- Good to know that a) even though you’re the most impoverished nation in the world, you still have money to afford cell phones with text plans, b) you have nothing better to do than text the president of a country thousands of miles away. On the heels of President Barack Obama visiting Africa last week and inviting people from around the continent to get at him with text message and emails, Africans have responded in force. More than 5,000 messages came rolling in from Ghana, Sudan and South Africa during his first visit as president to sub-Saharan Africa. Administration officials said they set up different numbers across the continent for citizens to communicate with Obama. Showing that they too can exercise horribly inaccurate grammar on text messages, people sent Obama texts saying, “U r a huge encouragement” and “Dear president, Darfur firing again...waiting for peace through the change u promised.” Now I’m all for our president visiting places like Ghana and looking to improve our relationships with the rest of the world, even taking his wife and two daughters along for the ride. The people of Ghana and surrounding nations have shown genuine excitement in the wake of the visit, which is also cool. What befuddles me is how Africa is home to some of the world's poorest nations yet has a vibrant cell phone market. In fact, industry analysts consider it to be among the fastest-growing markets worldwide. So you can't afford to adequately feed, clothe and house your family, yet you can afford a cell phone? How does that work? Look kids, I know you’re eating two inadequate meals a day and our home is a ramshackle dwelling with a leaky roof and substandard sanitation, but what I really need money for right now is a cell phone so I can text American President Barack Obama, so your basic needs will have to wait. Oh, and as for all of those questions submitted to Obama, they will be collected and vetted by three journalists from South Africa, Senegal and Kenya, who will then provide a few for Obama to address on African radio stations and via a Web video today. Way to keep those priorities straight, though, Africa…….
- Quite a recruiting class you have coming in to your men’s basketball program, University of Cincinnati. Because forward Lance Stephenson, who has committed to play at Cincinnati this fall, has agreed to a plea deal and will not serve jail time in his sexual assault case, you don’t have the stigma of having a guy who has done hard time on your team. Granted, Stephenson is ranked No. 12 in the ESPNU top 100 of incoming freshman and in the world of high-level college hoops, that tends to trump being a bad guy and having criminal tendencies. However, it’s always better to avoid jail time, gives those pesky critics who say you overlook bad character in favor of on-court talent. Thus, Stephenson pleading guilty to a charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct on Friday, agreeing to seek counseling and perform three days of community service is a good deal both for he and Cincinnati. Stephenson and another player from Lincoln, Darwin Ellis, were charged after being accused of groping a 17-year-old girl near the high school in early October 2008. Perhaps because he doesn’t have a long criminal record, the prosecutor was willing to give him this deal and hopefully Stephenson takes it and doesn’t look back. "Mr. Stephenson is looking forward to transitioning to college life and is pleased to put this matter behind him," his lawyer, Alberto Ebanks, said. That’s great, counselor, but there’s also the matter of Stephenson’s eligibility and amateur status, at least in the NCAA’s eyes. The NCAA is expected to look into Stephenson's amateur status after he was part of a documentary, called "Born Ready," and a tour of the Under Armour factory while visiting Maryland earlier this year. Cincinnati reportedly isn’t concerned with either the assault case or the eligibility issues, which isn’t surprising. If they were concerned, there’s no way they would admit it and they probably figure they can find a way around all of this and get this guy on the court anyhow. After all, he’s a 2009 McDonald's High School All-American who was considered the top high school player in New York state last season and averaged 28.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. In college basketball, you find ways to get guys like that on the court no matter what……..
- Big ups to the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs, you all are worthy of a lot of praise and admiration for joining the battle against the menace to the world that is smoking. These two teamed up to commission a study that recommends a complete ban on tobacco, which would end tobacco sales on military bases and prohibit smoking by anyone in uniform, not even combat troops in of battle. Now as far as I’m concerned, the story could stop right there. I don’t need a detailed explanation or any data to back up that decision. You want to ban smoking, you’ve got my approval. Still, this study does have findings to back up it’s suggestions. According to the study, tobacco use impairs military readiness in the short term and over the long term, it can cause serious health problems, including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease (duh). The study also addresses the revolting menace that is smokeless tobacco, which it claims can lead to oral and pancreatic cancer. Now that the study is complete, the Defense Department's top health officials will review it make recommendations to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. I do have one issue with the study, namely that it doesn’t recommend the immediate banning of all tobacco products but rather phasing them out gradually over a five- to 10-year period. Predictably there are some a-holes who don’t like the ban and are fighting the idea, namely retired Gen. Russel Honore, best known for coordinating military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina-affected areas. He was known for rocking a nasty cigar everywhere he went and he feels that soldiers at war need to add an additional way to kill themselves to the ever-growing list of agents of death in battles. “When you're tired and you've been going days on end with minimum sleep, and you are not getting the proper meals on time, that hit of tobacco can make a difference,” said Honore. Thankfully the Pentagon supports the goal of a tobacco-free military, according to spokeswoman Cynthia Smith. “However, achieving that goal will depend on coincident reductions of tobacco use in the civilian population," she said. Yeah, whatever you say, C. I say that we do everything we can to promote the health and fitness of those we entrust with defending our country and our freedom and that means no smoking. Smoking is for losers and that applies whether you’re a stockbroker, baseball player, bus driver or soldier……
- The more I see of Sacha Baron Cohen, the less I think he’s funny and entertaining. That’s saying something because I never thought dude was funny to begin with and basically hated his act from day one. However, the rest of America seems to feel differently, at least those who hit their local theater last weekend to take in a movie. Cohen’s alleged Bruno finished first at the box office by grossing $30.4 million, after topping the charts on Friday with an imposing $14.4 million. However, there was a ray of hope on Saturday when the movie saw a 39 percent drop in earnings to come in third place on Saturday. In other words, a lot of people rushed out to see the movie on opening day but once people heard about it a little more, they weren’t so eager to see it. The comedy scored a putrid "C" rating from CinemaScore moviegoers even though it bested Cohen’s last lame-ass comedy, Borat, which opened to $26.5 million in November 2006. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was No. 2 with $28.5 million and it dropped only 32 percent from last weekend. So far, the film has made $120.6 million in two weeks. Finishing third for the weekend was Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, scoring $24.2 million in its third weekend, bringing its total to $339.2 million. Public Enemies (No. 4 with $14.1 million) and The Proposal (No. 5 with $10.5 million) round out the top five, with the latter being noteworthy because it marks Sandra Bullock's first $100 million picture since 2000's Miss Congeniality. One of the other highly anticipated new releases, I Love You, Beth Cooper, opened at No. 7 with $5 million. Some indie films also had decent opening weekends, including Blood: The Last Vampire ($103,000 from 20 theaters), Humpday ($30,000 on just two screens) and the music documentary, Soul Power ($25,000 from six screens). Sadly, all of those films were bested back a hack-job, crap-tacular comedy with bargain-basement humor and one of the most overrated comedic stars of this era……
- I hate snakes. No, check that: I freaking hate snakes with a passion. They’re slimy, they’re scaly and some of them a freaking deadly. I don’t like seeing them, I don’t want to be near them and because of that, I’m glad to not live in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The Lebanon County community got a unwelcome surprise when a 10-foot albino burmese python was found abandoned in the town of Annville. Someone spotted the creepy crawler Friday morning near the Annville Laundromat on Main Street, just hanging out and doing his snake thing. Although he measures 10 feet in length, the snake weighed in at a mere 20 pounds when caught by employees from Zoo America in Hershey, Pa. The Forgotten Friends Reptile Sanctuary in Lancaster County took the python in and Sanctuary employee Jesse Rothacker said the snake was in bad condition, malnourished and weak. It is believed that the snake is an escaped or abandoned pet, which Rothacker says raises issues that many people fail to consider when they consider getting a large snake as a pet. "A lot of people take them home and they're not prepared for the long haul and the message is if you want to get a big reptile, that it's a big commitment," said Rothacker. However, this snake found a little bit of fame in spite of its misfortune. The python was later featured as a part of "Reptile Week," which was held at Nixon Park in York County. Personally I couldn’t be happier…..that this snake is where it belongs, namely in an animal sanctuary, far away from me……
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