It was just a little videotape!

I find it ironic that a league which has already integrated video technology into its everyday gameplay would tolerate spying and the stealing of signals when done using binoculars, polaroids and lip-readers, but not when using a video camera.

And not even just not when using a video camera but not when using a video camera in a location potentially accessible by coaching personnel during the game in order to gain an immediate competitive advantage. Filming signals from the stands and press box to be used ex post facto? Perfectly legal.

Philly columnist Rich Hoffman sums it up best:

Belichick did not do anything that lots and lots and lots of other coaches do - he just did it with a camera. He did not break some solemn code of integrity. What he did was violate a league directive that attempts to regulate the lack of integrity that has been a part of this sport forever.

The Patriots weren’t guilty of cheating so much as they were guilty of not cheating in the way the NFL rules and by-laws allow us to cheat. Seems to be a fine distinction.

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Prosecute more incidents of prison masturbation.

Patton Oswalt enlightens us on which summer blockbuster good Americans will be enjoying this weekend:

Andrew Sullivan highlights some “good news about smoking,” touting a new study that shows smoking may reduce one’s risk of Parkinson’s. Sullivan quotes David Harsanyi, who asks:

My only question is how many major news organizations will give this politically incorrect fact the attention it deserves? If eating tofu lowered your risk of Parkinson’s by 54 percent would it be a front-page story? Should it be a front-page story if tobacco does the trick?

I recently heard cutting off your head is a sure-fire way to prevent brain cancer. I wonder why I haven’t seen this on the front-page..

My oh my:

The Onion’s on the case of a widespread MySpace friendship meltdown:

The outage, which occurred late Saturday night, is believed to be the result of a complicated wallpaper upload for the page of a former VH1 I Love New York contestant, which triggered a chain reaction of web browser crashes and server shutdowns.

Like many grunge rockers, I never really knew understood what “Yellow Ledbetter” was really all about, though it spoke to me in many shades of flannel.

Had I known Eddie Vedder was really looking for some Democrats to make him some fries, things may have been different:

Saturday Night Live Animal Sketches:

This list includes write-ups for animal-themed recurring sketches that appeared on Saturday Night Live. The sketches are listed chronologically.

Just reading the encyclopedic descriptions can be funny:

Dog Show was an aptly titled parody of an Animal Planet show featuring people who are more than enamored with their dogs. It was hosted by Miss Colleen (Molly Shannon) and Mr. David Larry (Will Ferrell)…

The sketch would open with David Larry banging on a snare drum, followed by the two hosts shouting “DOG SHOW!” The hosts would then introduce their dogs, “Mr. Rocky Balboa” and “Mr. Bojangles”…Often the hosts would have their dogs participate in things such as seances and weddings.

Or Brian Fellow’s Remarks on Animals:

On a tarantula: “That’s one fuzzy bug!…If I had a bug like that, I’d make a coat out of him!”…

On a pig: “Why does that pig hate Jewish people?”

Foxy Brown was once a cashier at my grocery store.

Can I have four beers?