One thing I love about watching the UEFA Euro Championships are the national anthems in the beginning of the matches. Each side sings and it’s just kind of an awesome thing to see.
Anyway, that got me thinking about a few of my favorites and, if you can imagine, they are all on YouTube for our viewing pleasure.
God Save The Queen
Das Deutschlandlied
Oh Canada
Have you been following the Democratic Primary Season this year? If not, the video below will give you a nice summary of how it all went down. Enjoy!
Do Senate leaders really think this is a good solution to the country’s energy crisis and global warming? George F. Will writes a very poignant article on the bill that was being debated in the Senate this week. You can read it here. Talk about increasing the bureacracy and size of the federal government… also government control over private business. No good in my eyes.
Do I believe climate change happens and is happening? Yes. Do I believe that we should do all we can to reduce emmissions, be responsible in our use of natural resources and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills? Yes, I most defintely do. Do I believe that humans are the cause of “global warming” and that we are doomed if we don’t do something drastic now? Nope. I have yet to read anything (convincing) which backs up claims that global warming is happening or that humans have any direct effect on global temperatures.
I wasn’t alive back in the 1970s, but maybe some of you that are reading this were. Any of you recall the global cooling scare?
The A/C man showed up last night around 9.15pm. Yeah, I know, really late. Anyway, after mucking around out by the unit for about 30 minutes, he figured out what the problem was and the problem was fixed. I’m now sitting in a nice cool house. Thank goodness for that. Another good thing? It didn’t cost me much either. I’m glad that I don’t have worry about this issue throughout the weekend.
Barack Obama has many icons and graphics available on his website for people to use. When I saw the one that I used at the top of this post, I was thinking “what a waste of time, of course McCain will take AZ.” Now I’m not so sure. A recent poll by the Behavior Research Center in Phoenix shows McCain leading Obama by only 11 percentage points. Now, Arizona doesn’t have that many electoral votes so I guess it doesn’t really matter which candidate wins this state. I think it would say something if McCain can’t even win in his own home state though.
Does Obama have what it takes to turn this state blue?
The A/C in my house is broken. My house is 90 degrees inside. The repair man was supposed to be here between 7am and 7pm, I’m still waiting. I’m not a happy camper.
Today the International Olympic Committee chose four cities for the short list to bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. These cities are; Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Tokyo.
My thoughts are that Chicago has the best chance of taking home the prize. The IOC will make their decision in October 2009. The last time the Summer Olympics were in America was Atlanta 1996. The United States is the largest market for the Summer Olympics and not having the games in the western hemisphere has hurt the TV revenues and ratings here in the states.
I believe that Chicago’s greatest rival for the nomination will be Rio as South America has never hosted an Olympic Games. The problem with Rio is that Brazil is a poor country, they have lots of crime, and pollution is a problem. After the Athens debacle (they’re still trying to pay for the games there) and the fact that Brazil will most likely get the 2014 World Cup, they will probably fall short of the Summer Games.
Madrid has no chance, as the Olympics were just held in Athens in 2006 and will be in London in 2012. The same goes for Tokyo, as the Summer Games are in Beijing this year. The IOC likes to spread the wealth around the world.
So, do you support a Summer Olympic Games in Chicago? The humidity will be stifling, but I think it would be good for the United States to host an Olympic Games again.
The Euro 2008 football championships begin on June 7 and I can hardly wait. ESPN and ESPN2 will be airing every game this time around, thanks in part to the success they had with the World Cup two years ago. Unfortunately, most of these matches will be during the day and I won’t be able to watch them live. The final match will be played on Sunday, June 29th in Vienna. I may have to make my way down to the George & Dragon pub to view a few matches. It’s always great to watch football matches surrounded by other fans. Also, it’s interesting to see how many people from the participating countries are here in Phoenix.
The most exciting matches will be the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final. The dates for these matches are as follows: June 19 – 22 – QFinals; June 25-26 – Semis; June 29 – Final.
Every two years I’m rewarded with a great football championship. Thank goodness for the Euro Championship. The four years between World Cups would be quite difficult to deal with if it wasn’t around. A small fact, for those of you who like learning new things, this is the third most watched sporting event in the world after the World Cup and the Summer Olympics. Kinda crazy.
Darren Hayes, former front man of Savage Garden has a few albums out as a solo artist. Darren Hayes hails from Australia and is one of their more popular music artists. He recently wed his long time boyfriend in London (since AUS does not recognize same-sex marriages/unions). His new album “This Delecate Thing We’ve Made” has an 80s feel to it and includes some excellent songs. Check it out on iTunes. Below are a couple songs/videos for your enjoyment.
Listen All You People:
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Walk Away:
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A classic Savage Garden video:
View the video below. This lady is speaking after the DNC Rules and Bylaws committee met and decided to give 69 of Michigan’s delegates to Hillary and 59 to Obama (even though he took his name off the ballot there). She makes some good points. I’ve always felt that McCain v. Obama would be extremely close and I won’t be surprised if McCain takes the prize. So, will the dems that support Hillary go for McCain or simply not vote? What are your thoughts? This November will be interesting.
Below, Harold Ickes tells the Rules Committee just what he thinks about giving Barack Obama 55 delegates for an election in which he did not participate and 4 of Hillary’s delegates, even though she did not break any rule.