Sunday, April 26, 2009

Simpsons Trivia

Pop Quiz time. Below I will list the common names for several popular Simpson's characters. Try to remember what their actual names are? (Highlight for the answers)

1) Sea Captain Horatio McCallister
2) Krusty the Clown Herschel Krustofski
3) Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk Terwilliger
4) Sideshow Mel Melvin Van Horne
5) Comic Book Guy Jeff Albertson

Friday, April 24, 2009

Pakistani Pancakes

How about a joke... what the difference between Pakistan and a pancake? I don't know of any pancakes that got nuked by India. What? Too soon?

-Krusty

A few months ago, the new government of Pakistan decided that it couldn't defeat the Taliban elements in the tribal regions. So they signed a treaty giving them autonomous control over the Swat Valley. Apparently, this put blood in the water and the Taliban commander has mobilized his troops and nearly taken full control over an adjoining region (Buner) and are moving into the district of Haripur. Most distressing about all this, is that the neighboring region of Haripur (Attock) contains two nuclear plants that churn out the material needed to maintain Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. This region also gives the Taliban strategic positioning should they decide they want to go for the throat and take the capital, Islamabad, which is only 60 miles away.

There are scenarios that have been planned out where we might go in and try to either seize or destroy the nuclear reactors, but there is essentially nothing that we can do if the Taliban try to take the capital. What this does is put a huge onus on India. Obviously India will not stand for a militant Islamic government in control of Pakistan. The question is, would they invade with massive ground forces, or would they send in nuclear armed bombers to irradiate the Taliban controlled regions. We don't know and given the bitterness of the feud between Hindi and Muslims on the subcontinent, I would not be shocked by India going nuclear somewhat early in the fighting, especially if they think they can neutralize Pakistan's nuclear arsenal with a first strike.

I don't think Lord Marbury or Gerald will be able to solve this one anytime soon.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

New Arks

A bit of a strange phenomenon has been cropping up around the world. Two separate replicas of Noah's ark have been built around the world. The first is by a Dutch man, Johan Huibers, who built it to the exact proportions as specified in the Bible, only 1/2 the size:



What's more, the Dutch ark actually floats. Mr. Huibers has publicly stated that he hopes to have it fully seaworthy in time to sail it to London for the 2012 Olympics.

In a similar vein, a group of brothers in Hong Kong have just finished a full scale ark (300 cubits x 50 cubits x 30 cubits). It wasn't built to float but instead will have a restaurant and children's museum. This is a picture of it still under construction:




I don't have any other pictures but I have heard stories that other people have built replicas of the ark in other places. I find it fascinating that there is such an effort from around the world to prove that Noah's ark could be built and add one more notch in the argument that the Biblical flood did actually happen.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Three Men on a Dead Man's Chest

Major Kudos to the Navy Seals for taking out the Somali pirates yesterday. They should have been prepared when the captain jumped into the water the first time, but at least we got the correct result in the end.

Now we just have to deal with the remaining pirate who was arrested. He should thank his lucky stars that he was captured today and not a couple of hundred years ago. Today he'll be taken someplace and put in prison. If he was lucky a couple of hundred years ago, he simply would have been hung. If he was unlucky, he would have either been keelhauled or had one of his arteries cut and thrown overboard to see how fast it took for the sharks to get him.

Hopefully next time this happens, the pirates will be dealt with quickly and they will learn to be much more afraid of a vessel flying the stars and stripes.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Checking the Numbers

At the beginning of the tournament, I noted what the Mike & Mike backroom boys had cooked up regarding only North Carolina and Louisville satisfying all historic criteria of past winners. Now North Carolina has won the title by stomping Michigan St., validating these numbers once again. When the tourney comes around next year, I'm hoping they repeat this segment so I can figure out what teams to put on the short list.

Incidently, although I didn't enter a pool, I did fill out a bracket and did have North Carolina winning it all. I had them playing Louisville so I lost on that end, but I still think I might have won a little money if I had entered a pool. Such is life.

Hand of God

To go with God's eye, here is a picture of God's hand:

(note the wrist)