(Blake’s note: I worked for awhile on an article about global warming and how people are going crazy about something that, well, we shouldn’t be going crazy about. Eventually I realized that it would be too long and there was someone else who knows more and is more passionate about this subject. The result is my brother’s long article on Anthropogenic Global Warming Movement (AGWM). Here’s his intro with a link to the full article, you’ll also see a new page entitled “Ben’s AGWM Article”. Take your time, read through the links, and, as always, learn shit.)
So I thought it would be fun (fun being my word for frustrating, headache inducing, teeth grinding hours of work – which is why I always say sex is so much fun, as is being a NY Giants fan) to try and tackle the Anthropogenic Global Warming Movement (AGWM) and its messiah Al Gore or as South Park so wisely named it Man Bear Pig:
Now before you call me a “denier” or “sexist capitalistic republican tree murdering polar bear strangling monster” I would like to point out in my defense I am what I call a humanist environmentalist – (and I actually voted for Gore in 2000 – oy vey – more on that another time). I believe in protecting the environment for the purpose of leaving us a world in which man has the freedom to achieve his fullest potential. That means do not poison the water with chemicals (no one needs another Cleveland), national parks are a great thing; perhaps instead of chopping down old growth forests use tree farms, dirty air is foulness (live in LA like I do and you know what a problem that is), evolution has created a nature that requires balance hence protecting species to maintain diversity is a good thing – basically try our best to live in some sort of harmony with the environment that we evolved in. BUT – I am a humanist first. I put the life of a single person above all else. Its easy to tell someone that their means of transportation; acquiring food and energy consumption are not mother earth safe when your primary goal each day is not worrying about where your next meal comes from. I wish the same passion I see people put into AGWM would go towards helping alleviate global poverty and the all the horrors that extend from it – and such as ethnic cleansing and death from diseases that have been wiped out in the developed world for around fifty years.
– Boxing: The main news is that Kelly Pavlik won. No? Oh, right. Yes the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is on hold due to Pacquiao being superstitious and not wanting to be pin pricked for blood within 30 days of a fight. Sounds fishy. Some points on this debacle:
We can’t blame the Mayweathers here – if they truly think Pacquiao has been doping then they clearly don’t want the normal testing and hence they asked for the Olympic testing.
The “It Will Throw Off My Schedule” argument is invalid – Uh, Manny? For your last fight you suffered through a flood and couldn’t do your normal running. So how’s getting pricked once going to change anything? Also, Mayweather would have to succumb to same treatment.
“Mayweather Doesn’t Want Manny” – Really? Floyd signed first. Blake got into an argument at Davidoff (who argues at Davidoff?? I feel snobby just typing Davidoff) when the guy helping me said this. Then he tried to claim I don’t watch boxing. Ugh.
“Manny Doesn’t Want Mayweather” – I say this only because people say the above. Didn’t everyone see Manny’s face after Cotto? You can’t get hit like that and beat Mayweather.
“Manny Doesn’t Like Needles” – Um, then why does he have tattoos on his chest and arms?
And now Manny claims he’ll sue Mayweather over defamation. Oy.
Anyway, HBO has their best fights on HBO On Demand and will replay the top 5 of the year starting this Saturday with Mayweather-Marquez. You should watch Williams-Martinez (required viewing), Mosley-Margarito, Pacquiao-Cotto, and Mayweather-Marquez (just to see how dominant Floyd can be).
– SeamlessWeb: I’m surprised not more people know about this, that’s why I haven’t put it in here. Ever wish you could just order from menupages.com? Well, you can. Kind of. Not every restaurant has signed up for this, but basically you enter your address (which you can then store along with your credit card) and the site tells you which places will deliver to you. Never talk to a person again! Except when they come to your door… Oh and tip is predetermined, so tip carefully. LA and Hoboken don’t have much, but it’s good even if for one place. Also, if you live in the city and don’t know about this then I don’t know what’s wrong with you either.
– Why China will never overtake America: They sentenced Wu Ying, who defrauded the people of China of $113 million, to death. Silly Communists. (Dealbreaker)
– Learn how to use Google Wave: I haven’t figured Wave out yet. Maybe more people need to be on it or I need to use it for work? Either way, if you are confused as I am about it, here’s Wired’s how-to. (Wired)
– If you don’t like Apple: Then Gizmodo shows you the best alternative to each Apple product. (Gizmodo)
– Nanotechnology and diabetics: Together at last. Special contacts will change color to alert the wearer of any change in glucose levels so they don’t have to routinely draw blood. (Institute of Nanotechnology)
– Carpe Diem continues to show us how great we have it: Woo put me on to this guy a year or two ago, and he always seems to have a great perspective on things (Perry, not Woo, come on). Here’s some charts on how cheap technology has gotten. (Carpe Diem)
– Volcanos are cool at night too: Last week we saw one underwater, now here’s one at night. Read and see more pics here. Also you’ll find out that some people think they can survive the volcano. (Wooten)
– Nothing says sold like “marijuana-reeking tour bus”: They had to remove the interior just to get the smell out. The FDIC is going to enjoy rollin’ in this. (Bloomberg)
– The real Rain Man dies: Kim Peek at 58. Worth clicking here to read quick obit and see a video on the guy. (/Film)
– Always Sunny’s Mac and Dee to open bar in Philly: aka Philly’s Continuing Attempt Not to Suck. Kidding. Sorta. (Wynn)
– 4,500 strippers are trying to sue Rick’s Cabaret: The ladies have fault with Rick’s classifying them as “independent contractors” and making them pay a fee to work there. Sucks because that’s the EXACT reason I invest in RICK. (Landis)
– Arizona will wear white helmets in the Holiday Bowl: My question, why weren’t we wearing these the whole time? (Ross)
– Speaking of white: Did you know they paint hockey rinks white? I didn’t, but now I do. Slide #9 on this site. (Uni Watch)
– While we’re on white: Here’s a view of the blizzard from last weekend from space: (Wired)
– Smoking Gun’s 2009 Mug Shots Of The Year: Some good pictures here. (Dad)
– South Korea understands basics: “I think short guys are losers,” Lee Do-kyong. Read about psycho parents having their four year olds injected so they grow. (Wooten)
– Landon Donovan joins Mark Lee’s EPL team: Mark Lee chose Everton, because he knew Donovan would land there. (SI)
– New Nike Christmas ads: That’s KRS-One as Santa and Lupe Fiasco as Blitzen. I actually didn’t confirm this, so technically a guess. You think I’m wrong?
– Twitter update: Blake has 25 followers (up from 24). No mentions or RTs. I promise an update on how why to use Twitter and why it’s not just for thirteen year old girls.
– Tweet of the Week: This one comes from Andre Berto (AndreBerto) and is about Manny Pacquiao not wanting to be drug tested:
“If I knew I was getin 40mil for a fight u can random drug test me night and day. While iam having sex, even naked in the rain if they want”
– The Marks’ Financial Update: See two weeks ago if you are confused about this entry.
MFL – Looks like my every-other-week attempt to jinx Mark Lee has finally paid off. He hit $13.06 on December 12th, collapsed the next week then pulled himself up, got that dirt off his shoulder, and made a slight comeback to finish this shortened week. Perhaps investors think Mark is in for a good Christmas.
MDH – Not following Mark Lee’s example, Harter started jumping up from a December 13th funk but check out the boost he got from going to the Giants/Eagles game two weekends ago. Not bad for a Droider.
MAB – Something’s up with this guy and holidays. He had a run-up during Thanksgiving and now he has another one to close this Christmas week out. Even though he’s the only Mark to not contribute an idea to this site, it looks like he’ll finish the year strong. Maybe he knows something we don’t?
– What you missed: Arizona Basketball, for the first time since Salim Stoudamire in 2005, hit a buzzer beater to win a game! The key differences here was Nic Wise’s shot went through the net after the horn while Salim’s still left 0.3 seconds left and also Salim’s was against Oklahoma State in the Sweet Sixteen while Nic’s was against Lipscomb. Nic followed that up four nights later with an end-to-end layup to beat North Carolina State by 2…. after we were up 8 points with 37 seconds to go.
– What I missed: Amazon’s Kindle. For the past two years at least I kept saying to my parents that there was no need to get me this device. I didn’t have a long enough commute to warrant carrying it on the subway, plus I have the Kindle for the iPhone app and thought that was a good substitute. False. About 1 hour after it was fully charged I realized how stupid I had been. If you like books (not love, like) then you must get this. If you have a long commute or travel a lot, then you must get this. I mean, I could go into everything you can do with it but if you like to read (again, not love, but like) then stop wasting your time and order one here. You’ll thank me later.
– Finally, my dad’s favorite Christmas song: From the Blake’s to you, Merry Fucking Christmas:
– Boxing: Vic Darchinyan knocked Tomas Rojas the fuck out (7:40 in, though 7:45 is when you hear Gus Johnson say “OOOOOHH”). No, you don’t have to know these people, but Vic is a pretty big puncher for super flyweight.
Sorry for telling you to watch Vitali last week, he didn’t get the knockout though it’s not his fault that Kevin Johnson was too scared to really fight.
Malignaggi, who I hate as a boxer but love as a personality, beat Juan Diaz in their rematch. After the fight Paulie said about Hatton that he “would beat Hatton more easily than he beat me” in reference to Hatton’s TKO of Malignaggi back in 2008 (so two thousand and late).
HBO and Shotime’s years have come to an end. Watch HBO’s top fights of the year starting December 26th with Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Juan Manuel Marquez (consensus #2 pound-for-pound fighter before that fight, keep that in mind when Floyd lands 59% of his punches to Marquez’s 12%).
January is already good – we get to watch Juan Manuel Lopez (JuanMa) on the same card as Yuriorkis Gamboa (you will not be saying “who??” by the end of 2010) at The Garden on the 23rd. Then Shane Mosley fights my third favorite active fighter in Andre Berto on the 30th. (We’ll get to Berto in later updates)
Kelly Pavlik fights a bum in Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday. Pavlik was supposed to fight Paul Williams last week but claimed the staph infection on his hand prevented him from training. “But Kelly,” you ask, “you’re fighting a week after the original one was scheduled?” Yeah.
– Greece taxes the shit out of shit: Wish it was actually manure, but no, 90% tax rate on bankers’ bonuses instead. (zero hedge)
– Quadriplegic blows a tube to shoot a shotgun: If you were a friend of his, you would crack “blowjob” jokes, right? Just me? Of course this was found in an English paper. Brits must loves. (Gizmodo)
– The Year of the Political Jackass: David Paul Kuhn makes a great point here. Then wonders what a conference call with Obama, Jong-Il, and Ahmadinejad would sound like. (RealClearPolitics)
– Flexible flash memory to come: The Unversity of Tokyo already started bending OLED earlier this year, now they’ve tackled flash memory. Just imagine a smaller, thinner iPhone (ugh, or Droid) in your hand… or around your wrist. An iFanny perhaps? (Engadget)
– Hey, wanna watch a volcano erupt underwater? Of course you do (Gizmodo):
– Now see how insignificant that volcano is: On a universal scale, at least. Found this video on a site named “Geekologie”. (Blake’s Update – summarizing shitty nerd sites so you don’t have to!)
– Sigourney Weaver does “Planet Earth” for “Avatar”: Look, the plot/story/acting/etc probably sucks. But I know at some point in the near future I’ll be sitting in an IMAX 3-D theater enjoying the movie. It just looks… beautiful. (Wired)
– Gizmodo brings back the “Wassup” Commercial: Worth linking to. Come on, you laughed then and you’ll laugh now. (Gizmodo)
– Sean Trende explains why the “Health Care Bill Is Political Suicide”: His point is that you’re gonna lose the independents and moderates and he uses stats from the last two elections to explain. (RealClearPolitics)
– Paramount to open video clip site: You’ll get to chop down a movie to your favorite scene, then pay to save it. Like a ringtone for movies. Check the site out at www.inscene.com. (NYTimes)
– Kids In The Hall return: Um, no U.S. airdates for “Death Comes To Town“. Maybe you don’t like them, but I still will play “Nobody’s Home” and still crush people’s heads. So I’m pumped. (Ben)
– The Copenhagen climate talks will leave the biggest carbon footprint ever: And no, the majority of the 46,200 tons of carbon dioxide spewed out into the air is not from their dumb ideas. But hey, nice bike. (Reuters; bike from Gizmodo)
– Jermichael Finley’s jersey is all fucked up: And Paul Lukas, aka Uni Watch, wonders if a unitard will replace the football uniform (yeah, he’s as disgusted with that thought as you). (Uni Watch):
– No, Bunk, this guy is not the modern day Rosa Parks:
– TLC has a new show called “Little Chocolatiers”: It’s about little people making chocolates. Here’s a clip. Sorry, too easy. Here’s a real clip where they acknowledge you’re thinking about the Oompa Loompas.
– D’Angelo Barksdale lives: Though he’s still in high school. The rumor is Muhlenberg is looking at him (sorry Mark Lee, not really). (Bill Simmons)
– ‘Tis the season: I asked a few of you for any charities you liked, and well, you had some. I was going to title this “Blake’s Attempt To Not End Up In Hell”:
Children’s Specialized Hospital Foundation: Because ain’t it about the kids? About | Donate
Shelter for the Homeless: For homeless in Fairfield County, Connecticut. About | Donate
Hoboken Shelter: For homeless in Hoboken, Jersey. About | Donate
The Innocence Project: Help free the wrongly accused. About | Donate
(I know I missed some so please email blakesupdate@gmail.com or make a comment below and I’ll update the post. Seriously, I don’t want to go to hell.)
– Twitter Update: Blake has 24 followers (still unchanged, lost and gained some). The only RT I got was Woo doing promotion for me and Bardon was the only one to mention me. Oy.
– Tweet of the Week: The Onion (TheOnion) was running down the top quotes of all time:
“‘Let’s just see what this iceberg wants.’ -Edward Smith, captain of the Titanic”
– What you missed: Mythbusters. I know, it’s a nerdy show. Whatever. Here’s how to watch it: Record the later showing, usually at 11pm, and don’t watch it until it’s done recording. Watch the first 30 seconds as they explain the myths they’ll look at. Shit you don’t care about? Delete and done. Fast forward until they explain how they’ll test. This is key, if you hear the words “explosion” or “destroy” stay tuned. Next you fast forward to when they execute the test (this week they drove a car towards a lake – that’s worth watching; they swabbed a bunch of soda cans – fast forward). Always remember that the Mythbusters don’t just bust the myth, they also replicate. So that’s why: you won’t find rat pee on your soda can; your toilet seat is cleaner than your keyboard, money, and kitchen sink; you should go 100mph when skipping your Lambo’ across a 100 ft pond (also don’t use a ramp, just drive straight at it).
– What I missed: So Paulie Jr left OCC? Anyone watch “American Chopper” anymore? Maybe it doesn’t count since no one does, but I didn’t know Mikey was in rehab, Paulie Jr started his own design company then plastered his logo all over a pickup truck, and the show now sucks even more.
If you still can’t see her, go 
Blake's Update 