HOTW (Hero of the Week)

GOD

Warning...this is not a religious or spiritual post.

There's been a great deal of talk as of late about Tim Tebow and the Broncos incredible winning streak over the past 6 weeks and specifically Tebow's well known relationship with his faith. 

Now I won't claim to be the most spiritual of people, but I for one believe there may be something to this...and I'll tell you why. 

Exhibit A - Tebow, as a traditional quarterback, is an awful specimen. Although I've watched only a couple of his recent games this season, I've noticed his mechanics and the way the ball comes out is fairly poor. His greatest strength has been his ability to run and manage a college style offense (the option or wildcat). So what business has he winning in the NFL...none that I can see...must be something special going on...

Exhibit B - In Tebow's 7 wins this season, 6 of them have been second half come from behind wins, 5 of them 4th quarter rallys, and three of them OT wins. To go even further, a few of these wins started out with horrible first half stats by Tebow, only to be turned around by huge 4th quarters. Quite a special situation happening...

Now I know you might be thinking..."well how about today's game against the Pats, where he struggled down the stretch and the Broncos lost. Where is his god now?" (said in a mocking manner) 

Here's my last piece of evidence.

Exhibit C - The Broncos may have lost the game against the Pats, which brings them to a record of 8-6. At the beginning of the day, their rivals...the Oakland Raiders...were 7-6 and only 1 game behind the Broncos. So a win today would have moved the Raiders closer to winning the division, and in the middle of their game against the Lions, it looked like that would have been a reality. 

And then it happened...a 4th quarter comeback by the Lions. The Raiders lose and the Broncos are still in first place. Although the Broncos didn't win tonight, the next best thing happened...their rivals in their division race lost. 

I suppose God works in mysterious ways...

Science Talk

Kepler 22b...Earth 2?

Last week we talked about the planet that the Kepler telescope discovered to reside within the planetary habitable zone that allows for the existence of water in liquid form, which is essential to life as we know it.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that the average temperature on Kepler 22b is about 72 degrees Fahrenheit. It also rotates a star that is roughly the same size as our sun at about the same distance.

There's only one major difference that was found...it's about 2.5 times the size of Earth. You would think that wouldn't make much of a difference, but think of it this way. Because the weight of an object on any given planet depends on the relative mass and radius of the planet, your weight on Kepler 22b could be drastically different. Now I wouldn't go as far as to say that your weight would be 2.5 times your weight on Earth because your weight would directly depend on the mass of the planet (the amount of matter that makes up the planet) and inversely depend on the radius.

So in the event our Earth eventually comes to an end, we have a great backup plan...granted it'll take us 220 million years with the current methods of propulsion to get there...but I guess there's something to be said about looking towards the future.

Video Game Review - Skyrim

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - the game to end all games


If you're looking for a video game that could possibly last a lifetime with virtually unlimited replayability and gives you the sense of being an epic bad@$$, then Skyrim might be the game for you!

Now I'll be honest, I was very skeptical about this game prior to playing it. I've played the last two games made by Bethesda, namely Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and although they were received warmly by those entrenched in the Elder Scrolls series and RPG players alike, I was not very impressed; however, I will admit that I didn't make it very far into those game.

When I started playing Morrowind, I didn't last very long. After creating my lizard guy character, I immediately ran out into the closest field and tried to start killing things. I found a little crab like creature and started my assault. Within about 30 seconds, I was dead...from a crab! Killed by some "surf & turf"...just embarrassing. I promptly took the game out of my computer, uninstalled the game, and never spoke of it until now. Seriously...an F'n crab!

My next adventure into the world of Elder Scrolls was Oblivion, which was a fairly good improvement in my opinion. After creating my character, I was thrust into this demon invasion that I was destined to vanquish. Fantastic! All seemed to be going well, striking down demons left and right...until this idiot soldier got in the way of my demon hunting and got himself killed. I tried to explain to his fellow soldiers that his head ran into my sword and that I had nothing to do with it, but they wouldn't have any of it. All of a sudden a half a dozen soldiers are bearing down on me and none of the cities would let me in without putting me in jail...well screw that! Another game gone into "Oblivion".

So when I started playing Skyrim, I figured it would pretty much be the same. I'd probably end up getting killed by some little bunny rabbit with big pointy teeth or more likely get into an argument with some companions over who's going to go after the bunny and end up killing each other. That skepticism held true until about the 15 minute mark when this dragon swooped down in front of me, swiping a couple of soldiers off of a boulder and laid down fire on everything in its path. My wife still laughs every time she hears me scream a little when a dragon dives out of the sky and land right in front of me. To my defense, it is an F'n dragon!!

I can't tell you how many hours into the game I am, but unlike some other games like Fable that has one linear storyline and a couple of different little side quests, Skyrim feels like there's multiple main storylines and hundreds of side quests, including the biggest open world environment that I've ever experienced in a game. To just walk from one side of the map to the other would probably take an RL hour...thank god for horses, carriages, and fast travel! Sometimes though, exploring every inch of the landscape can be just as rewarding, not only from an aesthetic point (as the world is absolutely beautiful), but for picking up the hundreds of side quests in different caves, ruins, etc.

I don't think I've ever felt as powerful in a game as I do in Skyrim. Even after recently finishing Batman: Arkham City and having the ability of taking down 20+ henchmen and Titan filled goons with relative ease and fluidity, in Skyrim, one of my giant two handed fireballs would finish them off in a blink of an eye. In Skyrim, you're a total BAD@$$...until a dragon drops down in front of you...then you'll scream like a little B!%@#!!!!!

HOTW (Hero of the Week)

Here we go Steelers! Here we go!

This week's HOTW goes to the entire Pittsburgh Steelers football team!

If there was any doubt coming into the final stretch of the regular season that the Steelers were ready to make a playoff run, I think today those doubts were mostly put to rest.

Against a strong division rival who were putting together a playoff caliber season, the Steelers dominated in every facet of the game...Offense, Defense, and even Special Teams!

The offense looked in midseason form putting together 2 rushing TDs from Mendenhall and 2 passing TDs, both to Wallace from Roethlisberger who ended with a 117.3 QB rating.

The defense ended up giving up only one passing TD to AJ Green in the second quarter and then promptly shut down the Bengals for good. The D totaled 3 sacks, all by James Harrison, the last of which putting QB Andy Dalton on the sideline for the end of the 4th quarter with a sore hip. My question is when did Ike Taylor learn to catch the ball having his second interception in two games? BTL'n I guess.

Even the special teams, a portion of the Steelers game that hasn't been very consistent over the years, turned in a stellar performance with a punt return for a TD by Antonio Brown and a forced fumble by Stephenson Sylvester.

I think it's about time for the playoffs to start, and maybe the Ravens will start stumbling over themselves that last couple weeks of the season.

We BTL'n! We're Bout That Life! ~ Ike Taylor

The Political Block

"Funny Districts"

Every decade the United States conducts a census, as prescribed for in the Constitution. Today, this process is used to allocate federal funding and find out numerous statistics about the nation. However, the Founder's purpose of this process was to equally divide representation among the various states. Pennsylvania, and every other state/commonwealth, use statistics to re-apportion their Senate and Legislative districts. The process in Pennsylvania is nearing its conclusion, with a final vote set for December 12th. Here is a link to the proposed maps (scroll down to the interactive maps): http://www.redistricting.state.pa.us/Legislative-Redistricting.cfm

Each State Legislator will be representing approximately 62,000 people while Senators will represent around 250,000. Due to population shifts two legislative districts and one senate district will be "moved" to the Southeast. Inevitably, people will complain/question about three things:

1. Why does the southeast gain while we lose?
2. Why are the districts not just big squares?
3. Why do some municipalities/school districts have multiple Representatives/Senators?

The answer to the first should be obvious: districts are determined by population and the southeast presently has greater population growth. (I believe this has great opportunity to change in 2020 with the expansion of the gas industry.)

The second and third are valid questions. But have you ever thought how difficult it is to draw 62,000 into an area without dividing communities and counties? I'm assuming not so you can try for yourself here: http://playthisthing.com/redistricting-game

Pennsylvania's communities and counties are anything but perfect squares so if you merely combined Township A with Township B and City X this might get you to the 62,000 but it would not be a perfect square.

Conversely, Township A might have a population of 62,000 so make that its own district right? But, Town Q with a population of 10,000 is right in the center of the township, now what do you do? Remember districts have to be contiguous so you'll have to divide Township A into two districts and try to reach 62,000 another way.

No doubt there are many cases of gerrymandering but everyone needs to stop and think about all of these considerations before complaining about districts "looking funny".

NOTW (Nostalgia of the Week)

THE MUPPETS ARE BACK!!!!

Very small spoilers
Now I know those of you who actually know me in real life and have heard me suggest movies in the past will take this post with some hesitation...

But...I swear, if you were a fan of the old muppets television show and even the muppets movies of old, then you should, for all intents and purposes, enjoy the new Muppets movie. If you plan on seeing it, prepare yourself for plenty of songs, old fashion muppet hilarity, classic 80s montages, plenty of celebrity cameos, possibly the best acting of Jack Black's career, and a sense of nostalgia that doesn't go away.

Personally, I was always more of a fan of the actual television show with all of the different skits rather than the most of the movies. The great thing about this movie is you get the best of both worlds. There's a great Blues Brothers mentality of getting the band back together to do one last show...which leads up to the resurrection of a special edition of The Muppet Show!!!

Pure Awesome!!!

Science Talk

Guess what global warming...we just found another planet that may be able to support life...so suck it!!

Granted it would take about 20 light years to get, but hey it's a goal right? (For all of you playing out there...20 light years is a distance and it would take us 20 years to get there if we were constantly traveling at the speed of light...yea that's pretty far).

We can't completely tell whether or not there is actual water there as of yet, but we know that it resides within the important "Goldilocks zone", which is the region of space around a star that a planet must reside in order to allow water to survive in its liquid form. We know that it does reside in this zone, so now we just need to identify whether or not it does have water, as Dr. Kaku explains in the following interview:

HOTW (Hero of the Week)

Aaron Dobson defies physics (figuratively speaking)


I'll be completely honest...I don't watch college football...I don't shout "We Are Marshall"...and I have no idea who Aaron Dobson is.

Let me rephrase that...I had no idea who Aaron Dobson was...but I do now. It's kind of hard not to gasp in awe of a real life superhero! Take a look...

This week in Pittsburgh...

It's been quite the interesting week in Pittsburgh...

Monday, we saw the triumphant return of Sidney Crosby to the Pens lineup, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists. It's good to have him back!

Tuesday, we find another school (Pine-Richland HS) evacuated due to an empty bomb threat by an unknown source. Luckily the police didn't find anything, but this type of occurrence appears to be increasing in frequency over the years. Hopefully the police are able to develop ways of tracking down the culprits more effectively and perhaps harsher punishments would deter this type of event from happening.

Wednesday, a black flood of tar-like roofing sealant was spilled along the turnpike as the tanker truck drove from New Castle to Oakmont with an open valve allowing the substance to spill along the turnpike. Nearly 300 cars reported getting stuck in the goo and having to be towed due to damage from the sealant. Crews spent all night and the next day scraping sealant off of the road.

Thursday, we all celebrate Thanksgiving...except for those who have to work at any of the retailers who decided to open their doors at midnight rather than early on Black Friday. Sucks to be the person who needs to catch a few Z's in the middle of Thanksgiving so that they can stay awake while they work at midnight.

Friday, a lot of people celebrate Black Friday by camping out the night before and rushing in the doors of their favorite retailers to get some of the best deals of the year. Black Friday originally got its name for being the most disruptive day of the year for pedestrian and vehicle traffic, but it later turned more into explaining the day that retailers start turning a profit for the year, ie. being "in the black".

The political block

What was the "super committee"? and does it really matter that its members failed to reach a compromise?

The committee itself was one of the most over the top and ridiculous attempts at bi-partisanship ever attempted. Last summer, as the U.S. faced a debt default the 11th hour agreement reached called for a bicameral, bipartisan committee of eight (two House Republicans, two House Democrats, two Senate Republicans and two Senate Democrats) to agree on a plan to reduce the national debt. If they did not agree on a plan by Thanksgiving automatic spending reductions of $1.2 Billion would go into effect (split about evenly between defense and social programs).

As one might expect failure is exactly what happened.

But does it really matter? I say no. The mere fact that this committee existed shows the national dialogue has shifted from "what can the government do for me?" to "we need to get spending under control!". The reason for failure was not for a lack of effort. The Republicans on the committee actually presented two distinct proposals, one of which would have closed numerous loop holes in the tax code, essentially raising taxes on the rich. I believe this failure presents a great opportunity for the electorate to decide (rightly or not) how to reduce our national debt. With the current debt near $15 Trillion (yes with a "T") I think America will once again prove Winston Churchill prophetic when he said "Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities."

It is now up to the American people to determine what the right course of action will be.