Big man Shaq's monthly bills = whopping $1.3 mil

Maybe it's just me, but no matter how much money you make, how is it smart to spend 72% of your monthly income when you really don't have to?

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20080127-9999-1s27gallery.html

UNION-TRIBUNE

January 27, 2008

It takes a big man with deep pockets to spend $1.3 million a month – on expenses so extravagant they'd make Paris Hilton jealous.

Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal is that man. Consider his monthly expenditures:

$156,116 on mortgages.

$110,505 on vacations.

$60,417 on gifts.

$26,560 on babysitters.

$24,300 on gasoline.

$22,190 on maids.

$17,220 on clothes.

$12,775 on food.

On top of that, the tax man gets his share: O'Neal, 35, pays about $500,000 a month in income taxes.

The details of O'Neal's checkbook were revealed this month as part of his ongoing divorce from Shaunie O'Neal, reports The Miami Herald. They filed in September to end their five-year marriage. The couple has four children, and each partner has one child from previous relationships.

But don't worry about O'Neal's financial well-being – he has plenty to pay the bills at his Star Island mansion and beyond.

O'Neal is the second-highest paid NBA player, behind the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett, at $20 million a year. He listed his monthly income at $1.8 million – $1.6 million in Heat salary and $220,000 in business investments and endorsements.

On top of his basketball duties, the 7-foot-1, 325-pound O'Neal also is a reserve Miami Beach police officer. But O'Neal's not getting rich as a cop – he volunteers for that duty.

TRIVIA TIME

Name the 2007 men's Final Four participants.

CLINTON ROOTING FOR GIANTS

Former President Bill Clinton will pull for the New York Giants in their Super Bowl matchup against the undefeated New England Patriots.

“They're the underdog, and they're my home team. But I'm glad the Patriots are undefeated, and I'm glad that teamwork from both teams is back at the center of professional sports,” Clinton told about 400 people Thursday in an elementary school auditorium in Barnwell, S.C., as he campaigned for wife Hillary.

Clinton at first joked he wouldn't answer the question when asked by a member of the crowd during a campaign stop because “New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are Hillary's three best states.”

He said it also was a tough decision to make because he plays golf with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and considers him a friend and “remarkable man.”

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Time Stops At Grand Central

This is so cool. I wish I could have been there to see it in person.

The Biggest Secret Behind the Patriot's Success

After practice, he is almost always the first person Bill Belichick consults. On game day, he's in the press box with a headset on, running numbers, computing percentages and, some around the league insinuate, overseeing more insidious operations.

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Mets? Check. Giants? Check. Knicks?....Knicks?....

Another Conversaton with Crazy Carl - Politics Anyone?

We're geniuses. As always, this is an actual conversation between Carl and I:

Crazy Carl (12:50:57 PM): i'm so glad giuliani lost. he's probably the biggest doucheface on planet earth

Crazy Carl (12:51:24 PM): in the speech he gave announcing he was dropping out of the race... he said something like "i am proud of the positive campaign i ran"

Crazy Carl (12:51:53 PM): if by positive you mean bringing up the death of 4,000 americans every 10 seconds for your political gain, then you are correct.

Me (12:52:27 PM): ugh right?

Me (12:52:40 PM): didn't people notice from the beginning that no one from NY liked him?

Me (12:52:42 PM): isn't that a bad sign?

Me (12:52:46 PM): i don't even know why he ran...so stupid

Crazy Carl (12:52:49 PM): you would think.

Crazy Carl (12:52:58 PM): because he's an egotistical asshole thats why

Crazy Carl: Me (12:53:12 PM): sounds about right

Crazy Carl (12:53:32 PM): like, his own kids don't like him.

Crazy Carl (12:53:41 PM): if doesn't say something, i don't know what does.

Me (12:54:04 PM): right? lol

Crazy Carl (12:50:57 PM): i'm so glad giuliani lost. he's probably the biggest doucheface on planet earth

Crazy Carl (12:51:24 PM): in the speech he gave announcing he was dropping out of the race... he said something like "i am proud of the positive campaign i ran"

Crazy Carl (12:51:53 PM): if by positive you mean bringing up the death of 4,000 americans every 10 seconds for your political gain, then you are correct.

Me (12:52:27 PM): ugh right?

Me (12:52:40 PM): didn't people notice from the beginning that no one from NY liked him?

Me (12:52:42 PM): isn't that a bad sign?

Me (12:52:46 PM): i don't even know why he ran...so stupid

Crazy Carl (12:52:49 PM): you would think.

Crazy Carl (12:52:58 PM): because he's an egotistical asshole thats why

Me (12:53:12 PM): sounds about right

Crazy Carl (12:53:32 PM): like, his own kids don't like him.

Crazy Carl (12:53:41 PM): if doesn't say something, i don't know what does.

Me (12:54:04 PM): right? lol

Crazy Carl (12:54:28 PM): i'm not celebrating... but i'm glad he failed.

Me (12:55:10 PM): yea

Me (12:55:19 PM): i'm so sick of our politics though...everything is SO fucked up

Me (12:55:47 PM): the media feeds us 3 candidates on each side and basically chooses for us the winner on each side, then we get to choose from 2 people to be president. seems kinda dumb no?

Crazy Carl (12:56:21 PM): true

Me (12:56:22 PM): other thing that pisses me off....media only talks about 1) polls and 2) strategy. why not tell us what each candidate stands for, what their views are, etc. god forbit we know what we're getting ourselves into

Crazy Carl (12:57:10 PM): because the media claims viewers don't care about that.

Crazy Carl (12:57:29 PM): but its a vicious cycle because how would you know they didn't care if you never aired that in the first place.

Crazy Carl (12:58:22 PM): i personally think the whole primary system is moronic.

Crazy Carl (12:58:43 PM): they should have a national primary thats a direct election. the way it is now is pretty much stupid, and makes no sense.

Me (1:03:15 PM): exactly

Me (1:03:23 PM): although, it would be the same thing

Me (1:03:36 PM): how would the candidates get their names and views out there before the national primary?

Me (1:03:45 PM): it would be the same bullshit

Me (1:03:54 PM): media tells us what we want/need to know, and that's it

Me (1:04:13 PM): there's still such a small percentage of people who go online to look for themselves instead of just listening to whatever they're told

Crazy Carl (1:04:31 PM): which is sad

Me (1:05:43 PM): but that's the truth

Me (1:06:01 PM): maybe kucinich was the right candidate for 80% of the people out there, but they'd never know it cause most don't even know who he is!

Crazy Carl (1:06:11 PM): very very true

Me (1:07:02 PM): even of the top 3, edwards barely gets any airtime...it's just obama and hillary and they keep him in there to let people think that they're showing a wide variety of candidates. and on the republican side? i have a hard time believing that Mitt Romney is the choice of so many. Maybe if the had more choices he wouldn't even be up there.

Me (1:07:08 PM): I mean, that man is CRAZY

Me (1:07:22 PM): and Mike H? forget it...he'd destroy the whole country

Crazy Carl (1:07:27 PM): agreed.

Crazy Carl (1:07:37 PM): edwards actually dropped out this morning, so its a two person race

Me (1:08:04 PM): he did?!

Me (1:08:15 PM): i had no idea

Me (1:08:30 PM): great...2 person race...sounds like everyone's perfect candidate is available to choose from~!

Me (1:08:32 PM): so stupid

Crazy Carl (1:08:37 PM): hahahahah.

Me (1:10:14 PM): i hate politics

Crazy Carl (1:10:33 PM): i hate people

Me (1:10:52 PM): people hate you

Me (1:11:00 PM): do you think politics hates me?

Crazy Carl (1:11:06 PM): i don't know.

Crazy Carl (1:11:10 PM): people don't hate me.

Crazy Carl (1:11:14 PM): they despise me.

Me (1:11:17 PM): hm

Me (1:11:23 PM): i think it's a loathing actually

Crazy Carl (1:11:28 PM): you think so?

Crazy Carl (1:11:40 PM): i'm very scorched earth about my relationships with people.

Me (1:11:49 PM): i mean, me personally? of course not. a majority of the world's population? probably

Crazy Carl (1:12:07 PM): years ago, i stopped trying to get people to stay in my life if they didn't really want to.

Crazy Carl (1:12:16 PM): and i'm very happy with it

Crazy Carl (1:13:49 PM): i used to really care about people liking me. now i really don't give a fuck.

Crazy Carl (1:14:02 PM): and i feel so much happier this way

Me (1:19:01 PM): you used to care? really? damn, i can't wait to see what NOT caring looks like

Me (1:19:03 PM): HA! lol

Rutgers Board of Governors Approves Stadium Expansion;

The $102 million project, which will increase the stadium’s seating capacity to nearly 56,000, will be funded entirely by the revenue generated from ticket sales for the 14,000 new seats and from private donations. Rutgers students will continue to have access to football tickets free of charge.

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Win a Free St. Patrick's Day t Shirt!

St. Patrick's Day T Shirt Giveaway!

2 Ways to win a free St. Patrick's Day T Shirt compliments of BurnTees.com!
Put up some banners, send us some pics...it's that easy! Use the form on the contest page to upload pictures and to let us know where you posted the banners.
To enter into the contest, post a BurnTees.com St. Patrick's Day banner to your webpage linking back to BurnTees.com, blog, facebook page, myspace page or any other website you have and then send us the link to the site. Just copy and paste the code provided below. OR Submit a photo of yourself with any BurnTees products you've purchased in the past. Submit multiple pictures and put banners up on multiple pages to increase your chances of winning! On Feburary 20th we'll pick 5 different winners.

President BUSH PARDON's HIMSELF against POTENTIAL WARCRIMES

Shocking? no, not so much

The Pirates Can't Be Stopped

Ethan and I had first started talking over an untraceable prepaid phone...He eventually agrees to speak in person...He hands me a flash drive containing documents...He also pulls out a...sheet of paper bearing my name, the first five digits of my Social Security number, a few pictures...and addresses going back 10 years. "I had to check," he said.

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The Law of the Garbage Truck

Someone just forwarded this to me in an email. Not sure where it came from but I thought I'd share it with my non existent readers:

How often do you let other people's nonsense change Your mood? Do you let a
bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, Or an insensitive employee ruin your
day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back
on your Heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly He/She
can get back his/her focus on what's important.

Thirteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New
York City taxi cab.
Here's what happened.
I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were
driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, A black car jumped out of a
parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes,
skidded, And missed the other car's back end by just inches!
The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident,
Whipped his head around and he started cursing at us. My taxi
driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I
said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us
to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I Now call,
"The Law of the Garbage Truck."
Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full
of frustration, Full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage
piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it
on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.
You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did.
So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck."
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?
And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people:
At work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to
do it anymore."
I began to see garbage trucks. Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the
little boy said, "I see Dead People." Well, now "I see Garbage Trucks." I see the load they're
carrying.
I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a
personal thing;
I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on. One of my favorite
football players of all time, Walter Payton, Did this every day on the
Football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being
tackled. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play
his best.
Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.
Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home From school
with hugs and kisses. Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully
present, And at their best for the people they care about.
The bottom line is that successful people Do not let Garbage Trucks take
over their day.
What about you?
What would happen in your life, starting today, If you let more garbage
trucks pass you by?
Here's my bet. You'll be happier. Life's too short to wake up in the morning
with regrets, so..
Love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don't.
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance , TAKE IT!
If it changes your life , LET IT!
Nobody said it would be easy...
They just promised it would be worth it!

Most Ridiculous Shirt You Could Wear To An Independence Day Parade [PIC]

seriously, what is the fourth of july about lady? our independence from the chinese? tacos? body odor??

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The Wi-Fi Detector T-shirt

This t-shirt is actually no normal tshirt. Its a “Wi-Fi Detector Shirt” which actually displays the signal from 802.11b/g with glowing bars on the front.It doesnt actually check for open networks which would make this a killer product…but its still pretty damn cool in a geek way!

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Judge Grants Kucinich Entry to NV Debate

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada judge said Monday that Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich must be included in Tuesday's candidates' debate in Nevada.

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