Euro-Power

Today the Euro reached a near year high against the U.S. dollar peaking at 1.2938, which is just fractions of a penny of the 1.2979 that it reached earlier this year. The Euro was also up against the Yen, and even the dollar was stronger against the Yen today, but it has lost strength since August 8th when the Fed announced that it would keep interest rates steady for the first time since mid 2004. The European Central Bank has forecasted that it will most likely continue to raise interest rates, which will help to strengthen the power of the Euro. Also adversely affecting the dollar are the volatile oil markets in the Middle East, tomorrow Iran will respond by UN sanctions that are backed by the U.S.

Checks and Balances

In the great state of Michigan today a federal judged ruled that the eavesdropping and information gathering of the National Security Agency is unconstitutional and illegal. Anna Diggs Taylor is a U.S. District Judge in Detroit, and her ruling has raised headlines across the world. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars, and lawyers who believe that the NSA program makes in much more difficult to complete their jobs. The government argued that the program was well within the boundaries of the Constitution, but could not go into detail due to state matters that had to be kept confidential (secrets). Taylor ruled however in favor of the ACLU who claimed that President Bush had made enough details about the program available to the public in order to make a decision. The White House of course was not at all pleased with this issue, press secretary Tony Snow state that the administration "couldn't disagree more with this ruling." He went on to further state that the program has already proved successful and saved multiple American lives. No word yet on the backlash or appeals process that the Bush administration will now take to try and reverse Judge Taylor's decision.

Fighting Terrorism by Banning Facebook

Yahoo reports today that Congress is considering banning social networking sites from public schools and libraries. Popular websites such as MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, and dozens of other social networking sites are the targets of Congress that want to eliminate student access while at school or libraries. The Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) which was passed by the House of Representatives will allow the Federal Communications Commission to ban any sites that include personal information, online profiles, journals, and the like within public schools and libraries. The American Library Association is protesting the passage for such legislation on the basis that it infringes on civil liberties. Many schools have their own personal firewalls and filters that block access to such sites deemed inappropriate by each institution. This seems a much more common sense approach to dealing with Internet security. Ramble On believes that the government should stick to more important issues with a broader scope, rather than worrying about whether school students are checking their MySpace profile.

The Brand with the Three Stripes

So far the NFL preseason has seen a number of highlights and disappointments. Clinton Portis suffered a separated shoulder when he tackled Kelwan Ratliff after he picked off a Mark Brunell pass. Portis was clearly angry after the game when interviewed by Andrea Kramer stating that the preseason was much too long, and was hazardous to player’s health and careers. Portis will be out for the entire preseason, and is still questionable for the regular season opener. Matt Leinart finally signed with the Arizona Cardinals that ended a two-week holdout. The former USC star was the last rookie to have held out, and even though head coach Dennis Green criticized him for turning down a more than generous offer for a 10th overall pick the team is pleased to put the holdout behind them and move forward. Reggie Bush also made headlines and received a fine. The NFL fined Bush for an equipment violation; Bush has signed an endorsement deal with Adidas, and he wore a pair of Adidas cleats in Saturday's victory over the Titans. The NFL has a deal with Nike and Reebok that only allows players to wear Nike or Reebok cleats on game day. Bush told reporters that Adidas will pay for the $50,000 fine, but there is no word whether or not he will continue to wear their cleats for preseason or regular season games.

Happy Trails Becks

Just days after Steve McClaren named John Terry the new captain of the English national team; an even bigger move was made, or not made. McClaren has decided to leave former captain and international superstar David Beckham off the roster for the side indefinitely starting next Wednesday in England's first friendly in the McClaren era versus Greece.

"I have great respect for David," said McClaren. "He was a fantastic captain for England, a great player, and still is a great player ."He took the news very well, although he was disappointed. "I got the reaction I wanted, and the reaction was he would continue to fight for his place, and I will never close the door on that. "

Beckham was admittedly disappointed about the move but remained up beat stating:

"I'm proud have played for England for 10 years and my passion for representing my country remains as strong as ever."

This isn't the only change that McClaren has decided to make either; in all there are 9 roster changes from last month's World Cup squad. Beckham has made no announcement for international retirement, and rumors are already beginning to surface about a return for the Euro 2008 championships. For now Beckham will focus on his upcoming club season for Real Madrid, and put this decision on the backburner. Ramble On believes that this move will be another step in the right direction for England and McClaren seems to be sticking with technical football ability rather than marketing and sexiness of certain players and names. Maybe Beckham will now spend less time primping his hair, strutting around the Continent, and modeling for the camera and start to focus on football (not just set pieces either) for a change if he has any hopes to play for his country again.

The eBay Bandit

Two days ago Matthew McConaughey auctioned off a 1971 Corvette Stingray convertible for $61,600 on eBay that he will donate to Hurricane Katrina Relief. Last week Barry Bonds' 715th home run ball fetched $220,100 after 69 bids were placed over the duration of the eBay auction. Most of us remember in November of 2004 Goldenpalace.com purchased a piece of toast that had an image of the Virgin Mary burned onto it on eBay for $28,000. Today however there is an auction on eBay that tops all of these auctions. Ron Steen is a college freshman that will be enrolled at Cal State Fullerton on August 21st, and he is attempting to pay for college in a very unique way. Steen is offering 2% of his lifetime work earnings, in exchange for $100,000 this week to pay for his college tuition on eBay. Steen makes the outrageous claim that "after my education I plan on making at least 30 million dollars in my lifetime. When I meet my goal, you will make six times your original investment." Another amusing part of the auction is the Q&A section where Steen attempts to justify and defend his argument and admits when one user questions is spelling and grammar, Steen admits that he is not that good of a speller. If Ron Steen somehow manages to con someone out of his money, then Ramble On wants to be the first to claim that Steen never graduates college, invests his money, and lives off the interest without making any more money the rest of his life.

Terry-Time

As new England boss Steve McClaren takes over the FA's national team one of his first orders of business was to fill the vacancy of captain after David Beckham stepped down after the cup. McClaren choose 25 year-old Defender John Terry to lead the three lions in the post-Beckham/Erikkson era. Terry was very grateful to accept the promotion stating, "It is the ultimate honour to be the captain of your country and I am very proud." Terry will sport the captain's band for the first time on August 16th when England takes on Greece in an international friendly. This looks to be a step in the right direction for England, Beckham was never a player who could handle the responsibility of captain, and Erikkson's stay as boss was more than overdue after horribly mismanaging the squad at the cup.

Levy-tation

Tuesday citizens of three school districts around the Cincinnati area voted whether or not to pass levies that would allow a rise in property taxes to pay for improvements to each district. Northwest school district, Three Rivers District, and Monroe District all had their levies fail on Tuesday to send the school boards, administrators, and faculty into frenzy to decide the next course of action. In the Northwest District voters rejected a $5.7 million emergency levy (which amounts to a little under $170 annually on a $100,000 home), since the levy failed about 7,000 students this Fall will go without bus transportation in the district. School Board president Chris Heather believes that on Monday the district will draw up plans for a cheaper levy to be on the ballot for this November's election. Monroe and Three Rivers will also be faced with the same task, all three of which must have their proposals in by August 24th to meet the November deadline. The bigger question at stake here is why residents of any district would defeat minor levies to save a few bucks in property tax? Ask any real estate agent what makes an elite community with high property values and every time a quality public school system will be among the top 2 or 3 replies. Communities with well-funded, and well-managed public school systems are much more likely to increase and hold their property values. This means that no matter how much a citizen hates the idea of contributing money to education (a problem in of itself), it still makes fiscal sense to do so for the increase in property values. Schools across Ohio and the nation are constantly struggling to get the funds they need to maintain a healthy school system, and its the majority of miserable misers who are a large part to blame for such under funded and therefore underachieving schools. This November vote yes to pass your local school levy; in the long-term it just makes sense.

Careful What You Search For

C|Net reports today some very disturbing searches that have been made available for AOL subscribers. This article reveals that over the past year over 21 million searches have been conducted by AOL users, and while some see it as an invasion of privacy, Big Brother is watching, and he is laughing, bored, and really scared by many of the queries and order of queries posted by "average" Joe’s. The list is hysterical, horrifying, and just plain odd all at the same time. See for yourself

Ohio Thuggin

The Cincinnati Bengals have already had five run-ins with the law before their preseason has officially began, and not to be outdone by the Bengals, Maurice Clarett is apparently jealous that the Bengals get all the press in Ohio and nationally. While he is awaiting trial for two counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of robbery and one count of carrying a concealed weapon in a separate case, last night Clarett led police on a chase across I-70 outside Columbus. The cops had to throw a nail strip to stop him, then needed to mace him after their stun gun was rendered ineffective (because the former Buckeye was wearing a bullet-proof vest), and then when the finally subdued him and placed him in a police van he was kicking and screaming the whole time. Police then went on to discover not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 loaded weapons. That’s right Clarett was carrying 3 loaded handguns, and a loaded rifle with him in his SUV while wearing a bulletproof vest. This man is clearly crazy, and I am glad to say that he never wore the maize and blue, colors that have much more integrity than the scarlet and grey, or navy and gold.

From Stamford to Meazza

The BBC reports today that Hernan Crespo will get his wish. The Argentinean Striker has signed a two-year deal with his old club Inter Milan today in the Italian Serie A league. Ever since the World Cup Crespo made it clear to all that he would like to return to the country of his residence and finish out his career in Italy. Preferring the Italian brand of football to the EPL. Crespo turned down more money from his English Club Chelsea, opting for a 2-year deal with Inter-Milan where he has recently purchased a house. While Chelsea was no doubt sad to let him go, Crespo has nothing but positive words for his former club saying that he "left Chelsea crying but was happy to arrive at Inter". Chelsea still has two top-rate strikers in Didier Drogba and newly acquired Andriy Shevchenko, but the loss of Crespo will probably force the Blues to seek out another top rate attacker to add to their depth.

Tiger Traunces the Tour Today..........again

Tiger strikes again! Just two weeks after winning the British Open Tiger Woods was able to notch his 50th career victory on the PGA Tour winning the Buick Open in Grand Ledge, MI shooting 4 straight rounds of -6 66 to finish up a season low -24. Woods, age 30 has become the youngest player to reach 50 wins and the 7th ever to do so, beating Jack Nicklaus by 3 years, an impressive feat for sure. Next week in Chicago Woods will try and win his 12th major next week in Chicago at the PGA Championship, this year's final major tournament. Kudos to Tiger who has been dominating and growing the professional circuit for the past 10 years.

Queer Eyes for the Straight Canadians

Today in Montreal the first ever World Outgames came to a conclusion with a grandiose closing celebration party that saw the 12,000 athletes and 40,000 spectators rejoice in celebration. The BBC reports that the first ever Outgames was the biggest spectacle to hit Montreal since the Olympic games over thirty years ago. 1992 Olympian Mark Tewksbury was the co-president; Liza Minnelli performed New York, New York, and tennis great Martina Navratilova received a huge ovation. Athletes were able to win rainbow colored medals in events that ranged from traditional athletics and weightlifting, to dancesport (?) and bridge. One controversy that surrounded its event was the fact that the Gay games, which took place a month ago, were held so far away in Chicago, but this was due to disputes and differences in opinion in organizing. The theme for this years Outgames "We Play for Real", seems very confusing, and as of now Ramble On is unable to make sense of a deeper meaning behind the theme. The event hosted athletes from over a hundred countries; it was not without hiccups however, because Canadian immigration denied access to the country.

TSN Miami Bias

The Sporting News released its annual list of Best Sports Cities earlier this week. The criteria for making this list is the same as it has been for 10 years; given a 12 month period (July-July) what cities have the best sports atmospheres both professional and college using factors such as regular season records, postseason records (playoff berths, tournament bids, bowl appearances), quality and quantity of teams, ticket availability, stadium/arena quality, marquee athletes, and so forth. For the last two years Boston has held this prestigious title, but this year Chicago has won the distinguished award of best sports city. Chicago is definitely a deserving champion, but infuriating is the fact that Miami ranks as this years number 2 sports city. Miami? Granted they have an elite NBA team with at least two bonafide superstars, but what else do they have? An underachieving football program who hasn't been strong since Dan Marino retired, and NHL franchise that is so anonymous that you cannot think of one player on the team. A Baseball team that closely resembles a minor league franchise in terms of age, quality, attendance, and management. A Miami Hurricanes football program that can be dubbed rebuilding at best. With other cities much more deserving (see Detroit, Boston, & Dallas) one can only wonder how one pro franchise can propel Miami to second in the nation. Maybe this year’s release of Miami Vice has something to do with it, damn that Colin Farrell. The top 100 can be viewed here.

Wikid

Last night's Colbert Report, showed host Stephen Colbert exploit Wikipedia in its nightly "The Word" section. Last night's word: "Wikiality", Colbert explained that any user could log on to the site and revise or comment on articles to debate the factuality of each entry. Then if enough users agree that the article is true then the article will be changed accordingly. Colbert has challenged his viewers to log on to Wikipedia and agree with his claim that there are more elephants in Africa now than ever before, and that the elephant population is growing at an alarming rate. If enough people agree than this becomes fact. For example Colbert has added that the elephant has tripled in the last three months. The article can be found here at Wikipedia