Nutella & GO! (repost)

I'm not really sure why this stuff is so hard to find in the states and expensive if you can.  I guess we'll just have to import it from Germany instead.

Hiroki Kuroda is a Yankee

Mark Polishuk for MLBTR.com

The Yankees have agreed to a one-year contract with Hiroki Kuroda, pending a physical, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link).  The deal will pay Kuroda $10MM, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.

Do not like.

[Via SOSG]

America's Next Top President

I only need 22% of the country to vote for me and I can win the next election. Just have to win these states and I can be the next president.  Don't even have to bother with California, New York or Florida.

• Wyoming


• District of Columbia


• Vermont


• North Dakota


• Alaska


• South Dakota


• Delaware


• Montana


• Rhode Island


• New Hampshire


• Maine


• Hawaii


• Idaho


• Nebraska


• West Virginia


• New Mexico


• Nevada


• Utah


• Kansas


• Arkansas


• Mississippi


• Iowa


• Connecticut


• Oklahoma


• Oregon


• Kentucky


• Louisiana


• South Carolina


• Alabama


• Colorado


• Minnesota


• Wisconsin


• Maryland


• Missouri


• Tennessee


• Arizona


• Indiana


• Massachusetts


• Virginia


• New Jersey

Win those states and you too can be president with 78% of the country voting against you!

[from Grey's Blog]

Dodgers Could Be Worth How Much?

Mike Scioscia's tragic illness

If you had two billion dollars in singles and stretched them end-to-end from here to the moon... you'd still have an absolutely ludicrous amount of money despite having wasted so much of it an an unnecessary example of your wealth.

With estimates of almost $2 billion for the Dodgers I guess that takes Mark Cuban out of the running. With Mr. Freeze in the running what could be the downside for The Bums? Please just get this overwith so we can be rid of McCourt and actually focus on the team on the field.

Predictions for 2012

Horace Dideu

I have none to offer.

Best 2012 predictions post I've read.

Obama Signs Defense Authorization Bill

Sara Sorcher for nationaljournal.com

“I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists,” Obama said in a statement accompanying his signature.

If I was paying attention in Government class in high school and Poli Sci 101 in college there was a way to show your dissatisfaction Mr. President. Your failure to veto this bill has lost at minimum one vote and I presume many more. All members of the military swear an oath that includes the line

"I,... do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..."

The authors of this bill, all members of Congress that voted affirmatively for this bill and you Mr. President for not vetoing are all enemies of The Constitution of these United States. Simply saying you were not satisfied with parts of the bill is not acceptable. This law must be repealed. From this Associated Press article we get this gem of a quote:

"My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens," Obama said in the signing statement. "Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation."

The "but we're not going to use it" argument will never fly. If the law says you can, you will. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will. With all the police opposition to the various Occupy protests across the country how can we trust that laws such as this one will not be used to imprison people with ideas contrary to yours.

I know my blog alone does not reach many people but hopefully the few that read this will spread the word. We need to make our government understand we are not happy. Contact your Representatives, Senators or you can contact the White House directly at (202) 456-1111, email or even snail mail

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500

I'm not naive enough to think that my one call, email or postcard will make a difference but if we all show up maybe we can make a difference.

[Via Judd Legum for thinkprogress.org]

Shoulders of Giants

Justin Williams wrote an article on carpeaqua, The Social Networks.  It was about which social networks he uses and his normal use for them.  There were some interesting insights such as his Twitter etiquette and absence from Flickr, I recommend checking it out.

MG Siegler wrote a response on his blog and the last paragraph caught my eye.

Williams broader point about social network overlap is a good one. Most of us are at the point now where if a new social network comes into our lives, it means getting rid of an old one — Flickr -> Instagram, for example. That’s a pretty big problem for new social networks going forward. They can’t just be good, they have to be really, really good to make up for a switching cost.

This is when things get exciting, or rather are about to get exciting. Almost everything we interact with on a daily basis is a better version of the thing that came before it.  Whether we're talking about the laptop you use every day, the car you drive to work, the carabiner you use at the rock gym or even the shoes you wear.  Everything replaced an inferior version, for the most part.  (John Siracusa would argue against toasters I am sure.) Things like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are only going to get better or be replaced, just like that StarTac in your dad's junk drawer. I just can't wait to see with what ideas come next.