Bob-a-job-alog-a-roonie

I was alerted to this publication by Reason magazine:



County specific versions appear in 10 US states, and 250,000 copies are printed biweekly.

Why is this interesting????? The mugshots are of folk who have been arrested. Not folk who have been found guilty. Guilty or not, their names have been unfairly tarnished. Man, this is shameful.

Local law enforcement sells mugshots of people yet to found guilty, so that a cheap magazine can be produced for profit. Freedom of speech taken way too far in my opinion.

This is my first time as an unofficial selector... I know more about backs than forwards... I do however believe that this team can win every game through the end of the World Cup. My starting 15 for tests are in red, and 7 reserves in orange.

Props

Tony Woodcock
James McGougan
Sona Taumalolo
Jamie Mackintosh
Neemia Tialata
Ben Franks


Hookers

Aled de Malmanche
Andrew Hore
David Hall


Locks

Ali Williams
Brad Thorn
Isaac Ross
Jason Eaton
Anthony Boric


Loose forwards

Jerome Kaino
Liam Messam
Richie McCaw (C)
Adam Thomson
Rodney So'oialo
Victor Vito
Scott Waldrom


Half Backs

Brendon Leonard
Piri Weepu (spare kicker)
Jimmy Cowan


Fly Halfs

Stephen Donald
Daniel Bowden
Stephen Brett (if Carter unfit)
Dan Carter (kicker)


Centres

Anthony Tuitavake
Richard Kahui
Dwayne Sweeney
Conrad Smith
Ma'a Nonu


Wings

Lelia Masaga
Sitiveni Sivivatu
Hosea Gear


Full Backs

Leon MacDonald
Mils Muliaina (VC)
Israel Dagg
Jared Payne (if MacDonald unavailable)

Labels: all blacks, rugby

At the end of Round 6 I made this list of the teams I figured were best, and they were quite different to the rankings (and bookie odds) at that time. I got Chiefs to win the tournament at 36-1!

1= Chiefs / Hurricanes
2= Sharks / Crusaders
3= Western Force / Brumbies / Highlanders / Blues
4= Bulls / Waratahs / Reds
5= Stormers / Lions / Cheetahs

Ladder at the end of the last round was:

1 Bulls 46
2 Chiefs 45
3 Hurricanes 44
4 Crusaders 41
5 Waratahs 41
6 Sharks 38
7 Brumbies 38
8 Force 36
9 Blues 32
10 Stormers 27
11 Highlanders 26
12 Lions 25
13 Reds 19
14 Cheetahs 12

The only teams I misjudged were the Waratahs and the Bulls. Extraordinary! However, on a game-by-game basis, I was distinctly average in bets and tipping contests - this highlights the power of the bonus points in the end results.

For the outright winner, I believe the final will be very close, but with the hometown advantage, Bulls will beat Chiefs by 5 points or less. Unfortunately.

Labels: rugby union

I have read, here and there, that being slightly overweight was actually the healthiest weight to be. Now I read an article entitled Mild obesity takes years off your life at New Scientist that I wish was better written...

They looked at almost 900,000 people, mostly from Europe and North America, to see whether those with a higher body mass index (BMI) were more likely to die early.

BMI is a measure of how obese a person is, based on their weight and height (calculate yours here). The ideal range is 22.5 to 25 kilograms per square metre.

People whose BMI was higher than 25 kg/m2 had shorter lifespans on average.

Those who were moderately overweight, with a BMI between 30 and 35 kg/m2, lived two to four years less. This level of mild obesity is now common, particularly among middle-aged people.

People who were severely obese, with a BMI between 40 and 45 kg/m2, lived eight to ten years less on average – a reduction comparable to that caused by smoking. This level of morbid obesity is still rare.

Yeah good one! No mention of the 25-30 kg/m2 category, the one I figure is where I sit (literally). Based on all the figures they provided, I still could be in the healthiest category, but the article makes me feel like I need to like go to the gym or something.

Labels: obesity, overweight

From Japan, of course...



Wait until they start using stem cells to make body parts, and install some intelligence, and then make them very strong and fast moving....

Take a look at the most realistic robot face to date... or is this one, that looks like Albert Einstein?

Labels: female robot

Within the tomb of who they guess was a shaman, researchers have discovered that 789 grams of dried cannabis was present next to him.

Full story here.

To my mind, any culture that could afford to place almost a kilo of marijuana in a tomb must have had plenty to go around...

...unlike desperate scientists in modern day China:

Scientists also tried to germinate 100 of the seeds found in the cache, without success.