Song Of The Day: One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer By George Thorogood

6 More Days!

A Lot Has Happened...

...in the last week, so let's recap:

World
-Japan Introduced a new Prime Minister. His name is Naoto Kan.
-The Pope is in Cyprus.
-Turkey buried the dead from the flotilla attack and many Turks condemned Israel.
-Israel had defended itself for the attacks earlier in the week.
-A taxi driver in Cumbria, England killed 12 and injured 25 on a rampant shooting spree.

US
-BP has capped the oil spill, but the flow continues. This is not first attempt to stop the oil by BP this week.
-While unemployment has been reduced, it is due largely to the US census, which is not a permanent position.
-Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach, John Wooden, has died.
-An angry driver (to say the least) ran down several bikers in San Francisco. He/She also crashed the SUV and fled the scene.
-Ken Griffey Jr. retired and Shep's Universe would like you to vote for him to play in the All Star Game.

These are just some of the things happening in Shep's Universe.

Pope In Cyprus

I don't follow religion, but apparently, this is a big deal.

Turks Bury Dead

The Turks are not happy.

RIP John Wooden

One of the greatest college coaches ever has passed:

UCLA's legendary former basketball coach John Wooden, who in 27 years led his teams to stunning triumphs and was just as well known for mentoring his players off the court and for his motivational "Pyramid of Success," died at 6:45 p.m. of natural causes. He was 99. His 100th birthday would have been Oct. 14.

It's a black Friday.

Presenting Naoto Kan

I hate Bicyclists...

...but I would never do this.

They claim that bicyclists don't get enough respect on the road. I don't think they should be on the road in the first place. They cause traffic is what they do. They irritate drivers. It doesn't surprise me that this happened. The driver of that SUV is incredibly stupid though. He/She crashed their car and fled from the scene? Don't you think they will be able to identify who you are?

Unemployment Jobbed By Census

Capped But Not Stopped

Song Of The Day: Fire and Rain by James Taylor

I heard this on the radio the other day and it's been stuck in my head.

All Of Liverpool Should Die

All Liverpool fans should die:

Liverpool supporters turned their ire on the club’s managing director Christian Purslow on Thursday night as more than 500 demonstrated at Anfield, calling for his dismissal and burning American flags, a direct message to his employers Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Burning American flags? I wish the plague on Merseyside.

Wooden Hospitalized

Legendary UCLA Basketball coach, John Wooden, has been hospitalized:

WESTWOOD (CBS) ―
Legendary Bruins basketball coach John Wooden, 99, is reportedly in grave condition at UCLA Medical Center.

It's understood that he hasn't eaten in the last couple days and is very ill.

I hope he's okay.

Cumbria Killings

Tragic. The killings, not the suicide.

Netanyahu Speaks

Very defiant response.

Bush On Book

George W. Bush has joined Facebook. Welcome Mr. President!

Umpire Admits Failing

Jim Joyce has admitted his failure:

“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”

“It was the biggest call of my career,” said Joyce, who became a full-time major league umpire in 1989.

He shouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Vote Him In

Ken Griffey Jr. retired today. I want to see him play one more time. He was a larger than life figure when I was getting into baseball and sports. He was my favorite athlete through out the 90s and I am very sad that he's retiring. I would love the opportunity to see him play one more time. Please vote him in for the All Star Game.

BP: To Face Punishment

If they US finds that BP has committed crimes, the US must be harsh. They cannot be weak with this punishment because it has had devastating effects in the Gulf Coast. The oil has reached all the way to Mississippi. The Obama Administration cannot take this lightly because this has been a huge cost for the people of that region. It has been a huge blow to his administration because they have not acted as quick as they should in shutting it down. They should have been aggressive about that and now they need to be aggressive in pursuing charges.

The Duet That Never Was: MJ+LG

Get her some black hair and she would look like Michael in this interview.

The Israel Situation

This is not looking like a good situation. Israel is the aggressor this time. The clear aggressor. I don't know if the United States is going to do anything. I don't know if they should do anything. It is volatile to say the least.

The Rivalry

I'm just dropping NBA Finals bombs.

Reliving the 2008 Championship

I'm still pissed about the foul on Kobe that wasn't called at the end of Game 5. It didn't make a difference because the Celtics won the series, but it could have made a difference. I don't think a bad call can be tolerated in this series. It will be a very tight series.

Boston Is A Brotherhood

Winning is a way of life around here. In the continued preparations for another Celtics-Lakers Finals...

Beat LA Origins

One of the best chants in sports has a rather interesting origin:

But that's not when the chant took off in Boston. It actually started as a chant supporting the Philadelphia 76ers.

With 26 seconds to go in Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference finals at the old Garden and the Sixers pulling away from the soon-to-be ex-champs, the crowd began to chant the now-famous phrase. Philadelphia, after all, would be facing the hated Lakers in the NBA Finals.

"You hear what the crowd is chanting to the Sixers? 'Beat LA'" said CBS color commentator and Celtics legend Bill Russell as the Sixers were beating Boston 117-105 as the seconds ticked down.

"Beat LA ... that's great," replied play-by-play man Dick Stockton.

Here's the famous chant in action:
There's only one thing for the Celtics to do, Beat LA.

The Price We've Paid

BP Battered

BP's stock has taken a huge hit over the course of the oil spill:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite the sharp fall in BP's share price following the company's inability to cap a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, most analysts say the selloff is overdone.

BP shares sank nearly 15% Tuesday after the company's latest attempt to seal the leaking Gulf oil well failed over the weekend. The selloff accelerated just before the closing bell, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced a criminal probe into the spill.

Since the accident happened April 20, which resulted in 11 deaths and an oil leak of up to 19,000 barrels per day, BP shares have fallen nearly 40%, wiping out nearly $70 billion in shareholder value. Before the accident the company had a market capitalization of nearly $183 billion. Now it's just below $115 billion.

Should have shorted BP.

Gore's Divorce!

Al Gore and Bill Clinton are hitting up the titty bar tonight.

Coalition Casualty

I don't know if this hurts the new government or not.

India 1, Rest Of The World 0

While the world is suffering through this economic crisis, India continues to prosper:

India's economy grew at an annual rate of 8.6% in the three months to March, largely thanks to growth in manufacturing, official data has shown.

That marked an increase on the 6.5% growth seen in the previous quarter.

Finance Minister:

"I expect the current economic momentum to remain," Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after the figures were released.

At least some country I like is actually doing well.

Bama's New Obama?

Interesting read about Artur Davis's campaign for Governor of Alabama:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — If Artur Davis wins the Democratic primary here on Tuesday, placing him within one step of becoming the first black governor of Alabama, he will have reached this milestone in the most improbable of ways: bypassing the hierarchy of the state’s oldest civil rights organizations.
Related

In this combustible election season, as President Obama’s policies are fueling a fierce debate in midterm races across the country, there is a different test under way in Alabama. Can Mr. Obama’s coalition style of victory — winning over white voters before gaining support from black leaders — be replicated in the Deep South?

If you would like to learn more about Artur Davis and his campaign, here is his website.

Americans Angry At Israel

I don't know how I feel about this protest. I don't know if some of these people are fueled by hate or not. Obviously, Israel has committed a crime that they must be held responsible for. Yeah, I realize I haven't made a post about it yet. Read this for now:

New York (CNN) -- Israel faced condemnation and questions Monday at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting called by Turkey on the Israeli military's storming of a six-ship flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists headed to Gaza with aid supplies.

At least nine activists died in clashes that injured seven Israeli soldiers. Israel contends the flotilla intended to break its blockade of Gaza, while Palestinian leaders and allies said Israel launched an unprovoked military assault on civilians.

They must be held accountable.

Biden At Arlington

Speaking

Brink Of Broke

Background:

FORTUNE -- Several downtrodden cities are on the verge of defaulting on their debt, putting financially encumbered states and taxpayers on the hook to pick up the tab. The National League of Cities says municipal governments will probably come up $56 billion to $83 billion short between now and 2012. That's the tab for decades of binge spending; municipal defaults could be our collective hangover.

Jefferson County, Alabama:

Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county, with some 665,000 residents, is shouldering about $5 billion of debt, most of which was issued to overhaul its sewer system in the mid-1990s. But the county's real troubles stem from a 2003 refinancing of the original fixed-rate bonds and a corrupt local government that accepted kickbacks in exchange for mangling the county's portfolio.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania:

Pennsylvania's capital owes $68 million in bond interest payments this year -- $3 million or so more than its entire annual budget. The Harrisburg Authority, the governing body that issued the bonds to construct a state-of-the-art trash incinerator, has already been unable to make several payments, and now the county government, which footed the bill last year for a $775,000 swap fee, is suing for the funds.

And of course, my favorite, Detroit, Michigan:

To make up for a 2010 budget shortfall of $280 million, Detroit issued $250 million of 20-year municipal notes in March. The issuance followed on the heels of a warning from city officials that if its financial state didn't improve, it could be forced to declare bankruptcy. Nonetheless, demand for the bonds was high, thanks in large part to a guarantee that the state would make the payments if the city became insolvent. Michigan has already proved that it has few qualms about stepping in. In early 2009 the state took over the Detroit Public School System, which was facing a budget deficit of more than $300 million. Now a governor-appointed "emergency financial manager" oversees every penny spent.

Detroit has become a joke, which is sad because it was once a great American city. I can't imagine what has happened to those other two cities. It's not a good situation when cities are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Rain On Obama

Leading to the NBA Finals

Freedom for the Flotilla

The Backlash Begins

2 Year Old Smoker

This just makes me shake my head:

The parents of a two-year-old boy seen smoking in a clip posted on The Sun newspaper's website are to be investigated, Indonesian officials said after the video drew worldwide attention.

Chubby Ardi Rizal laughs and responds to the adults around him as he sits on his plastic tricycle and inhales deeply from frequent drags on a cigarette.

His father reportedly gave him his first cigarette when he was 18 months old and now he smokes 40 a day. His mother says he beats his head against the wall unless he gets nicotine, but his father insists he is "healthy".

40 cigarettes a day. This is disgusting. Who are these parents? How do they still have this child?

Hope

A beast cancer vaccine?

SUNDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- A study in mice suggests that a preventive breast cancer vaccine might be possible in humans, scientists say.

Women may begin taking part in the next stage of research as soon as next year, they added.


"We believe that this vaccine will someday be used to prevent breast cancer in adult women in the same way that vaccines have prevented many childhood diseases," principal investigator Vincent Tuohy, an immunologist in Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, said in a news release. "If it works in humans the way it works in mice, this will be monumental. We could eliminate breast cancer."

This would be a huge development in cancer research.

Jabulani: Players Not A Fan...i

The new World Cup ball has caused some controversy amongst the players. Luis Fabiano:

"It's very weird," Brazil striker Luis Fabiano said Sunday. "All of a sudden it changes trajectory on you. It's like it doesn't want to be kicked. It's incredible, it's like someone is guiding it. You are going to kick it and it moves out of the way. I think it's supernatural, it's very bad. I hope to adapt to it as soon as possible, but it's going to be hard."

Julio Cesar:

Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar on Saturday called the ball "terrible" and was the first to compare it to those plastic ones bought at a supermarket.

Giampaolo Pazzini:

"It moves so much and makes it difficult to control. You jump up to head a cross and suddenly the ball will move and you miss it," Pazzini said. "It is especially bad for the goalkeepers if it means they concede a goal because they can't judge the trajectory."

Julio Baptista:

"There is no way to hide it," Brazil midfielder Julio Baptista said. "It's bad for the goalkeepers and it's bad for us. It's really bad. The players try to cross it and it goes to the opposite direction they intended it to go."

Iker Casillas:

"It's sad that that such an important competition like the World Cup has such an important element like this ball of appalling condition," he said.

Prior to its use in these friendlies, the Adidas propaganda machine deployed its sponsored athletes:

Adidas has released some promotional materials in which some of its sponsored players praise the ball, including Kaka, Michael Ballack, Petr Cech and Frank Lampard. Ballack called the ball "fantastic."

Bashing World Cup balls is not a new development though:

Adidas traditionally launches new balls for each World Cup and they usually cause controversy because of the changes prompted by the new technology being introduced. Most of the time the ball becomes speedier and goalkeepers are the ones most affected by it. But this time the livelier ball is causing problems for field players, too.

The World Cup is the greatest competition in the world. I do not understand why Adidas continues to meddle with their ball technology. The best football in the world must be played on the pitch. However, this can be severely affected by the object that should be controlled: the ball. An unfortunate development so close to the World Cup.

Song of the Day: Take It Easy by The Eagles

I'm kind of surprised that I haven't made this a song of the day before.