Petraeus: Back in the Saddle

The Hate Machine

I don't condone anything that Mel Gibson said, but his hatred for people with whom he has differences is entertaining and mildly amusing. I don't understand how someone can have such feelings towards certain sects of people.

Heavyweight Nation

America is fat. We all know that.

Wolverines Win Under The Sun

The University of Michigan Solar Car won the 2010 American Solar Car Challenge:

The University of Michigan's Infinium solar car was an obvious front runner. With five wins under their belt and boasting a top speed of more than 100 mph, University of Michigan placed first at the Formula Sun Grand Prix, the qualifying event leading up to the the race, and led every segment of the race.
But it takes more than speed to win the multistage race. The Michigan team posted on its blog that the Infinium often got caught in traffic, erasing its lead and giving University of Minnesota a chance to catch up.
Despite traffic setbacks and a 15-minute delay caused by rain damage to the vehicle's lighting board, the Michigan team sprinted across finish line at around 10 a.m. Sunday, sealing its sixth victory in the race's 20-year history with an elapsed time of 28 hours, 14 minutes, and 44 seconds.

Hail.

Cities for the Democratic Convention 2012

This has bad news written all over it:

Cleveland, Minneapolis, Charlotte, N.C., and St. Louis are the cities being considered for what is expected to be a formality of the 2012 political calendar.

Cleveland and St. Louis? Seriously? There's nothing nice about either of those cities. I guess it would bring money into those cities. It would certainly cater to the party's demographics...

The Perfect Protest?

People have been talking about protesting British Petroleum for a while because they're angry. They're angry because their livelihoods have been taken from them. They're angry because of the environmental damage that has occurred. They're angry because of the indecision which has led to this problem getting out of hand. Some are just angry to be angry.

But you know who aren't angry? British Petroleum. They might be annoyed by it a little bit. The fine they faced probably sucked and paying for the damages does too, but this is a company that makes billions every year. They're still doing alright no matter what happens. I think if you want to protest British Petroleum, you need to really piss those blimey Brits off.

I think I have the perfect protest. Obviously, growing up in the Boston area, I've been greatly influence by Revolutionary War history. A particular moment or event really stood out to me when I was thinking about a protest. I started thinking about the Boston Tea Party.

This was the event that really started the war. It really ticked of the Brits. It wasn't about losing the land, the subjects, the trading posts; it was about all that tea that was dropped into Boston Harbor. They hated all that tea going to waste. They were so pissed off about it that they decided to go to war over it.

If we really want to piss British Petroleum off, I say we dump a large portion of the World's tea into the Gulf. That would show them. May be they'll try and clean up the Gulf then. May be they'll take action. Because I'm sick of all this inaction. This problem should have been solved already. Their failure is unacceptable. We must strike.

Presenting Juan Manual Santos

I have been getting upset about Spain a lot recently. Much of this stems from the fact that my favorite player, who I believe is deserving of starting playing time, is not getting into games. I've tried to trace back to what make Cesc Fabregas different and what is the cause of his absence from Spain's line. I'll start from where I trace back farthest then work my way back to surface claims.

1. Squad Selection: Vicente del Bosque made a huge error in leaving out Marcos Senna. I understand that Senna is getting old and has struggled with fitness, but he's two years removed from being named the player of the Euro 2008 tournament that Spain won. Because Senna isn't in the line up, Spain has been forced to play two holding midfielders. This has been counterproductive because it is taking away a creative force that could potentially lead Spain to scoring more goals. Sergio Busquets just cannot cut it as a holding midfielder because he's slow and weak. Xabi Alonso doesn't have the size or physicality, though he can tackle with the best of them. I haven't seen enough of Javier Martinez to make a judgement about him. Bottom line is that not one of those players can cope alone with playing the holding role.

2. The Barcelona factor: Xavi and Iniesta have a great partnership at Barcelona. However, both of them are very passive in their movements. Iniesta is perhaps a bit more aggressive on and off the ball, but both of them don't make strong moves to receive the ball unless the ball is near them. Obviously, having come through La Masia, both of them possess the skills any Barcelona player would have, but they are missing an element which Fabregas has gained from playing in England.

Cesc is a far more aggressive player in England because he's had the benefit of being the sole focal point of Arsenal's attack. He has the touch and the vision of Xavi, but since he is the primary playmaker, he is always looking to get the ball to his feet. This means he's always supporting whoever has the ball and looking to make a play or pass to the forwards to put them in an advantageous scoring position. Additionally, he's not afraid to make the forward run. Far too often, Ineista and Xavi play it safe. Cesc isn't afraid to make the run through the line of defense to get a scoring opportunity. He's excels at this.

I hate to come back to this as well, but statistically, Cesc was more impactful than Iniesta and Xavi COMBINED. Cesc had a direct impact on 36 of Arsenal's goals this season, while Xavi and Ineista combined for only 31 of Barcelona's goals. That alone should widen your eyes.

3. The Winger factor: del Bosque has tried to use David Silva and Jesus Navas to get out wide. I do not disagree with this strategy. I just disagree with having one winger in the game. I just don't think either of those players can be as effective if they're the only winger in the game. For a winger to be truly effective, you need to have two wingers to stretch out the defense. del Bosque is struggling between formations and tactical strategies. I think it's not intelligent to say "just play." It is important to make tactical changes so that you can be as effective as possible.

Cesc's aggression can better fit the playing style of Xavi and Iniesta or any other midfielder. He can be the link that Spain needs to get their killer forwards into scoring positions. He's proven all year that he can do it at Arsenal where he is undoubtedly the man. I think the more Cesc plays, the more he will prove that he is worthy of being in the line up. Perhaps, del Bosque has already made up his mind though. I don't blame him. I'm very opinionated about this and I know Spain has a plethora of talent that no other team in the world can boast. He has his own opinion on what best benefits the team. I know Cesc was a huge factor in Spain's Euro 2008 triumph, and I believe he will be a huge factor if they do go on to hoist the World Cup in 2010.

Education in America

Apparently, the gap between students and athletes is increasing in terms of school spending:

As colleges across the country spend increasingly more on athletic programs — a median $84,446 per athlete in 2008, up almost 38% from 2005 — academic spending hasn’t changed proportionally — a median $13,349 per student, up about 20% over the same period, according to a report released today by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Over 18 months, the athletic reform commission compiled data on college sports finances and found that at institutions belonging to major athletics conferences, median spending per athlete ranged from four to almost 11 times more than median spending on students for educational purposes. In 2008, median per capita athletics spending for Football Bowl Subdivision conference institutions was $84,446, compared to a median $13,349 per capita for academic spending.

This is distressing because some of us are paying a king's ransom to get our college education and we're not getting the education we deserve. If we are spending x number of dollars on our education, schools should be spending x number of dollars to educate us. Now, one might say schools are a business. I disagree. We have schools to increase our human capital. As people become more educated, our country accumulates more human capital. If we're not investing in human capital, we're going to fall behind the likes of India, China and the like who have stronger educational programs.

We need to invest more in math and sciences to develop stronger science based workers. We aren't just devoting more resource to workers of other countries because they are cheaper. It is also because we are not producing workers of the same technical capabilities. Our educational system has been the same for such a long time. Now, college and universities are forced to cram more information in their curricula than ever before. Students need to get advanced degrees just to advance their careers rather than supplement them. If we start educating stronger in middle school and high school, we can give our students the necessary background to thrive in the world working environment.

We are no longer leading the world. We are actually behind and we need to catch up. Reforming our educational policies and strengthening that system will go a long way in leading the road back. However, if we continue to cut programs, we might follow the path of our auto industry. Except no one is going to bail out the United States of America.

Rape Trap

A South African doctor has created a female condom with teeth to identify rapists:

The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man's penis during penetration, Ehlers said.

Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.

"It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on," she said. "If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter... however, it doesn't break the skin, and there's no danger of fluid exposure."

This sounds painful.

Gaffes Are Laughs

in Shep's Universe:

Fan Trespassing

Under the Border Walk

Replacing Kaczynski

Yachting Solves No Problems