Links of the Day

Sportsmanship Isn't Dead Yet - Nice story about a team that through away to free throws so that a player, whose Mom died the day before, could play the game without penalty. They made the choice to earn their points rather than have them given to them for a reason, that while part of the rules, wasn't just. In a time of stats ruling all, both the team and the player that purposely missed the free throws deserves a salute as indicated by this letter.

Dow Hits Six Year Low - Sadly the recession is continuing to show signs that recovery is at least a year away as a new low was hit today, the lowest it has been since October 9th, 2002. The cause is basically a lack in confidence in the stimulus bill since most of the programs where stripped away in favor of tax cuts at the demands of the Republicans. Because you know, companies make all their decisions based on taxes, not revenue. Just like they continue to believe you, the average American, make spending decisions not based on job security but taxes. Their (very rich) bubble must be a wonderful place.

Chimp Cartoon Creates (Artificial) Anger - Al Sharpton, starved for attention, as jumped on the cartoon to the right as proof of racism at the New York Post. Why? I don't know, to my know Obama didn't write the stimulus bill, majority and minority leaders in Congress did. Calling them monkeys is accurate and fair. Also, this crap about not being able to insult the president as others will twist it into racism as to end too. The right silenced naysayers after 9/11 and it wasn't right. It is not right when the left does it too. Assuming the Sharpton interpretation is accurate, guess what, Obama is the President. He is made of sterner stuff and he doesn't need the likes of Sharpton to protect him.

Acid Eye for Acid Eye - Through an Iranian law that allows literally an "eye for an eye", Ameneh Bahrami has asked her attacker be blinded by acid just like he blinded her. Human rights activists and bloggers are outraged but so what. Part of the reason we have the crime problems we have is the fear is gone. The phrase "you will go to jail" has no fear for many people anymore. If told though that you risk having inflicted on you the same thing you inflict on someone else, I guarantee many would reconsider their actions. It’s one thing to blind somebody if the worst thing that can happen is some jail time, but it’s a whole new ballgame if suddenly that act can happen to you too. Can you imagine how things like domestic violence would go down if the husband received the same beat down as the wife? A guy that shoots someone in turn gets shot? Stab someone...better not get caught or you will get stabbed too. The teeth is gone from punishment and something like this means that I guarantee the next stalker in Iran would think very long and hard before doing the acid trick again after this punishment is carried out.

More Megapixels the Better? - Short answer is no. At the link is a long article explaining why but the short answer is if the lenses and capabilities are not built in the camera then the picture quality may not necessarily improve. It’s kind of why the bigger the camera the better it is as more bells and whistles to get those perfect shots. Even shorter answer, if you’re not a professional or hobbyist, 6 megapixels is all you need.

Early Watchman Review - Apparently the sneak peeks have started and an early review found the film to be so-so. Oddly their complaint was the movie followed the source material too closely preventing proper exploration of the characters. Also high camp factor was cited (probably because of Malin, who looks amazing but acting seems so-so). Click here for clips.

California Budget - A nice little summary talking about the problem that is facing California due to some of its laws that have placed huge limited on how the state can raise money and pass budget laws. Laws that allowed a single Republican to hold the state and its thousands of workers hostage.