Tag: current events

New England 28-24 Seattle The Patriots tried very hard to lose this game. They played small ball for the first three quarters. Then in the fourth quarter when the panic set in, they started to actually get some air under the ball. But… Russel Wilson had flashes of brilliance, but even a few big plays couldn’t save the Seahawks. The final fail at the goal line sealed their fate. The end zone brawl at the end was quite funny.

I’ve never had much in the way of traditions with sports. Having Super Bowl XLIX as a home town game hasn’t really changed this. I’ve avoided going downtown to the festivities. The whole affair seems too managed. It’s also crowded and can get expensive. Anytime the tourists come to town, prices go up. I’m watching the game at home this year. I didn’t make any plans to go to a party or out to a bar.

In which I learned AOL owns the Huffington Post. AOL is moving toward more programmatic and platform-based products, while focusing its content efforts on the sites with the highest traffic, like the Huffington Post. §

This Sunday is Super Sunday in Phoenix. The 49th Super Bowl will be kicking off at 4 p.m. at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Which is in Glendale, Arizona. There are about a dozen cities that make up the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area. I think there are people who think there are differences. I would not be one of them. The only way to tell is occasionally you might see a “welcome to” sign.

This is the second popular revolt in Europe. The first was the Scotland vote. It failed due to massive propaganda and outright lies by the UK government. In Greece the people have now defied the money-men. It’s going to be an interesting few years. The anti-austerity far left party Syriza has won the Greek election by a decisive margin, but just short of an outright majority. With more than three-quarters of the results in Syriza is projected to win 149 seats in the 300 seat parliament.

Some media are reporting that the Asian H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza has now entered the United States. This is incorrect. The avian flu that was recently found in a green-winged teal in Washington state is a different strain and is not known to harm humans nor has it been found in domestic poultry. This Washington state strain incorporates genes from North American waterfowl-associated viruses. Unlike the Asian H5N1 strain that has been found in Asia, Europe, and Africa, this Washington state strain has only been found in wild waterfowl and has not been associated with human illness, nor has this new Washington state strain been found in domestic poultry.

The U.S. Senate has voted overwhelmingly, 98 to 1, to approve an amendment affirming that climate change is real and "not a hoax." The vote came on an amendment to legislation that aims to force approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from the Canadian oil sands to the United States. § So this. But then the excuse was made by the Republicans, “climate changes all the time!

Amazon Studios, known for television series such as multi-Golden Globe winner Transparent, Annie-nominated Tumble Leaf, and Mozart in the Jungle, today announced that it will begin to produce and acquire original movies for theatrical release and early window distribution on Amazon Prime Instant Video. § Amazon just said to Hollywood, “oh, your precious movies, we can undercut you there too.” The usual way of doing films & TV has needed disrupting for decades now.

Present AF drone pilots are working fourteen hours a day, six days a week. Not exactly the kind of working conditions you would expect from the Air Force. § Maybe we could just stop. Maybe?