Gone Fishin'

Sincere apologies to our loyal readers. We will be back in business beginning next Tuesday, September 5. With the editor-in-chief of The Pent overseas and the staff away from an internet connection for all but a few moments until next week, we regretfully must hold off our regular daily dose of news for the time being. Take care and have a great Labor Day weekend!

I am. . . I mean, "Democracy" is under attack

"Democracy is under attack" according to Al Gore. Is he worried about Iran, Korea, or other global conflict? No, he's talking about the media. Probably a bit upset since they exposed his "excessive consumption" that he speaks out against so often.

Running a small business and looking for a free Email/IM/Webpage solution? Here are five reasons to consider the new Google Office. For a more in-depth analysis, see Information Week's look at the new software bundle , or go straight to the source to sign up now!

Twisted doesn't begin to describe John Mark Karr, who's DNA did NOT match traces found at the original crime scene.

Office Depot has the "EASY" button, what if cancer cells had a "self destruct" button? Looks like it might not be as far away as you think

Got a great domain name? You might want to lock in a cheap, long-term renewal asap if ICANN gets their way.

Video of the day - a nice rendition of "While my guitar gently weeps" on a ukulele - enjoy

Nasrallah says he's sorry about kidnapping those two Israeli soldiers and setting this war into motion. Says if he had know his country would have been obliterated, he would have thought twice. Thanks for the 20-20 hindsight. . . .

Tiger is as Tiger does - WIN

Finally, we all know that John Madden tries to masterfully state the obvious, but here's great breakdown on why so many of football announcers cliches are BOGUS

You can't use THOSE bombs!!

US is investigating the use of "cluster bombs" by Israel on Lebanon. Why, the US sold them to Israel, why can't they use them!?! Because there were secret agreements as to when & where the bombs could be employed. So, we sell these nasty civilian killing bombs to others, but it's okay because we don't really intend to let the purchaser use them. Twisted.

While I too believe that the East is the wave of the future, and expect China to lead the charge, this shows that they still have a long way to come, and there are some bad & sad things still going on within the Great Wall.

Rarely does a sports story catch my eye like this one, but this one is too good to keep out of the spotlight. It aptly chronicles the 10 most intimidating teams. . . ever. Yep, you guessed it, the Pistons with Laimbeer, The Raiders, Steelers, but then a lot of teams that don't get as much publicity. Even a shout out in their for rugby & cricket. The best quote from the article is references the Dodger pitching "Don Drysdale would consider an intentional walk a waste of three pitches. If he wants to put you on base, he can hit you with one pitch"

New Orleans Mayor Nagin makes a good point about the difficulties in rebuilding a city, by referencing New York & the rebuilding of the trade towers. An excellent illustration to make his point, but this headline calls it taking a "swipe" at NY. Poor reporting, CBS, don't make an issue out of nothing.

Milwaukee is America's drunkest city, makes sense, this coming from the city "built on beer"

Doomsday economics, one way to get published. According to Roubini, whoever that is, the housing slow-down is really the end of the world. Everything's going down and the housing is leading the charge. A bit extreme, no?

A grape stomp gone bad. The classic line comes from the hosts in the studio, I think she's really hurt. Elementary my dear television host, what led you to that conclusion? Possible her moaning "Oww, oww, oww, oh stop, I can't breathe, owww". . .

Survivor, that TV show, make a move towards segregation, marketing built on the "no publicity is bad publicity" Time for Survivor to quit surviving.

Crazy video of a helicopter crash. They fly around & you think the pilot may have regained control, then they hit a building & fall to the ground, landing upside down. All passengers & pilot walked away.

Do you flush or swash? Yep, it's coming - digital toilets

First, bathrooms were invaded by annoying cell phones & blackberries, but this is a digital bathroom invasion I could really enjoy. Wash, dry, heat, now this is technology making our lives better

What not to do in prison - hilarious video

I'll admit I'm a bargain shopper, but even Michael Jackson can't afford this one - YouTube

Now, for something inspiring, this is a great video story about a dad trying to give his disabled kid a normal life. If you don't watch anything else today, this is worth 4 min or your time. Amazing dad

Nice to hear some good news about Boy Scouts - saving an 18-month old girl from drowning. Great work boys.

I'm all for ways to improve my listening experience with Itunes, and even making my Thunderbird a little cooler.

Finally, in a video-centric edition, you can always get a good laugh from Jim Carrey, here impersonating none other than Vanilla Ice Ice Baby

Pluto no longer a planet!?!

That's right folks, they've decided that the cold ball circling the sun is going to be demoted. No longer a planet, now it's going to be called a "dwarf planet". Of course the article failed to address the real question - who really cares?

So, you're sitting down to dinner, ready for some quiet family time, when the phone rings and it's none other than the pesky telemarketer. The timing is amazing, and regardless of how many times you answer the phone to these people, it's ALWAYS a struggle to get off without feeling like you've just been in some sort of a nasty altercation. Well, here's a site that's devoted to helping you take control of these calls (& your dinnertime)

What's with these people defying terminal velocity. This time, a guy falls down a mountain from 800 ft up, and he's going to be just fine. At least this one broke a few bones to make the story a bit more believable

In case you're like this clown and didn't KNOW, showing up to court for a DUI while drunk, isn't a good idea.

A quick fascinating video that takes you inside a hezbollah bunker

I don't even know if this is news anymore, yet another track star busted for steriods - a world record holder, no less

California to raise the minimum wage to the highest in the US, does that mean they start paying "illegal immigrants" the minimum wage too, or do they get to keep working for 2 bucks an hour.

All Tom Cruise's craziness is finally coming back to bite him, but of course, it was his decision to part with Paramount. Sure it was, Tom. Naturally, it was your decision to leave after they refused to renew the deal.

Parachute didn't open - walked away with a bloody lip!

Man jumps from a plane at 1000m, first time ever, parachute doesn't open. Hits the ground with a thud, walks away! He was the third to jump in his group, but the first to land (obviously). "I beat them (his brother-in-law and colleague)," he laughed. This guy is tough as nails.

AOL's fall girl for the search query blunder. At least they didn't fire a phone rep this time. . .

University of Texas, knows how to party, & "For the ninth straight year, Brigham Young University, a Mormon school, was voted the most "stone cold sober" school."

If you're allergic to bees, stay out of Alabama, these nests are HUGE

Sweet video mash-up with Google Maps. If you don't know what a mashup is, check this out

Blogging for big bucks, does this site have what it takes!?!?!

Maybe this war on terror is a good thing. These people really did seem to be on the verge of some nasty stuff.

The Right to be Dumb

A somewhat pro-democrat rant, but a decent read on a slow day.

And so begins the inevitable debate, will Hillary run or not. Everyone with their claim on her chances to take the house or not. Although it comes from CNN, I'll say it's actually an unbiased article.

Now for some fun, this guy is trying to show his stuff by "drifting" his car for the crowd. He's so confident in his skills, that he gets out of the car and plays to the crowd while the car is still drifting, but then, the car does something this "pro" couldn't foresee. . .

Now for all the conspiry theorists out there, this one is a decent compilation about what really happened to United Flight 93.

And now for a quick shout out to Tiger's 12th major. He's amazing, and my favorite line from the story is Chris DeMarco's bold statement blatantly calling out the obvious in regards to Tiger "I have no problem admitting he's a better player than me." Chris, was that before, or after he won his 12th major compared to your ?????????

& finally, Kerry calling Lieberman names as Kerry strives to stay relevent, and keep the Independant Lieberman from making the Democrats look foolish and lose another seat in the senate. Good move Kerry, this helps your cause. Speaking of out of touch. . .

Do you Google, or do you Search!?!

AOL's famous release of all the search data has proved something loud and clear. Either people think you can only do a web search on Google, or they don't realize that Yahoo, MSN, & others also have search engines that work just fine. Even AOL has a decent search engine (because it's run by Google). But the fact of the matter, for all the search terms people use, top 10 week in & week out is Google. People are using a search engine to find a search engine. Is Google really that much better, or do people just think that to search the internet for something, they have to "Google" it? I'm betting it's the latter

Here's few dozen reasons why I'll never work for Microsoft. Oh yeah, AND because I don't want to.

If you want to know why that flight got diverted from London to DC, and ended up in Boston, here's the scoop. Crazy lady.

Real rich, Senator Hatch. In his last soundbite, the senator puts the democrats & the terrorists on the same side. A bit much even for Senator Hatch, although he doesn't "recall" making the statement. Of course not, that's what you say when you make a mistake & it comes back to bite you.

Video of the day is appalling, it's a bunch of cops shooting rubber bullets at harmless protesters. Looks like they're just taking target practice at helpless civilians, then they cheer about like they just scored a touchdown. Some people get pretty jacked too, they were shooting at their heads!!! I thought it was something like "protectors of the peace" not "8th grade bullies"

Okay, and if you're just looking for something fun

That's gratitude for ya!

A number of airlines, Ryan Air included, are all set to sue the government for keeping them safe. Literally, their complaint is that the extra security measures were bad for business. I'm going to take a shot in the dark here, and assume that numerous planes going down over the Atlantic Ocean & hundreds of lives lost would have been bad for business. Incredible. You can always sue for something. . .

If oil prices are dropping, how come the price at the pump isn't moving? Oil companies looking for another quarter of record profits?

Is Google really frustrated about becoming a household name, or a verb replacing "search"? I guess so

Lieberman is taking it to his former party after losing in the primaries, he became an independent and is rocking the polls. Love it. No need to clean out the office yet, Joe.

Here's a man of the people, an NBA star endorsing a $15 shoe. I had never been a huge fan of Marbury, but this is classy.

Hurricane insurance - doesn't even cover hurricanes!?!

Insurance companies looking to do what they do best, avoid claims, & raise rates. This is insanity - from the story "Nationwide and other insurers say their homeowners policies cover damage from a hurricane’s wind, but not in cases where it resulted from a combination of wind and water." Real rich, now we have to spell out every possible destruction that a hurricane can cause? It's hurricane insurance, you're the insurance company that sold it, so pay up.

For all you Google talkers, it's only onward and upward from here. Remember you were there at the beginning, the few, the proud. Happy Birthday Gtalk

Finally, someone who knows the in's & out's of internet security - here's the solution to any & all internet security problems we could encounter - thank-you Mr. Colbert

NASA back to the sound stage. . . .

NASA is unable to locate the original tape from the moon landing, you know the line, "One small step for man, one giant leap" heard 'round the world. Well, the tapes are nowhere to be found, so what's NASA to do? Some might say just do what was done the first time, go back to Hollywood ;-)

Bargain shoppers, here's another one for you - Google Maps offering printable coupons. Still, they might want to focus on giving more accurate directions since it is a MAPPING service. But I'll admit I'm a fan, and coupons are just another enticement to use Google Maps, even though Mapquest is still more accurate.

And they think our generation is messed up, just see what this 66-year old did to a victim of a car crash!!!!!

Landis's former cycling team Phonak is shutting down due to the doping accounts by several members of their team. My favorite part is the Manager John Lelangue's comment "It's all individual cases. There were old guys, young guys, experienced guys, with and without results," he said. "There was no one common profile. It's a very unfortunate coincidence." Here's the coincidence for you, they were all a part of Phonak - time to look in mirror, John.

What we don't know about the Chinese scares us.

Ready for Google to take your blog to the next level (I know this blog is). It's in beta and on its way. Now you can have a much smoother looking blog - like your friends who pay for theirs, only once again, with Google, it's FREE

The former first lady joins the club and blames the Bush adminstration for poor homefront security - following the UK's thwarting of a major terrorist attack. Wait, didn't the UK mirror a lot of what's been done in the US (i.e. homeland security)? But if Hillary's going to criticize, maybe she has some better ideas, or maybe not. In this article anyway, it's just another person on the anti-Bush bandwagon - except when she's not. Politics - you figure it out.

JK Rowling earns $230 a minute. Gives new meaning to taking a half hour of someone's time! If only I could write a convincing letter to get one of these big wigs to give me their income for 1 day. Just 1 day!

Republican, Democrat or Pirate?

No, this isn't another marketing plug for that Disney movie, it's the Swedish Pirate Party. That's right, consider this your introduction to the darknet. The dark side of the internet. Where you can do whatever you want and no once can trace you, i.e. send out SPAM, download illegal games, music, movie - sky's the limit. But wait, this "great" feature was done in the name of guarding our democratic society. Sure it was. . . .

Firefox for prom queen. Now I'm a big fan of Firefox, but you've got to feel for the girls losing votes to a browser. I'll keep browsing with the fox, but don't have much interest in seeing some developer ride in the royalty car waving to the crowd. Let's just keep it your basic HS popularity contest and go on. I'm so backward, I know.

Our favorite horse (this year) is back on the mend, although still out of the woods. Barbaro! You have to admit, it's a bit funny hearing the doctors describe his moods. Are we working with Mr Ed here?

One side says Hezbollah won, the other claims they suffered a sound defeat. Sounds like each side is marking victory based on a different set of guidelines. My only comment is that I've seen some horrific images from this war, and it's a travesty what collateral damage occurs because of a few individuals.

ESPN must have had a slow night in sports, so they pulled this one out of the archives. Need any more reasons to help your kids find people to emulate outside of the sporting world!?!

Why Calcanis Matters (or really really needs attention)

In this story, the only logical explanation I can find for a the schmoozing Calcanis gets is because he's got an ugly mean looking dog on his lap. That's enough to make me say nice things about anyone. But lets be honest, I know a handful of people who have interacted with Calcanis, and EVERY single one came away with the same opinion - rude, conceited, arrogant. . . . But hey, I've never met him, here's your chance form your own opinion from his own blog.

Apparently this "little, no big deal" surgery on Fidel Castro wasn't so easy. No one's seen him since the operation, and for someone that enjoys demonstrating his power & control, this seems very out of character. Curious to see what the outcome will bring for Communism & Cuba, but for now, even Chavez is worried about his ally

Someone clearly has way too much time on their hands (meaning even more than me), but I must admit, I'll pay much closer attention the next time I watch Top Gun, to see if I can catch all the gaffes. But that said, things like this don't ruin movies for me. I don't watch them as a critic, I go more for the mindless entertainment.

"Mommy, I want a horsey"
"Mommy, I want a dog"
"Mommy, I want a cat"
"Mommy, I want a cow" It could be closer than you think, with this potential craze (but honestly, how big could this get)

I have no idea what this debate is about, but mr ponytail can't debate worth a lick and resorts to calling his opponent fat, over & over again. The fat guy finally gets fed up with it and leaves the stage. The ponytail thinks he's won, but wait. . . .

AL GORE can talk the talk, then the rest is just too hard

Wow, this one is a classic. Al Gore gets all sorts of his publicity for his doomsday movie that we've all heard about, but who's actually seen it. . . . Well, I found it and watched it and he takes a few inches of the ocean rising or dropping, and sees the end of the world. Of course, then AL goes back to his everyday life, bullish on his huge oil holdings, decides which enormous house to stay in for the weekend, and doesn't even pay the extra couple bucks to use eco-friendly electric energy. I don't either, but then again, I didn't call out everyone else to radically change their lifestyles while living the Al Gore high life. Glad to see someone took the time to look behind the curtain and see some true colors. The Real Al Gore

Nice to see that AOL has changed, they've gone from a company to a verb. They finally decided to open their doors and become a "free AOL". Although, we've all heard that one before. Interesting to see how the next few months play out. Can AOL become a threat to the likes of Yahoo! & Google? Time will tell, but thanks to a huge release of search results, their blunder, at least for the time being, has turned them into a verb.


This one is a riot - a kid is auctioning off 2% of his lifetime earnings for a minimum of $100,000 on eBay. He's asking someone to invest huge money so he won't have to go into debt for college. But then he'll write that individual a check every January for 2% of his W2. But don't worry, he's planning on making millions and millions of dollars, so this is a "great investment". I see a number of huge caveats, but I'll just point out 1 here. He's willing to share everything EXCEPT any of his inheritance. Big problem here, kid gets out of college, receives his inheritance that was contingent upon, hmm, graduating for college? Now he's got some serious bucks in the bank, and no motivation to work. So, I obviously recommend steering clear of flushing your money down this toilet, but it's a pretty funny posting to see on eBay.

On a generally slow news day, you have to like an article like this one. You know we've all wanted to be this guy. You run a red light, or speed, and you see that blasted FLASH. Boom. You're caught red-handed, and know you can expect a ticket in the mail. BUT, what if there was something you could do, what if this camera stored that photo until someone came to get it? Well, that must be what this guy was thinking, as he figured blowing up the dang thing would solve everything. He's now in custody, but I say "hooray" for someone trying to stick it to the man :-). Problem is, it's taxpayers have to pay for the new cameras. Government agencies are the real Catch 22.

Finally, today's video is of a car joy riding in the metro, crazy Germans. Funny to watch the people react

Clarett's not bullet-proof!?!

A bullet-proof vest!!! What in the world is Maurice Clarett doing wearing a bullet-proof vest!?! I've got a few reasonable guesses, don't worry Mo, there's still a place for you in Dallas, everyone else has learned their lesson The Arrest

College coaches upset that football games won't take up our entire Saturdays anymore! No game should take longer than two hours. Remember World Cup, how each game ended almost exactly 1h 30min after kick-off (except for OT games. . . ). That was NICE The Story

Parcells is already getting sick of the TO questions, my old friend, you're going to be in for a long season if this is the case. TO begs the spotlight, on & off the field. Bill, you've probably had a few dozen of the THOUSANDS of more questions about Mr Owens that will be coming this season. Drink some Gatorade and brush up on "no comment" The Story

Today's great video is a marriage lip sync proposal, either this guy has too much time on his hands, is very full of himself, or was the ultimate "creative dater". Thank heaven he's off the market The Story

This next story shows why the news is NOT facts - just entertaining reading. It also demonstrates how the American Pediatrics can't tell their heads from a hole in the ground. They flip flop on every issue every few years, and let's hope they get some sense and flip-flop on this one so they stop leading parents astray. Here's the ridiculous story , do yourself a service and stop after reading the benefits

So, is Digg's founder worth big bucks or not!?! He should be, he's actually running an amazing site. A lot of junk has been sold for huge chunks of change, hopefully he can buy groceries. . . . The Story

A sweet photo I found thanks to Digg. Save Digg! The Photo

Is someone making big bucks because they bought google-like domains? If they did, congrats on being clever, or lucky. The Story

Live from Boston...

First off, happy peasants' day - or, if you prefer - happy international day of the world's indigenous people! - click here

Yes, of course it's secretly in BP's interest to have a pipe rupture... go get 'em Dems! - click here

Glad I could oblige for a half second dureing the 8:52 a.m. time slot this a.m. - click here

No, the media never lies for a story... fine, you got me there, but that's just one. Doesn't anyone care about sensational imagery for your story? - click here

I could add a few to this list, like... bbw is your boss! - click here

Looking forward to college football crankin' back up... to bad neither of us have TV - ha. - click here