31 December 2010 later

Football: right now I am watching ND whip Miami; it is 30-3 Notre Dame going into the 4′th quarter. Basically ND kept intercepting Miami passes. You kind of knew how it was going to go when you saw the ND players playing without sleeves and the Miami guys all bundled up. Hey…it is in the 30′s guys!

It is in the 4′th quarter and ND is up 30-3.

Update: note it is 30-17 with 4 minutes left in the game; Miami still has a chance, though it is a remote one. But an onside kick and another quick touchdown….who knows?

Update: ND kicked a field goal with 1:26 left to make it 33-17; I agree with this call. 16 points is a safer lead than 13, as it would require Miami to hit two 2-point conversions (in addition to 2 touchdowns…)

(photos from yahoo)

Pinstripe Bowl:
I talked about the controversial call; here it is:

That’s it. This lead to a 15 yard penalty which meant that they had 18 yards to go on their 2 point conversion.

This is what the officials said:

Todd Geerlings, the head official on the officiating crew from the Pinstripe Bowl earlier today, explained the reasoning for the call after the game in pool quotes provided to media members.

Kansas State lost 36-34 to Syracuse when officials flagged Wildcats receiver Adrian Hilburn for excessive celebration. Hilburn he saluted in the direction of the crowd after scoring on a 30-yard catch-and-run that gave Kansas State an opportunity to tie the game. But a 15-yard penalty was assessed on the two-point conversion try, which Kansas State failed to convert.

It was a Big Ten officiating crew.

Here’s the full text of Geerling’s explanation:

Excessive celebration is rule 9-2-1d, which states a penalty is called for:
“Any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player attempts to focus attention on himself (or themselves).”

What exactly caused the penalty?
“It was the salute, which was the judgment of the calling officials, which were the head linesman and the back judge. Two officials threw the flag, both judged it to be drawing attention to themselves, and that’s what the flag was for.”

Were you watching for any celebrations?
“These kinds of excessive celebrations have been a priority in the rulebook for the last several years. There’s a whole page in the rulebook pertaining to sportsmanship.”

That’s a pretty weak explanation.

Regardless of the wording of the rule, officials have to take into account context as well as timing. Plenty of players’ actions after scoring are far more animated and draw plenty more attention, but you don’t see those flagged.

U agree with the ESPN writer (David Ubben) here. That was a weak call and completely inappropriate.

Of course, had they kicked that field goal earlier in the game…

Other posts
Medicare: is in a situation where people are taking out much more than they are taking in:

The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two biggest benefit programs, have worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives.

Trustees of the programs said Tuesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner.

Medicare is in even worse shape. The trustees said the program for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year and will be insolvent by 2017, two years earlier than the date projected in last year’s report.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the head of the trustees group, said the reports are a reminder that “the longer we wait to address the long-term solvency of Medicare and Social Security, the sooner those challenges will be upon us and the harder the options will be.”

Geithner said that President Obama is committed to working with Congress to find ways to control runaway growth in both public and private health care expenditures, noting the promise Monday by major health care providers to trim costs by $2 trillion over the next decade.

Part of it is the rotten economy is suppressing wages; fewer people are paying into it. And of course, end of life expenses are going up.

President Obama’s critics on the left I won’t go nearly as far as Frank Schaeffer does here; I think that Paul Krugman is still calling it as he sees it. And Krugman wanted someone who “fought” where Obama always campaigned as a pragmatist who wanted to compromise and bring the other side on board.
Still, maybe Obama IS right and things will get better; I certainly hope so. Still, Krugman and Robert Reich fill an important need; we don’t need cheerleaders but rather realists.

As far as the right wing criticism: who cares. They have zero credibility.

Mind
This is cool:

Final Run of 2010 is Memorable: Bald Eagles

Yes, I am planning on doing the midnight New Year’s Eve “Get Lit” run/walk with my daughter and friend. But my last run of 2010 was memorable.

I had gone to the Riverplex (I needed to go to the nearby post office) and did my rotator cuff exercises inside. I then walked to the lobby to get to the trail which runs between the building and the Illinois River.

It started to rain rather hard and I had second thoughts; after all there were a few treadmills open and there were dozens of very attractive women in their spandex (there was a good reason for that, as I’ll explain later).

But I made myself go out; it was a rare time to get out without snow and ice to slip on. Besides, there are many benefits to going outside.

The run itself was unremarkable; it was about 3.2 miles (just over 5K) at about a 10 minute per mile pace.
But when I got to the dam near the marina, I saw a young bald eagle; it was between fledgling and adult size, with the usual white top, black feather scheme. It was there on the way back too so I saw it twice. Hence I got soaked, but it was worth it. And hey, it was in the 50′s, a near record high for this time of year (all time record is 60 F and we are getting close)

This isn’t my video, but rather from upriver:

When I got home, we had a bat in the shower; I was able to expel it without hurting it via using a “soft” laundry basket.

Note: why so much good gym spandex today? I forgot; it was the 31′st of December, hence there were many women between 30 and 60 years old; I am used to seeing the very old (retired) there. One of the women working near where I was is a spin instructor.

New Year’s Eve, 2010/2011

Workout notes I’ll update this. Probably something outside.

Shoulder some ache last night; it appears that I AM recovering from the last relapse. But boy, does it take time.

Tonight: I am planning on the Get Lit fun run at midnight; 2 miles through a holiday light display.
Peoria weather: screwy. When we got here, it was single digits (F) and snow covered everything. Today: 50 F (and will get warmer), rain, and 99 percent of the snow is gone (only the piled up mounds remain). This is the warmest New Year’s Eve that I remember around here.

Posts
Silly Political Stories for 2010: some civil libertarians will take issue with some of these. Yes, TSA, Sarah Palin and Cristine O’Donnell are mentioned, as is this:

The Obama comeback. I’m not saying it won’t happen; it well may. But can’t the pundits who wrote about the Dems’ shellacking a month ago at least wait until the next Congress convenes before they declare President Obama this year’s political winner? Can’t the chattering class wait until major polls show that Obama’s approval rating is above 50 percent? Are we boardwalk fortune-tellers, or can we wait for something to happen, or at least appear likely to happen?

You know the answer, and it’s not pretty.

Agreed, though Obama is doing better than Clinton or Reagan was at this point in their first terms.

Depression Here is a list of 10 jobs which are prone to be filled by people who get depressed. Of course, there are a ton of questions:
1. Are these jobs linked to depression because they attract personalities who are depression prone (artists)
2. Do some of these jobs induce depression due to low pay, harsh conditions, high pressure, long hours, time away from the family, etc.?
3. Do some of these jobs involve work that is inherently depressing? For example, a friend of mine quit a well paying job in nuclear medicine nursing because being around terminally ill people eventually got to her.
4. Do some of these jobs attract those who are desperate for work (e. g., poor and unemployed) to begin with?
5. What about male/female breakdowns: I’ve heard it said that men are more judged by the status of their jobs than women are. So do some jobs carry that dreaded “low status label”?

Atheism, Morality and the mind
Sam Harris is interesting; he is an atheist who sees value in things like meditation. I agree with him on this; religion AS A PRIVATE PRACTICE can provide some good things, so long as one isn’t shackled by superstitious beliefs and the conclusions that come from them. There are moral lessons too; for example I remember being moved by a minister saying “you know those extra shoes that lay there rotting and unused? Those don’t belong to you; they belong to those who don’t have any shoes”. That inspired me to clean my closet of extra clothes that I wasn’t wearing.

His latest kick is to say that science can lead us to morality. Though I think that this might be true in the LONG TERM, it isn’t close to being realized at this time

Note: why does he need security? That is what I try to tell people: the major religions are NOT “religions of peace”; not even close.
Do a thought experiment: park your car that has an atheist sticker on it. You can choose to park it on a college campus or somewhere in the rural south. Where would the car be safer?

Mind
Are our political views hardwired (e. g., liberal versus conservative)? Obviously, not completely since some people change their mind, but I am talking about tendencies.

Scientists have found that people with conservative views have brains with larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the centre of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotions.

On the otherhand, they have a smaller anterior cingulate, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life.

The “exciting” correlation was found by scientists at University College London who scanned the brains of two members of parliament and a number of students.

They found that the size of the two areas of the brain directly related to the political views of the volunteers.

However as they were all adults it was hard to say whether their brains had been born that way or had developed through experience. [...]

Yes, this looks suspicious given that “n” is probably small, but it is an interesting conjecture. There is also statistical evidence that cuts across lines of society too (video is 19 minutes long):

30 December 2010 pm

Football I only caught the tail end of the Pinstripe Bowl between Syracuse and Kansas State. K-State passed on a short field goal with a 4′th down fake and didn’t make it (they were down 33-28 in the 4′th) and Syracuse drove for a field goal with about 3 minutes to go.

But then with 1:15 left, K-State threw a short pass; there was a missed tackle; touchdown Wildcats! It was 36-34 Orangemen but then…K-State got a 15 yard penalty for “excessive celebration” when the receiver gave a very tame “salute” (two fingered…Cub Scout style!) to the crowd! I couldn’t believe it.
So they had to try from the 18 yard line instead of the 3…and they didn’t make it.

An onside kick failed.

It was a pity; the team fought their guts out only to have it decided on such a ticky-tacky matter.
(photos from yahoo)

Yesterday’s Texas Bowl:

Spandex Butts
(in each case, click for the large image)

Pretty cute, huh? (ok, I happen to like the big ones too, hence the last photo).
Now…you heterosexual guys……

One of these photos is of….a guy!!!!! Can you guess which one?
This reminds me of something that happened way back when I was at the Naval Academy (one of the most homophobic places in the US). We were watching TV and a blue jeans commercial came on. They showed tight blue jeans up close…right on the butt. The guys hooted and hollered….then the camera panned back. It was a guy….and the whole room went stone silent.

True, most of the time, guy’s butts are smaller and skinnier (that is why I didn’t find the Dell character played by Jaye Davidson that appealing; the hips were too narrow). But as you can see, not every guy has “guy” hips.

I think that I know what is going on: when a male is getting sexually aroused, it is to get ready to procreate; to get our genes to go on a bit longer. So, most of us are hardwired to respond to certain cues, namely “that person will do a good job with babies” cue; these cues include somewhat wider hips and breasts. Hence the attraction. But I can imagine the attraction being there for, say, a super sophisticated female “borg” so the cuing can “misfire” on a feminine looking male. This makes me want to read this book.

Posts
Did you know that non-historians can write history textbooks for schools? Yep…and guess what you get:

Oh those “sacred cows” of the left…like the Center for Disease Control?

Tea Party Nation: names their liberal “hate groups”. Really.