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Via The Agitator.

I had my first real taste of the world of Rugby last night, in the classic Maroon & White game here in Aggieland. The vital stats:

20 minutes of gametime
1 bobbled ball (called a “knock-on” which is not good)
1 missed tackle (a clutch one too)
1 concussion
1 fumble recovery turned into a positive gain after I juked and then pitched the ball to a teammate

I played on the “White” side and we lost every round (of 4).

No sweat though. The girls (and no, they aren’t all lesbo dykes) played their first cup game against Texas Tech and defeated them 17-0 (three try’s [touchdowns] and a conversion). It was a fantastic game to watch as they totally put the smack down, using clothes-lines, Heisman stiff-arms and good ole fashioned grab-their-shirt-and-slam-them-to-the-ground tactics.

There really hasn’t been much going on in the world aside from the latest apocalypical hurricane or 60 Minutes Rathergate boring controversy.

I’ve taken some cool pictures of various events I’ve been apart of and will try to get them online, no nudies yet, but I’m working on it.

TBN’s Promise: Send Money and See Riches:

Pastor Paul Crouch calls it “God’s economy of giving,” and here is how it works:

People who donate to Crouch’s Trinity Broadcasting Network will reap financial blessings from a grateful God. The more they give TBN, the more he will give them.

Being broke or in debt is no excuse not to write a check. In fact, it’s an ideal opportunity. For God is especially generous to those who give when they can least afford it.

“He’ll give you thousands, hundreds of thousands,” Crouch told his viewers during a telethon last November. “He’ll give millions and billions of dollars.”

Preachers who pass the hat while praising the Lord have long been the stuff of ridicule in film and fiction. But for Crouch and his Orange County-based television ministry, God’s economy of giving is no laughing matter. It brings a rich bounty, year after year.

Crouch has used a doctrine called the “prosperity gospel” to underwrite a worldwide broadcasting network and a life of luxury for himself and his family.

For at least a century, preachers have plied the notion that dropping money in the collection plate will bring blessings from God — material as well as spiritual. But Crouch, through inspired salesmanship and advanced telecommunications technology, has converted this timeworn creed into a potent financial engine.

The hardest part about posting this story is figuring out some place to cut it off. Seriously, drop everything you’re doing and read the rest of this article. Incredible quotes like:

- “If my heart really, honestly desires a nice Cadillac … would there be something terribly wrong with me saying, ‘Lord, it is the desire of my heart to have a nice car … and I’ll use it for your glory?’ ” Crouch asked.
- “John 19 tells us that Jesus wore designer clothes,” Avanzini said, referring to the purple robe that Christ’s tormentors wrapped around him before the Crucifixion. “I mean, you didn’t get the stuff he wore off the rack…. No, this was custom stuff.
- “Get Jesus on that credit card!” McClendon said.

I wonder if that Bible thing talks about fraud, I mean, you can obviously interpret anything from that tome, surely that subject is dealt with somewhere.

To end, H. L. Mencken imparts his wisdom from beyond the grave:

“Deep within the heart of every evangelist lies the wreck of a car salesman.”

“What is the function that a clergyman performs in the world? Answer: he gets his living by assuring idiots that he can save them from an imaginary hell.”

Via Jason Ditz.

2 porn companies fined for unprotected sex:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — State officials fined two companies more than $30,000 each for allowing actors to perform without using condoms — the first time the state has taken such action.

The fines against Evasive Angles and TTB Productions follow an investigation into a complaint filed by an adult film industry worker, as well as an HIV outbreak that forced a temporary shutdown of adult film production in Southern California.

The companies have 15 days to appeal the decision Wednesday by the state Division of Occupational Health and Safety.

Three women contracted the virus that causes AIDS from a male performer while working for either Evasive Angles or TTB Productions. Regulators could not determine exactly which company had hired the performers at the time, but found both companies are owned by the same person, said Dean Fryer, an agency spokesman.

The four actors were diagnosed earlier this year, prompting an investigation.

Susan Gard, who also is a spokeswoman for the agency, said the companies violated California law when actors performed sex scenes without using condoms. She said state law requires employers to protect workers who are exposed to blood or bodily fluids on the job.

“Any bodily fluid is considered infectious,” she said. “That means barrier equipment must be used.”

The citations also included an accusation the companies failed to notify authorities about actors who contracted HIV on the job.

Officials at Evasive Angles and TTB Productions did not return telephone messages Friday.

Since the nanny State wants to protect its subjects, I wonder why they aren’t demanding that anyone performing sexual acts must use protection. After all, individuals whom partake in any oral or penetrative intercourse are exposed to blood and bodily fluids which can lead to illnesses and/or pregnancies.

Also, the chutzpah of a porn worker complaining about exposure to infectous diseases strikes the Irony Bone in me, just as someone in the National Guard or Reserves complains about being activated and deployed and even shot at. What kind of line of work do you think you enlisted in?

Via Cafe Hayek.

Here’s the scenario. It’s the last play of practice. The kicker smacks the top of the ball sending it end over end whereupon it just barely bounces into your hands while you’re in mid-stride. You juke to the left and send a defensive player head over heals. You make a b-line down field with only one player to beat. Huffing and puffing, your cleats dig in and rip through the dry earth spraying torn grass and dust everywhere. You can beat him, you’ve done it before and he’s not that big.

Thud.

Falling to the ground you realize your name is not Barry Sanders and homey doesn’t play that way. Now that you can have tea time there are a number of things to keep in mind until you come about:

10. Sex. Pure, unadulterated heterosexual lube-free intercourse. If you’re going to be knocked out, at least trick your mind into believing you’re having a good time. And like they say, if you can visualize a course of action, then you should be able to fulfill it more easily when the time cums.
9. Food. Four words. All You Can Eat. In the mood for some T-bone? What about a scrumptious scone or crusty crumpet? Did somebody say parfait?
8. Libertarian utopia. Let’s be honest with ourselves guys. You can be a nerd and no one will know. So do a little bit of role-playing and forget for the moment that the only political inroads libertarians have and will make is on PTA boards, Recycling commissions and Adopt-A-Highway committees.
7. null

Yea, I lied. I had a minor knockout last night and really can’t count backwards past 8.

A couple of A&M happenings: I successfully “rushed” into One Army (it’s like a frat, but not) and we have a retreat tonight so I won’t have time to talk smack about you and your mom. And if you’re interested, my first Rugby match is next weekend. A&M’s off-campus Bonfire has it’s First Cut this weekend. Ask me if you want more details.

Lastly, Woot.com was recently brought to my attention. They sell one cool gadget per day until it is sold out (or midnight). Good stuff.

Jesse Ogden pointed to what is perhaps the most pithy example of the intellectual prowess of Ann Coulter, an Amazon.com interview.

Upon reading it, I honestly believe the nucleic acids in my left nut are more adept and resourceful than the likes of her. I do not see how it is possible to be as witless and inarticulate as the “Blond Bombshell” is and be as widely syndicated and revered as she has been.

Though, it could be toss up between WorldNetDaily’s poster-girl and Michelle “I-heart-bondage” Malkin, thanks to Anthony Gregory. Mr. Gregory reviewed Malkin’s latest book which not only glorifies FDR’s internment policies but encourages and lauds the despotic Star-chamber behavior which Ashcroft & Co. have been operating under as of late:

“[In] times of crisis, civil rights often yield to security in order to ensure the nation’s survival. What is legal and what is necessary to preserve the Republic sometimes diverge…. In defying a Supreme Court order to restore habeas corpus, Lincoln refused to let the “government itself go to pieces” for the sake a (sic) single law.” (163)

That Lincoln guy is certainly the role-model to justify your actions by, not like he waged a ruthless war and violated the civil rights of anyone that he disagreed with.

Time to rotate the hands.

I’ve been critical of Jonathan Schwartz in the past, but an engineering buddy of mine at AMD (we went to school together) pointed to a post on Schwartz’s blog that is giving me second thoughts on Sun’s inability to pick a direction and sticking to it.

The Niagara chip is going to be one bad mother when it hits the market, what other competing chip will be able to go head to head with it? At the same time however, words of caution from companies like Google might need to be heeded: with the ability to cluster off-the-shelf boxes cheaply and efficiently, SPARC marketshare may end up in a niche market not too dissimilar to where MIPS chips are.

I should note that on a personal level, if the Niagra chip was a female, I would probably tap it. It’s that delicious.

Inside MTV’s Choose Or Lose: A DW Subtext Special Report – Summation in a word: cumtastic. Seriously, although the DW guys link to the blokes at Rock-the-Vote (an equally conniving group of charlatan nutjobs), MTV couldn’t be anymore partisan if it slapped a “Anybody but Bush” tattoo on Carmen Electra’s or Jenny McCarthy’s ass (or whomever else did Singled Out). And I by chance watched an episode of The Real World: Philadelphia. I’ve met more exciting, intelligent and cultured people at an inner city Greyhound bus stop smoking used blunts they found in ash trays and drinking old clumpy Pepto from the bottle. Granted they had neither teeth nor fake mommy bags (titties for the uninitiated), but they would at least talk about something other than how to tell whether your roommate has anal sex.

Who’s the Crook? – Think Quattrone is a choad douchebag? What about Sean O’Keefe or any other director of a federal agency who drops the ball, fudges numbers, blatantly lies or simply screws the pooch?

Quote of the day:

VeriSign speeds up registry changes :

VeriSign said Thursday it will update its domain name system servers every few seconds, instead of twice a day.

With this “rapid updates” policy, the Internet domain name registry said, people who seek new .com and .net domain registrations will be able to launch Web sites more quickly. Similarly, people who intend to change their hosting servers or modify domain name registrations can do so with less disruption in service.

“We’re pleased to be able to offer upgraded services to the .com and .net DNS (domain name system) and help registrars, Internet service providers and all domain industry service providers better manage their customers’ needs and reduce the potential for downtime to Web sites,” Raynor Dahlquist, VeriSign’s acting vice president for naming and directory services, said in a statement.

Under a contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, VeriSign operates the master database of all .com and .net domains and collects a few dollars a year for each domain name from the approximately 200 ICANN-accredited registrars that sell domain names to the public.

Each day, VeriSign handles more than 14 billion DNS queries. More than 35 million domain names for .com and .net exist.

Slow lethargic service, yet another innovation from a State monopoly. I wonder what took them so long to rectify this…

I’ve been entertaining my younger brother this weekend as he visited Aggieland, we’ve gone to a number of extracuricular activities however I’m not sure which family members read this blog, so we went to bed promptly at 10 pm every night and attended Mass, Synagogue and Piñata services earlier today.

So because of our escapades, I haven’t had much time to drive through the blogosphere much.

A few posts that did wet my whistle:

- Russell Roberts on choices and competition
- David Skarbek discusses culture and trade with a Nader Raider
- LibertarianJackass on why it’s axiomatically correct to lube up with KY Jelly during encounters

Lastly, Peat put together the diet Coke of jingle’s for yours truly, da-da-duh-duh-da-da. Picture via Mike Ewens.