Irrationality

Seriously, I again have to question the wisdom of the idiots who run the stock market asylum. Either (1) the experts really thought that Tiger Woods brought a combined $12 billion in goodwill value to these companies when they were buying these stocks, or (2) the experts are just panicing now. Neither choice (1) nor choice (2) suggests that they really have a clue.

Link.

Tiger Woods' extramarital affairs could cost you if you hold stock in a company he sponsors or a mutual fund that holds stock in those companies.

A new study - not yet published in a journal - finds the market value lost to companies that had the golfer as a sponsor is already as high as $12 billion.

Iran

Link.

I predict this is the single event that will crush the tyrant regime of Khamenei and 'Nejad.

Let it be so.

Dumbass

Link.

Passengers told federal investigators that Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for about 20 minutes. When he returned to his seat, he said he had an upset stomach and pulled a blanket over him. Passengers then heard a popping noise, similar to a firecracker. They smelled an odor and some passengers saw Abdulmutallab's pant leg and the wall of the airplane on fire.

Here is what I don't get: Why did he return to his seat instead of trying to ignite the explosive in the bathroom, where no one would be able to stop him? And why didn't Richard Reid try to light his shoe bomb in the bathroom where no one could stop him? It doesn't make any sense.

Santa

We have been following Santa tonight on the NORAD tracker. Currently, he is in Hartford, CT, with Providence, RI his next stop. Ella is beside herself with excitement. She has insisted on sleeping with the shades open so that she can see him if he flies by her side of the house and she happens to be awake.

Somebody hire me

Seriously, I could be a nationally syndicated columnist if this is all it takes.

Column title: "Violence based on hate has to stop"

Now that is going out on a limb. I wonder how he feels about violence based on love? I guess we will have to wait another day for that column.

Also, take note of the disclaimer at the end of the column: "The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr." In other words, if you are pro-violence based on hate, please don't hold Mr. Navarrette's controversial opinion against CNN.com.

Apples to apples

Let's see:

• Jewish man plies child with alcohol at man's home. Check.
• Man sodomizes child. Check.
• Only people with "an anti-Semitic and anti-fag thing" will think that he doesn't deserve to live out the rest of his years in a mansion in France? No check.

Link.

A prominent Twin Cities lawyer who was in line to become president of the Minnesota State Bar Association was charged Monday with plying a teenage boy with alcohol at his home and then raping him.

The crime is reprehensible whether you are famous person who make movies or an average joe who just goes to movies.

Back on track

After a dismal performance last week against the Cardinals, the Vikes got back on track with a convincing win over a team that came in with a 9-3 record. Highlights here.

This is getting old

Today we attended the funeral for another former colleague taken before his time. Mid-50s and on top of the world until 3 months ago, when cancer took over. I have never been to so many funerals in one year. And only one was for someone over 60, and he was only 62. I'm really getting sick of it.

Tiger

Setting aside the asshole factor, I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined that Tiger would be so arrogant and reckless. If the rumors are true that he basically picked a different woman out of the crowd every time he went out "hunting," and that he had ongoing encounters with several of them, his fall from grace will reach historic proportions. He is Exhibit A for the axiom "the bigger they are, the harder they fall." But the real question is, why did it take so long for him to be exposed? It certainly sounds like this was an open secret, which is a concept from a bygone era. How did he keep a lid on it for this long?

SNL finds some humor in this personal disaster for a guy that I previously considered too smart to engage in such self-destructive behavior. Never in his life has he experienced anything but unending praise and hero worship. Now it is ridicule 24/7, and he has become the butt of every comedians' jokes. It has to be killing him.