World record ski jump or face plant?

Thanks to Totalfark for yet another bizarre link. This one is about a guy who decided to set the record for longest skiing cliff jump, a 245 ft drop. Having seen film of a few extreme ski cliff jumps, I assume the goal was to land the jump and ski away from it. Instead, this happened:
About 100 feet into the jump, Nielsen said Pierre couldn't keep his skis under him and went upside down. He landed headfirst and blew a hole 6 feet deep into the snow.

So.... the guy claims to have set a skiing world record by doing a 245 foot face plant? Somehow his only injury was a cut lip. On this day, Darwin refused to claim him. I'm still puzzled as to how this stunt demonstrates skiing ability though. I think "crazy bastard survives long fall" should be a different record.

These have to be some of the dumbest people on the planet. No, no, not the guys who are selling the Lotto newspapers described in the article. I'm talking about the total morons who pay $2.95 an issue to buy them. Their publication is based on a fallacy that the most basic probability completely disproves. In short, they argue that if you flip a coin nine times and it comes up tails every time, on the tenth flip you should bet heads because it's more likely to appear. It's "due". Sigh. People buy this crap. People who deserve to be separated from their money...

Found?

It's been five days since Delta lost my luggage. I just checked the website for an update on my status and now it says they've finally found it! After five days, luggage is listed as "Lost" instead of "Delayed" and I start filing the claim forms to get paid for the loss. So basically they found it just in time. They have my luggage for five days and don't owe me a thing assuming I get it back now. Supposedly they're now scheduling delivery to Fort Wayne.

I have visions of no one actually looking for it until they neared the five days limit after which they'd owe me money. Then some manager checked the list and told someone to find the damn bag. Bastards. I bet it was sitting in the same luggage room in Atlanta the whole time.

Kill outdated liquor laws

Small rant: Another example of Indiana's backwards laws and the power of lobbyists are our liquor laws. Indiana is one of 24 states that do not allow out of state alcohol to be shipped directly to customers here in Indiana. This near prohibition era arrangement forces all interstate alcohol sales to go through in state wholesalers who add another layer of price markup to the product. It also means that any brewery, winery, or distiller that does not have a sales agreement with an Indiana wholesaler cannot sell their product in this state. That means there are countless products we can't buy here, as any wine connoisseur could tell you.

Why do we still have this law? It's very simple. State liquor wholesalers don't want to lose any profits. They have big money and they have lobbyists, so the law doesn't change. It's all about the money. They give other bogus excuses, such as claiming that interstate sales to customers would make it too easy for kids to get alcohol. Given the shipping costs involved, that's garbage. Kids have much easier ways of getting alcohol than paying high prices on the internet to have it shipped to them. No one's going to be ordering Natural Lite or Mad Dog 20/20 by mail. The wholesalers' other pathetic excuse is that changing the law would make it so the state couldn't collect taxes on the alcohol. The truth is that numerous producers are eager to work with states on this problem and ensure that tax money is collected when they ship their products out of state. Getting it all set up is a challenge of the business, but one that can certainly be met. No, again, it's really all about the money and the lobbyists.

While I'm at it, here in Fort Wayne we still have a bizarre Sunday liquor prohibition. You can't go to the store and buy alcohol on Sunday. That's an old blue law that's still on the books. However, you can go to a bar and chug all you want. That's idiotic. All they're doing is encouraging drunk driving. You're sitting at home and want some booze. You don't have the booze you want in the house, so you go out to get some. Which is safer? Go to the store, buy what you want, and take it home to enjoy, or go to the bar and drink up because you can't buy it at the store, then drive home? Gee, that's a tough one. Nevermind how hypocritical it is to allow alcohol sales at the bar but not at the store on the same day. There's also a separation of church and state issue involved. Sales were originally banned on Sunday because we're all supposed to be in church and whatnot.

p.s. Rant partially inspired by snobby beer I recently purchased in California and can't get here. Also the airline lost my luggage, still hasn't found it, and some of my purchases were there. I won't be able to replace them. Bah!

Can you say hypocrite?

Here's a link to a video of Penn and Teller's Bullshit episode on hypocritical, batshit crazy animal rights activists of PETA. It's definitely worth seeing. If you're an animal lover, that's cool. If you're a vegetarian, hey, that's nice. If you don't like how the meat industry treats animals, that's understandable. We can have a meaningful discussion about it. Nevertheless, don't give these crazy bastards a single penny.

Ommegang

Now this is great beer.

Don't be deceived by the standard bottle size there. I can only find it in corked 750ml bottle goodness. mmm.... Belgian beer.

Edit: Since I'm on a posting frenzy tonight, get this rum if you can find it:


That's Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum. I paid a coworker to bring it back straight from the distiller in St. Croix. I almost never sip liquor straight. I don't usually like it that way. So the fact that I like sipping this rum alone tells you that it's damn good rum... great flavor and sooo smooth...

Confession.

I confess. I did it. I started the War on Christmas. Sorry? Don't let the crazy man hurt me. Yes, I mean this crazy man...
Oh yeah, I also started the Culture War. My bad.

So what can we make up wars about this year? How will Bill O'Reilly, err... I get people riled up this year to boost my popularity? I just know I can make my viewership skyrocket if I can create enough righteous indignation. I need some ideas though. It's past Christmas and "the Culture War" is so overused by others. hmmm...

The War on Pencils. Notice how most people don't use pencils anymore? What's with that? If they do it's always some fancy mechanical pencil of the elite. Whatever happened to the traditional wooden pencil? Most places I can't even find a sharpener for one. I demand that our country's long tradition of wooden pencils be acknowledged and preserved. Everyone go to the store right now and buy classic wooden pencils. Don't settle for the 10 pack. Get the 50 pack!

The War on Peanuts. That's right, for years now peanuts have been under attack. The liberal elite media sensationalizes stories of allergic reactions to peanuts while ignoring their many benefits. It's time we as Americans took a stand for this protein rich legume! They're not only good for you, unless of course you have an allergic reaction and die, they are a rich part of our nation's heritage! Why, Jimmy Carter was raised on a peanut farm. The state of Georgia is The Peanut State (maybe.... I'm not really sure about Georgia and can't be bothered to look it up)! Let's take action! Every time we see a negative story about peanuts, like some allergic loser died, let's all go out and buy three more pounds of peanuts!

O Rly?