Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Impeccable! Incredible!



Manchester United Football Club 2 Sporting Club 1

Cristiano Ronaldo with THE matchwinner. Glory, Glory Man United! The ultimate drama of UEFA Champions League football. It doesn't get any better than this.

Oprah and Obama


Take that, take that, take that (in Diddy's voice)
Ultimate finances. Ultimate exposure. Barack is about to take the White house. Will the voters do their part?

Truth And Rights is an official Barack Obama for United States President supporter.
Who are you going to vote for?

www.barackobama.com

p.s. I read his book "Dreams of My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance". One of the best books I read in 2007.

p.p.s. Obama makes me want to rep America, straight up. You can't rep Uh-Mer-ika while G.W. Bush is in office it just doesn't seem right.

p.p.p.s. If he wins Black people won't ask for reparations. This would be the Big Payback, that "The revolution will be televised" quote from Common is SO appropriate, coming from a Chi-Town cat. Now we need Common and Kanye to start doing his campaign videos. AND don't get mad white people, you know that brothas be letting y'all hang with us if you got "it", I mean we let you play ball with us (NFL and NBA) also, dating a white girl is the new thing to do in Hip Hop culutre, or at least have one in your video. All other people of color that are not of Black skin might as well be Black anyway, cuz WE feel each other, most of the time, not Asians as much, but Latinos tu sabes!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The Internet and Taxation

No pics just facts...

Why Congress isn't barring Internet tax
Human Events
11/12/2007


Originally Published:20071029.

Ronald Reagan famously said: "The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Those words best sum up the view of too many in Washington. But there is one area of the economy where the hands-off approach has reigned: the Internet, the most dynamic aspect of our economy.

Free-Market Principles

The Internet has been this generation's best example of freemarket principles in action. The lack of regulation and the absence of taxes have generated trillions of dollars in economic activity and, on the down side, billions of dollars in revenue to the government through taxes elsewhere.

It was both the untapped potential and the fact that several states had enacted, or were moving to enact, taxes on the Internet that led Congress to pass the Internet tax moratorium in the first place and refuse to enact laws to regulate this important tool.

The Internet is not done growing, improving and expanding. In fact, it has really just started. It is for this reason that there is a push in Congress to ensure the government continues to stay out of the Internet's way by extending or making permanent the tax moratorium, which is set to expire November 1.

The House of Representatives recently passed a four-year extension of the moratorium by a 405-to-two vote. Even though a bill to make the ban permanent has 238 cosponsors, more than half of House members, the permanent ban was not allowed to come to the floor for a vote.

All eyes have now turned to the Senate, which is expected to take up the issue soon. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D.-La.), caving to pressure from state and local officials who would like nothing more than to tax the Internet, used a procedural maneuver to block a vote on a permanent ban. Despite the growing support for permanence, Sen. Landrieu's efforts will most likely mean that a temporary extension of the ban is all that will be brought forward for a vote.

The benefits of the current "hands-off position on Internet taxation are indisputable. But will the Senate have the courage and the political will to go where the House feared to tread and vote a permanent ban?

No one can deny the success of the Internet is tied directly to fact that the free market has been allowed to function-a result that has happened every time the free market has been tried. But there is always the risk of a lurking government that longs to "get a piece of the action," so to speak.

State and local governments would like nothing more than to see the ban lapse so they can impose taxes that could be grandfathered in and allowed to stay in place if and when the moratorium were reinstated. In fact, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Governors Association have been lobbying bard against a permanent ban. This is one of the reasons the House balked at a permanent ban, even though it would have easily passed.

The other reason is the nature of many people in government-they want to tax and regulate. They want to control.

More than that, they fear what a freemarket Internet represents.

If the ban were made permanent and the Internet continued to thrive, as it would, logic would allow for it to be held up as an example of why the government should remove itself from other areas of the economy. This is something the tax-and-regulate crowd cannot allow to happen.

They would like nothing more than to be in a position to involve themselves now, but that position is politically unpopular. This Congress has already passed or attempted to pass countless tax increases, but most of them have been hidden taxes. A new tax on the Internet would be visible and hit everyone, regardless of income. Blame could and would be easily placed at the feet of those responsible-the Democrats who control Congress. People don't seem to mind tax increases when they are directed at someone else nearly as much as they do when it affects their own wallets.

So what will likely happen is that the leadership in the Senate will allow a vote on an extension, not a permanent ban, no matter how many senators express a desire for it. The ball will be punted down the road for a number of years, and when the next deadline approaches, the vultures will start to circle again and we will be right back here. Only, the next time the moratorium is set to expire, they might succeed in allowing what their nature inclines them to do now (but the politics of the moment does not).

As House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R.-Mo.) put it: "If Democrats think that extending the. Internet tax moratorium for an additional four years is a good thing, then why not go the extra mile and make it permanent?"

Now you know why.

(C) 2007 Human Events. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved

Monday, November 26, 2007

The Abbot of The Wu-Tang Clan Speaks

Remeber the Raekwon interview I posted? This is the RZA following up.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Classical Slapstick

Shoes kid. I am a big fan of kicks, a kicksologist if you will. You got to stay ahead of the game and patience is a virtue in the science of kicksology. There are always hot kicks to get, but are they really the right ones for you? It isn't about colorways, it is about personality. Don't wear SB's just to be cool, or rock Jordan just because you saw somebody fly in em. When you find the right pair you know, because there is no hesitation. It happens and you know. You make the connection and the bond is instant and strong. So, don't go for the new, just to be new. Go for the you, so you can be you, but with a little more stee. I know it is time for shopping and all that, but don't go crazy. Stay focused!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Street Art






Flood Ave. San Francisco, CA 2007

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Dangerous D



"I grew up hard, maybe you grew up harder"
-Solomon Childs from Grew Up Hard, Ghostface's More Fish

DAVID N. GOODMAN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Nov 19, 6:21 AM ET


DETROIT - In another blow to the Motor City's tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation's most dangerous city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

The study drew harsh criticism even before it came out. The American Society of Criminology launched a pre-emptive strike Friday, issuing a statement attacking it as "an irresponsible misuse" of crime data.

The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's Sept. 24 crime statistics report.

The report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

Last year's crime leader, St. Louis, fell to No. 2. Another Michigan city, Flint, ranked third, followed by Oakland Calif.; Camden, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Richmond, Calif.; and Cleveland.

The study ranked Mission Viejo, Calif., as the safest U.S. city, followed by Clarkstown, N.Y.; Brick Township, N.J.; Amherst, N.Y.; and Sugar Land, Texas.

CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney said details of the weighting system were proprietary. It was compiled by Kathleen O'Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan, whose Morgan Quitno Press published it until its acquisition by CQ Press.

The study assigns a crime score to each city, with zero representing the national average. Detroit got a score of 407, while St. Louis followed at 406. The score for Mission Viejo, in affluent Orange County, was minus 82.

Detroit was pegged the nation's murder capital in the 1980s and has lost nearly 1 million people since 1950, according to the Census Bureau. Downtown sports stadiums and corporate headquarters — along with the redevelopment of the riverfront of this city of 919,000 — have slowed but not reversed the decline. Officials have said crime reports don't help.

Detroit police officials released a statement Sunday night disputing the report, saying it fails to put crime information into proper context.

"Every year this organization sends out a press release with big, bold lettering that labels a certain city as Most Dangerous, USA," Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said in the release.

"It really makes you wonder if the organization is truly concerned with evaluating crime or increasing their profit," said Bully-Cummings, who noted the complete report is available only by purchase. "With crime experts across the country routinely denouncing the findings, I believe the answer is clear."

The mayor of 30th-ranked Rochester, N.Y. — an ex-police chief himself — said the study's authors should consider the harm that the report causes.

"What I take exception to is the use of these statistics and the damage they inflict on a number of these cities," said Mayor Robert Duffy, chairman of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The rankings "do groundless harm to many communities," said Michael Tonry, president of the American Society of Criminology.

"They also work against a key goal of our society, which is a better understanding of crime-related issues by both scientists and the public," Tonry said.

Critics also complain that numbers don't tell the whole story because of differences among cities.

"You're not comparing apples and oranges; you're comparing watermelons and grapes," said Rob Casey, who heads the FBI section that puts out the Uniform Crime Report that provides the data for the Quitno report.

The FBI posted a statement on its Web site criticizing such use of its statistics.

"These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, or region," the FBI said. "Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents."

Doug Goldenberg-Hart, acquisitions editor at CQ Press, said that the rankings are imperfect, but that the numbers are straightforward. Cities at the top of the list would not be there unless they ranked poorly in all six crime categories, he said.

"The idea that people oppose it, it's kind of blaming the messenger," Goldenberg-Hart said. "It's not coming to terms with the idea that crime is a persistent problem in our society."

The report "helps concerned Americans learn how their communities fare in the fight against crime," CQ Press said in a statement. "The first step in making our cities and states safer is to understand the true magnitude of their crime problems. This will only be achieved through straightforward data that all of us can use and understand."

The study excluded Chicago, Minneapolis, and other Illinois and Minnesota cities because of incomplete data.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Mighty Healthy

Mighty Healthy Ghostface!

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Since I'm bringing out my favorites, might as well put this one up. Who could beat Ghostface in a rhyme battle? His slang is second to none, it takes cats years to catch up to the style. My man Days of Doom and I were discussing when this video was out Ghost was busting the Jeff Gordon gear waaaaaaaaaaay before NASCAR blew up. Dope beat and dope rhymin', you need anything else?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Roc Boys Video

Long-Term Beta Carotene Use May Slow Cognitive Decline in Men



(Taken from Physician's First Watch for November 13, 2007
David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, Editor-in-Chief)


Long-term use of beta carotene supplements may modestly slow the mental decline of aging, according to the Physicians' Health Study II.


The analysis — in the Archives of Internal Medicine — was based on about 4000 men randomized at a mean age of 56 to take 50 mg of beta carotene or placebo on alternate days. After 18 years, those taking beta carotene had slightly better cognition on a variety of tests. The effect was the equivalent of delaying cognitive aging by 1 to 1.5 years. A second group of men randomized to short-term beta
carotene supplementation (average of 1 year) did not see any cognitive benefit.


The authors say small differences in cognition could "predict substantial differences in eventual risk of dementia; thus, the public health impact of long-term beta carotene use could be large."


However, an editorialist cautions that results of other trials have been mixed, and "for the clinician, there is no convincing justification to recommend" antioxidants for cognitive performance.

Caught In A Nightmare



I was in Old Slavey this past weekend. FUCK OLD NAVY! I used to work there, for 5 years actually. The gift and the curse, literally. This is where I met my girl and that job put food in my belly for my entire college career. That is the gift. The curse, or curses I should say are far too many to name here. One of the curses is the fact that during the "Holiday Season" I used to get screwed over. How many times did I miss the celebrations at my pad in SD cuz I had to work? More than enough. Item of the Week and shit. Man, so much fake crap went down at that spot. I mean I worked at Santa Rosa, Emeryville, National City, and San Francisco. Damn man, I am so thankful that I don't have to clock in over there any more. I was so nice to so many assholes, bitches, gay gangstas, wankstas, sucka ass niggas, punk ass suckers, scallywops and scallywags. I don't care if you are offended. Go ahead and shop there, that's cool. I'm just sayin' you don't want to be employed there, cuz it is wack.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Jay-Z American Gangster



Jay-Z has made the best hip hop album of his career. As a huge fan of his latest works, The Black Album and Kingdom Come, I was quite surprised that he was going to be dropping another album so soon.
Jay-Z has been growing up before our very eyes, from a Roc Boy to the CEO of Def Jam, SCCEO has been doing his damn thang for a long time. Reasonable Doubt was my first introduction to Hova. Actually, I wasn't even a big fan of his, I mean I liked him but I didn't buy cd's or anything. But, when I heard Can't Knock the hustle...
My older sister was a bigger fan than I was.
She was the one who schooled me on the ways of Jay Z, actually my sister is the one who got me into hip hop in the first place. I remember when she had two pairs of the Jordan 13's the all black with red and the blue joints, definately the freshest kid out of the 3 of us. So, as Hov kept dropping hit after hit, he grew on me. And now I am hoping that I can see him in a live show because the amount of quality material he has put out over the years is upper echelon in the hip hop game. Show respect to Jay-Z, The American Gangster.

So to the album!

1. Intro: The definition of Gangster and Gangsterism. If you don't know now you know. Learn something youngin'.

2. Pray: This song features Beyonce. Hov and B are a great team when it comes to tracks. They obviously have some chemistry. The set up. The introduction. The beat is cinematic and definately sounds like it belongs in a movie. This would make for a great video. The lyrical storytelling is flexin' the mental muscle on this track.

3. Amercican Dreamin': This song has live instruments on it, big up to Diddy and the Hitmen and Mario W. I want to see this song performed live. This is on some unplugged shit. Lights low on this one. All of us have dreamed before and that is what this track sounds like. Deep.

4. Hello Brooklyn 2.0: Lil' Wayne is on this one and now this shit is about to jump off! Bump this at your next house party. The Beastie Boys sample is classic. Weezey is on everything these days! His verse is innovative, I don't know if he is rhyming or singing or just Weezin'. But that cat is bad and Jay brings Brooklyn to the spotlight. If I was from BK this would be my theme song. I think this is one of those songs that will never go away. The way the track bumps reminds me of '89. Knock this one loud.

5. No Hook: Denzel's voice is at the begining of this track. Hov came thru on this one without a hook. Not about being catchy on this one. Just rhymin'. Got a nice Barry White sample on this one too. A track for cats who ain't about dancing to the hop they bump. That lyrical niceness that is good for a night ride on the iron horse. "Please don't categorize this as music"

6. Roc Boys (And The Winner Is...): "WE IN DA HOUSE!" says Kanye. You know he had to have a K.West beat on the album. The video for this track is great. Mariah, NAS, Diddy, UGK, Beans, and others make an appearence in the video. The youth who plays the young Jay in the video is the spitting image of him. I think it is his nephew but I could be wrong. I got this track leaked of the internet and when I heard the horns, I was so excited. I always loved his rhymes but I usually questioned the majority of his production. Imagine him on some RZA shit or some Pete Rock shit? But, when I got this and bumped it for my brother. We both knew that Hovito was bringin' it.

7. Sweet: This is one of the ultimate hip hop songs. You can not stop this track! The production is by Diddy's camp. They have been getting their act together, and you knew that they'd be together again. Puffy, Playboy Jay-Z, and B.I.G. were running things back in the day and now after a breif separation they are back together on this one. "Best thing about it is my niggas eating together"

8. I Know: A Skateboard P beat. You know that P. Williams is about the ladies, and this track is no different. Play this for your girl, because you got to know what SHE likes. Ya dig? This is on some in the apartment slow dance shit. I likey.

9. Party Life: Serioulsy, I can't convey in words how big Diddy and them are on this ablum. These cats are digging out the soulful beats. A sample from Get Into the Party Life by little beaver. Live instrumentation and super retro sound on this. One of the best Jay-Z songs ever created. This track outclasses much of the new music that is produced these days. Live drums, vocals, trumpet, and bass.

10. Ignorant Shit: Looks like Just Blaze grew up too. Got an Isley Brothers sample that was made famous by B.I.G.'s "I love it when you call me big poppa, throw ya hands in the air, if you a true player. The masses love that ignorant shit. "Nigga fuck, shit, ass, bitch trick plus weed". You have to hear this. Only Hova can make a string of curse words sound sick. "It's only entertainment!"
"Are you saying what I'm spittin' is worse than 'celebutantes' showing they kitten, you kidding, let's stop the bullshitting, till we all without sin let's quit the pulpting"
PREACH!

11. Say Hello: Okay, so just when you thought he might drop a mediocre track next, Say Hello comes on. The strings are extra prolific. Shit sounds like something Ghostface would rhyme over. Seriously. GFK should get up on this remix! The cadence is something that will be copied. "And if Al Sharpton is speakin' for me, somebody get him the word, and tell him i don't approve, tell him i remove the curses if he can tell me our school gon' be perfect when jena six don't exist tell him that's when I'll stop sayin bitch, BIYAAATCH!" Hova's commentary on the state of the Black American population.

12. Success: Never in your life did you think that NAS and Jay-Z would combine to make a team that rivals Ghost and Rae. If these two did an album together they'd be iller than RUN DMC, that is my word! NO-ID is on this beat and this shit bumps so hard. Some true head nod shit. "Google earth NAS I got flats in other continents" The organ sample comes from Funky Thing Pt.1 by Larry Ellis. You have no idea how big this is, I know I keep saying that but you best be getting this album. Like cop that wax, or that cd. Hip Hop history in the making right here. Big things could come from this track. "Let that bitch breathe!"

13. Fallin': Jermaine Dupri? Bilal? When you are the CEO of DEF JAM you got connects. This is not Money Ain't a Thang, trust me. When Truth And Rights busts out a track for track analysis you know it is on some seriousness. I really think that a lot of the producers on here are catching up to what RZA was doing on Wu-Tang Forever. They are understanding the vision he had on that album in the production department. The breakdowns and usage of classical instruments over a serious boom-bap. And not to mention Jay storytellin' about a fall from grace. I'd imagine that this has something to do with Frank Lucas' story. Ha!

14. Blue Magic: 1987!!!!! Skateboard P doin' big. This is probably the video that you be seein' all the time. I was in NYC when they shut down times square for them to shoot this video. Mad cops out there. Minimalist on the beat, this is just a knocker, a speaker buster. And if you are listening in your iPod, bust out the good headphones, not those white ones. Top down, roof back, and stunnas on. "Blame Reagan for making me into a monster blame Oliver North when and I ran contra I ran contraband to they sponsors"

15. American Gangster: JUST BLZAAAAAZE! Whoa. Talk about finishing strong. Blue Magic is minimalist, this is the maximum amount of sounds you can put together in a track before it just becomes noise. The drums are CRRAAAAAAAAAAAAZE! I can listen to this song each and everyday for the rest of my life. That's my word. This makes me dance on the realness, a little Diddy Bop, maybe a shoulder shake. This is a track I want to play for X8 and watch his face change when he hears this track. He'll close his eyes and go DAAAAAAMN, Spanish grease might break his neck head boppin to this one. Beats will play this so loud he'll break the glass in his sunroof! And I "bid you Freddy Adu"

4.99999 out of 5 Conquering Lions. Go buy this, and I got to get my hands on the instrumentals. THE ROC IS IN THE BUILDING!!!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Wu Tang Beef?

Juventus Is Class



This is what classy footballers do. Respect!

(taken from www.juventus.com)
After the collision with Figo, which caused the Portuguese player to break his fibula bone, Nedved has been accused of tackling the Inter Milan midfielder violently and with the intention of hurting him. Pavel has always been someone who plays vigorously, but at the same time he has always played very fairly, and so he decided to reply with a letter to the Gazzetta dello Sport, the newspaper that attacked him more explicitly.

Juventus.com exclusively publishes a preview of the message


Dear Editor,

I'm sorry I caused Luis Figo's bad injury, I apologised to him directly, as is right and proper. But I think it's also right that I defend myself from judgements borne of emotional states, and most of all from the trial carried out regarding my intentions, which, it seems to me, have dominated the papers' articles and comments. I wish to defend myself, because I don't recognize myself in the portrait of me that emerges, among others, from the “Gazzetta dello Sport” articles.
I am not a violent player; I don't play to hurt my opponents. Not only did I not have any intention to hurt Figo, but there was no ill feeling, least of all resentment towards Inter Milan. It was an excess of match ardour and a wrongly-timed effort on my part. However, I did not tackle with both feet or with my foot in the hammer position. It was a normal foul: it was obvious Luis was moving the ball to his right and I tried to intercept his move. I touched the ball with my foot (TV footage clearly showed this), even if in doing so I hit Figo's legs with my shin too. I'm very sorry about the consequences, but I would appreciate it if it was noted that this wasn't a violent foul.
Sure, I can be self-critical and I understand that character, enthusiasm and determination in trying to equalize may have made me exaggerate, both in protesting with the referee and in my tackling. But I'm not the kind of player who hits opponents when play is stopped, or who just wants to hurt them. It seems absurd to me that anyone could even think I have it in against Inter Milan. For me Inter vs. Juve is just simply a great sporting contest, made exciting and interesting by the strength of the two teams and by the traditional rivalry between the two Clubs.
I know I'm a lot of people's favourite player and I also know I'm an example for many kids. Their judgement matters a great deal to me and I would be very hurt if they thought I was an unfair and violent player. It is for them that I decided to write this letter.

Best regards,

Pavel Nedved

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

311 Tribute


I FUCKING love this song. The live version and the one that came with the video. 311 is my shit it gets me amped for living life, and it is great to skate to. I just line up all the albums in a big playlist and let it rock for days.

311's Tribute (lyrics to the best of my abilities)

This one is dedicated to the excitable ones
Not the possums playing dead messing with my head
"X" amount of action, "X" amount of games
For years again I tell you the same, ooh ooh ooo

Gone already to the bored of it all type, lingo
that I'm seein every single night I'm out
Bustin' head for it but your's gets busted right back
Lip split and, I messed up but I got back tryin'
Don't bother lying 'bout constant dissapointment
But the fun in the hunt so quit actin' on a front
You're unmotivaded You're sorta faded
But the remedy is not so get on with what you got

Remember "Lady of Guadelupe"
The times my mother made mole
After mass we would get home
The girls running to the phone
And I'm in my bedroom the 45 on my record player
Was "We're in this love together"
At the time I never realized how songs haunted
The ones that I heard I played because I wanted
Drawing on my wall from time to time coolin'
Making creatures come alive with no schoolin'

When I'm on the microphone
The method that I make is much patience
The method that I make is much patience
I wait for the beat and then I make sense
I'm comin' in hot forgot you definitely got no clue
I'm comin' in hot you got you definitely got so rude
Boy actin' coy but you got nuts like Almond Joy
I tell ya this is a tribute

No one looks as foolish as the excitable ones
But then again there's no one has as much fun
"X" amount of action, "X" amount of games
For years again I tell you the same, ooh ooh ooo

Once I met a man who made nearly no mistakes
He would never bet on a longshot
Never bet on a break and
He's condescending and talks gossip galore
But the dude was definitely such a bore
Hear me now I messed up but I got back trying
Don't bother lying 'bout constant dissapointment
But the fun is in the hunt so quit actin' on a front
Yeah, unmotivated you're sort faded
But the real man is not
The one hiding behind the gunshot, boom!

Time travelin' through my memory
There's a younger doug gazin' at the galaxy
Space trippin' vato of the stars
Searchin' for UFO's from Neptune and Mars
Ode to an alien I know you're out there
Cosmic lonely heart tell me if you care
I'm listening for your sound, here on the ground
I'm listening for your sound, here on the ground

When I'm on the microphone
The method that I make is much patience
The method that I make is much patience
I wait for the beat and then I make sense
I'm comin' in hot forgot you definitely got no clue
I'm comin' in hot you got you definitely got so rude
Boy actin' coy you got nuts like Almond Joy
I tell ya this is a tribute

I'm vexing many mofos but I'm wishing you the best
I keep 'bout half my lyrics and I throw out the best
Cause fly on by, you can if you want
The method that makes sense is patience

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Bag of Stoke

Enjoi-Bag of Suck

Skateboarding Video of the Year (until the Lakai video drops)
This video gets 4 out of 5 Conquering Lions. Jerry Hsu redifines what it means to have the last part.

Friday, November 2, 2007

World Cup 2014 BRASIL!

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) - The country with the most World Cup titles will finally get another chance to win one at home.

Brazil, which has won a record five World Cups, was awarded the right to host 2014 tournament Tuesday by FIFA's executive committee. The South American country hosted the competition once before, losing to Uruguay in the 1950 final.
The unanimous vote came on the same day the 2011 Women's World Cup was awarded to Germany. Germany, the host of the 2006 men's World Cup, beat out Canada.

"We want to be good hosts again," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to India.

Brazil was the only candidate for the 2014 World Cup because the rotation system meant it had to be played in South America. Colombia had said it would bid, but pulled out in April.


"If you think the task of FIFA was made easier because Brazil was the only candidate, it's not true," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. "For us it was a real challenge to have the same list of requirements, the same recommendations and conditions for only one candidate, than we had two. Perhaps we put the bar higher than if there had been two."

After announcing Brazil as the 2014 host, Blatter handed the World Cup trophy to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who flew in for the event.

"Soccer is not only a sport for us. It's more than that," Silva said. "Soccer for us is a passion, a national passion."

He added: "If everything works out well, we will win once again a World Cup."

In Brazil, 50 mountain climbers hung an enormous national team jersey bearing the slogan "The 2014 World Cup is Ours" from majestic Sugar Loaf mountain in Rio de Janeiro. At the Maracana Stadium, workers spread jerseys across the field reading, "The new Maracana is ours and so is the 2014 World Cup."

"We are a civilized nation, a nation that is going through an excellent phase," Brazilian Football Confederation president Ricardo Teixeira said. "And we have got everything prepared to receive adequately the honor to organize an excellent World Cup."

Brazilian Sports Minister Orlando Silva, national team coach Dunga and veteran striker Romario were among those that also made the trip.

Since launching its bid, Brazil stressed that a World Cup will extend far beyond sports.

"Over the next few years we will have a consistent influx of investments. The 2014 World Cup will enable Brazil to have a modern infrastructure," Teixeira said. "In social terms will be very beneficial."

Tuesday's presentation was smoother than the one in July, which was laden with statistics and underlined Brazil's status as a developing nation with repeated images of its car factories.

Blatter had recently questioned Brazil's infrastructure and bid plans, but FIFA said last week that a stadium-inspection trip in August showed the country could put on an "exceptional" tournament.