- Green isn't only a color on the flag for our neighbors to the south. On Wednesday, Mexico City proved it cares about the environment by amending ordinances on solid waste to ban businesses from giving out thin plastic bags that are not biodegradable. The new law went into effect this week and thousands of stores in and around Mexico City went green to comply. The law affects all stores, production facilities and service providers within the Federal District, which encompasses the city limits. Nearly 9 million people live inside the district and another 10 million reside in surrounding communities that make up greater Mexico City. Surprisingly, Mexico City becomes just the second major city in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw the bags, following the example set by San Francisco in March 2007. That maneuver threw down an ultimatum on supermarkets and large chain pharmacies to phase out the enviro-harming plastic bags within six months. The plastic people of Los Angeles also plan to follow suit and banish plastic bags if the state of California does not enact a statewide 25-cent fee per bag by July. This is a huge issue because nearly 90 percent of the bags used in the United States are not recycled and as you might be expect, these plastic bags are incredibly bad for the environment. They are the second-most-common form of litter, behind cigarette butts, the greatest form of litter on the globe's oceans and a major threat to ocean wildlife, causing the deaths of 100,000 sea turtles and other marine animals that mistake them for food (even with a little salt, they’re still not that tasty). Countries all over the world have recognized the menace that is plastic bags and imposed all manner of bans and limits on their use. China has adopted a strict limit, eliminating the use of 40 billion bags. Environmental advocates say that enforcement of the law has been spotty (shocking, since I figured the Chinese government would relish the opportunity to punish and beat down its citizenry), although the violation of the law carries a possible fine of 10,000 yuan ($1,463). Things are just as strict in Tanzania, where selling the bags carries a maximum six-month jail sentence and a fine of 1.5 million shilling ($1,137). Mumbai, India, outlawed the bags in 2000 and cities in Australia, South Africa and Taiwan have imposed bans or surcharges. Outlawing plastic bags seems to be the least Mexico City could do given the fact that it has quite possibly the worst air pollution in the world. To that end, the municipal government has also announced plans to place more than 1,100 bicycles at 84 stations throughout the city for residents to use. Now if the citizens of Mexico City can manage to ride those bikes without choking, coughing and wheezing because of the polluted air they must breathe……..
- Every sporting events needs one bizarre tale to spice things up and for the ongoing world track and field championships, South African runner Caster Semenya is that story. To put it bluntly, officials at the meet have asked South Africa's track and field federation to conduct a gender test on Semenya because of concerns she does not meet the requirements to compete as a woman. While it would seem to be a rather simple anatomical question to answer, determining this sort of thing in the world of international athletics is slightly complicated. IAAF spokesman Nick Davies called the process an "extremely complex, difficult" test which has already been set into motion. In the meantime, Semenya was allowed to compete in Wednesday's 800 final at the world championships, a race in which she was one of the favorites. And why was there a question about this individual’s gender in the first place? Well, the world track and field federation requested the gender test about three weeks ago, after Semenya drastically improved her personal bests in the 800 and 1,500. Specifically, she posted the world's best time this year of 1:56.72 three weeks ago at the African junior championships in Bambous, Mauritius. Davies was quick to emphasize that "it's a medical issue, not an issue of cheating." As for the process of testing one’s gender, the verification requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender. South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane maintains that his team made no mistake in entering Semenya as a woman and they believe the test will ultimately bear that out. “We entered Caster as a woman and we want to keep it that way," Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said. "Our conscience is clear in terms of Caster. We have no reservations at all about that.” So what happens if Semenya is ultimately found to be ineligible to compete as a woman? “I can't say that if 'X' happens in the future that we will, for example, retroactively strip results. It's legally very complex," Davies said. "If there's a problem and it turns out that there's been a fraud ... that someone has changed sex, then obviously it would be much easier to strip results," Davies added. "However, if it's a natural thing and the athlete has always thought she's a woman or been a woman, it's not exactly cheating.” Well that was unclear and ambiguous at best, thanks for that. Basically, these decision are made on a case-by-case basis, so legal experts will have to figure this out if it’s ultimately determined that Caster Semenya should be competing as a dude……..
- Freaking Dick Hatch is at it again and that should surprise exactly no one. You likely remember him (if you remember him at all) as former Survivor winner Richard Hatch. Hatch spent more than three years in jail after being convicted in 2006 of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the first season of Survivor. After being released from prison, House was then transferred to house arrest at his sister Kristin's Newport, R.I., home. But even in home confinement, D. Hatch couldn’t stay down. He consented to do an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer for the Today show and assured Lauer that he had proper approval from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to do the interview. In the course of the interview, the ever-outspoken Hatch theorized that he was imprisoned in his tax evasion case because he's gay. Right, because the IRS gives a damn about your sexual orientation. Heck, they’re the one organization that doesn’t give a crap who you are, how old you are, if you’re straight or gay or most anything else. The bottom line with them is that if you don’t pay your taxes, you’re going down. Ask Wesley Snipes about that if you don’t believe me, because even his celebrity wasn’t enough to get him out of the $12 million in back taxes he owed the IRS. But it wasn’t Hatch’s bogus allegation that was the real story; no, that happened when he was taken into custody Tuesday and transferred to Barnstable County Correctional Facility in Bourne, Mass. His sister and attorney then implied that Hatch was jailed for doing the interview with Lauer. The arrest took place just hours after the interview aired and Hatch’s sister seems certain that it was the interview that led to her brother’s return to the clink.
"I heard [the sheriff] tell Rich that he did an interview, and that's why he was going back to prison," Kristin Hatch said on Wednesday's Today. Richard Hatch’s attorney, Cynthia Ribas, also appeared on Today and said that she had secured clearance from the BOP for the interview and still had not been given a reason for the arrest. There was no word on what, if any, impact this latest development would have on Hatch’s scheduled release from house arrest Oct. 7. Regardless, this just goes to show once again that when these irrelevant tools appear on reality TV shows and receive their undeserved 15 minutes of fame, a monster is created with a sense of entitlement that you just can’t kill…………
- Oooh, ooh! Could it be? Could we have another caning on the horizon in Malaysia? I think so and the person set to receive the punishment is Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno a Malaysian model, who is set to make history as the first woman in the country to be caned for drinking alcohol in public. Yes, cracking down on a chick for downing a beer in public seems harsh, but Malaysia is a moderate Muslim country that forbids alcohol consumption by Muslims -- even those who are visiting. Kartika, a part-time model, was visiting Malaysia from Singapore when she had the gall to enjoy a beer at a hotel bar two years ago. She was fined $1,400 (5,000 Malaysian ringgit) and sentenced to six strokes with a rattan cane by a An Islamic court in the eastern state of Pahang. Surprisingly, Kartika isn't fighting the punishment and she’s actually turning the fight on the court. She has demanded that her punishment carried out in public, saying that if the intent of the Islamic, or Shariah, court that sentenced her was to set an example for other Muslims, then the flogging should take place in the open. "Let's be transparent about it," she said. She has already pleaded guilty and paid the fine, so the caning would be the last step in the judicial process. The Malaysian judicial system is a curious one, with which Islamic courts operating alongside civil ones in what is known as a dual-track justice system. The no-booze law only applies to Muslims, who make up about 60 percent of the population. Everyone else can get as drunk as they want whenever they want. Many critics see Kartika's as a prime example of the issues caused by growing fundamentalism in the country. The backwards-thinking school of fundamentalist thought manifests itself in other places, including northern Malaysia's Kelantan state, where The Man has forbidden Muslim women from wearing bright lipstick and high-heeled shoes in order to “safeguard the morals and dignity” of the women and decrease the likelihood of rape. But back to the issue at hand, the caning. Basically, the punishee it whapped with a thin stick that doesn’t actually break the skin and he or she keeps their clothes on so the blows don’t come into direct contact with the skin. Kartika isn't the first person to be sentenced to caning for public consumption of alcohol, but she is unusual in that two other Malaysians sentenced to the same fate have filed appeals. “I'm not really afraid. I feel relief," she said. "I want to move on. This case has been hanging over me for a long time.” So within a week she will be caned, this whole mess will be over and Malaysia will succeed in keeping its legal system in the dark ages……..
- Is it too much to ask that coaches and athletes stop (allegedly) assaulting cab drivers? First University of Cincinnati basketball coach Andy Kennedy allegedly beat up a cabbie last year, then Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane cold-cocked a Buffalo cab driver last month and now Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib has apparently decided to get in on the fisticuff fun. Talib was arrested early Thursday and charged with simple battery and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors, in connection with an alleged assault on a cab driver in Tampa. According to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report, Talib went upside the cabbie’s head with punch to the right ear and neck shortly after 11 p.m. on Wednesday night. When police arrived on the scene, Talib and two other men were passengers in the cab. Officers claim they asked Talib to get out of the car three times and he did not cooperate. Normally this is where you would read about said athlete getting hit with a Taser blast, but these cops showed nice restraint. The driver, David Duggan of St. Petersburg, told the officers that Talib clocked him so hard that it felt like being hit with a hammer. “It was like someone hit me upside the head with a hammer," he said. "He hit me so hard he knocked my hat off my head.” The trouble allegedly began after Duggan said he had picked up Talib and his friends outside Nova 535, a St. Petersburg venue that hosts private parties, and charged the men $50 to take them to a hotel in Tampa. There was no immediate word on what caused Talib to attack Duggan, but something tells me that alcohol may have been involved and that Talib and his boys might have been a bit drunk. Of course, Talib’s history would indicate that he doesn’t really need much of a reason to decide to go. In a brawl during practice in May, Talib swung his helmet at a teammate and hit bystander Torrie Cox instead. Heck, he had the lack of foresight and restraint to get into a fight with then-teammate Cory Boyd during the league's rookie symposium. Yes, at the event where the league brings in all incoming rookies to hammer them with the league’s rules, laws and policies and to “encourage” them to be good citizens, this idiot is fighting not only with another rookie, but a guy who was going to be his teammate. Well done, A. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Aqib Talib is “likes to fight” guy and he needs some serious anger management counseling. Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominick didn’t exactly sound surprised when asked about Talib’s alleged crime, saying, “Aqib is a very outgoing, outspoken young man. He certainly needs to mature a lot more. That's what I'll say.” In other words, this guy is an idiot and a hothead and we’ve had just about enough of his act, even if he had four interceptions in 15 games as a rookie last season. With commissioner/sheriff Roger Goodell cracking down on any and all player misconduct (see Stallworth, Dante or Vick, Michael), this kind of garbage isn't going to fly on any team. So for the love of God, would all coaches and athletes out there simply pay their cab fare, get out of the cab and walk away without feeling the need to assault their driver? I know it’s a lot to ask, but I think it can be done…….
No comments:
Post a Comment