What’s Good #1
New random post series on random topics, also randomly called “What’s Good” which may or may not have a #2. Yes, ok.
Man, can’t believe the Spurs actually got eliminated.. Grizzlies even took Game 1 from Thunder today.
Donald Trump got humiliated at the Correpondents’ Dinner. Seriously, Obama roasted him real good and Seth Meyers finished him off. Damn, it felt like his presidential aspirations were killed right then and there. What made it so funny was that what they said weren’t really exaggerations because Donald Trump is a freaking caricature. I don’t know how any intelligent person with any common sense could possibly consider him a good presidential candidate. Oh wait, this is America.
Here’s one line from Seth Meyers: “Donald Trump has been saying that he’ll run for President as a Republican, which is surprising, since I just assumed he was running as a joke.” BURN! I thought the same thing.
Kobe is Inhuman
I don’t understand how Kobe Bryant comes back from twisted ankles and pulls off the stuff he pulls off. Late in the regular season he twisted his ankle pretty badly, yet he came back the next game and was fine. He twists it again the other day and then pulls off a monster dunk like this:
Jason Terry = Loser
Mav’s resident douchebag Jason Terry blatantly shoves Steve Blake to the ground after a whistle blew and a foul was already called. Big ups to Matt Barnes for not lettings this crap go and sticking up for a teammate. Fisher might have done the same thing if he were on the floor, but probably less blatant, like a hard foul on Terry in the next play. Mavs were getting blown out and Terry was having a terrible shooting night, missing open looks. So basically they couldn’t win straight up and Terry was sucking so he decided to push a point guard. Loser! I never liked this dude, now I hate him even more. Terry was always so cocky for someone in no position to be arrogant. Then he pulls crap like this. Nice job, tough guy. Mavs can expect more beatdowns by the Lakers in the playoffs.
Syrian Troops Open Fire on Protesters in Several Cities
NY Times: Syrian Troops Open Fire on Protesters in Several Cities. We don’t particularly like Syria either. Say the protests escalate as protesters arm themselves. Syrian military clashes with civilians and responds the same way Libya did. Do we also start bombing Syria? If so, when does it stop exactly? What about Yemen too? You can see why Defense Secretary Gates is opposed to further intervention in the Middle East. Things are never simple and it’s a slippery slope. Why not bomb Laurent Gbagbo’s force over in the Ivory Coast while we’re at it?
I’ll leave you with this, countries like Yemen, Syria, Ivory Coast, don’t have the same vast oil reserves as Libya. The United States has a strategic interest in a Libyan government that is favorable towards us. Like I said before, no country does something major without its own self interests in mind. Sure, we partially do want to protect Libyan civilians, but are they somehow more important than civilians being gunned down by their government in other countries?
Happy Friday and have a good weekend. Over and out.
Cleaning Your Washer Using Bleach and Vinegar
I recently started noticing my washer would leave these little brown flakes on my clothing after a wash. It wasn’t a lot, just a flake here or there on clothes and it’s most noticeable on my whites obviously. I can clean them off with a paper towel. The thing is I wouldn’t see any buildup inside the tub but whenever I start a wash and let the empty water churn, I’d see the flakes in the water. So it would seem this stuff builds up in another layer underneath the tub. (My washer is a top-loading washer by the way).
Donate for Japan Earthquake Tsunami Disaster
CAN’T SLEEP
I’ve been having a bad bout of insomnia the last 2 weeks or so. Need some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ’s.
Intervention in Libya? No.
I read articles like Discord Fills Washington on Possible Libya Intervention and I think to myself, “why the hell do we think we have the right to intervene in another sovereign country’s internal affairs?” Yes, we are the lone superpower and consume a disproportionate amount of the world’s natural resources. So that comes with a certain responsibility to the world (i.e. our Navy essentially polices the seas, enabling secure shipping routes).
But Libya is in civil war, its people want to overthrow the regime. I don’t think we have any place taking sides and intervening, no matter what we think of Qaddafi. Most Libyans don’t even want our help or foreign intervention. Yes, some of them want the UN to impose a no-fly zone but that’s multilateral action by the UN. Not unilateral action by the United States. This is exactly why we’re hated by many in the Middle East. We meddle. And no matter what is said publicly about freedom or whatever, no country makes major moves without its own self interests at heart.
That fact that the conversation is even framed as “should we or not?” is troubling. We don’t own the world. I read something interesting a long time ago that basically said all US foreign policy is based on the underlying opinion that we rule the world. Except that’s not true. We’re just continuing to overstretch ourselves at a time of great fiscal distress. We’ve been at war for the last 10 years!
Do people realize enforcing a no-fly zone involves destroying all of Libya’s anti-air defenses? This means actually ATTACKING them – bombing military installations in Libya. It’s not as neutral or non-violent as it’s made to sound.
Humanitarian relief? Okay. Military intervention? No way.
[Australia Open 2011] Federer v. Simon
I should’ve gone to bed earlier but I had about 2 hours before I got up at 5am to watch this match. It looked like I could sneak in some more sleep after The Mighty Fed dominated Simon in the first 2 sets. But it just had to go 5 sets. Sheesh.
Before that match I was nervous because Simon is 2-0 against Fed. He runs really well and his counter-punching game bothers Federer. But after those first 2 sets, I never expected this. Boy, it was nerve-wrenching in the 5th set. Whew, but Federer pulled it out. It’s a good test for Fed. Now he’ll just need to rest and recuperate. Actually I need that too.
Photoshop CS5 Content Aware Fill
I just installed Photoshop CS5 over the weekend and the new content-aware fill feature is just freaking amazing. I mean really. I saw the videos before but you have to put it in action to believe it. I’m sure it has its limitations but in the different cases I tried it on, it was completely seamless and you really couldn’t tell the photo was manipulated.
This feature really does save a crapton of time for certain tasks that would’ve been incredibly tedious and time-consuming before. This one feature practically makes CS5 a worthy upgrade.