- Quite the story involving Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane, his cousin and a cab driver in Kane’s hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. over the weekend. The short version, well, it depends on who you ask. The early reports were that Kane and his cousin, James Kane, were out late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, had too much to drink (allegedly) and decided to take a cab home. It’s a smart play, as driving drunk unquestionably makes you a moron. However, what Kane and his cousin allegedly did wasn’t much better. Their cab ride cost $13.80 and when they peeled off $15 bucks to pay the fare, these two decided that tipping their cabbie was a bad idea and asked for their change. When Jan Radecki, the 62-year-old driver, handed them a dollar and told them he didn’t have the 20 cents, the cousins Kane allegedly punched the man in the face AND took back their $15. That led to the pair being arrested and charged with theft of services, criminal mischief and robbery in the second degree. The driver said his glasses were broken as he was hit in the face and head and grabbed by the throat, although Kane has entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf in a city court. As the story began to make the rounds yesterday, additional details came to light. It was also reported that the cabbie initially locked Patrick and James Kane inside the car because, being young, drunk guys, he suspected they might try to stiff him on the fare. The cabbie later put it out there through his attorney that the incident was being overblown. Patrick Kane has adamantly denied any criminal wrongdoing and through his own attorney, he claimed that not only did the cab driver lock he and his cousin in the car, this guy wouldn’t even permit them to stand up or reach for their wallets. Furthermore, Kane’s attorney claims that Radecki makes a habit of locking young, college-age passengers inside the car until they pay and that his client isn’t the first to have a major problem with that practice. It remains to be seen if this case will actually make it to trial, but second-degree robbery is a Class C felony and the fourth-degree criminal mischief and theft-of-services charges are both Class A misdemeanors, so any sort of conviction would be a pretty bad thing for Kane. Fortunately I’m thinking this case never makes it to trial, one way or the other, and that either a plea deal or dismissal of charges will be coming soon…….
- Very big of you, Honduras, to reverse field and decide to allow a delegation from the Organization of American States to visit the country -- on the condition that the organization's head attends only as an observer. Only 24 hours prior, Honduras had rejected the planned visit because the organization's Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza, is “biased and unprofessional.” Insulza’s inclusion in the trip was initially a deal-breaker because he’s been outspoken in calling for the reinstatement of Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup in June. The plan had been for a delegation of six foreign ministers to travel to Honduras to try to find a resolution to the political turmoil that has raged on since Zelaya got the boot, but the fate of that plan is now up in the air. It’s not yet known whether the OAS will agree to Honduras’ conditions for the trip, but hopefully they will simply to get a foot in the door. Nothing else has managed to break the stalemate in Honduras to this point, including two rounds of negotiations between the two sides mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias in July. Arias proposed a peace accord that was soundly rejected by both sides, not a promising development but also not surprising. With the attitude that the regime currently running Honduras is espousing, any agreement is going to come only after a fierce battle. Just look at how hard these ass clowns are fighting to keep Insulza out of their country. The Honduran foreign ministry said the delegation originally did not include Insulza, because of "his lack of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism" and claimed that once he joined the group, everyone else became persona non grata. If the OAS delegation does go to Honduras, they probably shouldn’t expect a warm reception. After all, the organization did suspend Honduras from its organization shortly after the coup and Insulza has steadfastly maintained that Zelaya’s return to his elected post is an essential step for the country’s return to the international community. The elephant in the room that no one is talking about right now is that if and when Zelaya returns to power, there is still the issue of his desire to hold a referendum that would result in extending term limits by changing the constitution, despite the country's congress having outlawed the vote and the supreme court having ruled it illegal. Personally I’m thankful for all of this because there just aren’t enough military coups these days and a massive national pissing match always livens up the world……..
- What are you looking for when you visit an amusement park? Maybe you’re one of those people who likes the thrill of the roller coasters and will ride every one in the park. Others just enjoy the noise, fun and atmosphere and amusement park food. Or perhaps you just go to enjoy a day of relaxation with your family. However, I’m guessing that none of you go to spend a few hours trapped on a hill while riding your favorite roller coaster. Even if you love that roller coaster more than any other ride you’ve ever been on, nobody wants to sit in one of those too-small metal cars on an incline, looking down at the world below. But that’s exactly what happened to 24 people who got trapped on a roller coaster at the Great America theme park in Santa Clara, Calif. yesterday. Riders were stuck as high as 80 feet in the air while rescue crews spent several hours working to get them down safely. In the end, the rescuers ended up bringing the riders down one person at a time. Oddly enough, many other park visitors had no clue what was going on over at the "Invertigo," one of the most visible and popular rides at the park. Park staff shielded the area, shooed people away and even sent many visitors home while they lied and said that they were closing down for repairs. Good call, Great America management! Think that people may have been tipped off when fire rescue teams from Santa Clara County, the City of Santa Clara and San Jose came rushing onto the scene? Even if they didn’t see that 100-foot aerial ladder used to get the 24 stranded riders back to the ground, they knew something was wrong. One positive, aside from everyone getting to the ground safely, was that the park staff did a solid job of taking care of the riders while they were stranded on that hill. Staffers provided bottled water to keep everyone hydrated and were in constant communication with the riders. Plus, each passengers got the thrill of being strapped into a safety harness and lowered to the ground. Whether any of them will want to ride the 11-year-old Invertigo again, I don’t know. I do know that this isn’t the first time the ride has experienced such an incident, with the previous occurrence coming in April of 2000 when 25 riders were stuck halfway up the ride’s main hill for half an hour. Park officials have yet to say what made the ride malfunction, so stay tuned for the release of those thrilling details……..
- Color me unsurprised. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra emerging as the top film of the weekend box office race was a sure thing. A high-powered, big-budget summer action film with a tie-in to a legendary TV show and line of toys making a lot of money was a slam dunk. As expected, easily won the top spot with $56.2 million as well as $44.3 million overseas to give the movie $100.5 million worldwide. Coming in second was a film I was all too happy to not see, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams' JoeJulie & Julia, with $20.1 million. I found the real Julia Child uninteresting and not entertaining (plus that horrific voice of hers, grates on the ears), so I have no interest in seeing someone portray her on the big screen. Finishing third for the weekend was G-Force ($9.8 million), followed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($8.8 million) and reigning top film Funny People, which tumbled all the way to fifth place with $7.8 million. It was not a good weekend for one of the much-hyped new releases, the slasher flick A Perfect Getaway, which only managed to gross $5.8 million for a seventh-place finish. Completing the top 10 were: The Ugly Truth (No. 6, $7 million); Aliens in the Attic (No. 8, $4 million); (No. 9, $3.73 million); and (500) OrphanDays of Summer (No. 10, $3.72 million). There are actually some decent films in that top 10, so hit up your local multiplex if you have the chance and see a decent movie for once……..
- Some people may have laughed when a few disgruntled players left the University of Michigan football program citing a loss of the team’s “family atmosphere and values” under incoming coach Rich Fraud-riguez. There might be less laughter now in light of what has happened of late with now-former UM receiver Justin Feagin. Feagin was dismissed from the team three weeks ago for an unspecified violation of team rules, but details of his dismissal are now surfacing. It’s being reported that Feagin was involved in a failed cocaine deal with a fellow Michigan student that later resulted in the student setting a fire near Feagin's dorm room in March. Allow me to repeat that: Feagin is a coke dealer and one of his cohorts tried to burn his dorm room down. Maybe there aren’t many family values in UM football right now, not unless you consider a cartel to be a family. If you’ve got coke dealers on your team, chances are that the head coach is bringing in low-character guys who aren’t exactly the warm-and-fuzzy, love-and-support-your-teammate types. According to a police report, Feagin admitted in an interview that he helped set up the coke deal in question between Burke and one of his friends in Florida. According to Feagin, Burke then paid him $590, a partial payment for the drugs, which Feagin sent to Florida. Burke pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony arson and agreed to pay Michigan $14,213, but he still faces up to 10 years in jail. As for Feagin, Fraud-riguez dismissed him from the program the same day he was interviewed by the police. The kicker about Feagin is that dude also told police that he used to sell drugs in Florida and had been arrested for battery and trespass. In other words, he was a bad guy before he got to Michigan and I’m guessing Fraud-riguez had some idea about his character before inking him to that scholarship. That lack of character reportedly continued at Michigan, where Feagin denied ever selling drugs even though Burke told police it was "common knowledge" that Feagin sold marijuana. In a very predictable and well-written statement, Fraud-riguez said, "I dismissed Justin Feagin the moment that I was provided information contrary to our team policies.” Mmm hmm, and you didn’t know anything about what he was involved in before then. Well played, R. Fraud, well played…….
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