Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread

Posts: 40 · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:25 am

The thing with retalitation is that one much be a tad more circumspect... after taking a knock, everyone's eyes are on you looking for your reaction...

Much better to pick your spot - for instance, Scholes or Giggs would have replied with an enthusiastic tackle or two later on.

But, then, Nani's only about 20 - he'll learn.

Posts: 7604 · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 10:47 am

hehe enthusiastic tackles .... i like that Smile

there have been some of old who used to take great delight in that...the brits here will know them....

a few i can think of:

Roy Keane, Jimmy Case, Tommy Smith and Norman Hunter.....classic hardmen who were very very good at getting away with it and were well known for standing for no crap.

Man U are the team to beat once again in the UK. prob rightly so. i am a liverpool supporter, so hate Man U, but you cant help but admire their efforts at making yet another great campaign. though will they win the champions league? dunno....i think chelsea will edge it just.

Al

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 4:01 pm

Once again, a football player is in trouble with the law, those Dallas Cowboys, can't they keep their guys out of prison, I swear they...

Oh, wait, it's Cedric Benson of the CHICAGO BEARS that's in trouble this time. This story really gave me a giggle.....I swear JohnGaunt and I had nothing to do with this despite being in Austin all day Saturday; if Cedric had just hit the Half Price Books with JG and I he would have been ok.

Quote:

Cedric Benson Arrested On Lake Travis
Former Longhorn Arrested For Boating While Intoxicated
AUSTIN (AP) ―
Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson failed a sobriety test while operating a 30-foot boat, then resisted arrest before being hit with pepper spray and dragged ashore by officers.

Benson faces charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest after the incident Saturday night on Lake Travis, Travis County Sheriff's Department spokesman Roger Wade said.

Benson was released from jail early Sunday on a $14,500 bond. A call to Benson's agent was not immediately returned.

Benson was operating the boat with 15 passengers aboard when he was stopped by a Lower Colorado River Authority officer for a random safety inspection. He failed a field sobriety test on the officer's boat and was uncooperative when the officer tried to take him ashore, the authority said.

"When Benson did not pass the test, he presented himself as a threat to the officer and argued about whether or not he would be taken to land to have a follow-up field sobriety test performed on land and refused to put on a life jacket," the authority said in a statement.

The officer had to use pepper spray to subdue Benson. He then refused to leave the officer's boat and authorities had to drag him to a car to be taken to the Travis County jail, the authority said.

Chicago coach Lovie Smith said he's still trying to figure out exactly what happened in Texas.

"I haven't had a chance to speak with Cedric yet, but any time we're talking about one of our players getting arrested you're disappointed in it," Smith said Sunday at the end of the Bears' three-day rookie minicamp in Lake Forest, Ill.

Bears officials said general manager Jerry Angelo was out of town Sunday and unavailable to comment.

Benson has had legal problems before.

He was sentenced to eight days in jail in 2003 for a misdemeanor trespassing charge after forcing his way into an apartment to look for a reported stolen TV. In 2002, misdemeanor drug and alcohol charges against him were dropped.

Benson rushed for more than 5,500 yards and 64 touchdowns at the University of Texas, going for 1,000 yards in four straight seasons.

The 25-year-old has done little since the Bears took him with the fourth pick of the 2005 draft.

As a rookie he couldn't beat out Thomas Jones and rushed for 272 yards in nine games. He was more effective the next season while sharing time with Jones, going for six touchdowns and 647 yards.

Last year, Benson took over as the featured back after Jones was traded away. He rushed for 674 yards, four touchdowns and 3.4 yards a carry before going on injured reserve in November.

In three years with the Bears, Benson has rushed for 1,593 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 3.8 yards a carry. He's also missed 13 games

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 4:34 pm

Do something worthwhile with all of those postage paid junk mail envelopes:

http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/bulkmailer/

Twisted Evil

Posts: 3151 · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:20 pm

Kingofpain89 wrote:

Do something worthwhile with all of those postage paid junk mail envelopes:

http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/bulkmailer/

Twisted Evil

That is awesome Laughing

ShaneG.

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 6:02 pm

On a more serious note.....ah screw it....this is funny as hell! Looks like the intelligence of college students is at an all time low:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135736?GT1=43002

In particular, this is what cracked me up more than anything:

Quote:

Those arrested included a student who was about to receive a criminal justice degree and another who was to receive a master's degree in homeland security. A sad commentary is that when one of these individuals was arrested, they inquired as (to) whether or not his arrest and incarceration would have an effect on him becoming a federal law enforcement officer.

Looks like they were trying to obtain enough money to buy a new frat house. Hey guys....Risky Business is a movie, not a documentary about making money.

Dumbasses. Razz

Posts: 406 · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 6:10 pm

Quote:

...and another who was to receive a master's degree in homeland security.

I'm probably being the dumb-ass now, but that's a joke - right? You can't REALLY get a master's degree in homeland security can you?

Posts: 1104 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:19 am

Hey, lemur-man, you never told us you could sing! Razz

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3883198.ece

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:29 am

The French humiliate themselves yet again....

French state decorates Kylie Minogue, culture star
http://timescorrespondents.typepad.com/charles_bremner/2008/05/post.ht ml

I do find it funny that the nation that scorns popular culture and limits releases of foreign film and music artists, as well as foreign authors, swoons and giggles like little teenagers over giving them these silly awards.

Mike B.

Posts: 1277 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:33 am

Quote:

You can't REALLY get a master's degree in homeland security can you?

You can get a PhD in Thaumaturgy... so, why is this any different?

Posts: 7604 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:39 am

serleran wrote:

You can get a PhD in Thaumaturgy... so, why is this any different?

i can hear that famous quote coming...... "ONLY IN AMERICA"

Rolling Eyes

Posts: 299 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:43 am

Badmike wrote:

The French humiliate themselves yet again....

French state decorates Kylie Minogue, culture star
http://timescorrespondents.typepad.com/charles_bremner/2008/05/post.ht ml

I do find it funny that the nation that scorns popular culture and limits releases of foreign film and music artists, as well as foreign authors, swoons and giggles like little teenagers over giving them these silly awards.

Mike B.

Unfortunately Chuck Norris is not chevalier yet...
Mad

That will be GREAT !

Quote:

La la la...

I just can't get you out of my head
Boy your loving is all I think about
I just can't get you out of my head
Boy it's more than I dare to think about

La la la...

Can't stop swooning and giggling all the time...
Wink

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:46 am

Yeah....I actually did a Google search for "homeland security degree" and found a ton of hits. At some larger schools for the most part it looks like a master's program. But there are other schools that offer it as a bachelor's degree. I pulled this blurb from one school's information page:

Quote:

Graduates of the Homeland Security degree program will be prepared to work in a variety of settings and capacities such as private businesses, emergency management, safety management intelligence analysis, private security, airports, law enforcement, FBI, Secret Service, the DEA, Air Marshals, customs investigators, special agents, military service and border patrol.

Gotta tell you though....degree or no degree, seems like a bunch of idiots still run the show. Doesnt matter how sharp you are, if you are taking orders from a bunch of politicians and bureaucrats, all the degrees in the world won't do you a damn bit of good.

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 12:34 pm

If you have any problems identifying ambiguous warning or emergency signs then this website will be of use:

http://www.safenow.org/

Laughing

Posts: 3151 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 5:26 pm

Kingofpain89 wrote:

If you have any problems identifying ambiguous warning or emergency signs then this website will be of use:

http://www.safenow.org/

Laughing

What are you Googling to find this stuff Smile

ShaneG.

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:32 pm

Plaag wrote:

What are you Googling to find this stuff Smile

ShaneG.

I guess I can let you in on my secret. Found a worthwhile web snap-in a couple of weeks ago that when you tell it to, will randomly jump to a website that it thinks you will like based on information that you plug-in to it.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/

You just install the toolbar and then select the topics you enjoy. There doesnt seem to be any spyware or adware associated with it and its free. It works just fine with Windows XP and IE7 but I uninstalled it from my Vista computer because IE locked up on me a couple of times after I installed it (not surprising since Vista sucks). From what I have read it was originally created for Firefox so it will work just fine with that browser as well.

Posts: 1238 · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:47 am

I wonder if anyone can tell me ebays postition regarding cancelling auctions.

I recently had ebay cancel several of my auctions seemingly at random.

There were several reasons given - For illegal links (The only link i had was to the Acaeum!), one was for non standard payment method (Cash! - seems strange as I'm sure this is an ebay tick box thing - though in the auction listing I did say that I would entertain swops) and final reason was 'No item' - ie vaporware,spirits etc (this is simply wrongo!)

What I really want to know is this - do my auctions have to be reported, or do ebay take this on themselves?

As another point, most of the auctions were relist shop items so they had been on before for a month at least, and I generally use the same template for all of my auctiuons, so why weren't loads more taken down?

I have a suspicion that these have been reported by a certain ebayer - possibly that person simply got bored of going through the reporting process. (and would it be spectacularly bad form to try and reap revenge on that person, even if they may be completely innocent, as my suspicion is simply a feeling I have and not based on anything as tangible as actual evidence! Twisted Evil

)

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:55 am

gyg wrote:

I wonder if anyone can tell me ebays postition regarding cancelling auctions.

I recently had ebay cancel several of my auctions seemingly at random.

There were several reasons given - For illegal links (The only link i had was to the Acaeum!), one was for non standard payment method (Cash! - seems strange as I'm sure this is an ebay tick box thing - though in the auction listing I did say that I would entertain swops) and final reason was 'No item' - ie vaporware,spirits etc (this is simply wrongo!)

What I really want to know is this - do my auctions have to be reported, or do ebay take this on themselves?

As another point, most of the auctions were relist shop items so they had been on before for a month at least, and I generally use the same template for all of my auctiuons, so why weren't loads more taken down?

I have a suspicion that these have been reported by a certain ebayer - possibly that person simply got bored of going through the reporting process. (and would it be spectacularly bad form to try and reap revenge on that person, even if they may be completely innocent, as my suspicion is simply a feeling I have and not based on anything as tangible as actual evidence! Twisted Evil

)

I've found one of two things. First, almost all auctions removed by ebay have had someone complaing about them; there is simply too many auctions a day (15 million?) for them to even think about trying to pick out illegal ones. Second, they are extremely liberal in their interpretation of Ebay rules, and will elect to play it safe rater than let an auction play out.

Mike B.

Posts: 1238 · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:11 am

Cheers Mike, that's kind of what I thought.

I've relisted them with slightly different wording and I'll see what happens (I wonder if anyone will think to put www and com at either end of the word Acaeum in my listing?!)

Though in the grand scheme of things it's no big deal (I'm not out of pocket as ebay refund the listing fees), it's just irritated me.

(Next step is to start up another ebay id and exact some revenge - or maybe not - it just all seems like too much effort to lower myself to someone elses level (And that is only if my suspicion is correct)

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 10:51 am

serleran wrote:

You can get a PhD in Thaumaturgy... so, why is this any different?

One thing that people tend to misunderstand about college....

College is not about knowledge.

College is about money.

You pay enough money...you put in at least minimal effort...you emerge on the other end with a degree.

Ergo - if someone is willing to pay for a degree in some made-up discipline.....say "women's studies" for instance....or "thaumaturgy"....or "homeland security"...then there will be some college that is willing to sell a degree program.

Despite all the black robes, ivy-covered buildings, ivory towers and research grants, colleges are about exchanging cash for a product.