Oh My Gawd! The NFL has maintained since controversy broke over Ray Rice knocking out his then fiance that they never saw, could not get, and indeed that no tape existed from inside the elevator the couple went to ride.
Nevertheless, "An employee of the hotel -- which just shut down for good -- tells TMZ Sports he was working there at the time and says the NFL saw the elevator footage before imposing the 2-game suspension." (Emphasis added because WTF? Thought the NFL wouldn't lie to us. Seems they demand much more integrity from players than they show themselves.)
Now however, the NFL and Baltimore Ravens have gone from blaming the victim for provoking the attack to finally and belatedly cutting ties with Rice, perhaps ending his football playing career.
They got there after viewing video provided by TMZ Sports from inside the elevator. Who even knew TMZ Sports existed? Not I, writes the sports idiot spending 90% of his waking hours watching sports.
As a man tempted at times to strike his bi-polar wife with "issues." Mt Moms, however, would have risen from her urn and beat my ass had I succumbed to temptation.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/08/ray-rice-elevator-knockout-fiancee-takes-crushing-punch-video/#ixzz3ClweLSnD
Monday, September 8, 2014
Dare Dolphins Drones Dream? Miami 33 New England 20
Miami, playing at home, comes back in the second half to beat New England 33-20. We drones can celebrate tonight, but the Dolphins schedule shows a game in New England on 14 Dec. Too many Dolphins seasons started well only to have the rest of the division reel the Fish in and keep 'em out of the playoffs.
One of the Marino years, the Fins started 7-0, beating teams down in the South Florida heat and humidity, yet still missed the playoffs with a sore armed University of Miami grad (Craig Erickson?) at quarterback after Danny injury and no running game to speak of, a recurring theme in Fish history for like forever.
So one fears this win more a Patsies falling to Earth rather than great win for the Miami Air Breathing Fish. How many times Can Cameron Wake force fumbles on sacks?
With my nostalgia, Jason Taylor still superior as he'd get sack, force fumble AND score a TD after scooping up the ball. So Cameron, dude, you can still do better.
Look at the link; Wake gets by the tackle so fast the camera can't follow him.
One of the Marino years, the Fins started 7-0, beating teams down in the South Florida heat and humidity, yet still missed the playoffs with a sore armed University of Miami grad (Craig Erickson?) at quarterback after Danny injury and no running game to speak of, a recurring theme in Fish history for like forever.
So one fears this win more a Patsies falling to Earth rather than great win for the Miami Air Breathing Fish. How many times Can Cameron Wake force fumbles on sacks?
With my nostalgia, Jason Taylor still superior as he'd get sack, force fumble AND score a TD after scooping up the ball. So Cameron, dude, you can still do better.
Look at the link; Wake gets by the tackle so fast the camera can't follow him.
Friday, September 5, 2014
The Evil Empire Strikes Back, Uses the Satire Against Siri
Even though your intrepid reporter doesn't need, want, or care about "smart" phones--and frankly abhors the waste of resources and people who think they need and must have them--reviewing gives me one more thing to kvetch about.
[Microsoft is taking its ongoing offensive against iPhone’s voice assistant, Siri, into a somewhat higher realm of satire in a new video spot called “Let the Healing Begin” that's set to launch on YouTube next week.
The video spot is obviously timed to coincide with Apple’s big Tuesday event where one or, possibly, two bigger iPhones are expected to be launched.
The “Let the Healing Begin” spot features a small group therapy session with people seated in a circle talking about problems using Siri....
In a deep-dive review of the low-cost Lumia 635 smartphone for Computerworld, this reporter found Cortana to be one of the device's strongest features because of its ability to link maps and Web information to specific voice requests.]
[Microsoft is taking its ongoing offensive against iPhone’s voice assistant, Siri, into a somewhat higher realm of satire in a new video spot called “Let the Healing Begin” that's set to launch on YouTube next week.
The video spot is obviously timed to coincide with Apple’s big Tuesday event where one or, possibly, two bigger iPhones are expected to be launched.
The “Let the Healing Begin” spot features a small group therapy session with people seated in a circle talking about problems using Siri....
In a deep-dive review of the low-cost Lumia 635 smartphone for Computerworld, this reporter found Cortana to be one of the device's strongest features because of its ability to link maps and Web information to specific voice requests.]
Oh Crap! Big Brother is watching, and He has your address
We might consider age as adding a reluctance to embrace new fads, which much of new technology amounts to. A smartphone amounts to a small computer that you can make phone calls with and which allows the guv'mint (sic) and private companies to find and track your physical location.
We curmudgeons do not live as Luddites; we just wait 10 years to let the gadget gurus decide what they will market to us next.
This carries the advantage of not having naked pictures of ourselves hacked from the "cloud,." or failing to realize privacy settings on an iPhone don't affect the automatic backup feature which sends everything up to damnable cloud even if unbidden by the user.
Technology curmudgeons also don't get busted for posting pictures of their pot on Instagram.
[“Marijuana” is one of about 400 “hot” keywords that are monitored by government agencies on social media. Social media monitoring is not new, but apparently some people either do not know about open-source intelligence (OSINT), or choose to disregard the list of terms in the Department of Homeland Security National Operations Center Media Monitoring Capability Desktop Reference Binder. So what might happen if you post a picture of big fat bud of pot on Instagram? Busted!
A teenage girl in Louisiana was allegedly “part of a group taking photographs of marijuana and posting them on the social media site Instagram.” The details are fairly sketchy at this point, presumably because it involves a 17-year-old minor. St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office told WAFB that “a detective with the narcotics division saw a picture of people with marijuana on a social media site and began an investigation.” At any rate, detectives showed up at the teenager’s home and “found her to be in possession of the illegal drug. She was released on a summons to appear in court on December 11, 2013.”
KATC added that during the investigation, the detective learned the residence where the pot was located. It does not say how that was determined; perhaps the teenager did not strip the geo-tagged locational metadata from the photo? Back in 2010, the creators of I Can Stalk U tried to raise awareness about hidden metadata added to smartphone photos. If you don’t disable geotagging and post your photo online, a person is “allowing their movements to be recorded and analyzed by anyone: from a government to a nosy neighbor.”
The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office is one of several that are part of the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area; as a side note, the parent agency is the DEA and you might recall the DEA’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program being mentioned during revelations about the Hemisphere Project.
After Andrew Hicks obtained a Hemisphere Project presentation, we learned it “covers every call that passes through an AT&T switch - not just those made by AT&T customers - and includes calls dating back 26 years.” The New York Times reported, “Some four billion call records are added to the database every day, the slides say; technical specialists say a single call may generate more than one record. Unlike the NSA data, the Hemisphere data includes information on the locations of callers.”] emphasis added because WTF!
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Burning Man Pictures from Mark Morford
PHOTO BY MARK MORFORD
[This is Big Al. He’s from NOLA, representing regional Burners. Cool in B/W, I think. “The NOLA burners create a similar effigy every year for Burning Bayou, their local burner-friendly event, at T-Bois Blues Festival in Larose, Louisiana,” says the Burning Man art guide.]
http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/morford/slideshow/Burning-Man-2014-by-Mark-Morford-92675/photo-6802273.php
Movie Criticism
Generally hate the writings of self-styled critics. The only thing giving title to them comes from having prople even stupider than themselves pay them to write about those who create art.
The writing of critics proves themselves unable to feel the all too human tingling at the back of the neck during a suspense movie, the stirring of excitement during a cowboy or action novel, and a stirring in the loins on contemplating any art concerning the human condition.
In short, "Silent Bob" and Kevin Smith rule!
The writing of critics proves themselves unable to feel the all too human tingling at the back of the neck during a suspense movie, the stirring of excitement during a cowboy or action novel, and a stirring in the loins on contemplating any art concerning the human condition.
In short, "Silent Bob" and Kevin Smith rule!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Project Suds Reaches Out to Homeless Veterans
Too often on this blog my writing deals with what angers me, and by gawd we have much to cause righteous fury. So let me take a moment to inform about and applaud Project Suds, created and run by an American Legion Auxillary, which reaches out to homeless veterans and does their wash for free.
No matter how fastidious or creative these shelter challenged get when setting up their camp sites, doing wash proves problematic. They have to use buckets to do their wash and have to choose between washing clothes and eating some days.
Project Suds, conceived of by Auxiliary 163 president Ann King-Smith and others, does the laundry for homeless veterans who come out of campsin the woods to get clothes washed, breakfast, and a modicum of respect. most importantly.
[The homeless veterans said that having clean clothes, knowing that there are those who care enough about them and treat them with respect does wonders for their self esteem. They said they more often are treated with suspicion and disdain in public.
“Everybody think because we are homeless we’re dirty,” {Russ} Marquis said. “We want to be clean.”]
No matter how fastidious or creative these shelter challenged get when setting up their camp sites, doing wash proves problematic. They have to use buckets to do their wash and have to choose between washing clothes and eating some days.
Project Suds, conceived of by Auxiliary 163 president Ann King-Smith and others, does the laundry for homeless veterans who come out of campsin the woods to get clothes washed, breakfast, and a modicum of respect. most importantly.
[The homeless veterans said that having clean clothes, knowing that there are those who care enough about them and treat them with respect does wonders for their self esteem. They said they more often are treated with suspicion and disdain in public.
“Everybody think because we are homeless we’re dirty,” {Russ} Marquis said. “We want to be clean.”]
Thr project works so well it has received a national award, one of only six projects to "win," and has spread to other states.
Some times, the simplest gestures mean the most.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
The Termnator: And So it Begins
Scentists, bent on hastenng the end of human cvilization and makng us kneel to our robot overlords, have created a cloud of memory programs for robots to lean from. No word yet if scientists plan to include Asimov's three laws as a required download so at least our robot overlords won't cap us.
[Researchers are creating a single, massive repository of robot knowledge so machines around the world can learn from each other.
Dubbed Robo Brain, the repository, which robots can access over the Internet, is designed to let the machines draw on its more than 10 terabytes of data whenever they need it. The knowledge store resides on Amazon Web Service's public cloud.
"I'm really looking forward to building this brain, with all this information that robots need," said Ashutosh Saxena, an assistant professor in the computer science department at Cornell University. "Instead of teaching each piece of knowledge to each robot, when a robot goes out in the real world, it can query the brain and learn how to do things...."
Part of what can be laborious and time consuming about building efficient robots is that each machine has to learn so many individual tasks, Saxena explained to Computerworld. Every robot has to be taught the same thing, such as how to open a carton a milk, time after time....]
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2600450/emerging-technology/scientists-create-one-robot-brain-to-rule-them-all.html
[Researchers are creating a single, massive repository of robot knowledge so machines around the world can learn from each other.
Dubbed Robo Brain, the repository, which robots can access over the Internet, is designed to let the machines draw on its more than 10 terabytes of data whenever they need it. The knowledge store resides on Amazon Web Service's public cloud.
"I'm really looking forward to building this brain, with all this information that robots need," said Ashutosh Saxena, an assistant professor in the computer science department at Cornell University. "Instead of teaching each piece of knowledge to each robot, when a robot goes out in the real world, it can query the brain and learn how to do things...."
Part of what can be laborious and time consuming about building efficient robots is that each machine has to learn so many individual tasks, Saxena explained to Computerworld. Every robot has to be taught the same thing, such as how to open a carton a milk, time after time....]
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2600450/emerging-technology/scientists-create-one-robot-brain-to-rule-them-all.html
Sunday, August 31, 2014
A Fable of Aesop
The Wolf and the Lamb
A WOLF, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf’s right to eat him. He thus addressed him: “Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.” “Indeed,” bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, “I was not then born.” Then said the Wolf, “You feed in my pasture.” “No, good sir,” replied the Lamb, “I have not yet tasted grass.” Again said the Wolf, “You drink of my well.” “No,” exclaimed the Lamb, “I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother’s milk is both food and drink to me.” Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, “Well! I won’t remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations.”
The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny. (Emphasis added, along with observaton humans will usually find a pretext to do what they want to do.)
Translated by George Fyler Townsend. Aesop's Fables (p. 15). Amazon Digital Services, Inc..
Friday, August 29, 2014
Heineken | Routine Interruptions | The Payphone with Fred Armisen
Hate Heineken but found this funny. Of course, will drink it if free. Ein Prosit!
To All the Women Out There.
Count yourself blessed as not yoked to broken down dialysis going functionally paralyzed and in wheelchair confined to nursing home purgatory in Melbourne, FL, flaming liberal knowitall who has too much soul--NWA (extremely NSFW), James Brown, Prince and Bobby "Blue" Bland--to count hisself as Caucasian.
Jus' sayin'.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Fun for the Whole Family: Restaurant, bar, grill. and a 9 year old accidentally killing a shooting instructor with an Uzi.
Even if supports gun rights, one might question the wisdom of having a bar at a gun range. Alcohol and guns often mix badly. Since a bar exists to serve alcohol, we might see it as inappropriate at a gun range.
This particular gun range at the Last Stop in White Hills, AZ, offers a chance to shoot automatic weapons among all the fun stuff such as 6 different ice cold beers on tap, burgers, RV parking, and even a "Bullets and Burgers" special. Apparently, they even allow little bitty young girls to fire a powerful automatic weapon, an Uzi perhaps capable of firing 30 rounds per second.
Per freaking second!
One such little girl (pictured below), killed her instructor, the recoil proving too much for her to handle.
At least one expert found safety procedures at the Last Stop lacking:
My admiration for those who teach little children about gun rights holds second to no one. My defense of the Bill of Rights extends to right to owning a firearm, found in the Second Amendment. Nevertheless, stupid has no defense under the Constitution. Accordingly, the National Rifle Association machine gun in every hand stance goes too far and leads to countless tragedies.
It just seems civil societies should set some reasonable restrictions on gun ownership, use, and even practice. The average citizen ought to make do with a revolver or two for self defense and we ought to have some sort of competency test to own semi-automatic weapons such as an AR-15 or even more powerful weapons.
Daily, somewhere in this great country, some stupid head unintentionally kills someone. People continually kill others because they violate the cardinal rules of responsible gun ownership.
One: do not, under ANY circumstances, point a weapon at someone unless you intend to kill that person. If people would follow that rule, it will save lives. Who knows, that rule could save my life someday.
Second, always treat every weapon as loaded and able to kill or injure until you verify it as empty. Always verify the weapon as unloaded and has no round in the chamber. For an automatic, simply taking out the magazine might mean a round remains in the firing chamber. Break open the breach to verify it as empty and manually clear the breach if loaded.
Lastly, never leave a round in the firing chamber if either an automatic or revolver weapon. Guns go off even if they have a safety on,
http://www.newsmax.com/US/girl-kills-shooting-instructor/2014/08/27/id/591130/
This particular gun range at the Last Stop in White Hills, AZ, offers a chance to shoot automatic weapons among all the fun stuff such as 6 different ice cold beers on tap, burgers, RV parking, and even a "Bullets and Burgers" special. Apparently, they even allow little bitty young girls to fire a powerful automatic weapon, an Uzi perhaps capable of firing 30 rounds per second.
Per freaking second!
One such little girl (pictured below), killed her instructor, the recoil proving too much for her to handle.
At least one expert found safety procedures at the Last Stop lacking:
Ronald Scott, a Phoenix-based firearms safety expert, said most shooting ranges have an age limit and strict safety rules when teaching children to shoot. He said instructors usually have their hands on guns when children are firing high-powered weapons.
"You can't give a 9-year-old an Uzi and expect her to control it," Scott said. http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/charles-vacca-arizona-shooting-instructor-accidentally- killed-by-9-year-old-girl-officials-say-1.9160517
My admiration for those who teach little children about gun rights holds second to no one. My defense of the Bill of Rights extends to right to owning a firearm, found in the Second Amendment. Nevertheless, stupid has no defense under the Constitution. Accordingly, the National Rifle Association machine gun in every hand stance goes too far and leads to countless tragedies.
It just seems civil societies should set some reasonable restrictions on gun ownership, use, and even practice. The average citizen ought to make do with a revolver or two for self defense and we ought to have some sort of competency test to own semi-automatic weapons such as an AR-15 or even more powerful weapons.
Daily, somewhere in this great country, some stupid head unintentionally kills someone. People continually kill others because they violate the cardinal rules of responsible gun ownership.
One: do not, under ANY circumstances, point a weapon at someone unless you intend to kill that person. If people would follow that rule, it will save lives. Who knows, that rule could save my life someday.
Second, always treat every weapon as loaded and able to kill or injure until you verify it as empty. Always verify the weapon as unloaded and has no round in the chamber. For an automatic, simply taking out the magazine might mean a round remains in the firing chamber. Break open the breach to verify it as empty and manually clear the breach if loaded.
Lastly, never leave a round in the firing chamber if either an automatic or revolver weapon. Guns go off even if they have a safety on,
Picture of little girl just before fatal shooting, the girl who will have
to live evermore with this tragic memory.
Grateful Dead: "Dire Wolf"
"....Please don't murder me..."
http://www.newsmax.com/US/girl-kills-shooting-instructor/2014/08/27/id/591130/
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere
Language NSFW, but funny. Cable local news channel !3 has same exact Bullshit morning, noon, and night, with same video clips, and microphone holders saying exact same thing. Bullshit!
Monday, August 25, 2014
"Cicerone:" The Death of Modern Language and Culture
An advert on my Gmail page asked me if I knew beer and offered to teach me to become a cicerone. You think you knew beer after 50 years of drinking the stuff, especially on a low budget and decisions that necessitates: whether to buy a quart of Colt 45 or a 4 pack of Natural Ice tallboys after an evening telemarketing shift.
As a dedicated beer drinker and hellraiser, however, one also does gain an appreciation for some of the finer crafted malted beverages: a crisp Foster's, a Newcastle, and God's gift, a Guinness Stout.
For some people, however, just drinking a coldy ain't good enough. No-O-ooo, nefarious scoundrels must turn it into something such as a wine tasting, taking that most democratic of alcoholic beverages and turning it into something akin to wine snobbery, using a few catchphrases, "it has a charming bouquet with floral notes and an oak finish," essentially as a marketing ploy.
What beer goes with what foods, you ask.
Guinness goes with EV-er-y-thing makes a good rule to start with.
Sheesh, check out the darn mission statement:
To attain the master cicerone status, you must have 2 years in beer service endeavours or substitute 3 references from beer purveyors and--oh yeah-pay $695 to take their certification test. Nearly $700 to "learn" to drink and serve beer.
Preposterous, I say. Another triumph of marketing overr common sense I do proclaim. A quick glance at their list showed 7 certified Master Cicerones in the whole USA, one with a designation of Consultant a la Biere after his name; it makes me laugh, scoffing at the whole notion., casting ridicule and aspersions in that general direction.
$695 to learn to sling beers, Ludicrous!
Sheesh, I need a beer, dammit!
As a dedicated beer drinker and hellraiser, however, one also does gain an appreciation for some of the finer crafted malted beverages: a crisp Foster's, a Newcastle, and God's gift, a Guinness Stout.
For some people, however, just drinking a coldy ain't good enough. No-O-ooo, nefarious scoundrels must turn it into something such as a wine tasting, taking that most democratic of alcoholic beverages and turning it into something akin to wine snobbery, using a few catchphrases, "it has a charming bouquet with floral notes and an oak finish," essentially as a marketing ploy.
What beer goes with what foods, you ask.
Guinness goes with EV-er-y-thing makes a good rule to start with.
Sheesh, check out the darn mission statement:
The Cicerone Certification Program certifies and educ ates beer professionals in order to elevate the beer experience for consumers.Thanks for complicating the only simple part of my, altering the words formerly set in stone of the late Justin Wilson, the beer you should drink is the beer you like.
To attain the master cicerone status, you must have 2 years in beer service endeavours or substitute 3 references from beer purveyors and--oh yeah-pay $695 to take their certification test. Nearly $700 to "learn" to drink and serve beer.
Preposterous, I say. Another triumph of marketing overr common sense I do proclaim. A quick glance at their list showed 7 certified Master Cicerones in the whole USA, one with a designation of Consultant a la Biere after his name; it makes me laugh, scoffing at the whole notion., casting ridicule and aspersions in that general direction.
$695 to learn to sling beers, Ludicrous!
Sheesh, I need a beer, dammit!
Friday, August 22, 2014
"Life Is Good" Apparel
2 brothers, both nicknamed Jake, started selling screen printed t-shirts out of a used van after college graduation.
Quite by accident, they discovered people drawn to t-shirts with positive messages, like "Life Is Good."
Profiled in Fortune magazine, they said:
John: Most of us want to smile, laugh, help other people, and be grateful for what we have. People who face great adversity gain clarity about what’s important in life. Optimism helps us persevere. Life isn’t easy. But life is good.
Our advice
Blur the line between work and play.
We spend a lot of waking hours at work, so inject fun, laughter, and energy into the workday. At company meetings our employees play live music, or we might go snow tubing on a mountain. There’s real information shared at the meetings, then afterward we cut loose.
Failures are how you learn, adjust, and stay nimble. http://fortune.com/2014/05/01/life-is-good-in-the-t-shirt-business/ (Emphasis added because have lost this Pollyanna attitude, especially in current circumstance.)
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