¬- Can the drummer of a metal band really save the planet? Probably not, but that’s not going to stop Tommy Lee from trying. Along with providing a roof for ex-wife Pam Anderson as construction on her new mansion is ongoing, T. Lee will be one half of the musical star power driving the new Battleground Earth (Sundays at 10 pm/ET, Planet Green). “It's not your normal thing to go cruising around doing, especially for a guy like me,” Mötley Crüe's party animal drummer admits. He’ll be starring alongside rapper Ludacris in a funny-yet-informative look at ways to save our planet from ourselves. Lee is no stranger to reality TV, having done both NBC's Tommy Lee Goes to College and CBS's Rock Star: Supernova, but this will be a bit different. (A quick aside Tommy Lee Goes to College was awesome, seeing him arrive on campus at the University of Nebraska, try to make the marching band, start a fraternity and hit on the hot girl assigned to tutor him. But I digress.) The show will center on Lee and Ludacris traveling around America, attempting to bring environmental awareness to people in a fun way. They start with small things, like going to restaurants and changed all their light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs and making methane out of cow manure and then barbecuing with it. You all know me, a big environmental honk, someone who actually believes that global warming is real (suck it W!) and who thinks we ought to be working hard to save our planet, so I’m down with this show. I don’t believe I actually have Planet Green on my satellite system, but if you do, tune in and check this show out…..
- When do the Olympics truly begin? It’s a little different for everyone; some people’s Olympic experiences begins with the opening ceremonies, for some people it’s the first event to start and for others it’s the first time their country’s teams or athletes take to the field. For me, I know the Olympics have begun when I hear stories like this one. The Russian received a bit of a setback Thursday when a whopping seven of its female athletes were suspended for doping violations. With just over a week until the official start of the Games, this is a huge hit for the Russian team not just because of the number of athlete involved but also because some of their best runners are included. The most prominent name among the seven suspended athletes is Yelena Soboleva, the world's top performer this year at 800 and 1,500 meters. Joining her is Tatyana Tomashova, who won a silver medal in the 1,500 at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The Russian women were suspended by the IAAF, track and field's world governing body. Their crime? They stand accused of fraudulently using substitute urine in an attempt to pass doping tests. Seriously? That’s what you go with? Bringing in substitute urine? Did you use the Whizz-a-nator or is there a new gadget I haven’t heard of? And as you might expect, throwing athletes were also among the steroid users. Gulfiya Khanafeyeva (hammer throw) and Darya Pishchalnikova (discus) will also miss the Olympics due to their attempted urine switch. What are the odds, two women who need to beef up in order to throw their event’s implement as far as possible are guilty of doping? What’s funny is that the IAAF says it has been investigating the Russian women for more than a year. The organization held onto previous urine samples the women had given and compared them with samples submitted recently. When they didn’t match up, the red flag went up - foul! Now it would be easy to take the hard-line view on this and lament the corruption of sports, but I’m choosing to look for the silver lining here. It just ain’t the Olympics until people start getting busted for steroids and now we have a definitive sign that the Games are underway!
- Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, you have a kindred spirit and she is Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Kirchnear repeated her call this week to decriminalize personal drug use and put the focus squarely on traffickers and dealers. She says that she doesn't like to “condemn someone who has an addiction.” Frank, you may recall, made a similar plea here in the United States. He wants to decriminalize possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana, a move I also agree with. As you might expect, the squares and conservatives in Argentina oppose this innovative and intelligent new proposal. While a poll shows that only 2 percent of Argentines have tried cocaine, some people believe decriminalization of drugs could result in wider drug use. It’s the same lame argument Americans use against legalizing pot and it doesn’t work in either case. Regardless of the dissent from naysayers, the Argentine government is pushing Congress to pass the decriminalization legislation by the end of the year. Such policies have already been adopted throughout Europe and other parts of Latin America, so it’s not like this is something without precedent. I just hope that Kirchner has more intesetinal fortitude than former Mexican President Vicente Fox, who proposed decriminalizing possession of drugs combined with a crackdown on traffickers during his time in office but a backed down because of a harsh reaction from the W. administration. It’s about time someone started looking out for the low-level, small-time stoners among us and thankfully people like Barney Frank and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner are taking up the fight…..
- Add another concern about the upcoming Olympics in Beijing to the growing list. Right up with polluted, toxic air, algae- and pollution-infested water, horrifically bad traffic, heavily restricted Internet access for the media, bans on reporting from Tiananmen Square, let’s add concerns that the host country might be doing a little espionage on its opponents. Those concerns are based on allegations levied by Danish women’s soccer coach Kenneth Heiner-Muller, who accused the Chinese of attempting to spy on a Danish team meeting during the 2007 Women’s World Cup in China. According to Heiner-Muller, in the days leading up to his team’s opener against China, members of the Danish squad were faced with harassment that ended with two men attempting to secretly videotape a team tactical meeting through a two-way mirror at the team hotel. “Everything was ready (for the meeting), so I just walked a little bit around this rather large room,’ the coach explained. “I went back to the mirrors to look because I was curious. But I got really shocked because there were two guys staring back.” According to Heiner-Muller, the two men were Chinese and they had a video camera in their possession. Not hard to figure out what they were up to, eh? Not too many people are hiding behind two way mirrors in hotel ball rooms when foreign soccer teams are having strategy meetings. Does that mean the Chinese will definitely be cheating and spying later this week when the Olympics start? No. Does it mean that there’s a distinct possibility of those things happening? I’m going with yes…..another international sporting event, one in which the Chinese are determined to do well….just makes sense…..
- For all the slobs out there sitting on your couch, shoving salty snack foods down into your pie hole as quickly as possible, I bring good news. At least one of the foods that you are busy snarfing down is about to get a little healthier - emphasis on little. With recent studies having shown that acrylamide. which has been found in potato chips, causes cancer in lab animals, a lawsuit was brought by the state of California against H.J. Heinz Co., Frito-Lay, Kettle Foods Inc., and Lance Inc. in 2005, alleging they violated a state requirement that companies post warning labels on products with carcinogens. As a result of the suit,
four food manufacturers agreed to reduce levels of the cancer-causing chemical in their potato chips and French fries under a settlement announced Friday by the state attorney general's office. Additionally, the companies avoided trial by agreeing to pay a combined $3 million in fines along with reducing the levels of acrylamide in their products over three years. “Other companies should follow this lead,” Attorney General Jerry Brown said. He also labeled the settlement “a victory for public health.” Well, either companies should follow this example or Americans should stop eating crap like French fries and potato chips in such massive quantities, but whatever. If the cancer-causing chemicals don’t get you, the boatloads of cholesterol and fat will. Apparently acrylamide forms naturally when starchy foods are baked or fried. Studies have shown that it causes cancer in lab animals and nerve damage to workers who are exposed to high levels. The modified snacks will be available nationwide, so that’s something to look forward to…..I guess. Companies involved in the case include: Frito-Lay (paying $1.5 million in the settlement) chip-maker Kettle Foods ($350,000), Heinz ($600,000) and Lance ($95,000). The state also sued McDonald's Corp.; Wendy's International Inc.; Burger King Corp.; KFC, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc.; and Procter & Gamble Co. over acrylamide levels in 2005, but those lawsuits were settled when the companies agreed to either properly label their products or lower levels of the chemical. Maybe it’s just me, but there seem to be far too many negatives to eating this kind of crap. I think I’ll stick with the healthier side of the food ledger…..
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