Talk About An Inconvenient Truth

If this is really true, it kind of screws up the Global Warming argument. Although, as they often do, people will argue that Global Warming is responsible for every change in the weather. Anyway, see:

We are set on a course of 'planet saving' madness

There is a similar argument in this blog post about failures of the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to predict the numbers of named storms each season. Massive failures the last three years in a row. So, also see:

Brendan Loy - Hurricane forecasters say seasonal errors are hurting their credibility

Arsenal in the Champions League

Arsenal play Seville in the Champions League. They have already qualified for the next round, but losing to Seville would put them second in their group. Does Wenger use his young guns, or play his starters to win and stay in the lead? It will be an interesting game.

Anyway, see:

Top spot at stake when Arsenal face Seville

Raiders

Well, it had to happen sometime, they beat KC, in KC, 20-17. They were down and came back and actually held a lead. Maybe they turn the corner, I don't know, but at least it is one more win then last year, and they technically can finish 500. Woo-woo.

Iron Bowl

Well, Alabama loses again, 17-10. There offense could do nothing. At least the defense played well apart from Auburn's first possession. They gave up a touchdown late. Alabama just doesn't have the players, or the motivation I guess. Well, as they say, wait until next year.

Arsenal Wins, Man U Loses

Arsenal beat Wigan 2-0 to stay on top, and even better Man U loses to Bolton!! This means that Arsenal is on top clearly with a game in hand still. What adds to this more is that Sir Alex Ferguson got kicked out of the game for criticizing the referee. What a bunch of whiners, Man U is.

Anyway see:

Sir Alex Ferguson loses it at Bolton

Iron Bowl

Today is the day when the whole state shuts down. Alabama and Auburn play each other. This year it will be at Auburn. There are some differences from the recent past, it will be on ESPN at night. Uusally it was played in the afternoon. That meant if you had anything you needed done do it during the Iron Bowl. The city was empty. That won't happen today.

Anyway, here is some history from the Auburn side:

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF THE IRON BOWL

And from the Alabama side:

HE HISTORY OF THE IRON BOWL ALABAMA vs AUBURN

Arsenal

Arsenal will play Wigan today. They are not a big threat to them, but hopefully the Gunners will play well. Wigan is 22 points below Arsenal, second from the bottom. Unfortunately that often happens to the clubs promoted up. They can only last one year in the Premiership.

There are rumors that Gilberto wants to leave for Italy. I don't think they will let him go as they need the depth.

See:

Gilberto tempted by Juventus move

EJ Dionne - Happy Thanksgiving, Pay More Taxes

EJ Dionne wrote a nice little column in The Washington Post about how great Maryland is to raise taxes. He believes that people are willing to pay taxes to get services from their government. Nobody would argue that, the issue is what are the key services government should provide, and how much should they cost. Maryland, I am sure, in the eyes of many of its citizens provides services that are not necessary, or un-needed. Paying more taxes for this makes no sense. By the way, the tax package raised the sales and cigarette taxes a lot, so it is very hard on the working poor.

See:

A Governor Unafraid of Government

Arsenal

Now that the Premiership is winding down this year, everyone is looking forward to the January signing period. Arsenal is rumored to be after numerous players, mostly either strikers or goalies. Both make sense as with Van Persie injured another striker is needed, and all signs point to Lehman leaving in January as he needs to play to keep his spot on the German National team. He is not going to be playing at Arsenal as long as Almunia is healthy. The other thing Arsenal has is a lot of money available for these signings. Normally, Wenger tries not to do a big signing, preferring to develop his own talent, but with the league the way it is, he might be tempted.

New Low, or Really the Latest, for England Soccer

England lost 3-2 to Croatia, and was eliminated in the Euro 08. The English Football Association reacted by firing the English manager recently chose, Steve McClaren. So now they will probably hire another foreigner to run the team.

See:

Steve McClaren runs out of excuses

Pie

Here are the two pies I made last night for today's meal:

Thanksgiving

Like most Americans, I have a lot to be grateful for this year. It has been a much better year than the last few as there has been several deaths in my family recently. My family is by ourselves this year, but we will still have a good day.

Also, the four days off are nice. Work has been very hectic, and un-fun, lately. It really shouldn't be.

So have a happy day with your family.

Black Friday Warnings

This article is interesting. It warns that no matter how good the deal is, it may still not be worth it. It rings true, as if you have looked at laptops lately you still need to spend a decent amount of money on one. RAM and good screens are not cheap, no matter what.

See:

Beware Black Friday laptop deals

Local Pork

I have blogged in the past about pork. When Congressmen load up the various appropriation bills with specific projects for their districts. Usually these are not requested by anybody in the Executive Branch. Our wonderful Congressman, Bud Cramer, one of the last Democrats in Alabama, has got Huntsville $1.0 Million dollars to build a bridge. This is not a bridge necessary to improve commerce or traffic flow, it will just make the downtown a little nicer. Nice work, Mr. Cramer.

Here is the link to the appropriate press release:

Cramer Announces Transportation Funding for North Alabama

Football

Well, Alabama and the Raiders both lost. Alabama is a major surprise. People here are already talking about Saban being a mistake. I don't think so. He has the excuse that these were Shula's players. Before the season everyone was saying the defense would be a lot worse. You win a few games and people forget those things. So we will have to see.

The Raiders, as usual, wasted a lot of opportunities, from what I have read. They need to win these games. There is always next year.