Italy Wins World Cup

The Italian team has taken the World Cup on penalty kicks. Vive Italia!!

 

Lonely People

If Rob Thomas “don’t wanna be lonely no more,” he’s hardly alone (no pun intended). It turns out that one thing the majority of Americans do have in common is that many of us are very lonesome, according to a new study.

The study points out that this apparent drop in meaningful relationships occurs at the same time that internet technology allows people to know an incredible amount of people at the same time. Good point. Take MySpace for example. The catchphrase of the site is “a place for friends.” Yet we don’t seem to have many real ones.

 

MySpace=MY problem

Thefeverishly popular custom web page host MySpace.com is now facing a major lawsuit relating to an incident of assault that happened to a young female user of the site. From Agape Press:

The suit claims a 14-year-old girl from Austin, Texas, was contacted via MySpace by an adult male who allegedly pretended to be a high school student, gained her trust, lured her out to meet him, and then sexually assaulted her.

…according to Adam Loewy, the accuser’s attorney, this case is by no means an anomaly, and this is not the first time MySpace has been implicated in such a tragic set of circumstances.

“There’s a long part of our lawsuit where, unfortunately, we list up to 15 to 20 incidents in the past four or five months nationwide, all related to this site,” Loewy notes. “And that is not an exhaustive list; there are more incidents out there,” he says.

All right, without meaning anything but the utmost sympathies and good wishes for the girl and her family, this kind of thing is not the fault of MySpace. It’s a lack of involvement on the part of her parents, and it’s a lack of discernment on the part of the girl. The only party who is truly responsible for what happened is the boy, who should be locked for a very long time.

But please, folks, let’s not yet again cop-out of our responsibility to have some common sense. MySpace cannot infiltrate the life of everyone who’s approached by a would be molester. Parents, on the other hand, can.

 

France’s anti-capitalism

The French government has passed what is being dubbed the “Itunes Law.” The law, specifically targeting iTunes/iPod genius Apple, will force Apple to equip it’s iPod to play songs from rival song download companies, which it currently does not do. In addition, the law would force iTunes to change it’s format so that songs bought and purchased through the music service can be played on music devices other than iPod.

As a proud owner of an iPod and an avid iTunes fan, I am absolutely appalled at this ruling. I myself have been frustrated at times by the exclusivity of the iPod+iTunes  coupling, and have had to purchase an iPod (which was considerably more expensive than other devices I could have bought under France’s law) to play my iTunes songs.

However, the iPod/iTunes marketing is a brilliant display of ingenuity, consumer benefit, and entrepreneurship. The iTunes music store is the largest of it’s kind, and, unlike other music services, does not force me to pay for simply using the service. Therefore I pay for only what I download. This is a great service to music lovers. The fact that Apple conveniently equipped iTunes songs with iPod-exclusive downloading technology is their right to do. If I found a better service than iTunes, or a better device than iPod, I would switch. But I haven’t, and that’s why Apple has my double patronship.

France’s assault on capitalism and free-enterprise marketship will only harm her as a nation. Apple put out two fantastic products that have found their ways into millions of music lovers’ rooms. Apple’s genius helps consumers. Why can’t France see that?

 

School being sued for picture of Jesus

A public school in West Virginia is being sued by the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State for having a portrait of Jesus in the halls. The groups say that the picture essentially makes the school out to “endorse Christianity as it’s official religion.”

Question: If federal buildings display their signs in English, does that mean the US endorses English as the official language of the country? Of course not. The First Amendment only addresses legislative respecting of religion, not passive mentions or images.

The ACLU continues it’s streak as paranoid, sue-happy and people ignoring think tank for the Democratic party.

 

For the love of the game

No love here.

For all the worldwide unity soccer may potentially give us, it sure is lousy to see such mass furor over balls in nets.

It's a little sad to see European civilians passively accept the gradual socialism in their countries, while passionately fighting fans of rival soccer teams.