Small Pecker Syndrome
[UPDATE: this video link was killed earlier today by a certain corporate entity, thus we are sincerely sorry]
As advertised…
This is a truly interesting documentary about the one thing men don’t want to talk about and the one thing that men constantly think about: wee wee’s.
Posted: February 25th, 2008
at 12:40pm by Black Ock
Categories: life,mnp is for the children,fo' real?,2 hours on the internet,boredom killer,documentary
Comments: No comments
Japanese Show of the Week #7

Posted: February 20th, 2008
at 8:23am by Black Ock
Categories: youtube,games,fo' real?,boredom killer
Comments: 2 comments
Who Got the Vocab!?
Quixotism is the description of a person or an act that is caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals. It also serves to describe an idealism without regard to practicality. An impulsive person or act can be regarded as quixotic.
Quixotism is usually related to "over-idealism", meaning an idealism that doesn’t take the consequences into account. It is also related to naAAve romanticism and to utopianism.
[LINK]
Posted: February 19th, 2008
at 7:34am by Black Ock
Categories: weaponry,boredom killer
Comments: 1 comment
Why Investigate Steroids?
It didn’t hit home until I heard that crotchety-old Senator Specter wants to further investigate my darling 18-1 Patriots and their Spygate scandal to see if the league handled it appropriately. This led me to ask the question why congress cares about sports at all. Yesterday someone told me "they should fire each and every one of these people." I might be inclined to agree. Why are my tax dollars worth investigating whether Roger Clemens did steroids?
You might say, wait, don’t you guys hate the Yankees and Roger Clemens [and if you don’t say that, read the next few posts] and you would be kind of [undoubtedly] right. But, my ninjas, that’s pretty much beside the point. Just having somebody suggest that Roger did steroids was enough for me, you know, just the whisper in the shadows was gratifying. Of course, Andy Petite has no reason to lie, and of course, none of this would have come out without congress’ initial investigations, but, bear with me here.

I don’t really care about the issue, nor do I think it has anything to do with the enforcement of general law in our country - and furthermore I think that it is a waste of time and energy to be regulating baseball [of all things] in the legislative heart of our government, especially as regards to steroids, baseball, or human growth hormone - a substance that is, aditionally, not even illegal, but rather exists in a sort of legal gray area. Can anybody explain this?
The article below suggests that because congress has the authority over issues that affect the economy that it allows them to continue with these proceedings under the pretense of preserving fairness in the American market (sports market anyway). I say that’s a bunch of hooey. I don’t even endorse free-market capitalism but the obviously best answer to this one is laissez-faire.
Did the House Government Reform Committee have the authority to hold its much-reported hearings into steroid use in Major League Baseball, or was the testimony of several former and present MLB stars little more than a taxpayer-funded photo-op? Just a Photo-op
When established 1927 as the Committee on Government Operations, the House Government Reform Committee (GRC) was given jurisdiction to investigate "the operations of Government activities at all levels with a view to determining their economy and efficiency."According to it’s published scope of power, the Committee on Government Reform differs from other congressional committees in that its jurisdiction has grown over the years."While retaining the agenda of the former Committee on Government Operations, the Committee also has the responsibilities of the former Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and the Committee on the District of Columbia.
"The Committee serves as Congressa€™ chief investigative and oversight committee, and is granted broad jurisdiction because of the importance of effective, centralized oversight. Because it authorizes on a few agencies and programs, it is able to review government agencies and programs with an unbiased eye."
Despite it’s claim of wide-ranging power, the congressionally mandated roll of the Government Reform Committee remains the investigation and reform of the operations of the government itself. The use of steroids by professional baseball players clearly does not fall under the scope of their authority.
On the Other Hand
The Government Reform Committee is charged as the "principal investigative committee of the House," which gives it the authority to conduct hearings on any subject falling under the jurisdiction of Congress. The Federally Controlled Substances Act, regulates the use of performance enhancing drugs, including steroids. In addition, Major League Baseball has been exempt from most federal anti-trust laws laws since 1922, when the Supreme Court ruled in its favor in Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National Baseball Clubs. The exemption prevents teams for suing if they are not granted the right to change locations at will. While its exemption from anti-trust laws has nothing to do with steroid use by players, it does place the affairs of Major League Baseball squarely under the jurisdiction of Congress. [LINK]

So whata€™s Nancy Pelosia€™s House of Representatives up to today?
Would you believe, holding a hearing on baseball and steroids?
Why yes, yes they are.
Herea€™s Rep. Diane Watson of the House Government Reform Committee on C-SPANa€™s a€oeWashington Journala€A this morning, answering host Peter Slena€™s most excellent question: a€oeWhy does Congress care about baseball and steroids?a€A:
a€oeThis is the American pasttime, great pasttime. Ita€™s a game that really exemplifies who we are as a country and as a people. As you know, our youth look up to our celebrities and the top of that list are baseball players, I feel. And so, ita€™s important to us that we dona€™t sit by and allow an issue that has impacted baseball for an era to continue, because it breaks down the faith and the trust.
a€oeBaseball players are role models. And so, Congress feels that it has a duty to take a look and investigate.a€A
Yes, baseball players are role models. But with this flimsy foundation for a highly-visible Congressional investigation you have to wonder whether Congressmen are role models, too. [LINK]

The problem is not any particular business or industry, but it is the
systematic problem of corporate capitalism, but Congress does not dare
address that. And why? Because most of them support the corporate
capitalist system that harms the majority of Americans, and to one
extent or the other, people around the world. They can make themselves
feel good and honest by going after this non-issue of baseball. My
message to Congress is stop concerning yourself so much with a business
of millionaires (the players) vs billionaires (the owners) and start
looking at a system where people off all classes, except the rich of
course, are suffering. [LINK]
WHY DOES CONGRESS HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO HOLD THE HEARINGS?
In part because baseball is the only professional sport exempt from federal antitrust laws. The laws apply to businesses that operate across state lines (interstate commerce) and are meant to prevent those businesses from becoming monopolies that reduce competition.
A 1922 Supreme Court case exempted baseball from these laws. The court ruled that baseball was not interstate commerce. The decision has proved flimsy over the years but was never overruled. The exemption means, among other things, that an MLB team can’t move without MLB’s permission.
Congress threatened baseball’s antitrust exemption in 2005 before its players and high-ranking officials were grilled in televised hearings by members of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "Congress has the authority to take that away," Hult said.
Congress also has "broad authority" to pass laws affecting businesses, Martin wrote in an e-mail, and MLB certainly is a business.
. . .
WHO THE HECK DOES THIS COMMITTEE THINK IT IS, ANYWAY?
In the simplest terms, a congressional chameleon. It "may at any time conduct investigations of any matter," according to House rules cited by Martin. This committee specializes in investigative panels, which determine whether Congress should pass new laws about the issue at hand.
. . .
WHAT CAN CONGRESS DO TO BASEBALL?
"In the short run, probably not much," Hult said. [LINK]

NFL’s Goodell to Meet With Senator Specter on Patriots’ Taping
By Mason Levinson
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet today with U.S. Senator Arlen Specter to discuss the league’s handling of evidence from an investigation of signal-stealing by the New England Patriots.
The meeting will take place at the Washington office of Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a telephone interview.
Two days before the Feb. 3 Super Bowl, Specter publicly questioned the league’s decision to destroy videotapes confiscated from the Patriots on Sept. 20 after the team was caught recording the New York Jets’ defensive signals during New England’s season-opening win on Sept. 9.
Goodell fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and docked the team $250,000 for the infraction. The Patriots also lost a first-round draft pick.
Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he wrote to Goodell on Nov. 15 seeking information as to whether the Patriots had spied on other teams, and received an unsatisfactory response from the commissioner. [LINK]
Posted: February 14th, 2008
at 10:50am by Black Ock
Categories: celebrity,drogas,games,business,politricks,fo' real?,boredom killer
Comments: 3 comments
Be an Evil Tycoon
It seemed as if it was only yesterday (or less than one year ago) that traders were claiming $60 would be the highest that oil prices could rally. Now, in retrospect, in the minds of many of those same traders, $60 seems to be the lowest to which we could see oil prices fall once again.
Oil Speculators Trade Currency. You Can Too!
The sharp surge in energy prices has nearly everyone scratching their heads about where oil prices may be headed next and what currency pair they could trade to profit from that view. Some oil traders are calling for $80 a barrel while more aggressive ones are setting their sights on $100.
The rise in oil has made headlines across the globe for months now. Strong demand from China and India, the lack of ability by Saudi Arabia (and other OPEC countries) to increase oil production, as well as weather related supply shocks have fueled the continual rise in crude oil prices. From our economics 101 textbooks, we remember that high oil prices act as a tax for consumers by slowing down consumer spending, which eventually takes a bite out of growth. Yet the actual impact of oil prices on different currencies can be very mixed. [LINK]
Note: we do not advocate any form of capitalistic tyranny.
Posted: February 13th, 2008
at 11:45am by Black Ock
Categories: business,boredom killer
Comments: No comments
Stella on Obama
Comedy trio Stella reunites.
Posted: February 6th, 2008
at 11:27am by Black Ock
Categories: politricks,boredom killer
Comments: No comments
DMZ - Brian Wood
My boy Ben put me on to this comic series, DMZ. I haven’t read comic books for quite a while, but this joint, my ninjas, is ill.
The setting is New York City in the near future. A civil war is taking place between the United States of America and the Free States. The Free States are described in the first issue as being "New Jersey and inland"; in issue #8, it is revealed that "the Free States are an idea, not a geographical entity";[1] the movement began in Montana and made its way east. The Free Armies and the U.S. military met at Allentown, Pennsylvania where both sides decided that they did not want to fight, after which the Free Armies descended on New York; the exact chain of events from hereon has yet to be revealed. Manhattan is the location of the demilitarized zone between the two warring parties. In an interview, Brian Wood described the back-history as the citizens of Middle America having risen up against the pre-emptive war policies of the US government, causing a Second American Civil War. He expanded on this in a more recent interview:
a€oe | Midwestern militia groups revolt against their local governments in protest of rampant U.S. adventurism overseas and, in the absence of the National Guard, are able to gain far more ground than they thought possible. Small insurgent groups pop up in towns and cities across the country, and a sizable force, the Free States Army, pushes toward Manhattan. The city proves too big for them to take, and also for the U.S. Army to defend. The war stalls there, a stalemate, neither side being able to shift things.[2] | a€A |
Manhattan is mainly empty, with only 400,000 people still on the island (compared with 1.5 million in the 2000 census), populated only by the poor a€" who were not evacuated a€", snipers and holdouts. Wood has described the setting as: "Think equal parts Escape from New York, Fallujah and New Orleans right after Katrina".[3]
The protagonist is Matthew (Matty) Roth, a naAAve photo journalism intern from Long Island, who enters the DMZ with a news-crew. He becomes trapped when the rest of the news crew and the soldiers escorting them are killed in a firefight with "insurgents". Matty becomes the only journalist on the ground in the DMZ and he begins to report on the daily struggle of life for the everyday citizens of Manhattan. [from wikipedia]
PWCW: DMZ is one of the most politically aware books out there, even though it takes place in an alternate time line. How have today’s the real-world politics affected the direction you take with DMZ, especially as the series continues to find its own divergent path?
BW: Real-world politics are a big factor in this book, in a very direct but limited way. As you said, it’s like an alternate time line, but we try and keep it as current and real as possible. Typically I’ll find myself inspired by a certain bit of real-world events, such as military contracting or kidnapped journalists. I’ll then apply that to the DMZ scenario and see where it takes me.
PWCW: As a longtime New York City resident, you’ve gone to extensive measures to make the city more than just a backdrop but a part of the story. Why did you choose New York, and how has your own time in the city affected the way you portray it?
BW: It never occurred to me to set this anywhere else. It has less to do with New York City being the site of 9/11 as it has to do with it being a world city, a massive place teeming with every sort of person imaginable. Even with the DMZ stories relating to real-world events, it’s a book about people first and foremost, people living in a war zone. [LINK]
You can cop these at your local uh… comic book store… and you can read Brian Wood’s blog right here. The art featured above is cover art from two different issues.
Posted: February 5th, 2008
at 3:31am by Black Ock
Categories: art,games,boredom killer
Comments: No comments
Jesus Camp - Weekly Doc
Hey kids, it’s Monday, and you know that’s when we usually bring the weekly documentary. We know ya’ll are at work (usually, albeit not today) and therefore possibly don’t watch these right away - but we like to put them up early in the week hoping that you think about them during the week and make a bit of time to be entertained and educated. Or something like it. This week’s documentary is Jesus Camp; the IMDB synopsis is down below. Just to let you know, you can obviously watch this video right here on myninjaplease, just to preview it, but you can also click the video frame and watch it on google, which will let you see it in a bigger window.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5249911130864255023Jesus Camp follows several young children as they prepare to attend a summer camp where the kids will get their daily dose of evangelical Christianity. Becky Fischer works at the camp, which is named Kids on Fire. Through interviews with Fischer, the children, and others, Jesus Camp illustrates the unswerving belief of the faithful. A housewife and homeschooling mother tells her son that creationism has all the answers. Footage from inside the camp shows young children weeping and wailing as they promise to stop their sinning. Child after child is driven to tears. Juxtapose these scenes with clips from a more moderate Christian radio host (who is appalled by such tactics), and Jesus Camp seems to pose a clear question: are these children being brainwashed? Written by Ken Miller {wkmiller704@yahoo.com} from IMDB
In other news, it’s MLK Day so we’re gonna take it easy and just see what comes.
Posted: January 21st, 2008
at 5:13am by Black Ock
Categories: robots,film,weaponry,boredom killer,documentary
Comments: No comments
Top Ten Telephone Tricks

When getting things done involves making phone calls, you want to spend the least amount of time and money on the horn as possiblea€"and several tricks and services can help you do just that. With the right tones, keypresses, phone numbers, and know-how, you can skip through or cut off long-winded automated voice systems and humans, access web services by voice, and smartly screen incoming calls. Check out our pick of the 10 best telephony techniques for getting more done in less time over the phone.
Read the Top Ten List @ Lifehacker