• It was a total no-brainer for the Bulls to choose Derrick Rose with the first pick of last week’s NBA Draft. He is a total stud and is a lock to achieve All-Star status someday.  Michael Beasley’s Derrick Coleman comparisons were enough to make anyone squirm; OJ Mayo has entitlement issues; and Kevin Love is a poor man’s Christian Laettner minus the mid-range jumper (seriously, an outelt pass was drafted fifth this year!).
• With nine commitments so far for next year’s freshman class, Notre Dame already has more 4- and 5-star players than Willingham had in his last two years at ND – combined!  In the commitment count for this year ND leads Washington, 9-0.  Enough with the Weis-Willingham comparisons.  They are leagues apart in virtually every aspect of coaching, not least of which includes stocking the cupboard with the talent needed to compete at the highest level of college football.  h/t Rock Report.
• Speaking of Weis, don’t look now but he received some positive press recently.
• Here’s to the Root for backing up my take on Imus’ latest gaffe.
• It’s kind of fun watching that little Lieberman fella try to grow fangs and masquerade as McCain’s attack dog.  The fear-mongering has clearly begun, so it must be another presidential election season in the post-Rovian age.
• I cannot stand Glenn Beck.  He is so incredibly lame and full of dorkness that I get squeamish at the very sound of his voice.  However, he sometimes brings up good points and I surprisingly find myself in agreement with him in many areas of political discourse.  Thusly, I actually convinced myself to purchase the audiobook of his horribly-titled “An Inconvenient Book” (I purchase the audio versions of books I would be ashamed to include on my bookshelf).  I managed to enjoy parts of the book, which unfortunately were sandwiched between incredibly awkward sections that prompted me to laugh aloud at how childish and immature they were.  These sections included advice on watching movies with your wife and dating tips apparently designed for the kid in high school who never got the girl.  Still, he does have moments of inspiration, including this CNN piece that pretty much sums up my political leanings (with a few obvious exceptions for those who really know me).
• In the “here we go again” department, the incomparable Seymour Hersch has some news for us.  This just strengthens the argument that our next president will have the luxury of easy comps but the indignity of picking up after the proverbial bull in the china shop.  With those lemons, my guess is Barack would make some super sweet lemonade while McCain’s watered down version would quickly be replaced by a vodka-spiked one once he heard that W likes it that way.

Make no mistake – this is anti-American sentiment boiling over and has little to do with cows.

Ever wonder what’s in those black SUVs with tinted windows in the President’s motorcade?

Say what you will about the pros and cons of turning our healthcare system over to the government, but one very clear pro is the possibility of commercials like the below popping up.  I love these clips.  This is what you get when your nanny-state government wants to save costs on healthcare (i.e. not have as many accidents that require medical attention).  My only wish would be for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez to be in charge of making them.   Can you imagine how awesome those would be?

Anyone looking for some random knowledge should read this OpEd on bananas that I came across last week in the IHT.  Really fascinating stuff.  Who knew the business of the banana could be so interesting?  Here’s a little taste to wet your whistle:

That bananas have long been the cheapest fruit at the grocery store is astonishing. They’re grown thousands of miles away, they must be transported in cooled containers and even then they survive no more than two weeks after they’re cut off the tree. Apples, in contrast, are typically grown within a few hundred miles of the store and keep for months in a basket out in the garage. Yet apples traditionally have cost at least twice as much per pound as bananas.

Americans eat as many bananas as apples and oranges combined, which is especially amazing when you consider that not so long ago, bananas were virtually unknown here. They became a staple only after the men who in the late 19th century founded the United Fruit Company (today’s Chiquita) figured out how to get bananas to American tables quickly – by clearing rainforest in Latin America, building railroads and communication networks and inventing refrigeration techniques to control ripening. The banana barons also marketed their product in ways that had never occurred to farmers or grocers before, by offering discount coupons, writing jingles and placing bananas in schoolbooks and on picture postcards. They even hired doctors to convince mothers that bananas were good for children.

Gotta love Don Imus and the battle to control his racist urges.  After getting fired last year for his “nappy-headed hos” comment when referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team, his latest Freudian slip involved the athlete formerly known as Pacman Jones (now it’s just Adam or Mr. Jones, thank you).

There are two things that I find interesting/borderline hilarious about this.  First, Imus is clearly a bigot and there’s no getting around that.  I for one am totally confused as to how this guy continues to find employment as a radio host.  Not only is he simply maladjusted on a social level (i.e. can’t play nice with others), but his show might be the most boring event to grace the airways, which is saying something.  Second, Imus’ comment was relatively innocuous, all things considered, which led me to chuckle when I read Jones’ wounded duck response:

I’m truly upset about the comments. Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I’m upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him.

I mean, come on!  Oy with the sensitivity!  Who cares what that douchebag Imus thinks or says anyway?  This provides a nice microcosm of what has come to define the state of social affairs in the U.S., where people are forced to walk on eggshells for fear of offending someone with even the slightest insinuation, intentional or not.  I truly wish we would spend less time being offended in our country and more time being productive.  It really is amazing how often people get their feelings hurt and waste hours of airtime playing up the supposed slight in an attempt to appeal to the offended in all of us.  Seriously, there are bigger problems in the world, the magnitude of which make our lame little umbrages pale in comparison.  Sticks and stones….

This from a recent WSJ OpEd lamenting the introduction of an anti-competition law in Hong Kong:

Just last year, Hong Kong gave birth to more companies than babies: 100,761 vs. 70,394.

Long live capitalism!

Here’s yet another reason why I harbor such a deep fear of the ocean.  A tongue the size of an elephant?!?!?!  Veins a human could swim through??!?!?  Come on!

Judging by a recent Mercer Consulting survey, Switzerland is apparently one of the best countries in the world for one to call home. Of the top ten cities in the firm’s rankings (based on overall quality of life), tiny little Switzerland (population 7.6 million) had three of the top ten cities on the list – Zurich, Geneva and Bern were ranked nos. 1, 2 and 9, respectively. It should also be noted that Germany had three cities in the top ten, including Dusseldorf, Munich and Frankfurt. However, I’m more intrigued by Switzerland, perhaps motivated by the fact that I’ve actually experienced Germany firsthand while sweating my balls off in hostels and trains during the 2006 World Cup.

While interesting, this survey is clearly a bit off since it rates Honolulu as the top U.S. city (coming in at a weak #28). Anyone who has been to Honolulu has undoubtedly taken moments to appreciate the picturesque oceanfront views; however, the city center is surprisingly dirty and rundown, save for the shopping strips dominated by Japanese tourists.

Back to Switzerland – did you know that it has one of the highest rates of gun ownership of any country in the world? According to a Cambridge survey, there are 46 guns per every 100 people in Switzerland, placing it fourth in the world in that category (just ahead of Iraq). By the way, the U.S. ranks first at a whopping 90! Anyhow, why would such a peaceful nation have such high gun ownership levels? Because the Swiss Army is a militia-style one (designed to respond quickly to foreign aggression) where each male is expected to train with the militia at the age of 20 and stay a member of its reserves until 30. Upon completion of basic training, the graduate is given a government issued rifle, which can be fired at shooting ranges (for practice) using government-subsidized ammo.

Meanwhile, Switzerland is a relatively safe country with a crime rate half that of the U.S. More to the point, and more depressing, is the fact that the U.S. has 3.72 firearm-related homicides per 100,000 people compared to just 0.52 in Switzerland.

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.
3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.
4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.
6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.
10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

Some psycho decided to drive his car into a crowd of people today, which he followed with a stabbing spree that left seven people dead. The attack took place in Akihabara, which is a shopping district in Tokyo stocked with tons of consumer electronics stores. Though this city is amazingly safe for such a large metropolis, there is the occasional WTF moment that one comes across when perusing the local headlines. This would be one of the more extreme examples.