The Best Comments From John McCain’s Website/Blog: “Classic Stuff”

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Laughter does not describe what I have been through over the course of the last hour or so. Finding myself bored I decided to head over to John McCain’s website/blog and see what our friend had no clue what I was in for, “Old Man Walnuts” was up too. Seeing as though this was only my second time on his site, I had no clue what a good dose of old fashioned comedy I was in for.

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The Art of Selecting a Perfect Campaign “Theme Song”

We’ve all seen or heard it before - candidate X wins primary Y in state Z and takes the stage in victory with music blaring and a crowd of supporters cheering. After a while the candidate settles on a “theme song” for these occasions, often times testing out a handful of selections before the final decision is made. However their happens to be much more involved in this process, which surprisingly is somewhat scientific.

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“One down, seven to go”: WATCH Michael Phelps Breaks Captures His First Gold Medal

BEIJING (AP) - Michael Phelps powered to the wall and whipped around to get his time, so eager to see another amazing set of numbers that he bumped his head on the end of the pool. Not that he felt any pain. With President Bush cheering him on, Phelps dominated his first event of the Beijing Olympics on Sunday morning, crushing his own world record and all hopes of his challengers with a mark of 4 minutes, 3.84 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley.

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Beach Volleyballs Love/Hate Relationship With the Olympics

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beach volleyball’s popularity has created something of a love-hate relationship with television. The highly-photogenic sport has been a winner for broadcasters at the Olympics, where according to the International Olympic Committee it accumulated 3.5 billion television viewer hours during the Athens Games.

In turn that has raised the profile of beach volleyball, inspired more countries to build up teams, and lured in sponsors.

The downside is that broadcasters start to demand games be played to fit their schedules and in a style that makes better television.

In Beijing, the semi-finals and finals will be played in the morning to catch the all-important evening prime time viewing in the United States and Brazil, where beach volleyball has a wide following.

This year, officials have also tightened up the enforcement of a 1999 rule that players must serve within 12 seconds of the last point ending - a decision some players put down to broadcasting needs.

“It’s a very dynamic sport and the international rules have been changed for television,” said Australia’s Natalie Cook, who has competed in every Olympics since beach volleyball joined the Games in 1996 and won the gold medal in Sydney.

Quicker turnarounds make for faster-paced television but are not easy on the players, particularly in Beijing.

“The more time you have between points, the more you can recover from the last point and get some water. It’ll be tough on the players in such hot and humid conditions,” said Brazil’s Renata Ribeiro.

For all the time pressure television piles on, players also hope that their moment in the media sun will help bring in more cash for courts, training and prizes as well as educate people about the sport.

“There’s still an element of people thinking it’s all about bikinis,” said Cook. “But once they actually watch a match, they realize how dynamic and athletic it is so they stay and stop talking about sex.”

So in honor of this amazingly fun to watch (and play) sport we have decided to put together a little slide show of sorts to highlight some of beach volleyballs biggest stars:

Analyzing the Connection Between the Neo-con Right, Israel & Iran

Since the Bush administration literally took power back in 2000 we have seen an increase in both ego maniacal neo-conservatives such as Richard Pearle, Duncan Keith, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, etc. and the saber rattling which in one case - Iraq - has turned into an abyss of chaos which includes unprecedented monetary sacrifice and most important, the life’s of over 4,000 men and women of our armed services. But the neo-cons have a new target in sight, and they have been honing in on them for some time now - of course I am referring to none other then Iran - which continues to appear as being the “next country on the list” for the fringe right in Washington.

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Opening a country

It’s been seven years in the waiting, but the countdown to tonight’s opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games is on in earnest.

The world may never witness a ceremony of the magnitude and ingenuity expected to be showcased at the National Stadium, affectionately dubbed the Bird’s Nest. The stadium design is gobsmacking, with 45,000 tonnes of steel used to build it.

Organisers have spent a staggering $100 million ($US) on the opening and closing ceremonies.
A total of 91,000 spectators will watch the ceremony live in the Bird’s Nest, with an expected four billion world-wide television audience.
The Chinese admitted they opted for lucky charms rather than optimum calendar timing in terms of weather - the gamble looks certain to pay off.

Two hours from the start of proceedings conditions were predictably hot and humid, but forecast rain appears unlikely.
Wang Wei, executive vice-president and secretary general of BOCOG said earlier today:

“We would prefer to have the date of the opening ceremony much later (in the year) because of the weather conditions in Beijing.”

“In September the weather would be much, much better, not only for the people watching but also for the athletes”, Wang Wei said.

“Hopefully this lucky date (8th of the 8th) will bring luck to the opening ceremony. According to the weather forecast there will be a light shower.

“The air quality looks good. You can not judge the air quality by the appearance, we have to trust the scientists.

“I think tonight will be lucky so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

“At the moment I don’t think we can do anything, lao tian ye (heavenly grandfathers) they decide everything. The air quality not only depends on Beijing but also determined by the whole area (ie surrounding provinces).”

More than 10,000 athletes and 200 countries will be presented to the crowd.

Nations will be announced in alphabetical order according to Chinese script - resulting in a long wait for participants from Down Under.

Australia will enter the stadium third last followed by Zambia then China. In all, 230 of Australia’s 433 athletes are set to march behind flag bearer James Tomkins - competing at sixth Olympics.

Security, predictably, was high enterting the stadium - the armed tanks quite intimidating.

The spectacular three-hour upcoming ceremony has been devised and engineered by China’s famed academy award-nominated film maker, Zhang Yimou.

Yimou’s production, which involves 15,000 performers and 29,000 rounds of fireworks, will surely catapult him to a level of international notoriety beyond that he achieved with his Oscar-nominated films Raise the Red Lantern (1991) and House of Flying Daggers (2004).

The ceremony is tipped to dwarf those of Athens and Sydney in terms of resources expended and expectations exceeded. If, indeed, these Games are as much a PR exercise on the part of the Chinese government as a sporting event, the first charm offensive of the fortnight should prove an overwhelming success, smog notwithstanding.

Prior to the ceremony, Zhang told Chinese media the event’s central theme would centre around “the ancient and long history of the Chinese nation … (and) reflect the cultural aspects of Chinese society and showcase what modern China and its people are all about.” He delivered. In China’s first large scale attempt to draw back its curtains and allow the world to peer in, Zhang delivered a production both impressive in scale, and insightful in its representation of homeland, new and old.

The Chinese filmmaker was aided by Ric Birch, Australia’s own “master of ceremonies”. Birch was the creative force behind Olympic opening ceremonies in Los Angeles, Barcelona and Sydney, but this surely was his magnum opus, choregraphing a small army of performers - some of which were from the army - to dovetail with a multi-million dollar laser and light show.

Birch, speaking prior to his arrival in China, brazenly predicted the world would be “gobsmacked” by the production. Again, he proved true to his word, and in so doing all but swept away the last remnants of bitterness prompted by Steven Spielberg’s messy split with the Beijing organisers.

Spielberg had originally agreed to serve as an adviser to the opening ceremony committee, but withdrew in protest over China’s failure to exert its influence over its ally, Sudan, during the Darfur crisis. His departure came as a body blow to image-conscious Beijing officials, but the triumph of Friday night’s ceremony relieved any fears of a sub-standard parade before the world.

So Have You Guys Seen the “Creepy” Theology Expert for FOX News

So ya I was watching FOX (don’t ask me why cause I couldn’t tell ya) and they had their favorite “theologian” come on to address the issue of candidate flip flopping. While clearly this issue falls directly inline with any ordained Priest’s realm of expertise, I couldn’t help but notice just how creepy Father Jonathon Morris really is.

Before I share multiple examples that back my notion up, I want to also include that today was not the first time I had the pleasure - or should I say unfortunate turn of events - of catching Father Morris on FOX. Over the past year or so I have seen this man of the cloth brought on to discuss everything from the War in Iraq to global warming. Granted it’s FOX News, and their product is laughable to begin with, I still can’t wrap my head around their fondness for this man - and as you will see for yourself the reasons why.

I have attached multiple video clips of Father Jonathon Morris’ FOX News highlights. Each one is creepier then the next, and often times it is evident that he is absolutely clueless about whatever topic (usually foreign policy based) he is rambling on about:

Exhibit A) “Pope Benedict tells Catholic pharmacists that they shouldn’t provide drugs, like Plan B, to prevent or terminate a pregnancy. Should pharmacists or doctors be allowed for their conscience to dictate what medicines should be provided or withheld? Fox News contributor Father Jonathan Morris weighs in on this heated debate. (2 Nov 07)”

Exhibit B) “Father Jonathan Morris discusses the new campaign ad by John McCain that equates Barack Obama to a savior-life figure, and the controversy behind blending too much politics and religion.”

Exhibit C) “Father Jonathan Morris on how focusing on the right things and keeping the proper perspective can make things a little easier in a tight economy.”

Exhibit D) “Father Jonathan Morris on Fox News presenting his fallacious arguments against atheism.”

So there are just a couple of the many examples of Father Morris’ “creepiness”. I want to note that I am not saying that every point he makes is wrong, or off base - he has made great points in the past, not as many as his asinine statements, but he has none the less provided useful insight from time to time.

But man is he a oddball - maybe it’s just me, I don’t know. But something about him reminds me of the guy in videos warning kids not to take candy from strangers.

Colbert Discusses McCain’s “Tire Gauge” Attacks on Obama

Yesterday we covered the humorous attacks being levied from the McCain camp regarding Obama’s statements dealing with how keeping your cars tires properly inflated as well as keeping up with regularly scheduled tune ups and how they increase fuel efficiency. Well, here is a nice little clip of Comedy Centrals Stephen Colbert discussing McCain’s pouncing on an issue that in all reality doesn’t really exist:

Is the Stress Getting to You? 5 Ways to Cut Down on Work Time Worries

Stress in the workplace has almost become a partner to the very notion of a full time job. Anyone who works is all too aware of this correlation, and unfortunately it is a nuance that often time gets the best of the individual over a period of time. Here are five proven methods to cut down on stress, as well as instructions on how to successfully carry these “stress busters” out:

1. Work Pressures: Change your schedule. When most people get in to work, they check their e-mail and voice mail. Save it for later. Spend your first hour, when you’re the sharpest, on creative and strategic thinking. While you’re at it, break down your day into specific tasks, rather than trying to juggle everything. Studies now show that a 50-minute task takes four times as long if you juggle too many tasks at once. “Are you a starter of all and finisher of none?” asks Julie Morgenstern, author of Making Work Work. If you can, pick one day a week to leave 30 minutes earlier than usual.
2. Personal Pressures: Change the habit, not the world. Destressing isn’t about eliminating all of your stresses; it’s about getting control of them, one at a time. To do that, you should make micro-adjustments in your life, not big ones that eventually add more stress, says Stan Goldberg, Ph.D., author of Ready To Learn. “What’s important is whatever [changes you make to your routine] need to be small enough so that there is a minimal amount of difference between what you’ve been doing and what you now do,” Dr. Goldberg says.
3. Self Care: Eat the anti-stress diet. When you’re in stress mode, your insides produce more chemical reactions than Marie Curie’s lab and you experience surges of the hormone cortisol and sugar levels that spike and plummet, which can leave you feeling under pressure and sluggish. Counteract those reactions with the right foods, says Elizabeth Somer, R.D., author of The Food & Mood Cookbook. For breakfast, avoid sugary cereals or breakfast bars and eat whole-grain cereal and a piece of fruit. Then pop a vitamin with at least 500 milligrams (mg) of calcium and 250 mg of magnesium.
4. Losing Personal Power: Always avoid “always”. One of the biggest booby traps in your life is over generalizing, first dates never work out, she always gets promotions before me, he always arrives at least 5 minutes late. Unconsciously, using “always” and “never” steers you away from feeling that you have any control over changing the things that stress or worry you, says Daniel Amen, M.D., author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.
5. Emotional Symptoms: Schedule your emotions. If we let it, stress can eat away at us like a squirrel with a nut. That constantly worried mentality impedes decision-making, says Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., author of Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your Life. She suggests you write down what you’re worried about, then set aside some quiet time (say 30 minutes) to figure out solutions. That way, worrying won’t disrupt your work, and you’ll be able to think through the answers.

There you have it - five proven ways you can successfully shed some of that burdensome stress from your life. If you have any other suggestions, or have tested methods other then those listed above please feel free to let us know what worked and what didn’t.

Political Black Ops to the Extreme: “Lifelong” Gun-Control Advocate Outted as NRA Spy

The AP is reporting that a gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs.

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