For those that don’t know, 90210 was a trendsetting, progressive, original, and avant-garde series. It pushed the envelope with it’s creative and vanguard ingenuity. Not only were the characters exciting and original but the cast of 90210 was responsible for a whole new era of debonaire style. The new 90210 is trying to hard to be something that already was, it’s a spin off that is spinning about as much as a broken clock, it’s stuck in time. When you think of 90210 what comes to mind is racy, promiscuous, sarcasm, scandals and sex. The new 90210 was well, how do I put this, dull.

After about an hour of the new 90210 I felt like I was watching a snootier version of Hannah Montana. I just felt that the show was geared at an entirely different audience; viewers from 18 years ago that now have 10 year old Miley Cyrus impostors as children. There was nothing provocative about the show at all; hell, they hired Jessica “Lucille Bluth” Walter — who played the booziest, horniest senior citizen this side of Blanche Deveraux on Arrested Development to play a grandma that “isn’t your typical bridge player.” Everyone is aware that Jessica Walter can play an over zealous and over age slattern so why not give her a love interest, how about her adopted black grandson…its not like it would be incest. The point is the actors look bored and the characters are stale, nothing progressive or intuitive has happened and it just seems like we are watching a bunch of pretentious 15year olds mocking the styles of the previous cast with much less bravado. I guess we will see what they will do with the rest of the season, but my guess is more of the same insipid and predictive show boating.

Senator John McCain

I just found out that in 1936 Senator and Presidential candidate John McCain was born in Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone. So, who the hell cares where McCain was born, right? Wrong, the U.S constitution states that, “Clause 5. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been Fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. ” It clearly states that a presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen, which McCain is not. McCain was born on a U.S naval base not in the United States itself.

Even though being born on a naval base is technically equivalent to being born in the United States according to this Congressional act, “ …the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens” there still is a slight possibilty that McCain may not be elligible to be President. This is not the first time the question has been broached in a presidential election. Fellow Arizonian Barry Goldwater was born in the Arizona territory before it was a state. And Mitt Romney’s father, George, ran for president in 1968, though he was born in Mexico. Like McCain, both were born to U.S. citizens and, therefore, considered to be American citizens.

However, both of those candidates were unsuccessful in their bids and so a degree of uncertainty remains. If McCain wins the presidency, the constitutionality of these congressional statutes could be challenged in the courts. Members of Congress have expressed this fear and proposed a more explicit law, or even a Constitutional amendment. Neither has been adopted. Maybe the Democrats are waiting to release this information and try to sabotage the election. I guess we will have to wait and see.

The following candidates are listed in no particular order:

#1 Blanka Vlašić — Croatia, High Jump

She Can Vault with my pole anytime!

# 2 Maria Sharapova - Russia, Tennis

She makes balls disappear!

#3  Biba Golic - Seriba, Table Tennis

Table Tennis Has Never Looked THIS Hot

#4 Nikki Gudex - England, Mountain Biking

I just flipped over my handlebars

#5 Jennie Finch - USA, Softball

Apparently too hot to wear clothes

#6 Natalie Gulbis - USA, Golf

I wonder if she would play with my putter

#7 Allison Stokke - USA, Pole Vaulting

I'd like to see her work the stripper pole

#8 Yelena Isinbayeva - Russia, Pole Vaulting

She could probably get great leverage using my .....

#9 Bia and Branca Feres - Brazil, Synchronzied Swimming

What more could you ask for....TWINS!

Just as hot from the front!!!

#10 Amy Taylor - Australia, Football

I'll show her how to score

#11 Ana Ivanovic - Serbia, Tennis

She's asking for an overhead smash

 #12 Nastia Liukin - USA, Gymnastics

NASTY hot!

 #13 Stephanie Rice - Australia, Swimming

I wear a one piece to..my birthday suit

 #14 Amanda Beard - USA, Swimming

What a tease!

 #15 Almudena Cid - Spain, Rythmic Gymnastics Team

Nice bathing suit

#16 Leryn Franco - Paraguay, Javelin 

WOW!!!!

And now the moment of truth…vote for your favorite sexy Olympian

What causes concern is the 0.2% contraction of the GDP in the Euro zone. The Euro sector is one of the most stable sectors in the world and this regression is the first since 1990. The problem all circulates around the prices for crude oil and commodities. As either of those increase exports will decrease due to rising prices of goods. What is even worse is that as currency strengthens, as is the case in the U.S, exports will decrease even further due to a rising dollar, making the cost of goods even more expensive.

  What adds to the problem is the perennial threat of inflation, a predicament that is becoming more prevalent across the world. Most countries try to truncate inflation by simply increasing interest rates but this also dampens growth, making it even more difficult to combat recession. Countries such as the U.K and Japan are also experiencing recession in the housing markets, which slowly leads to an infrastructure collapse of the economy. A weakened housing market and regression of retail sales is causing banks in the U.K to cut interest rates again, precisely what happened in the U.S.

The only countries that seem unaffected by the rise of commodities are those in the Middle East and North Africa, the oil rich countries. Growth in China and India also seems to be advancing as planned, due mainly to the consistency of their currencies which has little effect on exports. Right now the world is hurting for help and the only way I see a solution to this is by cutting down on raw material usage. If the world went on a “diet” it’s pockets would get fat again.

The best swimmer is not the best athlete

Now there is no doubt that Phelps is the best swimmer in the world but there have been repeated implications that he is the preeminent athlete in the world. I have the utmost respect for the guy and any Olympian out there but they compete once every four years. Olympians practice day and night for four years to compete in one race; would they be able to do this week in and week out? Michael Phelps is being compared to Tiger Woods, the guy who has been winning PGA tournies for nearly 15 consecutive years. What I’m trying to get at is if the swimming Olympics were held on a weekly basis would Phelps be as dominant as he is now? Even the best like Roger Federer have their slumps and have to learn to find themselves to overcome losing; no one can remain on top forever. If swimming was on TV every weekend Phelps would find himself swimming against new competetitors and eventually he would tire and relinquish his crown. It is a possiblity that this year’s swimming field is not as demanding as previous year’s, maybe some athletes were too young or were injured and never even got the opportunity to make the trials four years ago. All in all there is no way Phelps can be considered the best athlete in the world; he swims once every four years, has a limited pool of competition and has not experienced the physical and mental anguish of racing the best swimmers every week; limiting his potential for injury and failure.

Look - I just turned 5

So the Olympics are finally underway and now we all have the pleasure of watching 24hour non stop coverage of…commercials. I have never seen this many commercials in my life. The U.S must love the fact that the Olympics are being held in China; with their 12 hour time gain they get to show us chopped up reruns and plug-in about 30minutes of commercials in 1 hour of coverage.  The only way I can watch these Olympics is by TiVOing them, otherwise I may actually find myself buying the scintillating and sexy Sean John cologne. P.Diddy says that if I buy his cologne “I will be a baller and every Nubian princess will be mine”, I’m starting to believe him.

Sorry for the rant but I just wanted to convey how much I hate commercials. Tonight I decided to watch the live feed of the women’s gymnastics at 12:00 EST, way past my bed time. This was the first time I made the plunge into the live broadcast. Generally, I am no fan of gymnastics and was hoping NBC would televise table tennis but I was not that lucky.  According to the IOC, all athletes must be at least 16 years of age. The U.S team seems to be of age except Shaun Johnson, who is about 6 inches shorter than her 5′ colleagues. So the U.S women’s team does their floor routine and they jump on the horse and swing on the monkey bars, making detrimental mistakes at every turn and falling ever so gracefully. When the Americans were done doing their thing the Chinese, who were the favorites, rolled in on their strollers and put the U.S away.

There has been a lot of talk about the Chinese manipulating their athlete’s credentials to win gold. It must be hard for these kids, they are literally removed from their home environment and placed in Olympic sweat shops where they  have been practicing 18 hours a day for the past 4 years. Once they are done practicing the 10 year old girls now have to pretend to be 16. When I saw the Chinese gymnastics team for the first time I thought they were part of a lost group of 10 years olds going to a gymnastics birthday party. These girls literally look like they are 10. I understand that Asians age gracefully and they have great skin which makes them look younger than they really are; but this is a little absurd.

I swear I'm 16

There is one girl in particular, Yang Yilin, who has peaked my interest. She doesn’t look a day over 14. When you check out the bio’s on these girls they are all exactly 16 years old and were born within 2 months of each other…very plausible. Then there is Deng Linlin, she is 4′6″ and weighs 68 pounds! I have never seen a 4′6″ 16 year old in my life, except for the occasional midget, that is f’in tiny. Whenever the cameras panned in on her face she reluctantly smiled; now I know why…it’s because she just lost her first baby tooth and shes got a nice gap in her grill. 5 out of the 6 girls are under 4′9″, I am not saying that height dictates age but it is precursor to actually believing that you had your growth spurt.

Even Bela Karolyi, the most revered coach in gymnastics history, is claiming that China is trying to pull a fast one, “We are in the business of gymnastics and we know what a kid of 14 or 15 or 16 looks like. You don’t have to be a gymnastics coach to know what they look like at 16.” He is spot on, we aren’t dumb and these girls ain’t 16. I doubt they have even gotten their period yet, maybe they are men. I understand that many Chinese women are small and dainty but 4′6″ is small even for a 13 year old.  It isn’t that hard to prove their age, all the IOC requires is their passports; I don’t think China would have a problem breaking the law as long as they win gold. Does anyone else agree with me????

Crude Oil is at it’s lowest since May 1,2008; this is a good thing. Oil has been on a decline for the past two weeks which is concomitantly lowering the dollar. The dollar has been showing increased fortitude against the Yen, Euro and British Pound for the past two weeks, just as oil has been declining. The British housing market has witnessed its largest monthly decline as foreclosures are becoming as imminent as they are here.

This is a good sign for the USD. Analysts say that bear markets last 5-10 years, the U.S has been in a bear since 2001. This increase in the index signifies that the future for the USD looks bright; well at least brighter than before.

A column of 150 Russian tanks and other military vehicles entered South Ossetia yesterday after Georgian troops launched a major offensive to retake control of the area from Ossetian rebels late on Thursday night. All this evolving while Prime Minister Putin was a spectator at the Beijing Olympics.

The Georgian government said 30 people were killed in bombing raids by Russian jets, which it said had attacked the capital, Tbilisi, the Black Sea port of Poti and a military base at Senaki in addition to targets within South Ossetia, still formally part of Georgia.

The Russian intervention, which Moscow said was to protect its peacekeeping forces stationed there, came as a minister in the separatist administration of South Ossetia claimed more than 1,400 people had died in shelling of the Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, by Georgian troops.

The Russian military said 12 of its troops had been killed and 150 wounded in the fighting inside South Ossetia. “Now our peacekeepers are waging a fierce battle with regular forces from the Georgian army in the southern region of [Ossetian capital] Tskhinvali,” said a spokesman for the Russian force.

Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s President, claimed his troops had regained full control of the rebel capital and most of South Ossetia, while insisting that the Russians were to blame for the fighting and appealing for international help. “What Russia is doing in Georgia is open, unhidden aggression and a challenge to the whole world,” he said. “If the whole world does not stop Russia today, then Russian tanks will be able to reach any other European capital.”

Mr Saakashvili, who has invoked the ire of Moscow for his desire to bring Georgia into Nato, said Georgia was being attacked by Russia because “we want to be free and we want to be a multi-ethnic democracy”. He recalled the country’s 2,000 soldiers fighting with coalition forces in Iraq, saying they were needed at home, and was preparing to bring in martial law.

The UN Security Council met for a second time in two days last night in a bid to head-off a full-scale war.

The secretary of Georgia’s Security Council, Kakha Lomaia, said: “Russia has bombed the [Black Sea] port of Poti and the military base at Senaki. We think Russia has started to bomb civil and economic infrastructure.”

Eka Zguladze, Georgia’s Deputy Interior Minister, also said Russian jets had carried out “extensive bombing raids throughout Georgia”. She said the targets had mostly been military but that bombs had hit a public market in the town of Gori, the nearest Georgian city to the conflict zone. She said Georgian forces had shot down four Russian jets, but that there were “still far too many” operating bombing raids.

The claims of 1,400 South Ossetian civilian dead were described as “disinformation and propaganda”, by the Georgian foreign ministry. But witnesses in Tskhinvali painted a grim picture of events. “There are bodies of women, old people and children lying in the streets,” said Vakhtang Dzhigkayev, an adviser to the South Ossetian president on economic issues, by telephone. “Make no mistake about it, this is already war. A very real, painful war.”

Injured by an exploding mine, he had escaped with his family across the Caucasus mountains to Vladikavkaz in Russia, but insisted he had seen the carnage. “I have lived there throughout all the previous conflicts, including the war in the early 1990s, and they were always fought by soldiers against other soldiers,” he said. “Now the difference is that it’s the civilian population that’s taking the brunt of the aggression.”

Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia, said: “I saw bodies on the streets … in cars. It’s impossible to count them. There is hardly a single building undamaged.”

Russia’s military action was meant to quash what appears to have been a plan by the Georgians to retake South Ossetia, which has been a problem for Mr Saakashvili since he took office in the Western-backed Rose Revolution in 2003. He has repeatedly pledged to bring the region back under Tbilisi’s control, but with Russia’s military involvement, the gamble appears to have failed.

South Ossetia is a tiny region nestled on the slopes of the Caucasus mountains, the majority of which is controlled by a separatist regime that broke away from Georgia when the Soviet Union collapsed. The stated goal of the regime is independence, but it relies heavily on Russia for support. Russia has handed out passports in the region, which now enables it to enter the conflict on the pretext of “defending Russian citizens”, and the Georgians claim the South Ossetian leadership is controlled by Russia’s security services, the FSB.

The Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, speaking in Beijing where he was attending the opening of the Olympic Games, spoke of “retaliation” against Georgia. President Dmitry Medvedev struck a similar tone at a meeting of the Russian Security Council in the Kremlin.

The US has largely supported Mr Saakashvili and has already given vast financial aid for Georgia to rebuild its military. Most of the soldiers fighting in South Ossetia have undergone training by US military personnel.

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, urged Russia to withdraw combat troops from Georgia and stop air strikes.

Analysts said that after the initial burst, Russia and Georgia may pull back from all-out conflict. But for those caught up in the middle, that is little comfort.

I had the option of letting it heal itself, which is a bunch of hollistic bull shit, in my humble opinion. Some people say they have cured themselves by literally eating healthy and sitting on their fat asses all day, yeah no thanks. Sure it is possible if you have the dilligence and persistence but I am young and want to get this taken care of ASAP.

I hear alot of stories that once you get operated on for a hernia on the left you eventually get another one on the right, this is probably due to overcompensation. Personally, I am not thrilled to be going under the knife but I don’t really have a choice. The good part is I will be recieving 100 Percocet for this minor operation, I guess it must hurt? I guess I will see what becomes of me.

In the mean time I am going to revamp the blog and add a banner.