Saturday, May 07, 2011

Kentucky Derby 2011: Drug Use Questions?

Today's the day for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, and for this year, 2011. And while this blogger's still sticking with his picks, which will be reiterated below, the Christian Science Monitor has a provocative online article about "drug use questions."

According to Mark Gaurino of the Christian Science Monitor, a diuretic drug called Lasix is injected into horses just hours before the start of a race, and is used 95 percent of the time. That means it's a good chance Lasix is used before the Kentucky Derby 2011.

Gaurino writes that the drug...

..is meant to mitigate a condition that causes a horse to bleed internally while under extreme physical pressure. But the drug also causes a horse to urinate profusely, lightening its weight by up to 27 pounds and making the animal more nimble in a race. Hence, critics say, Lasix is being used to enhance performance - and to get around rules against using performance - enhancing drugs.

He reports that the drug is banned "everywhere" except the United States and Canada. The lengthy post is worth a read, if you're not at a Kentucky Derby 2011 party or headed to one, that is.

For those of you headed to one, here's my pick, again. I'd play an exacta of Dialed-In, Archarcharch, and Comma To The Top. Here's my video explaining why:



Good luck! Oh, more at the Christian Science Monitor!

No Virgins: Osama bin Laden's Song from The Grave (Osama bin Laden Dead ...



A YouTuber with the channel name of SpencerKindaFunny created this hilarious song about Osama Bin Laden created to the tune of Madonna's "Like A Virgin." He creates the scene of an Osama Bin Laden totally surprised to learn that the break-in to his giant compound isn't really a surprise party that consists of virgins.

That's a reference to reports that Bin Laden was caught in bed with a wife described on several news accounts as "much younger" than he. Indeed, Amal Sadah, the woman who has been questioned in the wake of the raid that occurred last weekend was 29, but married Osama Bin Laden one year before 9-11, when he was 43 and she was just 18.

CNN reported that during the five years they stayed at the compound, she never left once.

Bin Laden has had five wives.

Unemployment Slogans WANTED! “Tell It Like It Is”

Unemployment Slogans WANTED by U-Cubed in their latest ‘Tell It Like It Is’ campaign!


Got something to say about being jobless? How about our leaders’ apparent lack of interest in the plight of the jobless and creating JOBS now? Say it (in seven syllables or less).

“New unemployment numbers show our nation’s leaders still don’t get it,” said UCubed Executive Director Rick Sloan. “There are more than 28 million people without work. It is up to the jobless to tell it like it is.”

The grassroots organization for the unemployed and underemployed (U-Cubed) is designing a bumper sticker to remind folks that America needs JOBS Now. The website, via an ongoing Facebook ad campaign, is asking the jobless masses to help.

So unleash your creativity and submit your idea for a new UCubed bumper sticker in the comments section using this link. The winning slogan will be produced and distributed to all U-Cubed members for free.

Remember, your slogan has to fit on a bumper sticker. So, keep it short!

Show your support by clicking “Like” on UCubed’s page on Facebook!

UCubed is a community service project of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) designed to assist the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, and to provide them with a structure that allows them to take advantage of their growing numbers. For more information, visit Ur Union of Unemployed.

Paladinette has submitted several of my own and you can see those and all other submissions at this link.

[If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]




Friday, May 06, 2011

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead, As Obama Visits 9-11 Victims, Al Qaeda Wants Revenge


While the search for content with the words "Osama Bin Laden Is Dead" continues online, President Barack Obama, who brilliantly called for the deployment of U.S. Navy Seal Teams, including the infamous Team 6, to go and get Bin Laden, visited New York City for a dramatic yet subdued meeting with many of the family members of the victims of 9-11, and included former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a true hero on that day almost 10 years ago, in the process.

And while the debate rages in the comment section of this blogger's YouTube video..



The terrorist organization that had Bin Laden as it's head, Al Qaeda, vows revenge.

The website Dawn.com reports:

In a statement online, it said the blood of bin Laden, shot to death by a US commando team in a raid on Monday on his hide-out in a Pakistani town, “is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain.”

“It will remain, with permission from Allah the Almighty, a curse that hunts the Americans and their collaborators and chases them inside and outside their country.”

Al Qaeda urged Pakistanis to rise up against their government to "cleanse" the country of what it called the shame brought on it by bin Laden's shooting and of the "filth of the Americans who spread corruption in it."

But it looks like the U.S. is not done with Al Qaeda, as an American drone hit two "al-Qaeda operatives" in Yemen Friday, according to The Washington Post.

And only the President, his national security team, and the CIA know what was in the computers seized from Bin Laden's home in Pakistan during the weekend.

America must now have more valuable information, people, contacts, and plans, than even before.

Stay tuned.

Green Bay Packers Legend Jim Taylor and Marcell Dareus, Julio Jones At 2011 NFL Draft



While the 2011 NFL Draft was an event to feature the National Football League's newest stars, one legend stood out from the rest: Green Bay Packers Running Back Jim Taylor. This blogger had the pleasure of meeting Taylor after talking with Marcell Dareus and Julio Jones, who were drafted by The Buffalo Bills and the Atlanta Falcons, respectively.

And on that note, before we turn to Mr. Taylor, Marcell Dareus shared that he had a great time in New York, going to the parties and events, and sporting a watch that must have cost $10,000, and he said was made "by a friend." Dareus then offered that he called his family and friends in Alabama to check on them in the wake of the most horrible set of tornados and storms in recent memory, killing over 300 people throughout the South.

Dareus teammate Julio Jones also checked with his family, and regarding the question of how the University of Alabama prepared him for the NFL, Jones remarked "Coach (Nick) Saban - all the preparation and training. Fans as well."

And then came Mr. Taylor. Jim Taylor's the stuff of which NFL legend has been built. Taylor, from a time when money was far less than it is in today's NFL, said that the issue of the NFL Lockout, was "too complex" to easily sort out.

Taylor's concern goes to the many retired NFL players, some suffering the results of their hard playing days, dealing (in some cases) with brain damage and deteriorated bones and ligaments. But folks like Taylor, Dick Butkus, and Phil Villapiano of the Oakland Raiders are the ones that show up on the highlight films shown on the NFL Network and ESPN today, not to mention online football games. Yet, the argument is they don't get their fair share of the NFL pie - and they don't.

Jim Taylor's 1958 to 1966 Green Bay Packers career saw five NFL Championships, and legendary victories like the first two Super Bowl games I and II against the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. What does he remember most about Packers Head Coach Vince Lombardi? "His great leadership. He could be overbearing, but it wasn't about me, it was about the team."

If you've got 30 minutes, here's the first half of Super Bowl 1:



Jim Taylor also gave my favorite head coach next to Bill Walsh, the Dallas Cowboys Tom Landry, fits during the Packers glory years. In fact, the Packers Sweep basically gave birth to Landry's concept of a "zone defense" against the run, and a family of defensive schemes called The Flex Defense. A system that gave rise to the great Bob Lilly:



Jim Taylor, a legend and a gentleman.

Pro Football NYC Merges With Football Reporters Online

Pro Football NYC Merges With Football Reporters Online

For General Release

Brooklyn, NY May 5, 2011

Pro Football NYC, the website created to preface the groundswell of excitement leading up to the 2014 Super Bowl in New York, has been annexed by Football Reporters Online, the long-standing, hard-hitting behind-the scene entity run by Dr Bill Chachkes.

John Fennelly, the founder of PFNYC, said in a statement today that the site would immediately fall under the FRO badge and diligently continue to cover the New York Football Scene.

In addition, Mr. Fennelly said he will no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations of the site, which was founded in March of 2010 and quickly became the fastest-growing NY-based sports site on the net.

Dr. Chachkes will assume the role as CEO and Managing Editor. The FRO staff and their affiliates will begin to migrate the site in next few weeks.

"I have full confidence in Bill and his team, that they will see this site to its fruition," said Fennelly. "He has been covering football for nearly four decades and no one knows the terrain better than he does."

“The Focus of PFNYC will not change, but will be enhanced by the combining of the two staffs into one,” said Dr. Chachkes “ “Even though John will no longer be a day to day contributor, he will continue to be a trusted advisor, and our staff will continue to support and submit written content to John’s “Giants Football Blog” at SNY.tv, and John will continue to broadcast with us on Tuesday evenings when he is able. We will continue to bring Football fans in NYC and across North America the story, and go deeper behind the story.”

Kentucky Derby 2011 In 2 Days - Bet On Dialed In



The 137th running of The Kentucky Derby, or Kentucky Derby 2011 , is in less than two days, and excitement builds for the best two-minutes in sports. The video was done when it was three days out, but the idea of visiting the cool Kentucky Derby 2011 website is still a great one.

What I enjoy about the online destination is that it's got everything right before your eyes: the field, odds, news, and even the ability to download a mobile app for your smartphone.

But the real interest is in, let's face it, picking the winner of the Kentucky Derby. And why not do it if you're not really into winning.

Go all out.

For me, playing an exacta is the best route. That's picking horses win-place-and-show, in the order you think they're going to come in. If it happens, and the odds were against one or more of those horses performing well, you would win big.

In this case, I'm more interested in picking an exacta combination that I think will come in, so I'm going with Dialed-In, Archarcharch, and Comma To The Top.

Let's see how I do on Saturday!