Innocent Bystanders

You Know You Were Gone Too Long April 30, 2008

When the leftover fajitas from Taquieria Number 2 (which sounds an awful lot like a stomach ailment you get from bad TexMex) have some chicken, some beef bits, lots of onions and peppers,

and a half dozen shrimp tails.

dangit.

BONUS: How Lockpicking Works.

You’d be surprised how easy it really is.  I’ll bet any one of you a paycheck I could break into your house with a rake and a tension bar.

I’ve done this a few times.

Good Question April 30, 2008

Asked by Geoff:

If it took Barack Obama over 20 years to finally realize that Reverend Wright was espousing black liberation theology on a regular basis, how exactly is he planning on managing the country?

Which makes one wonder.

His sluggish comprehension would certainly explain his naive plan to sit down and talk with Iran. Perhaps it’ll only take him a couple of terms to realize that Iran is devoted to becoming a major regional power, and to promoting anti-American theocracies throughout the Middle East.

Judgment (Updated)

More Money for Lawyers April 30, 2008

I’m all for that.

There’s just no end to silly shit that people litigate about.

Take, for example, the Greek island of Lesbos. It has a pretty, pacific appearance:

But the lawyers there are still making money.

(AP) A Greek court has been asked to draw the line between the natives of the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos and the world’s gay women.

Three islanders from Lesbos – home of the ancient poet Sappho, who praised love between women – have taken a gay rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name.

One of the plaintiffs said Wednesday that the name of the association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, “insults the identity” of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians.

Get over it. You should have sued Sappho , but she’s been dead for awhile.

“My sister can’t say she is a Lesbian,” said Dimitris Lambrou. “Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos,” he said.

Tell your sister to say: “I live on the Island of Lesbos.” And make sure she doesn’t have a dyke haircut.

The three plaintiffs are seeking to have the group barred from using “lesbian” in its name and filed a lawsuit on April 10. The other two plaintiffs are women.

Straight Lesbians Want Their Identity Back, Natives Of Greek Island Of Lesbos Want Gay Group To Stop Using The Word InTheir Title – CBS News

A Friend in Need April 29, 2008

Our favorite zombie is concerned about his pal Stashiu.

For a little background on Stash, he served honorably in the Army for 24 years, most of that time was spent as a psychiatric nurse, some of you may remember Stashiu’s multi-part interview at Patterico’s Pontifications, where he spoke about his time as a Psychiatric Nurse at Guantanamo Bay. He’s always been a good source and unique perspective on issues of terrorist detainees and detention policy, particularly with Guantanamo.

Stashiu is the proud father of two adopted daughters. Unfortunately, Stash later found that the lawyer who was supposed to square away all the legal paperwork for the adoption didn’t quite get it right, so he has to now backtrack with new lawyers to get things right and finally seal the deal. The process is costing Stash and his family a king’s ransom.

The tough financial situation and worry over the prospect of losing his two daughters is unsurprisingly starting to wear him down and take a toll on his health.

Your prayers and best wishes would be appreciated. If you would like to read more about the plight of Stash or help in a more tangible way you can find out how at Doubleplusundead, or you can go directly to Stashiu’s Space (a thank you post) and click on the Amazon button at the top of the right sidebar.  If you want to read about his original problem with incompetent lawyers, go here.

It kinda makes my blood boil when people get fucked over by bad lawyers.

Suns 105, Spurs 86 – and Lactic Acid in the NBA April 27, 2008

This was ugly.

PHOENIX (AP) -A Frenchman put Phoenix on the brink of elimination, another brought the Suns back to life.

Boris Diaw fell two assists shy of a triple-double Sunday and the Suns avoided a first-round sweep at the hands of San Antonio with a 105-86 rout of the Spurs.

Diaw, starting in place of injured Grant Hill, had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in one of the best playoff performances of his career.

It was also a lesson in the management of lactic acid.

The Spurs rested their starters in the fourth quarter, to prepare for the next game. That was a good move, given that Phoenix had a 30 point blowout lead. And Duncan was getting rest before then. This was a playoff game after one day off, rather than the usual two days off, so there was less time for lactic acid levels to get back to normal.

The Phoenix coach (Mike D’Antoni) should have done the same, but he’s too nervous to correctly manage the on-court minutes. He’s scared, and he kept his starters in until nearly the end of the game. Even the TV talking heads noticed this.

Coach Popovich is great about this. He has an aging team, and he understands that he has to manage the amount of lactic acid in the muscle tissue of his stars. In evenly matched games, lactic acid levels are going to be the margin of victory. The on-court experience for players is grueling, and much depends upon how much spring is left in their legs. It’s just lactic acid math.

That’s why some sports writers think the Spurs are unbeatable — because Popovich is properly managing the on-court minutes and injury risk.

It’s all about lactic acid. The Spurs are older, and thus at a disadvantage. But they have Gregg Popovich, and he is one smart Texan.

Here’s another reason why D’Antoni does not match up to Popovitch.

Coaching is math and psychology. The math is lactic acid. The psychology is the bench players.

Anybody can coach the stars. The real test is if you have the skills to coach the bench. You have to make them feel valued and cultivated as a role player when they come off the bench with specific skills for specific situations. That makes them part of the TEAM, and it makes them important. Like, for example, Robert Horry. Big Shot Bob is way past his prime; he is only on the Spurs payroll to make a clutch three-pointer in the playoffs.

Popovitch has cultivated the best bench player in the NBA, Manu Ginobili, who won the NBA’s Sixth Man Award this year. Pop elevated Manu from a nobody to an NBA star and an Argentinian national icon. On any other NBA team, Manu would be a starter, but he chooses to be a bench player for Popovich. He is so big in Argentina that he has to hire bodyguards for his family.

At Phoenix, Mike D’Antoni basically does not have a bench. His bench has no on-court minutes, and no confidence. That’s why he has to play his starters to death. He has incredible starters with guys like Nash and Shaq and Diaw, but he has no bench.

The Spurs got humiliated tonight, but they are going to beat Phoenix, for two reasons: math and psychology. Meaning: (1) Intelligent management of lactic acid, and (2) a bench that has been coached.

Does anybody want to make a bet on this?

Why Can’t Pretty Girls Smile? April 26, 2008

Pajama Mama has a touching story about her kid.

Which leads her to decry the ascendancy of the pouty look.

I can think of few things more calming to the soul than laughter. Of course, as an over-thinker this got me going. I was at the zoo looking at all the pretty women there and every single one of them had something in common. They couldn’t smile. None of them. The M.I.L.F’s, the 20 something’s that will grow up to be M.I.L.F’s and the teenagers all had the same pouty, miserable expression.

Read the rest:

Why Can’t Pretty Girls Smile? « The Hostages: Stop Crying Or We’ll Give You Something To Cry About