World Cup: USA v. England
— Gabriel Malor

The U.S. team's first match starts at 11:30am Pacific and you can see it on ABC. It has been sixty years since the U.S. and England last met in a World Cup, when the U.S. team beat England 1-0, and there's been a lot of hype about this matchup.

England has a reputation that it frequently can't live up to. They've got some of the best players in the world, but the sometimes don't play well together. On the other hand, the U.S. is, in the soccer world, a young upstart still in need of schooling. Expect the commentators to bring Churchill quotes 'til your ears bleed. ("Two countries separated by a common language...oy.")

Either way this match goes, there's a very good chance of advancing out of the group stage, as England is the only major competition. Algeria and Slovenia are the other teams in Group C. However, (protip) never bet on a soccer game. Anyfreakingthing can happen when the typical game is decided by only one goal.

U.S. guys to keep an eye on are midfielder Landon Donovan (probably the most well-known U.S. player), defender Oguchi Onyewu, and team captain Carlos Bocanegra.

On the other squad, keep your eyes peeled for world-class striker Wayne Rooney (whose play today will probably make-or-break the UK game), midfielder Steven Gerrard, and midfielder Frank Lampard.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:58 AM | Comments (775)
Post contains 233 words, total size 2 kb.

Financial Briefing: Weekly Wrap-Up
— Monty

The equities markets ended the week up signficantly from their lows of mid-week. The Dow closed on Friday at 10,211.07 and the S&P 500 at 1,091.60. Volatility is still very high, which is frightening away many individual investors.

More after the jump. more...

Posted by: Monty at 05:20 AM | Comments (182)
Post contains 768 words, total size 6 kb.

A Manly Pastime
— Monty

Lumberjacking? Wrestling bears? Hot-dog eating contests? No, friends, I speak of video games. Why are men so much more drawn to video games than women are?

This little essay will contain no links -- you can find plenty of commentary on the internet, but not much actual scholarship on the subject. What follows is pure opinion: observation, anecdote, and supposition. This is an "asking" kind of essay, not a "telling" or "teaching" essay. I'd be interested in knowing what the Morons and Moronettes have to say on the matter.

More after the jump. more...

Posted by: Monty at 04:15 AM | Comments (208)
Post contains 888 words, total size 5 kb.

Overnight Open Thread
— Maetenloch

Videos of People Hearing For The First Time

Here Nickki Buck hears for the first time in 10 years. She went deaf when she was 18 and finally got a cochlear implant (CI) a decade later. Unlike hearing aids which merely amplify sounds, CIs actually stimulate the nerves directly and so can restore hearing for even the profoundly deaf. For congenitally deaf children the earlier the CI surgery the better their success at having normal speech and being able to function in the hearing world.

But despite its benefits CI is very controversial in the deaf community with many of them seeing it as an attack on their culture or even 'cultural genocide'. In fact the National Association of the Deaf says its stance on cochlear implants is based on its belief that “many within the medical profession continue to view deafness essentially as a disability and an abnormality and believe that deaf and hard of hearing individuals need to be “fixed” by cochlear implants.”

Not to put too fine a point on it but the NAD is full of crap.

Being able to hear is a useful advantage for not being hit by cars and being able to talk to other people. So not being able to hear is a disability no matter how much they wish it wasn't. And in fact deafness is one of the worst handicaps when it comes to getting along in society.

One of our family friends slowly went deaf but he was in denial about it and kept claiming that everyone just mumbled to him. It was sad to see him become more and more socially isolated in spite of his extroverted nature because he couldn't really follow conversations or understand what his grandkids were saying. When he finally did get hearing aids, all of a sudden he was back to his old self and the life of the party again. And he was a successful man in his 60s. Now imagine the impact of not being able to hear has on a kid just learning how to interact with other humans. more...

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:02 PM | Comments (838)
Post contains 820 words, total size 7 kb.

Friday Night "Old But Awesome" Awesomeness
— Dave in Texas

It's from several years ago, but it's new to me.

Very cool.

Except for me goobering up the post. This is why they don't let me handle rifles with bayonets.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:01 PM | Comments (35)
Post contains 42 words, total size 1 kb.

Lost Teen Sailor Alive; Rescue Ships En Route
— Ace

Hopefully she can hold out a little bit longer:

A 16-year-old sailor on a round-the-world journey alone was drifting in the frigid southern Indian Ocean on Friday as rescue boats headed toward her yacht, damaged by 30-foot waves that knocked out her communications and prompted her to set off a distress signal.

After a tense 20 hours of silence, a search plane launched from Australia's west coast made radio contact with Abby Sunderland on Friday.

She has food and a space heater so there doesn't appear to be an immediate danger.

You know what is really missing in modern society? I wouldn't say virtue per se. (I'd say virtue is fairly constant, or, let put it this way: Wickedness is fairly constant.)

People don't have enough guts and moxie. That's what's different now. Some have it, but not as many who used to.

We have a Moxie Deficit.

(And no, I sure don't have it. I look at this sort of stuff and it's as alien to my experience as superpowers.)

Quote from the Father:

"Sailing and life in general is dangerous. Teenagers drive cars. Does that mean teenagers shouldn't drive a car?" Laurence Sunderland told the AP. "I think people who hold that opinion have lost their zeal for life. They're living in a cotton-wool tunnel to make everything safe."

Tough question. I'm sure most parents wouldn't make this decision. But... I don't know, maybe he's raised a dangerous daughter, but also an interesting one.

Thanks to Buzzsaw for that quote.

Posted by: Ace at 01:44 PM | Comments (653)
Post contains 268 words, total size 2 kb.

NAACP Branded As "Racist" For Promoting Idea That Black People Are Stupid
— Ace

A audiocard in which a cartoon rabbit speaks of the solar system and "black holes" is deemed racist, because a bunch of ignorant, uneducated subcretins have never heard of "black holes," and therefore insist on hearing it as "black whores," even when they're shown the script.

You know what? If you're going to be stupid, uneducated, and ignorant -- and willfully, even proudly so -- you can't really blame other people for noticing.

I don't think this is comedy. I think it's pathetic and sad.

Stupidity and ignorance need to be called out as such, even when presented by a black face.

I realize the media is supposed to be "objective." And when it comes to this sort of knuckledragging ignorance, they can manage it (because doing so favors one of their pet demographics).

But no, I'm sorry, not every opinion is equal to every other.

Congratulations, NAACP. You make Amos and Andy look like rocket engineers by comparison.

Posted by: Ace at 12:22 PM | Comments (378)
Post contains 183 words, total size 1 kb.

White House Denies Kristol Claim That WH Will Support UN Investigation of Israel
— Ace

Pictured: Tommy Vietor, White House spokesman,
coordinating with counterparts from the G-8,
rolling a "social" in "Mexican"

Kind of the standard non-denial denial, where you just claim the "story is false" without saying in precisely what way it's false.

The White House has suggested in the past that it supported international participation in an Israeli investigation, but a shift to the kind of international inquiry supported by many of Israel's critics would be a dramatic one, and a White House official brushed off Kristol's flotation.

Thanks to polynikes and DrewM. DrewM suggested the joke of bringing Tommy Vietor into it.

Note: Drew says the Politico story actually did name Tommy Vietor as making this statement before changing it to "an official."

Confidence: Israel must be reassured -- after all, they have a half-hearted denial by a shirtless beer pong enthusiast who won't even back up his denial with his name -- apparently he called Ben Smith to say, "Hey, I didn't say you could quote me by name."

Gold standard, baby. Take that shit to the bank.

Krauthammer on Iran. The administration will stop claiming -- crowing -- that Iran has been isolated.

He responds: 1, "isolation" is meaningless without proof that isolation is leading to foreign policy goals (such as thwarting Iran's headlong drive for a nuke), and 2, it's not even true, not even slightly -- Achmadinejad continues his sold-out World Tour, gladhanding with foreign leaders around the world.

Right now he's in China. Does China count? I know it's a small, insignificant country and all, but some would say it ought to count if we're judging Iran's "isolation."

Thanks to DanF. for that.

Posted by: Ace at 11:39 AM | Comments (86)
Post contains 302 words, total size 2 kb.

Whores Say The Funniest Things
— Ace

Before you watch the clip, recall the standard sitcom joke you've heard a thousand times, which basically consists of a character swearing up and down to be innocent of some allegation, only to follow it up with a parenthetical admission that confirms the charge.

The old:

"I did not take the cookies from the cookie jar. Now, did I look at the cookie jar? Sure. Did I think about taking the cookies? Of course. Did I actually take the cookies from the cookie jar? Again: yes. But I did not take the cookies from the cookie jar."

It's a hack joke, but, as they say, it's a classic for a reason.

The whore proves her chops as a comedian beginning at 1:20.

Ed Morrissey discusses this seriously, which I guess proves he's a lot more disciplined than I am.

Oh, here's my take:

You know how bad it looks when a wife stands by a cheating husband at a press conference?

It looks worse when the genders are reversed. A lot worse. To the point where I pretty much want to give her a pass for adultery -- with this schmuck as her husband, who can blame her?

Oh, I just caught this: Watch the husband's head turn, and his grim expression, as she admits that maybe there was some slight genital-exposure. But just a smidge.

Hooo Boy: The Chicken just said "Free at last, free at last, Thank God A'Mighty, I'm Free at last."

According to court papers obtained by WHAM 13, Corona told police at the time of her arrest, "I know what I did was inappropriate and I apologize, but you'd understand if you knew what my life was like."

She told officers her husband is "transgender," and that the two "never had sex."

Posted by: Ace at 10:52 AM | Comments (239)
Post contains 307 words, total size 3 kb.

Hey, Thanks for the Assassination Wish, Dude!
— Ace

I have told people this, and warned them, so I do not have any guilt about carrying the threat out.

I have told people, in no uncertain terms, that if a death threat is made on this site, I have no compunctions whatsoever about handing over your IP and email to the Secret Service.

Not only have I no compunctions about doing so -- I actually think it's the right thing to do.

I am doing so, "Louis A. Sanders."

I refuse to be part of your lunatic drama and violent fantasies.

You could have simply called the White House with your own phone to announce you needed some Secret Service attention; instead, you insisted on involving me.

So, when you get the knock on the door, you will know I sent them, with no regret whatsoever.

You bought the ticket, enjoy the ride.

I hope that this policy is now adequately clear, after the twentieth iteration of it.

I Am Not Your Friend: People who talk this way think they're doing so "among friends."

Let me assure you, on this score, you are not among friends, but in fact among a government informant.

I have no sympathy for people too stupid and too deranged to commit their crimes in private.

And I don't need to be dragooned into some maniac's wet dreams.

Posted by: Ace at 10:21 AM | Comments (277)
Post contains 237 words, total size 1 kb.