Phillies and Eagles news

Wow, here is a shocker: The Phillies dropped their season opener. And guess who "dropped the ball"? The bullpen. Now I know all you Philly fans are surprised. But I, personally am a bit disgusted. Rollins and Utley homer...Myers pitched into the 5th, before running into some trouble, but jeez....the Phils fight back and tie the game and then BOOM....the floodgates open in the 9th. Its too early to hit the panic button, but the Phillies need to avoid a slow start. Its killed them every year in recent memory. It just disheartening to see the Phillies primary trouble area (back end pitching) come up and bite them in the ass on opening day.

As for the Eagles - the NFL announced the compensatory selections for each team in the upcoming NFL draft. The Eagles scored 3 comp picks: one 4th round pick, and two 6th round picks.

The Birds have 11 picks overall. Here is the breakdown, provided by the Eagles public relations department and PhillyNews.com

1st round – 19th overall
2nd round – 49th overall
3rd round – 80th overall
4th round – 115th overall
4th round – 131st overall (compensatory)
5th round – 152nd overall
6th round – 184th overall
6th round – 191st overall (from Cleveland)
6th round – 200th overall (compensatory)
6th round – 203rd overall (compensatory)
7th round – 230th overall (from Seattle)

The Eagles traded their own 7th-round pick to Buffalo for linebacker Takeo Spikes. Oops, oh well I guess it wasn't that bad a one-year rental, considering 7th rounders rarely make the Eagles squad anyway.

China Celebrates a Dubious Achievement - from Onion News

This is hilarious
China Celebrates Its Status As World’s Number One Air Polluter


and don't miss the ticker!

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

The latest XBox 360 acquisition for yours truly is Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

Just so you all know this is my very first Tom Clancy game...Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, whatever the hell else he's attached his name to...this is it, my first exposure to the tactical shooter world. I am more of Call of Duty 4, Halo-style FPS player.

First of my score: 9 out of 10.
You didn't come here to read a rundown of the game itself, so there's no need to rehash the story or gameplay, so I will get right down to my likes and dislikes:

Likes: Good story! Does it have the oomph of Call of Duty 4. Not quite, but it very engaging, and the levels are LONG, with a decent amount of checkpoints, so you never feel like, dammit, I gotta do ALL that all over again.

Tons o'guns - My primary wish for COD4 is a greater array of weaponry...well I get that wish with RSV2. Sure I miss my trusty M-16 with stopping power, or my Red-tiger stripe RPD, but there are plenty of new guns to play around with. I like the M468, and I'm a better sniper in RSV2 than I am in COD4. The Spas-12 is the bane of my existence on Terrorist Hunt, but I sure do enjoy being on the giving end of that shotgun.

Multi-options for CO-OP: from the 4-player Terrorist Hunt to being able to have a buddy just drop and start shooting with you during a campaign, its nice to have so many options that allow you to just play with friends if you want. This is especially key for folks stationed in overseas location like me...we often have hard times finding good multiplayer connections. RSV2 allows me to invite 3 friends for a some private killing against a pretty tough computer-AI, and still level-up our characters.

Dislikes: OK, so as you probably can already guess, as a COD4 shooter, the near insta-kills from RSV2 can be a bit annoying. YES, it is realistic in that sense....but its also a game. Few things are more frustrating than to sneak up to corner, peek around and get one-shotted by a terrorist camping the corner with a shotgun...which brings me to....

The spawning system....hmmm....this is hard to figure out. You seem to spawn right next to, and sometimes in front of, whichever teammate you are "watching" on your observation cam while you wait to respawn....this can put you in some awkward positions, as I've had teammates spawn directly in front of my field of fire, or directly behind me blocking me from backing me and getting out of harm's way during a firefight. This dovetails with the dynamic spawn system the game uses for enemies during terrorist hunt....

There are definite ups and downs to the RSV2 system. On the plus side, a game of T-Hunt has the chance to be different almost everytime. The game dynamically places enemies along your path, and most maps have a plethora of paths you can take to hunt down the enemy. OK so some maps always seem to have a guy in a specific area, but that is generally at the very start of a map, once you get to the first real choice (left, right, middle, up, down, whatever) the game begins to flow the bad guys to your general vicinity. This means that for the most part, no terrorist hunt will ever be exactly the same. Vary your route even a little and guys will come at your from different directions.

The downs about this system can be harsh: the biggest problem with the random, wait till you hit the trigger point spawning system is that quite often, a dude will pop-up in places that you've already "cleared"...for example, you enter a parking lot area, check the right corner, its clear, just some barrels, walk another 10 feet, hit spawning trigger point, bad guy appears behind barrels are starts opening up on your ass....does this happen all the time? NO. But it happens often enough to be noticeable and aggravating. The other part of the game, once a guy has spawned, he's there in that area...yes he will move around, they aren't static, but let's say a teammate moved down to the basement, and spawned two guys, killed one but died. That guy in the basement is still there. Terrorist hunt games has limited lives for the players, so your teammate is done for the match, you might be left running around a giant map trying to find the last one or two terrorists that some else triggered, but you don't a real idea of where they're at. And YES your buddy can TELL you where he thinks they are, but the maps can be very large and at least at this stage, I would wager that most players don't have them memorized yet.

Random Thoughts for Thursday

Ok, I am not Mr. Jesus, I don't go to church much, but I do consider myself fairly spiritual and I believe in Christianity - Catholicism mostly - far more than I give credibility to any other religion. That being said, I am pretty sure God has a special place in hell for retarded like the parents of Madeline Neumann, a sweet 11-year old girl who died of a treatable diabetes disorder because her parents refused to actually seek medical care and blamed themselves for her death because they didn't pray hard enough.

What the fuck? Are we in the 21st Century or not? This is not the goddamn fucking Dark Ages people.

Oh so the parents didn't think their daughter would die while they were praying...well excuse me fuckwads, but I don't think I give a rat's ass. I don't know if I would throw them in jail - because there is always the "they have to live with what they've done" argument...the problem is, when you're dealing with ultra-religious nutjobs (and I am not talking about those who pray when a loved is in the hospital, I am talking about those that only seek or believe in divine intervention) it is very difficult to get it through their thick-skulls that bullshit like this is wrong. That it is NOT the hand of God reaching down and plucking their daughters life away to spite them for a lack of faith. It is THEIR STUPIDITY for not using the brains and gifts GOD has bestowed upon us all to make our lives better and work to care for each other!

Lord save me.

In other news, the Eagles signed a new TE, Kris Wilson. After languishing behind Tony Gonzales for a few years perhaps he can find new life with the Birds. And if he can play multiple positions (FB/TE H-back sorta role) then great. The Birds' prior FB Tapeh, who signed with Minnesota, was adequate across the board at doing some of that, but the overall package he brought to the team was, in retrospect, pretty poor. Unfortunately, I think this signing probably means the Eagles have no intention of going after a guy like Owen Schmidt the WVU FB/H-Back type guy who I think would look pretty damn good in midnight green. If Wilson sticks, then there is decent chance that back-up TE Matt Schobel, a free agent acquisition from Cincinnati a couple of years ago, will be on the chopping block. I don't think the Eagles will move LJ Smith (even if they had a suitor) and Brent Celek showed real promise in a limited role last year. Heck, Celek may be the reason the Eagles simply ride out the L.J. show in 2008 and then part ways in 2009.

Think you know about Godzilla?

I'm a Godzilla MASTER
peep this:




Test yourself and find out what you know about big green guy

Are you a Zombie Killa?

I had to find out how I would fare during the inevitably zombie uprising. Whew! I think I might survive. Find out for yourself here.

What does it mean?

You might have lost a member of your party, but you come out unharmed. You held out long enough for the military to come and rescue you. Even though the government will take credit for it, you and your party did most of the work.

Are You Prepared for the Zombie Uprising?

We're talking 4-player co-op zombie killing madness. Play as the biker, the war vet, the cute teenage chick or the retail guy. I mean seriously? This game sounds too good to be true. Hook up with 3 friends and try to survive the zombie uprising? Have others folks join the game and play AS THE ZOMBIES trying to kill you???

Dudes this sounds too good to be true. I cannot wait for this game!
Here is the trailer:



Here is a link to the gameplay in action: hospital play

Jeffrey Jamaleldine - American Hero

If you read nothing else from this post, read the final bolded line. There is a reason this world is swirling down the toilet, and it is NOT because of big, bad Bush's bullying. It is because most of the rest of the world is way too willing to look the other way and not stand up for what is right. I saw fuck the Germans, let them drink their beer. We'll do our best to keep you safe, but went some Islamic radical decides that Oktoberfest is an affront to god - don't come crying to us that one of the fuckers blew the shit out of some pub in Bonn or attacked a train full of civilians in Berlin. Anyway, onto the story:

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Jeffrey Jamaleldine took a bullet to his chin that blew out much of his jaw and nearly killed him while deployed in Iraq last year. The sacrifice is just part of his job, he says, and he'd go back to Iraq in a second if asked.

Jeffrey Jamaleldine left Germany for college in America. In 2006, he joined the U.S. Army.

1 of 3 That is something that troubles his family, especially his father. Jamaleldine served in the U.S. Army as a German citizen, one of an estimated 20,500 "green-card warriors" in the military. Last month, Jamaleldine was awarded U.S. citizenship, but he's keeping his German passport.

Bashir Jamaleldine says his son is fighting an unjust war for an America that went too far when it invaded Iraq five years ago -- a sentiment shared by the majority of Germans. He wishes his son would get back to his "German roots." "It would satisfy me more. Why he's more American than a German, I don't know," he says. Shaking his head with his son at his side, he adds, "He is more American than German."

Jeffrey Jamaleldine, a 31-year-old U.S. Army scout who proudly wears a Stetson hat and spurs on his boots, laughs. He says he and his dad have had countless arguments over his decision to join the U.S. military, but the two never budge from their positions. "He hears what I'm saying, but there's just no coming through," he says.

The son agrees with his father on one thing: His love for America is unwavering. Jeffrey Jamaleldine moved to the United States to go to college in Missouri at the age of 18 and immediately fell in love with the United States and its culture.

"You can go from rags to riches there. People still believe in that. It is not something that has gotten lost," he says.

And when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, happened, he felt it was time for him to do something.

"A small group of people [terrorists] -- I felt -- had a big influence on our way of life and that literally pissed me off," he says.

By accident, he says he found out that with his green card, he could join the U.S. military. And in 2006, he did just that. Last year, he paid a heavy price for his patriotism. Pinned down in a
firefight with insurgents in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, Jamaleldine was shot in the face. The left side his jaw was shattered and now doctors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany are reconstructing his facial bones.

While many Americans would consider Jamaleldine a hero, most in his home country don't. Germans largely oppose the Iraq war. The criticism doesn't bother him. He says even after getting wounded on the battlefield, he would go fight for America again if ordered back to Iraq.

"I still don't want to die, I love life, I enjoy life," he says. "But I would still make the sacrifice to go to Iraq again if I am called. If I have to go, I will -- to stand up for what I believe in," he says.

His father looks on in disbelief as he listens to his son, now an American citizen. But Jeffrey Jamaleldine says joining the military was never about that, it was about defending American ideals.

"If we have people who want to change those ideals or take them away," he says, "then there are people like me or my platoon who stand up and fight for those ideals."

Political Science for Dummies

Political Science for Dummies

DEMOCRATIC	You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you.
REPUBLICAN	You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?
SOCIALIST	You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
COMMUNIST	You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE	You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE	You have two cows. Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.
AMERICAN CORPORATION	You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses. Your stock goes up.
FRENCH CORPORATION	You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch and drink wine. Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION	You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
GERMAN CORPORATION	You have two cows. You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATION	You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATION	You have two cows. You have some vodka. You count them and learn you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
TALIBAN CORPORATION	You have all the cows in Afghanistan , which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts. You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.
IRAQI CORPORATION	You have two cows. They go into hiding. They send radio tapes of their mooing.
POLISH CORPORATION	You have two bulls. Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.
BELGIAN CORPORATION	You have one cow. The cow is schizophrenic. Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish. The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow. The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk. The cow asks permission to be cut in half. The cow dies happy.
FLORIDA CORPORATION	You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can't figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.
CALIFORNIA CORPORATION	You have millions of cows. They make real California cheese. Only five speak English. Most are illegals. Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

A Lesson in World History

For those that don't know much about history...... here is a condensed version.

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were:
1. The invention of beer, and
2. The invention of the wheel.
The wheel was invented to get man to the beer.

These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:
1. Liberals
2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture.

Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the Conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these Liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men.

Some noteworthy Liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that Conservatives provided.

Over the years Conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant . Liberals are and were always symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: Most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are Liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Marines, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other Conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe that Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the Liberals remained in Europe when Conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history.......

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to piss them off....