- Sweeet! Another vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to rig, er, win legitimately! After thieving his country’s recent presidential election and setting off riots and protests that have yet to cease, Ahmadinejad may have to face a vote of confidence in parliament for the final few days of his current term after firing two members of his cabinet. Although the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) is following the script and spouting the party line that only one cabinet member was fired, so no such vote would be needed, don’t bet on it. The way this works is that Iran has 21 ministries and to the country's constitution, if more than half the cabinet members are changed in a single term of presidency, a vote of confidence in Iran's parliament is required. Up to this point in his presidency, Ahmadinejad has replaced nine cabinet members. If this report is true and he’s canned two more, that would push him over the magical 50 percent barrier and necessitate that vote of confidence. Now I have no illusions about how that vote would go because clearly Ahmadinejad would not allow it to go against him. I’m not sure how one goes about rigging a parliamentary vote (threats, intimidation, physical violence?), but I’m sure my man Mahmoud does. Multiple news outlets are reporting that Ahmadinejad has indeed fired two ministers, intelligence minister Mohseni Ejeie and culture minister Saffar Harandi. According to one Iranian news outlet, Ahmadinejad was feverishly attempting to convince Harandi in order to avoid a confidence vote. Ahmad Tavakoli, a powerful rightist member of parliament who does not support Ahmadinejad, spoke about the firings thusly: "I advise the president to change his mind. Firing the ministers has no logical reason and creates difficult conditions for the country. This is not a suitable response to the trust of 24 million people who voted for the president." Well, I guess the big problem with that quote is its basis on the assumption that anything the megalomaniacal Ahmadinejad does it based on logic and not on self-serving, power-hungry greed…….
- Even rich golfers and major corporations aren’t exempt from the economic crisis gripping the United States nowadays. Apparently this week's Buick Open, one of the oldest events on the PGA Tour, will be the final version of the event. As financially-bumbling General Motors lurches through its many monetary issues and trials, the company has announced that it is pulling its sponsorship of the event after 51 years. However, it is believed that a new sponsor will be formally announced and a new venue for the to-be-renamed event will be announced some time next week. Well at least the Buick Open will go out on a high note, a Tiger Woods is in the field for the tournament, which starts Thursday at Warwick Hills Golf Club in Grand Blanc, Mich. "Buick doesn't have the finances; GM can't afford it," Tom Pernice Jr., a member of the Tour's Player Advisory Council, said. "From a perception standpoint, you can't lay off all those people and then sponsor a golf tournament.” Duly noted and 100 percent on the mark. The fact is that sponsoring a golf tournament is exactly the sort of wasteful spending that a company that has been bailed out by the government and taxpayers can’t afford. It’s sure as heck not a solid choice to spend advertising dollars. Larry Peck, Buick-GMC's national promotions manager, admitted last week that the company was facing some difficult financial decisions ahead but at the time maintained that no decision had been made about the Buick Open. He was likely doing what executives do, namely stonewalling and not giving up valuable information, because you can bet this decision has been in the making for some time. The discontinuation of the Buick Open also raises questions about the Buick Invitational, which is held early in the season at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego. Buick has sponsored that tournament since 1992 and like the Buick Open, its sponsorship contract with the automaker runs through 2010. Not that fans give a crap who sponsors a tournament, but this simply proves that every sport on the American sports landscape is in dire financial straits going forward………
- Big ups to a bunch of animated gerbils for kicking the cinematic sh*t out of that tool Harry Potter and the lame-tastic romantic comedy attempt of Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. Yes, Disney's family comedy "G-Force," produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Will Arnett, and Penelope Cruz, was tops at the box office this weekend. The team of gerbils saving the world banked made an estimated $32.2 million in its debut to knock off last weekend’s No. 1 film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which brought in $30 million, bringing its total to $221.8 million. Better still, “G-Force” did so by pulling 55 percent of its viewers from the under-18 crowd, which should be where “Potter” pulls most of its fans from (it should be, but sadly I’m guessing it isn't). Despite finishing second this weekend, 'Half-Blood' is already the fifth biggest hit of the year domestically. When you factor in its overseas take, the movie had banked an additional $236 million. For adults with the good taste not to go see a dorky movie about a bunch of wizards, there was…..um, a really awful raunchy R-rated romantic comedy? Super. Yes, it’s likely that a lot of guys out there were dragged to see "The Ugly Truth," starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler in a battle of the sexes. Thus, the movie opened with a respectable $27 million take. Another newcomer was Warner Bros' creepy "Orphan" -- starring Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga – with $12.8. One of the more profitable movies in theaters continues to be Fox Searchlight's "(500) Days of Summer" (at No. 11 with $3 million) which averaged $19,176 per site and scored a 95 percent increase over its debut last weekend. Not exactly a weekend of exciting summer blockbusters to feast your movie-going eyes on, but I’ve seen worse….I think………
- At the top I mentioned the toll the country’s economic woes are taking on rich golfers and car companies. Sadly, Average Joe Wealthy Guy is taking a hit as well. No longer can AJWG afford to spend $3,000 for a luxury cell phone. Yes, makers of luxury phones, such as Motorola, Bang & Olufson, LG and Vertu are finding that their clientele is no longer interested in shilling out megabucks for with exclusive devices that carry designer logos and promise craftsmanship from materials such as sapphire and stainless steel. Those companies are taking the hint and scaling back their tacky, over-the-top phones. Last week, Motorola canceled the Ivory E18, a device tentatively priced around $3,000 due to a lack of interest from telecom carriers. The decision stands in stark contrast to Motorola’s approach just 10 months ago, when it Motorola offered a $2,000 phone, called the Aura, which was fashioned out of stainless steel and sported a 62-carat sapphire crystal lens. Not to be outdone, Samsung launched the M75500 Night Effect phone, which carried the Emporio Armani insignia, last September. Yet these are different times for Motorola, Samsung and Vertu, a company that makes true luxury phones, the cheapest of which costs about $6,000. They are hard timed for companies like Bang & Olufsen, which shut down its cell phone business and $1,500-plus phones recently. Ironically enough, luxury phones have never been a huge seller in North America, where you’d think American consumerism and penchant for excess would make them a hit. However, luxury phone makers have typically found much more success in emerging markets. Finding that success becomes much tougher when the entire free world is in an economic freefall and your phones can retail for as much as $70,000, which is what one can expect to pay for a Vertu device, wrapped in platinum. You know it’s a luxury phone when it’s designed in collaboration with luxury jewels house Boucheron, which some of Vertu’s more expensive models are. Those factors may make luxury phones unique, but one thing they have in common with the average flip phone carried by a soccer mom in suburban Dallas is that they become obsolete quickly as newer, glitzier phones come on the market. Just don’t tell all of this to Vertu, which is hunkering down and looking to prove that luxury phones are still a viable product. The company will launch the Carbon Fibre Ascent Ti in August, a phone made of high-gloss carbon fiber with a sandblasted titanium surface, all for the low, low price of $9,800……….
- Never had I been more pumped for a hall of fame induction in any sport than I was for Sunday’s Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies to welcome freaking Rickey Henderson to the game’s most elite club. I don’t have time to recount all of the classic tales of Rickey being Rickey, but my favorite has to be him approaching teammate John Olerud while playing in Toronto and informing the laconic Olerud that he had previously playd with a teammate who wore a plastic batting helmet while playing in the field as opposed to the normal baseball cap other players wear, a practice Olerud was well-known for. Upon hearing Rickey’s insight, Olerud promptly replied, “I know Rick, that was me.” Freaking awesome. The two had played together in New York but Rickey being Rickey, he had no idea. Bearing all of these stories in mind, I was jacked for yesterday’s ceremony. Unfortunately, Rickey decided to dial it down and approach his speech with a modicum of respectfulness and humility, which totally sucked. "My journey as a player is complete," Henderson said. "I am now in the class of the greatest players of all time, and at this moment I am very humbled." Not what I wanted to hear, Rick. What I wanted was some new version of you stealing second base to become baseball’s all-time leading base stealer, ripping the base from the ground and holding it aloft over your head as you announced to the crowd via the provided microphone, “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today I am the greatest of all-time,” as Lou Brock looked on from the front row of the stands. This was not the time for humility, even if Henderson’s speech did include an amusing anecdote about how his lifelong dream was to play pro football for the Oakland Raiders. "My dream was to play football for the Oakland Raiders," Henderson said. "But my mother thought I would get hurt playing football, so she chose baseball for me. I guess moms do know best." Rickey also shared a funny story about to a trick played by his former Babe Ruth coach, Hank Thomasson. "He tricked me into playing by coming to pick me up with a glazed donut and a cup of hot chocolate," said Henderson. "That was the way he would get me up and out of bed.” Thanks to Thomasson’s help, Henderson went on to Henderson lead the American League in steals 12 times and set the records for steals (1,406), runs scored (2,295), unintentional walks (2,129) and homers leading off a game (81). He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics on the fourth round in 1976, made his major league debut with Oakland in late June 1979 and went on to play for a total of nine teams in his career. Remembering his major league debut, Henderson cited it as a day he would never forget. “That was the most thrilling time of my life. Charlie (former Oakland owner Charles Finley), wherever you're at, and that donkey, I want to say thank you for that opportunity.” Also inducted yesterday was former Boston Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice, who was actually in his final year of eligibility to be voted into the Hall. He was much quieter and more reclusive than Henderson during his career, so I didn’t look forward to Rice’s speech nearly as much. However, I also didn’t get as much of Rickey being Rickey as I had hoped for either……..
No comments:
Post a Comment