Only bad thing is, now that he's had the cancer, his doc is going to want to keep his finger in there even longer now, just to make sure. Hope he gets better soon.

Greatest Coaches

Wooden honored as sports’ greatest coach - College basketball- nbcsports.msnbc.com: "18. Tom Landry"

Ok, John Wooden I can accept as the top coach. And Vince Lombardi as number 2, ok. But TOM LANDRY... way down in 18th is just unacceptable.

To have Don Shula at 5, and Landry at 18, is disgusting. Don Shula... come on. Please. Even worse is Phil Jackson at 4th. COME ON! He's not a great coach, he simply had great players. He couldn't coach his way out of a box. These "experts" are full of shit, or too young, or just ignornant. Joe Gibbs right above Tom Landry is a mockery. Tom Landry should easily have been in the top 3 or 4, and him at number 18 shows that these "experts" didn't do their homework.

Obama's Health Care Thingy

Support Slips for Health Plan - WSJ.com

"Thingy" because I don't think it's a plan. It's more like an evolving idea that changes with the tide of non-support. So, it's more like play-dough than a plan.

That, and I don't like the idea of every hospital being run like a VA hospital. I'm a veteran, I was a Navy Corpsman, I've been to a couple of VA clinics/hospitals. They're fine for the most part, but when you want/need and pay for health care... no.

Part of the "thing" with national health care is the doctors don't give a flying fuck about you. I know, see above. I also know because one day back in either late '89 early '90 (20 or 21 years old), I hurt my arm, could barely stand to move it, so my mom (an RN) told me I needed to get it looked at. So, she gave me a ride to the VA hospital in Houston.

I had a couple of Xrays done, and then the doctor came in and he said I just sprained it. He couldn't see any break in the Xrays. My mom and her boyfriend (forgot his name) questioned the doctor, to which he informed us that he went to some really good medical school and whatnot, I don't remember which one, but I do remember thinking that he must know what he's talking about. Well, he was full of shit.

Years later, many refills of Motrin later, I went in to the VA clinic here in Austin and told them I needed to have surgery or something because my elbow was always giving me problems. I would have to warn friends that if we arm wrestled, that they automatically win if they hear a popping noise and to immediately let go. What would happen is if it popped, some serious pain soon came afterward. It would even happen when I would try to manually drive in screws.

So they refer me to the VA hospital in Temple. I can't remember if they took more Xrays or used the old ones, but they immediately noticed that my bone had been broken. It was a radial fracture, meaning a fracture sort of like how you split a log. I told them what had happened, of how I had hurt my arm in the first place (falling with outstretched arm) and they couldn't figure out how the first doctor missed it. It was way too late to do anything about it. So, from that fracture I had developed some spurs within the joint, and that's what was causing the pain.

The solutions weren't very desirable. I could have surgery, but chances were that the scar tissue and redevelopment of the spurs would eventually make the pain even worse, and prolong it. The other option... do nothing, live with it for a while long and over time the spurs would wear down on their own. They recommended doing nothing of course, and because these doctors actually seemed to either care to a degree or were just interested in the mystery of my elbow, even having a CAT scan done to verify what they thought was going on, I decided to tough it out.

Sure enough, within a decade my elbow started to seem, for the most part, fine. I lifted weights for a year a couple of years ago, and it didn't give me much problems. However, manually driving in screws, the act of applying force while twisting, is not even something I'm willing to try, unless it's easy. Manually putting in a new screw into solid wood... nope, not going to do it. I'll use a drill or whatever, but not a regular screwdriver.

So anyway, the thing I see when I hear about national health care is that first doctor, the one who supposedly had a great education, who seemed to act like I was being a pussy, who acted like he had better things to do than be bothered with me, the one who got everything wrong. That fucking dickhead. That's what I think I'll be getting, and eventually everyone will be getting, if it this thing gets passed.

Sure, we have good doctors out there now, but put in a national health care system... why the hell would those types become a doctor now? Unless you have someone truly dedicated to helping the sick regardless of pay... forget it.

Obama is a smart guy. I've met plenty of smart people, but that doesn't mean they're right all the time, and it doesn't mean they can be dead wrong about things. This is all an experiment for Obama... all of it... the bailouts, health care, Sotomayer... all of it. The experiment is akin to throwing a bunch of shit on the wall, and seeing what sticks.

Bing

Microsoft, Yahoo team up to ding Google with Bing

So, MS is of the opinion that Bing is better than Google, and that, interestingly, search can be so much more.

Well, apparently they haven't paid enough attention to what Google offers. I just got through trying Bing. I inserted my home address. I saw the results, and I'm not only unimpressed, but it makes me wonder how the hell can MS think Bing is even in the same league as Google.

Sure, I got some results with Bing, some entries where it tried to produce something related to what I inserted. But with Google, the very first entry, as we all know when we insert an address, is a map. Yes, a map of where that address is located. Brilliant! But guess what, this isn't new. This has been around for at least a few months I think, maybe a year or so? Long enough to where I think, WTF is MS smoking to ever suggest that Bing is better than MS. And yes, search can be so much more, just look at Google!

OS: MS Vista 64-bit is my fave so far(yes I've tried Linux, I used to own macs, MS wins hands down)
CPU: Really liking my i7 920 so far with my ASRock Supercomputer mobo... prior builds were all with AMD CPUs. No clear winner imo.
Browser: FF is my fave (yes, I've tried them, even Opera)
Toolbar: Groowe (get it, now)
Search: Google is my fave
Video Card: ATI, hands down, Nvidia is the suck

So, some things are pretty cut and dry. Not all. But right now Google is definitely better. If Bing is really wanting to be the best, then somebody over at MS needs to inject some reality over there because you're not going to be the best unless you're better than Google. And right now, it's not even close. To think that you're better and that it's just a matter of getting people to try you out... lol. I wish you luck though, if Bing is eventually turned into something that is better than Google, then I'll definitely use it. Good luck with keeping Google locked in time while you do that.

Bachelorette

‘Bachelorette’ makes her final choice- msnbc.com

So I see this on Google News, and I search for images of this girl, Jillian Harris (get the Groowe toolbar, it's a must have on Firefox). Then I ask, why didn't they get a good-looking girl for the show?

She's not ugly I guess, though there's one picture i saw with her in some white dress where she looks less than attractive. But, on TV, why not have some hot chick as the bachelorette? Maybe I would have watched the show if I saw some hot chick with big boobs and tight ass. In fact, if this Jillian girl had big boobs and/or a nice ass, I might have paid some attention. Big boobs can fix a face pretty quickly, and just don't look at the ass too much so you'll be alright.

Plus, maybe the guys they had on there were a little desperate anyway. Whatever. I saw one season off and on where the girl picked the fireman, and they got married and probably still are. That girl I remember being pretty. This one, I won't remember. Though I'm picturing a big nose, small boobs and ugly butt right now.

Anyway, she apparently picked some guy, I'm sure he'll cool down a lot after the cameras aren't rolling anymore. I did hear one time on the radio that this girl had been kissing on all the guys, so maybe he'll see that at some point and get disgusted at the very sight of her, not that it's hard to do already. Well, she's not THAT bad, after all she isn't overweight or anything like that, so that's a plus. Hell, that puts her over most women in America... bunch of hogs these days.

Speaking of which, I think I'm all for women trying hard to look like some version of Barbie. I don't think anorexia or other eating disorders are the solution, especially since eating like a hog is an eating disorder of some sort too. But exercise, and eating portions for only 1 human woman is probably a good start. And exercise needs to be more than just running, because that seems to only help the legs.

And ya know, small breasts aren't bad, but if you don't have a pretty face or some other nice womanly feature, then they just accentuate the bad. Most hot women with small breasts have a really nice butt, face, or maybe overall figure. And I'd much rather have a hot woman with small breasts than a hot woman with fake ones. At least the fake ones I experienced were like caressing fully inflated balloons. For me, it's hard to even want to do that to something so unnatural. I like the soft boobs thank you very much.

Of course I suppose a great personality can overcome a lot too. I haven't watched the show so I don't know anything about her personality, other than from her kissing on all the guys... not good. Then again, if she's really good/enthusiastic in the sack... maybe that's a cure-all. :)

The Arrest of the Old Black Professor

I never heard of this guy before, Gates, but there seems to be some controversy about his arrest. Some say it was race related... I don't think so. The problem isn't race related at all, it's the cop mentality, abusing power, and it doesn't matter what race, creed, religion you or the cop are, the cop is going to abuse or at the very least, use all the power he can wield.

If you go to law school, you will learn that there are a lot of laws out there which are the result of cops abusing power. Give the guy a gun and it's no wonder so many cops get divorced and are generally dickheads. Not all cops are bad, of course, I know that, hope that, there are at least a few who aren't dicks. I had a step-dad who was a cop, I look back now and I can see that he was a dick. I had a grandpa that was a cop, he was pretty hard core that I remember, so I think he was probably just one of those really by-the-book guys, "Just the facts mam" instead of one of the power-tripping guys.

Anyway, the cop that arrested the black professor, was a power-tripping dickhead, so common among cops that few realize it themselves. So common that whole police organizations fail to see it. They have the goggles on that makes them see that if they can get away with it legally, as the law exists right now, then it's ok, even proper.

They get discretion. This can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing. In the immediate case, the discretion used was piss poor. The cop got some old black professor mad, and the professor started mouthing off about race or whatnot. Who cares. At the point the cop determined that it was the guy's residence, he should have said, "Thank you" and left. End of story.

I don't care if the old guy followed him off screaming like a little girl or whatever, the cop should have left. Instead, he arrests the old guy under a bullshit charge after the officer helped facilitate the behavior. The call was about a possible break-in, not disorderly conduct. Once the identity was resolved and there was a realization that the house was not broken in to... I mean, just look at the guy, how many old farts are active in house break-ins anyway?... then the cop should have excused himself, apologized for any inconvenience, and got the fuck out of there.

But no, he's just one of the all too common power-tripping cops that wanted to teach this old guy a lesson. It wasn't about the old guy's race, or anything... it was about this cop teaching a lesson on his own about what he can do to even innocent civilians. It may have been technically legal to arrest the guy, but the total lack of proper discretion to see the cause and effect and the injustice of doing makes the arrest morally reprehensible. But guess what, this happens every day.

So I hope this cop gets everything that's coming, and then some. Maybe if more cops are held accountable for this type of abuse, then maybe we can hope for fewer of these types of incidents.

It's absolutely no excuse that cops have to deal with all sorts of people, that they never know what or who they're dealing with. If that's the problem, then the cops who, like this one, treat upstanding citizens as if they were career criminals, need to get their asses fired. Period. That's right, get the dickheads out of the uniform. Nothing is much worse than a dickhead cop abusing people on a daily basis and getting away with it.

Frenemy, webisode among new words in Webster's - USATODAY.com

Frenemy, webisode among new words in Webster's

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Do you use a sock puppet to secretly keep track of your frenemies?

Plan to spend your staycation watching vlogs and webisodes? Or perhaps you plan to signal a flash mob for a quick bite of shawarma.

If you're not entirely certain what all that means, turn to the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, which has added about 100 new words that largely reflect changing trends in American society.

John Morse, president and publisher of the Springfield-based dictionary publisher, said many of this year's new words are tied to changes in technology, increasing environmental awareness and aging baby boomers' concerns about their health and have become part of the general lexicon.

"These are not new words in the language, by any means," Morse said. "(But) when words like 'neuroprotective' and 'cardioprotective' show up in the Collegiate, it's because we've made the judgment that these are not just words used by specialists. ... These really are words now likely to show up in The New York Times, in The Wall Street Journal."

There are words such as locavore (one who eats foods grown locally), frenemy (someone who acts like a friend but is really an enemy), waterboarding (an interrogation technique use to induce the sensation of drowning), vlogs (a blog that contains video material) and webisode (a TV show that can be viewed at a website).

There's also flash mob (a group of people summoned electronically to a designated spot at a specified time to perform an indicated action before dispersing) and green-collar (involving actions for protecting the natural environment).

Some words that just now made the cut have been around for generations. The term "sock puppet" — a false online identity used for deceptive purposes — was tracked to 1959 but has taken on new popular use with people using fake IDs on social networking sites.

Many words have cross-cultural roots, including shawarma (a sandwich especially of sliced lamb or chicken, vegetables, and often tahini wrapped in pita bread) and reggaeton (music that combines rap and Caribbean rhythms).

Once words like these become so common that they regularly pop up in conversations and published articles, Morse said they pass muster for being included in the dictionary.

Some words, such as "staycation," have become so popular the dictionary could not ignore them, Morse said. Staycation refers to staying home for vacation and has gained popularity as the economy worsens.

But Morse said some words face years in limbo as wordsmiths wait to see if they are just fads.

Dave Wilton, author of Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, said it's difficult to draw conclusions about trends in society with just a handful of new words.

"It's also an editorial decision and reflects what the (dictionary) editors deemed important that year," Wilton said. "Most of these words have been around for a while but for some reason they grabbed the attention of editors this time."

Researchers often keep track of words over many years. One to watch: prepone.

The word is commonly used in India among English-speaking Indians and refers to the act of arranging for an event to take place earlier than originally planned — the opposite of postpone.

"Prepone didn't make it this time," Morse said. "But we know about it."

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Ok... I copied that article from the USA Today site, so it's not like I was looking for an AP article.

I'm not sure if maybe I'm just dreaming, or maybe just assumed, but didn't dictionaries have standards beyond just what's been heard? Because, I hear some pretty fucked up grammar being used, and I don't see books being changed to accomodate that. Words like "Frenemy" or "staycation" are just stupid/funny words that don't even enter the realm of jargon, and definitely do not deserve to be included in any real dictionary.

I hate to think that some person new to the language would use either of those words, because most people would be wondering what the fuck they're talking about. Frenemy... a person who act like a friend but is really an enemy... is an enemy, not a frenemy. So if someone is stupid but acts smart, let's call them Stuart. Put that in Webster's because it has now been used. Yes, Stuart, someone who is actually stupid but acts like they're smart. Oh, if your name happens to be Stuart, too bad.

I've never heard of most of these new words they're advocating as, impliedly, having some sort of common usage. If they're just asking people, "Hey, do you know what "webisode" means" then of course people can put 2 and 2 together and come up with the meaning. But that's no test on what's being commonly used.

So, the people at Webster's are just brazy. Yeah, brazy... batshit crazy... new word, should be coming out in their dictionary any day now.

Fatso epidemic

Two-thirds of American adults are too fat: study

I definitely believe it. I've been on a couple of date sites and most of the women on there are fat. You can try to filter them out by picking women with an "average" body type. The problem with that is, most of these fat women think they're average body type and so most of the average body types that filters through are still a bunch of fat women. At least you know right off the bat about their lack of honesty.

Yeah, lots of fat people, so that now there's so many that they think they're just average. So, there's an obvious problem. Take that along with what was on the news not that long ago... that there is a fat virus. A virus people get that instead of making you feel like crap for a couple of weeks, makes people fat for the rest of their now shorter lives. So, when you see this 2/3 of us are fat, it's possible that we're seeing evidence of a viral epidemic.

Fortunately, the virus has either not taken hold on me, or even with the virus I have enough self control that I don't turn into a fatso. It's a pretty fast-spreading virus too, I mean, when I was young, fat people were pretty rare, so it was a little freakish. Take Fat Albert for instance, he was the fat guy among a gang of misfits/freaks.

So, to me, a fatso virus would explain this epidemic of so many fat people so suddenly. Maybe we can develop a fatso vaccine soon, so that by the time I'm 60 maybe I can find a woman who likes me that isn't fat.