- Now this sounds like good, old-fashioned union “negotiation” tactics at their finest. With a snowstorm blasting New York City over the weekend, storm warnings abounding for cities up and down the eastern seaboard and worried travelers wondering when they would be able to make it home after the holidays, how great is it to think that NYC sanitation workers may have intentionally delayed cleanup efforts over frustrations regarding citywide budget cuts. Just four days after the blizzard blasted Manhattan, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he will investigate the allegations of an intentionally delayed cleanup. "It would be an outrage if it took place," Bloomberg said Thursday. He explained that the focus is on clearing streets in the city's outer boroughs as opposed to Manhattan. But clearing the streets in Staten Island or Queens did not seem to be all that important to sanitation workers, as some neighborhoods remained snowbound for days after the storm. That sparked rumors across the five boroughs that sanitation officers ordered rank-and-file workers to slow down cleanup efforts in retaliation for the city's belt-tightening measures. The source of those rumors, from an official standpoint, was city councilman Dan Halloran, who said three sanitation workers and two Department of Transportation supervisors came to his office saying their supervisors ordered the slowdown. According to Halloran, those supervisors told workers, "The mayor will see how much he needs us" and that "there will be plenty of overtime." Wow…..very thoughtful of you. Nothing like screwing over your neighbors and friends by refusing to clean up the streets in a timely manner because you feel like you need to prove a point to the mayor. Bloomberg defended the cuts, which have not yet taken effect, saying "the state is facing a budget deficit that's going to filter down to us." I’m certain that, if true, the purposeful slowdown of snow cleanup would have fired up the morning commuters, first responders and aircraft service personnel who were unable to get where they were going in a timely manner because the slugs who work in the sanitation department felt the need to make a political statement. It wasn’t until Thursday that many neighborhoods in the city had been cleared. Predictably, the head of New York's sanitation workers' union, Harry Nespoli, said he was not aware of any slowdown and doubts there was a protest by workers. Nespoli instead marveled at the magnitude of the storm, calling it “ one of the biggest blizzards I've ever seen." He then blamed harsh winds and budget cuts as reasons for the slow response. "We were 400 people short," said Nespoli, president of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association. "There are certain services that should not be affected. The people pay taxes for it." A bit of a conflicting message, but I like the idea of a conspiracy enough to roll with this one for the time being…….
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! We’re two days into an inspiring uprising by Bolivian education workers and bus drivers over a sharp spike in gasoline and diesel prices. The protest broke out after the government’s announcement last weekend that it was ending gas subsidies that kept the price at Bolivian pumps artificially low. The end of those subsidies caused prices to skyrocket as much as 73 percent for gasoline and 80 percent for diesel. For some odd reason, those hikes did not sit well with bus drivers, who staged a partial strike as the general Bolivian population broke into a collective uproar. To illustrate the jump, regular gas went from $1.97 per gallon to $3.42, which I’m guessing would spark plenty of outrage in the United States as well. Diesel prices rose from about $1.90 per gallon to $3.61 per gallon. Why did the government eliminate the subsidies? Because the move would save the country $380 million and was allegedly needed to make prices comparable to neighboring countries, thus putting ending the problem of fuel being smuggled out of the country. "That money belonging to Bolivians that was exiting abroad without benefiting the country, that's why the government has decided to use those resources to implement social development programs that truly help the development of the nation," said Ivan Canales, a government spokesman. Those words did little to placate angry citizens, nor did it help when he accused right-wing interests of trying to stir up dissent to get the subsidies reinstated. Unfortunately for Canales, the protests involved people came from all socio-economic levels. It wasn’t just the poor or the working class; it was everyone. Citizens of Bolivia’s capital city wondered openly how they were going to cope. "This is completely sad. Now, we don't know how we are going to handle the situation," said La Paz resident Nestor Yujra. National media have taken to calling the new policy the "Gasolinazo," or "The Big Gasoline Hit." The proudest moment of the two-day (and counting) unrest was Thursday, when protesters clashed with police in riot gear. The strike by bus drivers other public transportation drivers would be more effective if it was a total strike, but one step at a time I suppose. Those drivers who remained on the job attempted to gouge customers for as much money as they could. "We regret that some drivers have increased their (prices) by as much as 100 percent," Canales said. All of this took place as President Evo Morales was conveniently out of the country on an official visit to Venezuela. Nothing like jamming up your constituents and not being there to face their wrath………
- If New Year’s Eve in Times Square feels a little less trashy and lowbrow than you were expecting this year, just know that your mind is not playing tricks on you. The evening would have been every bit as class-deprived as you were anticipating if MTV had been able to successfully execute its plan to cram "Jersey Shore" cast member Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi in a large ball and drop her from a building during MTV's New Year's Eve bash from Times Square. Unfortunately for MTV, those plans conflicted with the traditional celebration in the heart of Manhattan and they were forced to come up with a Plab B. MTV originally wanted to drop their ball with the "Jersey Shore" skank from their own building in Times Square, but when that dream died the show’s producers decided to take her back where she belongs - New Jersey. The ball drop will still take place, but it will happen in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, the original setting for the show. "We love our Times Square home and while we're disappointed there won't be a Snooki ball drop there, she cannot be denied!" MTV said in a statement. "So we're taking a road trip to the place where it all began, Seaside Heights, and droppin' it all there." Try to put a happy face on this one if you will, MTV, but don’t act like you’re not disappointed. Whether you drop it from some building on the boardwalk, from the roof of the town hall or the local library, it just won't be the same. But leave it to "Jersey Shore" creator Sally Ann Salsano to insist that "there is no better way to ring in the New Year" than with Snooki. "She's a party in a box," Salsano said. No, she’s an instant STD in a box, she’s a walking advertisement for what an alcoholic looks like and she’s a complete and total freak show, but party in a box isn’t how I would describe her. If your looking for someone to blame, point the finger at the organizers of the traditional celebration in Times Square, who claimed that MTV’s request "came too late and was too impractical to fit in to our outdoor events." Whatever excuse you need to keep MTV from GTL-ing up your celebration, go for it. The party in Times Square will look like it has for decades, with a lighted ball is dropping from a building to signify the new year's beginning. For those not fortunate enough to be in Manhattan and with no standards for entertainment, you can watch Snooki drop inside the ball in New Jersey, live on MTV's "New Year's Bash 2011," on December 31, beginning at 10:30 p.m. EST, with appearances by other members of the cast of "Jersey Shore" and "Saturday Night Live's" Bobby Moynihan and a musical performance by hip-hop star Flo Rida and others…………
- If you’re like me, you want to have no idea what’s going on and feel nothing if you are ever to undergo major surgery. Blood, guts and gore are not my thing and if I need a serious surgical procedure done on me, I want to be numb and unconscious. Having said that, I’m not fired up to learn that the brain under general anesthesia isn't actually "asleep" as surgery patients are often told. According to a new study published in the Dec. 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the brain is technically placed into a state that is a reversible coma. The study, conducted by three neuroscientists who have published an extensive review of general anesthesia, contradicts commonly held beliefs about the effects of anesthesia. If these findings are applied as the authors hope, they could eventually lead to new approaches to general anesthesia and improved diagnosis and treatment for sleep abnormalities and emergence from coma. The big reveal in the findings stems from the fact that a fully anesthetized brain is much closer to the deeply unconscious low-brain activity seen in coma patients, than to a person asleep. Being put into a coma doesn’t sound appealing, but it’s certainly better than being awake and seeing what actually goes on during a surgery. As long as I don’t know any of that, it doesn’t matter if I’m “asleep” or in a coma that is drug-induced and reversible. The one major difference between the drug-induced coma and a coma that is unintentional is recovery time, with recovery from in minutes to hours and recovery from coma in hours to months to years, if ever. Understanding how patients recover from general anesthesia could help to better understand how both processes occur, so that’s a plus. Study co-author, Dr. Nicholas D. Schiff, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College and a neurologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center (wow that’s a lot of words in a title) explained that the findings are “very exciting, because it gives us new ways to understand each of these states.” Knowing more about the functioning of the brain circuit mechanisms may also allow doctors to "tweak the circuits as needed, to help us in the areas where we don't do well, such as abnormalities of sleep and, especially, emergence from a coma," Dr. Schiff said. Just as long as surgery goes off without the patient awake or aware of what’s being done to them, I don’t think there will be many objections………
- I completely agree with University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma when he says that his team will learn something from the ending of its NCAA-record 90-game winning streak. It’s what Auriemma’s team will learn from the streak’s demise that causes he and I to differ. "It's where we go from here that will define this team more than the 90 wins," Auriemma said. "How we play going forward will be this team's defining moment. The 90 wins just belonged to a few of these guys. What happens for the rest of the season will belong to them. And I am excited about that." See, Auriemma believes that his team will learn about itself, its weakness and where it can improve. A 71-59 loss at Stanford will supposedly be the catalyst for that learning. "This losing stuff is getting old, I hate it," Auriemma joked at the postgame press conference. "I just wish we could catch a break every once in a while so these kids can have some success." Hey oh, look at who made a funny! In all seriousness, the UConn women’s team will learn an important lesson, one they probably should have known by now but which can always use reinforcement. That lesson, simply put, is that no one gives a rat’s ass about women’s basketball. ESPN, which has the misfortune of broadcasting a lot of women’s college basketball games, did its best to drum up interest in the streak by cramming it down viewers’ throats on every one of its shows and broadcasts, but with the winning streak over, there will be no more of that talk. Now, UConn is just another women’s basketball team with a good record that no one cares about. Whether they win their third straight national title or not, no one cares. The average sports fan still can't name a single player on the team, not even star Maya Moore. Coincidentally, Moore had a thoroughly mediocre game in the loss, scoring just 14 points and missing missing her only free-throw attempt with her team trailing by six points late in the game. When the Huskies lace ‘em up for their next game, against Villanova on Jan. 5, all of the lights and cameras will be gone and they will play the rest of their season in the same obscurity as all other women’s college basketball teams. So keep pumping up the lessons you can learn from this defeat, Geno, but know that you’re off base on this one. “When we show the mistakes to them again, it will mean a lot more this time because now they'll know what the result can be," Auriemma said. "I've used this example before: You tell a kid don't touch a hot stove and they don't listen until they burn themselves. Now, they won't touch it. You can tell kids all you want about problems, but if they never get beat ...” If they never get beat, then they actually have people caring about them a bit….a small bit. But now? Nothing…………
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Canadians pilfer American cocaine, the joy of Phil Jackson and doing battle with Slick Willie Clinton
- Life in Canada can be tough any time of year. Subsisting on round bacon and seal blubber…..just kidding, Canada. You know I love you, but one thing I do not love is your citizens crashing the American border, picking up about 400 pounds of cocaine and attempting top haul ass out of the country. Don’t come here, snare our blow and run. Thankfully, federal narcotics agents arrested Leah Norton and Curtis McLay outside a restaurant on Meridian Street in Bellingham, Wash. and stopped them from completing this dastardly deed. Agents followed the pair during the day on Dec. 6 and observed them as they drove to a location north of Maple Falls that is near the U.S.-Canadian border and known for drug smuggling. According to a criminal complaint against the pair of Canucks, agents began watching Norton and McLay at a motel on East McLeod Road. Surveillance continued as agents followed McLay's truck and an SUV Norton had rented as the pair drove the vehicles from the motel parking lot to the location north of Maple Falls. McLay returned to the truck later on and drove it to the restaurant, where he met with Norton. When the pair went inside to eat, other agents brought in a drug-sniffing dog, which detected narcotics inside the truck. Armed with that evidence, DEA agents were able to secure a warrant. In a search of the truck, they found 184 bricks of cocaine weighing about 2 pounds each, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, after a second drug-sniffing dog also detected drugs inside the truck's bed, which was covered. McLay was arrested after he was stopped outside the restaurant by agents. He then took the unusual step of explaining that he had no identification on him because he was a Canadian citizen who entered the U.S. illegally by walking through a field (hooray for border security!). The bricks of Colombian nose candy were packed inside nine bags stashed under a covering. The agents arrested McLay, searched him and found keys to the truck and busted Norton as she walked out of the restaurant. She then rolled on her partner and admitted that she would be paid $1,000 for her role in smuggling the drugs across the border as the driver. Both individuals have been hit with the same federal charges of possession with intent to distribute. That’s what you get for coming into this country and trying to sneak out with our Bolivian marching powder, Canada……..
- Phil Jackson is a freaking NBA treasure this season. No, it has nothing to do with the coaching wisdom of the man who has won the most NBA championships (11) in league history. Nor does it have anything to do with the fact that Jackson’s Los Angeles Lakers are among the favorites to win the title again this year. What makes Big Chief Triangle such a show this year is that he’s on the record as saying he plans to retire after this season. He couched those comments by saying that nothing is certain at this point, but he plans to ride off into the basketball afterlife once this season ends. What that means is the already irascible Jackson is basically the NBA version of a crotchety, bitter old person who has some very pointed views on the world, realizes they won't be around much longer and have no compunctions about spouting off with their opinions any time they feel the urge. Whether it’s the hot topic of the week, such as the basketball world fawning over the Miami Heat’s new “big three” or ruminating on his own team’s struggles, BCT cuts loose with his rambling diatribes and doesn’t care what anyone thinks. On Wednesday, his discerning eye turned to the NBA’s decision to purchase the New Orleans Hornets, buying the team from majority owner George Shinn and minority owner Gary Chouest in hopes of finding a new ownership group. With the Hornets in town to play the Lakers Wednesday night, Jackson spoke about his displeasure with the transaction. "Not happy about that," he said when asked about the purchase. "Who's going to trade who to whom? Who's going to pull the button on trading player or when Chris [Paul] says he has to be traded? How's that going to go? I don't know. Somebody's going to have to make a very nonjudgmental decision on that part that's not going to irritate anybody else in this league ... I don't know how they're going to do that." He raises valid points about the arrangement and if the league can’t find a buyer soon, those issues could well come to the forefront. Now, if the NBA miraculously stumbles across a billionaire with a hankering to own a professional sports franchise in the next few weeks, all will be solved. For now, the Hornets’ basketball decisions and day-to-day operations will continue to be controlled by team president Hugh Weber and general manager Dell Demps. That did not placate Jackson, who voiced skepticism that any move made by New Orleans would be viewed as the league helping out another franchise. "That's what everybody is going to be afraid of: Who is going to be helping who out?" Jackson said. "The best thing about [the Hornets franchise] is it’s still in existence; it's still here." To finish off his commentary, Jackson then delivered a swift blast to the package of all Hornets fans by musing on how much longer the Hornets would remain in New Orleans. "I don't know if New Orleans can support [an NBA] team," Jackson said. "It hasn't been successful supporting a team up until now. So, all the situations that have gone on in New Orleans, unfortunate things have happened and you know if the franchise can't make it, somebody is going to have to move it." On behalf of New Orleans, thanks so much for the encouragement…………
- Not that I am a great fount of political wisdom, but I feel compelled to impart some sound words of advice to my pal Rep. Danny Davis, a Democrat from Illinois and mayoral candidate in Chicago. Those words, simply put: DO NOT POKE THE BEAR. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT ANTAGONIZE THE POLITICAL KILLING MACHINE THAT IS SLICK WILLIE, A.K.A. FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON. I understand full well that Davis, a onetime ally of Clinton's, is running for mayor and is facing ex-Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in the race. I am also award that Clinton plans to throw his considerable weight behind Emanuel and make a campaign stop in the city next month. Bearing that in mind, Davis needs to allow Slick Willie to do what he wants and not get in his way. Sure, fighting against a Clinton-backed candidate is difficult, but not as difficult as life will get if you piss him off and he decides to turn his power against you. This is the guy we send on diplomatic missions around the world when we need someone to calm down our fiercest and most bitter adversaries, so he’s not going to be frightened to do battle with Rep. Danny Davis. That didn’t stop Davis from issuing a strongly worded statement Tuesday, in which the Chicago Democrat said he is "seriously concerned and disturbed" by Clinton’s potential involvement in the race. "The African American community has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Clintons, however it appears as though some of that relationship maybe fractured and perhaps even broken should former President Clinton come to town and participate overtly in efforts to thwart the legitimate political aspirations of Chicago's Black community," Davis said in the statement. That message is nothing new to Clinton, who experienced the same sort of opposition in the Windy City in 2008 as he campaigned on behalf of his wife, a presidential candidate at the time battling then-Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. For whatever reason - probably the same reasons he’s beloved by so many - Bill Clinton has long been a popular figure in the black community. Davis has support in telling Clinton to stay out of the race, as that Carol Mosely Braun, a former ambassador to New Zealand under Clinton and now a candidate for mayor in Chicago, is also calling on Slick Willie to stand down. Considering that Emanuel is garnering close to 44 percent of support from likely Chicago voters while Davis is far back at 7 percent, according to a new poll, it’s easy to see why Davis is so touchy. Now that the Chicago Board of Elections has ruled that Emmanuel is in fact a Chicago resident, and therefore his name may remain on the ballot for the February 22 election, Davis’ hopes are fading fast. In spite of that, Davis is totally off base if he thinks he can tangle with Clinton and win the battle………
- Way to handle your business, Chris Brown. Is it just me, or are the rest of you beginning to get the impression that this guy doesn’t handle pressure situations very well? His abusive ways with the ladies are well-known after his much-publicized incident with then-girlfriend Rihanna when he slapped her and her cell phone around while driving. One might think that after the embarrassing fallout from that incident and vowing to change his ways, Brown would try to keep a low profile for the time being. Never mind on that one, as he has found a new target for his rage. That rage came flying Wednesday in a series of N-bombs and homophobic tweets in the direction of former B2K singer Raz-B. After Raz-B tweeted a comment critical of Brown in a series of complimentary tweets about Rihanna, Brown took the bait and returned fire. "I'm just sittin here thinking how can n---as like [Eric Benet] & [Chris Brown] disrespect women as intelligent as Halle Berry, Rihanna," Raz wrote. Brown waited only a few minutes before going on the attack, tweeting, "N---a you want attention! Grow up n---a!!! Di-- in da booty ass lil boy." Ah, some good old-fashioned hate speech, awesome. Nothing like mocking a guy over allegations he once made that the manager of his old group molested him. Raz-B made those allegations against B2K manager Brian Stokes, but later retracted them. Very classy of Brown to bring them up again. But he didn’t stop there and went on to post several more homophobic-slanted tweets. Instead of going with his normal pattern of threatening to delete his Twitter account and go digitally silent any time he finds himself in an online spat, Brown kept rolling. "I was minding my damn business and Peter pan decides to pop off!!!" he wrote. "I'm not mad though!!! I'm just not silent nor am i one of these scary R&B cats!!" In light of the harsh statements, Brown followed up by writing, "I'm not homophobic! He's just disrespectful!!!" Right, but you’re not mad. You just used more than a dozen exclamation points but you’re not upset? Okay. This pattern has emerged since the Rihanna assault, with Brown making series of outrageous and ridiculous statements that he quickly followed with apologies or retractions. Putting two and two together, that means…..yup, a retraction was forthcoming on Thursday. Sure enough, Brown apologized for his Twitter rant. "Yesterday was an unfortunate lack in judgment sparked by public Twitter attacks from Raz-B, who was bent on getting attention," Brown said. "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and frustrated I am over what transpired publicly on Twitter. I have learned over the past few years to not condone or represent acts of violence against anyone." Apparently those court-ordered anger management courses aren’t quite what they used to be. While an apology is nice, I’m going with the comments he made on Twitter as a more accurate representation of how Brown truly feels than his canned, scripted apology to TMZ. "Molestation and victims of such acts are not to be taken lightly; and for my comments I apologize -- from the bottom of my heart," he stated. "I love all of my fans, gay and straight. I have friends from all walks of life and I am committed, with God's help, to continue becoming a better person." Ah, the “I have friends who are gay/black/Hispanic” defense that everyone gives when they are caught in the act of saying or doing something racist or bigoted. Brown’s apology didn’t seem to placate Raz's brother, the singer known as Ricky Romance, who posted a video threatening that if he saw Brown in Los Angeles, he would "put my mother----ing pistol in your mouth." Don’t you just love the holiday spirit in Celebrity Land………
- Skype is catching plenty of buzz as people around the world get to know the new laptop they received for Christmas and want to use the popular video-chatting service to keep in touch with their friends when texting, Facebook messaging, talking on the phone or emailing just aren’t enough. With smartphones also in nearly everyone’s hand no matter where in the United States they live, the next logical step was for Skype to find a way to make its service available by iPhone. Six days ago, Skype posted and then quickly took down a sneak peek at details of its video-calling service for the iPhone. After that tease, Skype on Thursday officially launched a free offering that enables iPhone users to video-chat with each other. "This season is very special as we are releasing a new version of Skype for iPhone and iPod Touch with video calling. Now you will be able to share all the special moments in video, as they happen, wherever you are," Raul Liive project manager of beta programs at Skype, wrote in a blog post. Technically, the app is not just for the iPhone, as it also allows users make and receive free Skype video calls on their iPad or iPod Touch. The service works with both 3G networks and Wi-Fi and is also compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch fourth-generation with iOS 4.0 or later. For the technologically backward still using an iPod Touch third generation model, it’s still possible to receive video calls, according to Skype. Once you have the Skype for iPhone app, you can make calls between your device and: PCs running Skype for Windows 4.2 and above; Skype for Mac 2.8 and above; Skype for Linux; and the Asus videophone. There are also the “traditional” Skype features of audio calls to other Skype users and lower-cost phone calls to landlines and mobile phone numbers around the world. Putting all of these pieces together, it appears that the buzz that began when several documents about the new app appeared on Skype's Web site back on Dec. 24 had some basis in reality, although it’s still not clear if Skype intends to market Skype for iPhone as a direct competitor to Apple FaceTime………
- Phil Jackson is a freaking NBA treasure this season. No, it has nothing to do with the coaching wisdom of the man who has won the most NBA championships (11) in league history. Nor does it have anything to do with the fact that Jackson’s Los Angeles Lakers are among the favorites to win the title again this year. What makes Big Chief Triangle such a show this year is that he’s on the record as saying he plans to retire after this season. He couched those comments by saying that nothing is certain at this point, but he plans to ride off into the basketball afterlife once this season ends. What that means is the already irascible Jackson is basically the NBA version of a crotchety, bitter old person who has some very pointed views on the world, realizes they won't be around much longer and have no compunctions about spouting off with their opinions any time they feel the urge. Whether it’s the hot topic of the week, such as the basketball world fawning over the Miami Heat’s new “big three” or ruminating on his own team’s struggles, BCT cuts loose with his rambling diatribes and doesn’t care what anyone thinks. On Wednesday, his discerning eye turned to the NBA’s decision to purchase the New Orleans Hornets, buying the team from majority owner George Shinn and minority owner Gary Chouest in hopes of finding a new ownership group. With the Hornets in town to play the Lakers Wednesday night, Jackson spoke about his displeasure with the transaction. "Not happy about that," he said when asked about the purchase. "Who's going to trade who to whom? Who's going to pull the button on trading player or when Chris [Paul] says he has to be traded? How's that going to go? I don't know. Somebody's going to have to make a very nonjudgmental decision on that part that's not going to irritate anybody else in this league ... I don't know how they're going to do that." He raises valid points about the arrangement and if the league can’t find a buyer soon, those issues could well come to the forefront. Now, if the NBA miraculously stumbles across a billionaire with a hankering to own a professional sports franchise in the next few weeks, all will be solved. For now, the Hornets’ basketball decisions and day-to-day operations will continue to be controlled by team president Hugh Weber and general manager Dell Demps. That did not placate Jackson, who voiced skepticism that any move made by New Orleans would be viewed as the league helping out another franchise. "That's what everybody is going to be afraid of: Who is going to be helping who out?" Jackson said. "The best thing about [the Hornets franchise] is it’s still in existence; it's still here." To finish off his commentary, Jackson then delivered a swift blast to the package of all Hornets fans by musing on how much longer the Hornets would remain in New Orleans. "I don't know if New Orleans can support [an NBA] team," Jackson said. "It hasn't been successful supporting a team up until now. So, all the situations that have gone on in New Orleans, unfortunate things have happened and you know if the franchise can't make it, somebody is going to have to move it." On behalf of New Orleans, thanks so much for the encouragement…………
- Not that I am a great fount of political wisdom, but I feel compelled to impart some sound words of advice to my pal Rep. Danny Davis, a Democrat from Illinois and mayoral candidate in Chicago. Those words, simply put: DO NOT POKE THE BEAR. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT ANTAGONIZE THE POLITICAL KILLING MACHINE THAT IS SLICK WILLIE, A.K.A. FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON. I understand full well that Davis, a onetime ally of Clinton's, is running for mayor and is facing ex-Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in the race. I am also award that Clinton plans to throw his considerable weight behind Emanuel and make a campaign stop in the city next month. Bearing that in mind, Davis needs to allow Slick Willie to do what he wants and not get in his way. Sure, fighting against a Clinton-backed candidate is difficult, but not as difficult as life will get if you piss him off and he decides to turn his power against you. This is the guy we send on diplomatic missions around the world when we need someone to calm down our fiercest and most bitter adversaries, so he’s not going to be frightened to do battle with Rep. Danny Davis. That didn’t stop Davis from issuing a strongly worded statement Tuesday, in which the Chicago Democrat said he is "seriously concerned and disturbed" by Clinton’s potential involvement in the race. "The African American community has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Clintons, however it appears as though some of that relationship maybe fractured and perhaps even broken should former President Clinton come to town and participate overtly in efforts to thwart the legitimate political aspirations of Chicago's Black community," Davis said in the statement. That message is nothing new to Clinton, who experienced the same sort of opposition in the Windy City in 2008 as he campaigned on behalf of his wife, a presidential candidate at the time battling then-Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. For whatever reason - probably the same reasons he’s beloved by so many - Bill Clinton has long been a popular figure in the black community. Davis has support in telling Clinton to stay out of the race, as that Carol Mosely Braun, a former ambassador to New Zealand under Clinton and now a candidate for mayor in Chicago, is also calling on Slick Willie to stand down. Considering that Emanuel is garnering close to 44 percent of support from likely Chicago voters while Davis is far back at 7 percent, according to a new poll, it’s easy to see why Davis is so touchy. Now that the Chicago Board of Elections has ruled that Emmanuel is in fact a Chicago resident, and therefore his name may remain on the ballot for the February 22 election, Davis’ hopes are fading fast. In spite of that, Davis is totally off base if he thinks he can tangle with Clinton and win the battle………
- Way to handle your business, Chris Brown. Is it just me, or are the rest of you beginning to get the impression that this guy doesn’t handle pressure situations very well? His abusive ways with the ladies are well-known after his much-publicized incident with then-girlfriend Rihanna when he slapped her and her cell phone around while driving. One might think that after the embarrassing fallout from that incident and vowing to change his ways, Brown would try to keep a low profile for the time being. Never mind on that one, as he has found a new target for his rage. That rage came flying Wednesday in a series of N-bombs and homophobic tweets in the direction of former B2K singer Raz-B. After Raz-B tweeted a comment critical of Brown in a series of complimentary tweets about Rihanna, Brown took the bait and returned fire. "I'm just sittin here thinking how can n---as like [Eric Benet] & [Chris Brown] disrespect women as intelligent as Halle Berry, Rihanna," Raz wrote. Brown waited only a few minutes before going on the attack, tweeting, "N---a you want attention! Grow up n---a!!! Di-- in da booty ass lil boy." Ah, some good old-fashioned hate speech, awesome. Nothing like mocking a guy over allegations he once made that the manager of his old group molested him. Raz-B made those allegations against B2K manager Brian Stokes, but later retracted them. Very classy of Brown to bring them up again. But he didn’t stop there and went on to post several more homophobic-slanted tweets. Instead of going with his normal pattern of threatening to delete his Twitter account and go digitally silent any time he finds himself in an online spat, Brown kept rolling. "I was minding my damn business and Peter pan decides to pop off!!!" he wrote. "I'm not mad though!!! I'm just not silent nor am i one of these scary R&B cats!!" In light of the harsh statements, Brown followed up by writing, "I'm not homophobic! He's just disrespectful!!!" Right, but you’re not mad. You just used more than a dozen exclamation points but you’re not upset? Okay. This pattern has emerged since the Rihanna assault, with Brown making series of outrageous and ridiculous statements that he quickly followed with apologies or retractions. Putting two and two together, that means…..yup, a retraction was forthcoming on Thursday. Sure enough, Brown apologized for his Twitter rant. "Yesterday was an unfortunate lack in judgment sparked by public Twitter attacks from Raz-B, who was bent on getting attention," Brown said. "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and frustrated I am over what transpired publicly on Twitter. I have learned over the past few years to not condone or represent acts of violence against anyone." Apparently those court-ordered anger management courses aren’t quite what they used to be. While an apology is nice, I’m going with the comments he made on Twitter as a more accurate representation of how Brown truly feels than his canned, scripted apology to TMZ. "Molestation and victims of such acts are not to be taken lightly; and for my comments I apologize -- from the bottom of my heart," he stated. "I love all of my fans, gay and straight. I have friends from all walks of life and I am committed, with God's help, to continue becoming a better person." Ah, the “I have friends who are gay/black/Hispanic” defense that everyone gives when they are caught in the act of saying or doing something racist or bigoted. Brown’s apology didn’t seem to placate Raz's brother, the singer known as Ricky Romance, who posted a video threatening that if he saw Brown in Los Angeles, he would "put my mother----ing pistol in your mouth." Don’t you just love the holiday spirit in Celebrity Land………
- Skype is catching plenty of buzz as people around the world get to know the new laptop they received for Christmas and want to use the popular video-chatting service to keep in touch with their friends when texting, Facebook messaging, talking on the phone or emailing just aren’t enough. With smartphones also in nearly everyone’s hand no matter where in the United States they live, the next logical step was for Skype to find a way to make its service available by iPhone. Six days ago, Skype posted and then quickly took down a sneak peek at details of its video-calling service for the iPhone. After that tease, Skype on Thursday officially launched a free offering that enables iPhone users to video-chat with each other. "This season is very special as we are releasing a new version of Skype for iPhone and iPod Touch with video calling. Now you will be able to share all the special moments in video, as they happen, wherever you are," Raul Liive project manager of beta programs at Skype, wrote in a blog post. Technically, the app is not just for the iPhone, as it also allows users make and receive free Skype video calls on their iPad or iPod Touch. The service works with both 3G networks and Wi-Fi and is also compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch fourth-generation with iOS 4.0 or later. For the technologically backward still using an iPod Touch third generation model, it’s still possible to receive video calls, according to Skype. Once you have the Skype for iPhone app, you can make calls between your device and: PCs running Skype for Windows 4.2 and above; Skype for Mac 2.8 and above; Skype for Linux; and the Asus videophone. There are also the “traditional” Skype features of audio calls to other Skype users and lower-cost phone calls to landlines and mobile phone numbers around the world. Putting all of these pieces together, it appears that the buzz that began when several documents about the new app appeared on Skype's Web site back on Dec. 24 had some basis in reality, although it’s still not clear if Skype intends to market Skype for iPhone as a direct competitor to Apple FaceTime………
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
When email hacking is called for, Brett Favre gets over on the NFL and Iran has a bad day
- Where is the line when it comes to intruding into your significant other’s email account? Let’s turn to Leon Walker, a computer technician from Detroit who now faces a jury trial in February for allegedly hacking into his then-wife's e-mail account. "She'd asked me to read her e-mails before," Walker said. "She gave me the password before. She didn't hide it." Whether or not that’s true, authorities clearly felt Walker had crossed the line by snooping into and reading emails from the account of his wife Clara, whom he discovered was having an affair with her previous husband. Well, one of her previous husbands. Clara Walker has been married three times, so that statement needs clarification. Her third husband, the one accused of spying on her email account, shared the documents with his wife's first husband, who then used them to file an emergency motion to obtain custody of his son with Clara Walker. If all of this is confusing to you, just know that you’re not alone. How all three of these husbands know one another and have relationships with each other makes no sense, but Leon Walker claimed that he and the first husband were both concerned because, according to Walker, husband No. 2 had been previously arrested on a domestic violence charge. "He took action with the courts to have himself protected and I took action with the court to have my daughter protected," Walker said. Of course, Clara Walker wondered how her private emails had made their way into open court and when she found out, she complained to police. As a quick aside, are we all beginning to see why this woman has trouble making marriages last? After Clara Walker’s complaint, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper used a state anti-hacking law to charge Leon Walker with a felony. In a voicemail response to an interview request, Cooper minced no words in describing Leon Walker. “The guy is a hacker," Cooper stated. "It was password protected, he had wonderful skills, and was highly trained. Then he downloaded them and used them in a very contentious way.” The statute under which Walker is charged forbids someone from accessing "a computer program, computer, computer system or computer network" to acquire property "without authorization." All 50 states have such laws on the books, but those laws are typically not applied in this fashion. Leon Walker’s attorney admitted surprise at this specific application of the law. "I find it so hard to believe that our legislature would enact a law and say 'You know what, if husbands and wives are reading each others' e-mail, that's a priority for us and we've got to stop that,'" attorney Leon Weiss said. Walker tried to analogize his hacking his wife’s email account to someone kicking in a door to save someone from a burning house. "Do you kick the door open or do you let it burn?" Walker said. "I did what I felt was absolutely necessary." For the record, and I’m sure it will stun one and all, Leon and Clara Walker’s divorce was finalized in December…………
- While most of us are looking forward and wondering where society is headed, some among us are clearly looking backward and wondering just how much we share with our predecessors on this here Earth. Yes, I’m talking about Neanderthals, who were apparently more like us than originally thought. According to a new study by researchers at George Washington University and The Smithsonian Institute, these early humans cooked and ate vegetables, contradicting an previous theory that early humans were carnivorous. The study found starch granules from plant grains in Neanderthal teeth, leading them to believe the early humans did not have an exclusively meat-based diet. In turn, researchers concluded that theories blaming Neanderthals’ extinction on dietary deficiencies. If in fact they consumed plants and included cooked grains as part of a more sophisticated, diverse diet similar to early modern humans. "Neanderthals are often portrayed as very backwards or primitive," said Amanda Henry, lead researcher and a post-doctoral researcher at the university. "Now we are beginning to understand that they had some quite advanced technologies and behaviors." The plant granules were discovered in dental calculus -- which forms when plaque buildup hardens -- on the fossilized teeth of Neanderthal skeletons excavated from Shanidar Cave in Iraq and Spy Cave in Belgium. "Neanderthals and early humans did not visit the dentist," said Dr. Allison Brooks, another of the researchers on the project. "Therefore, the calculus or tartar remained on their teeth, preserving tiny clues to the previously unknown plant portion of their diets." You can read all about these exciting and largely irrelevant developments in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report………
- Uh-oh, Iran. Not that you all are developing your nuclear program for anything other than peaceful means, but in case your were thinking, kinda, sorta, about using that program to do something other than create a new energy source, you can't feel great about an Israeli minister alerting the world to the fact that your nuclear program has been hit by technical problems and could be as much as three years away from making a bomb. The statement itself was not stunning because one month ago, Iran alleged that centrifuges used in uranium enrichment had been sabotaged. Outside sources believe that the centrifuges were targeted by the Stuxnet computer worm, but Iran has gone out of its way to deny those rumors. All along the way, dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Co. have maintained that their nuclear program is for peaceful energy use only and every step of the way, the rest of the world has laughed at those claims. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon made the statement about the technical problems in Iran’s nuclear program and said on an Israeli radio station that the program faced "a number of technological challenges and difficulties.” He spoke as if this was an absolute certainty. "These difficulties have postponed the timetable," he stated. "So we can't talk about a point of no return. Iran does not have the ability to create nuclear weapons by itself at the moment." Of course, there is still the small matter of technology experts claiming that the Stuxnet’s complex coding suggests it was created by a "nation state" in the West, rather than an organized crime group. All in all, I’d say there’s plenty more juicy news to be mined out of this story………
- Color me stunned. You’re telling me that with legions of fans composed of adult wizards/dorks with no social lives outside of playing “Dungeons and Dragons” in their basements, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" is the most-anticipated movie of 2011 among both men and women? Never mind that the first half of this sci-fi “thriller” is still scoring significant earnings in theaters and will undoubtedly do plenty more damage once it’s released on DVD and Blu-Ray, clearly there are a lot of pale, pasty losers out there who will go see a movie adaptation of anything J.K. Rowling writes. A poll conducted by online movie ticket seller Fandango.com revealed that the second half of the final “Harry Potter” movie, which isn’t due in theaters until July, is the most-anticipated movie for 26 percent of men and 24 percent of women surveyed. The second choice among men was predictably “The Hangover 2,” while the second pick for women was the hunky-teen-vampire-centric "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1." Fandango.com also asked respondents who they felt was the sexiest woman in movies and 10 percent of men chose "Black Swan" star Natalie Portman. One has to wonder how that might change if the survey were done over now that we know that Portman is both engaged and pregnant. Women went with the always-lovely Penelope Cruz as the sexiest lady on screen, giving her 7 percent of the vote. Oddly enough, Angelina Jolie finished a distant second among both sexes. The two sides agreed that "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp is the hottest guy in cinema today, although men most likely answered the question grudgingly through gritted teeth because saying that another dude is good-looking is not something more guys do willingly. How Fandango.com found 1,000 people willing to take an unpaid survey during the Christmas season, I’ll never know, but people do love believing that their opinion matters……….
- We waited all these weeks and this is the best the NFL could come up with? The league is fining Brett Favre a whopping $50,000 not for his actions in an alleged sexting scandal with then-Jets game-day employee Jenn Sterger, but because the embattled Vikings quarterback was not cooperative with its investigation of the matter? Favre is concussed, busted up and unlikely to play again this season or in the future for that matter, so it’s not as if the league could suspend him and have that punishment mean anything. Having said that, commissioner Roger Goodell and his cronies drag their feet for a long time on this one, probably to avoid that very decision on a suspension that actually could have had some teeth. That left them with an easy out in fining Favre, but even in that instance they whiffed. A $50,000 fine for not cooperating? Why not just make the guy write “I will cooperate with NFL investigations” 500 times on the blackboard and sit in the corner for 15 minutes? That would be just as ridiculous. As bad as this decision is, the one thing that could make it worse is Goodell getting out and trying to sell it like it’s a fair and just outcome for the case. Whether Favre plays on Sunday in Minnesota’s season finale against Detroit or not, he got over on this one and we all know it. Someone who definitely knows it is Sterger's attorney, who accused the league of favoritism. "It clearly shows that an NFL star player was given preferential treatment and tells all other players that failure to cooperate may cost you some money but will not result in other punishment," said Joseph Conway. He took umbrage to Goodell announcing that he, the commissioner, "could not conclude" that Favre violated the league's personal conduct policy based on the evidence currently available to him. That gem was included in a statement from the league announcing the fine. The league claimed that it conducted forensic analysis which failed to establish that Favre sent the objectionable photographs to Sterger. Goodell then decided to fine Favre because he was "not candid in several respects during the investigation resulting in a longer review and additional negative public attention for Favre, Sterger and the NFL.” Sheriff Goodell then warned Favre that if he had found a violation of the league's workplace conduct policies, he would have imposed a "substantially higher level of discipline." Oh, okay. I may not side entirely with Sterger and her crew in this situation, but I’m more inclined to believe Conway when he claims there was "ample evidence" the photos were of Favre. I don’t follow Conway when he tries to aggrandize the situation by stating, "Additionally, today's decision is an affront to all females and shows once again that, despite tough talk, the NFL remains the good old boys' league.” I sincerely hope that in the face of a decision that clearly infuriates them, Sterger and her team follow through on their prior threats to unveil all of the damning information and evidence they reportedly have in the case. That could happen if Sterger decides to take legal action against Favre, the Jets or the NFL, which I am now rooting for. I also feel compelled to point out that there is an ironclad way to find out if the pictures were of Favre’s junk and I think we all know what sort of apples-to-apples comparison I’m talking about………..
- While most of us are looking forward and wondering where society is headed, some among us are clearly looking backward and wondering just how much we share with our predecessors on this here Earth. Yes, I’m talking about Neanderthals, who were apparently more like us than originally thought. According to a new study by researchers at George Washington University and The Smithsonian Institute, these early humans cooked and ate vegetables, contradicting an previous theory that early humans were carnivorous. The study found starch granules from plant grains in Neanderthal teeth, leading them to believe the early humans did not have an exclusively meat-based diet. In turn, researchers concluded that theories blaming Neanderthals’ extinction on dietary deficiencies. If in fact they consumed plants and included cooked grains as part of a more sophisticated, diverse diet similar to early modern humans. "Neanderthals are often portrayed as very backwards or primitive," said Amanda Henry, lead researcher and a post-doctoral researcher at the university. "Now we are beginning to understand that they had some quite advanced technologies and behaviors." The plant granules were discovered in dental calculus -- which forms when plaque buildup hardens -- on the fossilized teeth of Neanderthal skeletons excavated from Shanidar Cave in Iraq and Spy Cave in Belgium. "Neanderthals and early humans did not visit the dentist," said Dr. Allison Brooks, another of the researchers on the project. "Therefore, the calculus or tartar remained on their teeth, preserving tiny clues to the previously unknown plant portion of their diets." You can read all about these exciting and largely irrelevant developments in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences report………
- Uh-oh, Iran. Not that you all are developing your nuclear program for anything other than peaceful means, but in case your were thinking, kinda, sorta, about using that program to do something other than create a new energy source, you can't feel great about an Israeli minister alerting the world to the fact that your nuclear program has been hit by technical problems and could be as much as three years away from making a bomb. The statement itself was not stunning because one month ago, Iran alleged that centrifuges used in uranium enrichment had been sabotaged. Outside sources believe that the centrifuges were targeted by the Stuxnet computer worm, but Iran has gone out of its way to deny those rumors. All along the way, dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Co. have maintained that their nuclear program is for peaceful energy use only and every step of the way, the rest of the world has laughed at those claims. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon made the statement about the technical problems in Iran’s nuclear program and said on an Israeli radio station that the program faced "a number of technological challenges and difficulties.” He spoke as if this was an absolute certainty. "These difficulties have postponed the timetable," he stated. "So we can't talk about a point of no return. Iran does not have the ability to create nuclear weapons by itself at the moment." Of course, there is still the small matter of technology experts claiming that the Stuxnet’s complex coding suggests it was created by a "nation state" in the West, rather than an organized crime group. All in all, I’d say there’s plenty more juicy news to be mined out of this story………
- Color me stunned. You’re telling me that with legions of fans composed of adult wizards/dorks with no social lives outside of playing “Dungeons and Dragons” in their basements, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" is the most-anticipated movie of 2011 among both men and women? Never mind that the first half of this sci-fi “thriller” is still scoring significant earnings in theaters and will undoubtedly do plenty more damage once it’s released on DVD and Blu-Ray, clearly there are a lot of pale, pasty losers out there who will go see a movie adaptation of anything J.K. Rowling writes. A poll conducted by online movie ticket seller Fandango.com revealed that the second half of the final “Harry Potter” movie, which isn’t due in theaters until July, is the most-anticipated movie for 26 percent of men and 24 percent of women surveyed. The second choice among men was predictably “The Hangover 2,” while the second pick for women was the hunky-teen-vampire-centric "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1." Fandango.com also asked respondents who they felt was the sexiest woman in movies and 10 percent of men chose "Black Swan" star Natalie Portman. One has to wonder how that might change if the survey were done over now that we know that Portman is both engaged and pregnant. Women went with the always-lovely Penelope Cruz as the sexiest lady on screen, giving her 7 percent of the vote. Oddly enough, Angelina Jolie finished a distant second among both sexes. The two sides agreed that "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp is the hottest guy in cinema today, although men most likely answered the question grudgingly through gritted teeth because saying that another dude is good-looking is not something more guys do willingly. How Fandango.com found 1,000 people willing to take an unpaid survey during the Christmas season, I’ll never know, but people do love believing that their opinion matters……….
- We waited all these weeks and this is the best the NFL could come up with? The league is fining Brett Favre a whopping $50,000 not for his actions in an alleged sexting scandal with then-Jets game-day employee Jenn Sterger, but because the embattled Vikings quarterback was not cooperative with its investigation of the matter? Favre is concussed, busted up and unlikely to play again this season or in the future for that matter, so it’s not as if the league could suspend him and have that punishment mean anything. Having said that, commissioner Roger Goodell and his cronies drag their feet for a long time on this one, probably to avoid that very decision on a suspension that actually could have had some teeth. That left them with an easy out in fining Favre, but even in that instance they whiffed. A $50,000 fine for not cooperating? Why not just make the guy write “I will cooperate with NFL investigations” 500 times on the blackboard and sit in the corner for 15 minutes? That would be just as ridiculous. As bad as this decision is, the one thing that could make it worse is Goodell getting out and trying to sell it like it’s a fair and just outcome for the case. Whether Favre plays on Sunday in Minnesota’s season finale against Detroit or not, he got over on this one and we all know it. Someone who definitely knows it is Sterger's attorney, who accused the league of favoritism. "It clearly shows that an NFL star player was given preferential treatment and tells all other players that failure to cooperate may cost you some money but will not result in other punishment," said Joseph Conway. He took umbrage to Goodell announcing that he, the commissioner, "could not conclude" that Favre violated the league's personal conduct policy based on the evidence currently available to him. That gem was included in a statement from the league announcing the fine. The league claimed that it conducted forensic analysis which failed to establish that Favre sent the objectionable photographs to Sterger. Goodell then decided to fine Favre because he was "not candid in several respects during the investigation resulting in a longer review and additional negative public attention for Favre, Sterger and the NFL.” Sheriff Goodell then warned Favre that if he had found a violation of the league's workplace conduct policies, he would have imposed a "substantially higher level of discipline." Oh, okay. I may not side entirely with Sterger and her crew in this situation, but I’m more inclined to believe Conway when he claims there was "ample evidence" the photos were of Favre. I don’t follow Conway when he tries to aggrandize the situation by stating, "Additionally, today's decision is an affront to all females and shows once again that, despite tough talk, the NFL remains the good old boys' league.” I sincerely hope that in the face of a decision that clearly infuriates them, Sterger and her team follow through on their prior threats to unveil all of the damning information and evidence they reportedly have in the case. That could happen if Sterger decides to take legal action against Favre, the Jets or the NFL, which I am now rooting for. I also feel compelled to point out that there is an ironclad way to find out if the pictures were of Favre’s junk and I think we all know what sort of apples-to-apples comparison I’m talking about………..
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Another stadium roof collapse, knitty statue cozies and FAT causes another American problem
- Not so cocky now, are you world? Sure, it looked mighty funny when the roof of the Metrodome collapsed and the Minnesota Vikings were displaced for the final two home games of their season. The St. Paul Saints, an independent league baseball team in the area, have already planned a whoopee cushion giveaway night to mock the collapse. But is everyone going to give equal scorn and derision to German Bundesliga soccer team Schalke 04 after heavy snowfall in Germany caused part of the roof to collapse at the Veltins Arena, the team’s home stadium? The stadium, in Gelsenkirchen, not only hosts all Schalke's home games, but was also due to hold the annual biathlon World Team Challenge later this week. That event is tragically cancelled after a massive onslaught of snow over Christmas created a hole measuring 1,000 square meters in the roof. Three of the fiberglass strips that hold the roof in place were destroyed and there is no possible way to repair the damage in time to save even an iconic event like the annual biathlon World Team Challenge. "The holes are not going to be closed in time,'' Schalke's chairman Peter Peters said. "The safety of the spectators is the utmost priority.'' The damage doesn’t pose as immediate a problem for Schalke, as the Bundesliga is currently on its winter break with Schalke not scheduled to play at the Veltins Arena until January 15 when they host Hamburg. At the moment, that game is not thought to be in danger, as it can be played with the roof open - or partially open. "I am optimistic that we will be able to start the second half of the season according to schedule," Peters stated. Maintenance crews had cleared an earlier blanket of snow from the stadium but were unable to get onto the roof after that due to harsh weather conditions. One has to wonder what sort of insurance policy Schalke has on the venue, as the stadium opened just nine years ago. It has been the setting for major soccer games, both for the continent and internationally, including the 2004 UEFA Champions League final and staged five games in the World Cup of 2006. And now, it serves as an unusual link between the people of Minneapolis and the good citizens of Gelsenkirchen………
- Everyone spends their holiday a little differently. Some gather with family and exchange gifts, others get together with friends because they are unable to make a long trip home for Christmas, an unfortunate few end up stranded by bad weather and spend their Christmas in an airport…..and one kook spends her holiday outfitting the famous "Charging Bull" on Wall Street into a giant knitted cozy. A New York-based artist guerilla artist known simply as Olek decided that Christmas was the perfect time to drop a butt-ugly, oversized doily onto the famed bull statue, which was placed on Wall Street just before Christmas of 1989 by artist Arturo Di Modica. Di Modica declared the sculpture a symbol of the "strength and power of the American people" following the stock market crash of 1987 and although the statue has since been moved to Bowling Green park in Lower Manhattan, it is still popular with tourists visiting Manhattan. So why take the time to knit a cozy for a 7,100-pound, 16-foot-long bronze statue that stands about 11 feet tall and venture out into a freezing cold night to suit the bull up in its horrific new attire? Olek claimed that she did it partly because of the economy and partly because she was homesick. "I wanted to make it for all those people who couldn't make it to their families and for those people who don't have coats and don't have any money," she explained. Wait….rather than take all of that material and knit a coat, scarf or hat for poor people who need warm winter clothing, you decided to waste it on a statue? I realize that many things don’t translate from English to Polish and clearly “waste of time, money and materials” is one of them. While you never want to mock someone for a nice gesture, this is one that we (and Charging Bull) could have done without. In fact, the knitted cozy didn’t even survive 24 hours, as the park’s caretaker tore it off the statue early in the morning. Still, Olek’s enthusiasm for her pointless project could not be dampened and she sounds very much like a person naïve and clueless enough to pull another similar stunt in the future. "I really hope that I can do it again. This crocheted cover represents my best wishes to all of us. It will be a great, prosperous year with many wonderful surprises!," she proclaimed. Jeez………
- Porsche or Bentley? Learjet or Gulfstream G6? In essence, that’s the question fans are being asked in the heated dispute between NFL owners and players as the two sides try to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. On one side, the 32 billionaire owners are demanding an 18-game season, a reduction in the piece of the revenue pie players receive, a stronger drug-testing program that includes HGH testing and other major concessions. On the other side, player hate the idea of an expanded regular-season schedule and are digging in their heels for extra pay and elevated medical benefits to offset the increased injury risk, opposing HGH testing and turning up their noses at the rookie salary scale the owners want to put in place. In the middle are fans who can’t relate to either side and just want to be sure that their favorite team will be on the field when September rolls around. That hasn’t stopped both sides from suggesting that fans side with them on the central issues of the debate. Owners believe that converting two meaningless exhibition games into regular-season affairs will give fans more of what they want. Players believe that fans understand the absurdity of being asked to do more work for the same or lower pay, as if workers in various industries around the country aren’t being asked to do the very same thing in order to keep their job at the local plant or factory. Players like NFL Players Association executive committee member Mike Vrabel insisted Monday that the players are the more sympathetic of the two sides in the battle. "We don't have 32 players who have private jets in the NFL," he said in a not-so-veiled shot at the owners. Fellow union executive committee member Brian Dawkins sought to struck a more conciliatory tone, saying he believes NFL owners and players have a sense of urgency to avoid a lockout because they don't want to alienate fans. "I would think common sense would say at the end of the day, after all the fighting and after all the words are said, we understand who butters our bread," Dawkins said Tuesday. "That's where the urgency comes in at." Both Dawkins and Vrabel expressed a palpable level of frustration with the league's proposals during a conference call about negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current deal expires one month after the Super Bowl, March 4, hence the fears of a lockout. Players’ biggest sticking point is the 18-game season, as Dawkins and Vrabel both said the league hadn't offered enough in exchnage for what they believe will be shorter careers and therefore less money made with the longer regular season and resulting increase in injuries. "I don't think with good conscience we could say, 'Guys, this is all we could get for you for 18 games. Go out there and strap it up and hope you make it through,' " Vrabel said. Still, the reality of a lockout may also be setting in for players as they find out the financial toll it will take on them and their families. The cost of maintaining health insurance under federal COBRA law during a lockout for a family with two adults and two children would come out to $2,400 a month for a player looking to keep his current coverage. Even though the union has regularly advised its members to save money and has set aside funds of $60,000 per player by raising dues and withholding royalties, in any lockout the players are at an impossible financial disadvantage and have no hope of outlasting the owners. With that in mind, there’s no doubt they need a new CBA more than the owners……….
- Who could have imagined that a production fronted by Bono and the Edge of U2 could have so much trouble getting off the ground? "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" continues to be plagued by one setback after another and most of them are the result, either directly or indirectly, of the Broadway show’s set and high-wire acrobatics that place cast members in dangerous positions throughout the show. Those stunts have received intense scrutiny and criticism from state lawmakers and safety advocates. Now, the danger is taking its toll on the cast both physically and psychologically. Four on-stage accidents have injured various cast members and the fourth accident, on Dec. 20, sent stunt double and aerialist Christopher Tierney to the emergency room and led to a series of new safety measures for the production. After the fourth incident, director Julie Taymor released a statement saying, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our 'Spider-Man' family and we'll continue to do everything in our power to protect the cast and crew." Her scripted words did little or nothing to influence lead actress Natalie Mendoza, who was struck in the head with a rope during one rehearsal and announced that she is leaving the show. In fact, rumors have been swirling for days that Mendoza was negotiating an exit agreement and she confirmed as much with the tweet, "Can feel a trip to India coming on & visiting my magic little orphanage Ramana's Garden in Rishikesh. Raising funds as we speak. Be the change." Nothing like citing Gandhi in your announcement to quit your job. Mendoza, who is best known for her role in "The Descent," suffered a concussion November 28 after being struck by a swinging rope during a rehearsal. She ultimately returned to the production three days later and tried to play hurt, but ended up taking another two weeks off after experiencing nausea and headaches. Taymor must now find someone else to fill the role of Arachne, the spider-villainess who becomes obsessed with Spider-Man. That actress must have no regard for her own safety or well-being and be willing to take wildly unnecessary risks in order to execute a role that seems highly likely to send her to the hospital at least once. The musical's official Broadway opening date is Feb. 7, but merely getting to that point seems like a tall task right now……….
- With America still the FAT-test nation in the world, the problem of obstructive sleep apnea is still very real. Obstructive sleep apnea is a dangerous sleep disorder that affects millions of Americans, so finding a way to cure or at least mute its effects would be huge. Ideally, American would put down the fudge bars and Big Macs and start exercising to eliminate the problem, but because scientists know that dream isn’t coming true, they are beginning testing on a device designed to stop apnea by zapping the tongue during sleep. The basic concept is to stop the tongue and throat muscles from relaxing so much that they collapse and block breathing. Sleep apnea sufferers have that happen for as long as 35 seconds, causing them to jerk awake and gasp in a cycle that repeats itself 30 or more times an hour. Being jolted awake that often robs apnea sufferers of crucial deep sleep, raising their risk for car crashes and potentially deadly diseases. More pressing for family members and loved ones of apnea sufferers is the airplane-loud snoring the disorder produces. Beginning in the last week of January, researchers at Minneapolis-based Inspire Medical Systems will launch a study with 100 apnea patients to see if so-called hypoglossal nerve stimulation really works. Two other medical supply companies, San Diego-based ImThera Medical and Apnex Medical of St. Paul, Minn., are also developing similar devices. I’m not sure why frigid northern Minnesota is the epicenter of sleep apnea research, but there really isn’t much else to do in Minnesota during the winter - just kidding, Minnesotans - so why not? "In this kind of research, we're not looking for little changes," says Dr. Meir Kryger, a sleep medicine specialist at Gaylord Hospital in Connecticut, who is leading the study for Inspire Medical Systems. "What we're looking for is actually cure." Some 12 million Americans have obstructive sleep apnea, so a cure or treatment of any sort would be huge. So would convincing FAT Americans to lose weight, as sleep apnea is particularly common in overweight people, but zapping their tongues with electricity is a more realistic option. At present, the best treatment for apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which employs a mask that gently blows air through the nose to keep airways open during sleep. However, a large percentage of apnea sufferers refuse to wear the uncomfortable mask. Foregoing treatment is also risky, as apnea raises the risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes and increases the chance of a car crash sevenfold. Surgery is sometimes an option, but having a surgeon remove part of the roof of the mouth or other soft tissue is a drastic and costly step. As always, good to know that your obesity is contributing to yet another major national health problem, America………
- Everyone spends their holiday a little differently. Some gather with family and exchange gifts, others get together with friends because they are unable to make a long trip home for Christmas, an unfortunate few end up stranded by bad weather and spend their Christmas in an airport…..and one kook spends her holiday outfitting the famous "Charging Bull" on Wall Street into a giant knitted cozy. A New York-based artist guerilla artist known simply as Olek decided that Christmas was the perfect time to drop a butt-ugly, oversized doily onto the famed bull statue, which was placed on Wall Street just before Christmas of 1989 by artist Arturo Di Modica. Di Modica declared the sculpture a symbol of the "strength and power of the American people" following the stock market crash of 1987 and although the statue has since been moved to Bowling Green park in Lower Manhattan, it is still popular with tourists visiting Manhattan. So why take the time to knit a cozy for a 7,100-pound, 16-foot-long bronze statue that stands about 11 feet tall and venture out into a freezing cold night to suit the bull up in its horrific new attire? Olek claimed that she did it partly because of the economy and partly because she was homesick. "I wanted to make it for all those people who couldn't make it to their families and for those people who don't have coats and don't have any money," she explained. Wait….rather than take all of that material and knit a coat, scarf or hat for poor people who need warm winter clothing, you decided to waste it on a statue? I realize that many things don’t translate from English to Polish and clearly “waste of time, money and materials” is one of them. While you never want to mock someone for a nice gesture, this is one that we (and Charging Bull) could have done without. In fact, the knitted cozy didn’t even survive 24 hours, as the park’s caretaker tore it off the statue early in the morning. Still, Olek’s enthusiasm for her pointless project could not be dampened and she sounds very much like a person naïve and clueless enough to pull another similar stunt in the future. "I really hope that I can do it again. This crocheted cover represents my best wishes to all of us. It will be a great, prosperous year with many wonderful surprises!," she proclaimed. Jeez………
- Porsche or Bentley? Learjet or Gulfstream G6? In essence, that’s the question fans are being asked in the heated dispute between NFL owners and players as the two sides try to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. On one side, the 32 billionaire owners are demanding an 18-game season, a reduction in the piece of the revenue pie players receive, a stronger drug-testing program that includes HGH testing and other major concessions. On the other side, player hate the idea of an expanded regular-season schedule and are digging in their heels for extra pay and elevated medical benefits to offset the increased injury risk, opposing HGH testing and turning up their noses at the rookie salary scale the owners want to put in place. In the middle are fans who can’t relate to either side and just want to be sure that their favorite team will be on the field when September rolls around. That hasn’t stopped both sides from suggesting that fans side with them on the central issues of the debate. Owners believe that converting two meaningless exhibition games into regular-season affairs will give fans more of what they want. Players believe that fans understand the absurdity of being asked to do more work for the same or lower pay, as if workers in various industries around the country aren’t being asked to do the very same thing in order to keep their job at the local plant or factory. Players like NFL Players Association executive committee member Mike Vrabel insisted Monday that the players are the more sympathetic of the two sides in the battle. "We don't have 32 players who have private jets in the NFL," he said in a not-so-veiled shot at the owners. Fellow union executive committee member Brian Dawkins sought to struck a more conciliatory tone, saying he believes NFL owners and players have a sense of urgency to avoid a lockout because they don't want to alienate fans. "I would think common sense would say at the end of the day, after all the fighting and after all the words are said, we understand who butters our bread," Dawkins said Tuesday. "That's where the urgency comes in at." Both Dawkins and Vrabel expressed a palpable level of frustration with the league's proposals during a conference call about negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current deal expires one month after the Super Bowl, March 4, hence the fears of a lockout. Players’ biggest sticking point is the 18-game season, as Dawkins and Vrabel both said the league hadn't offered enough in exchnage for what they believe will be shorter careers and therefore less money made with the longer regular season and resulting increase in injuries. "I don't think with good conscience we could say, 'Guys, this is all we could get for you for 18 games. Go out there and strap it up and hope you make it through,' " Vrabel said. Still, the reality of a lockout may also be setting in for players as they find out the financial toll it will take on them and their families. The cost of maintaining health insurance under federal COBRA law during a lockout for a family with two adults and two children would come out to $2,400 a month for a player looking to keep his current coverage. Even though the union has regularly advised its members to save money and has set aside funds of $60,000 per player by raising dues and withholding royalties, in any lockout the players are at an impossible financial disadvantage and have no hope of outlasting the owners. With that in mind, there’s no doubt they need a new CBA more than the owners……….
- Who could have imagined that a production fronted by Bono and the Edge of U2 could have so much trouble getting off the ground? "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" continues to be plagued by one setback after another and most of them are the result, either directly or indirectly, of the Broadway show’s set and high-wire acrobatics that place cast members in dangerous positions throughout the show. Those stunts have received intense scrutiny and criticism from state lawmakers and safety advocates. Now, the danger is taking its toll on the cast both physically and psychologically. Four on-stage accidents have injured various cast members and the fourth accident, on Dec. 20, sent stunt double and aerialist Christopher Tierney to the emergency room and led to a series of new safety measures for the production. After the fourth incident, director Julie Taymor released a statement saying, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our 'Spider-Man' family and we'll continue to do everything in our power to protect the cast and crew." Her scripted words did little or nothing to influence lead actress Natalie Mendoza, who was struck in the head with a rope during one rehearsal and announced that she is leaving the show. In fact, rumors have been swirling for days that Mendoza was negotiating an exit agreement and she confirmed as much with the tweet, "Can feel a trip to India coming on & visiting my magic little orphanage Ramana's Garden in Rishikesh. Raising funds as we speak. Be the change." Nothing like citing Gandhi in your announcement to quit your job. Mendoza, who is best known for her role in "The Descent," suffered a concussion November 28 after being struck by a swinging rope during a rehearsal. She ultimately returned to the production three days later and tried to play hurt, but ended up taking another two weeks off after experiencing nausea and headaches. Taymor must now find someone else to fill the role of Arachne, the spider-villainess who becomes obsessed with Spider-Man. That actress must have no regard for her own safety or well-being and be willing to take wildly unnecessary risks in order to execute a role that seems highly likely to send her to the hospital at least once. The musical's official Broadway opening date is Feb. 7, but merely getting to that point seems like a tall task right now……….
- With America still the FAT-test nation in the world, the problem of obstructive sleep apnea is still very real. Obstructive sleep apnea is a dangerous sleep disorder that affects millions of Americans, so finding a way to cure or at least mute its effects would be huge. Ideally, American would put down the fudge bars and Big Macs and start exercising to eliminate the problem, but because scientists know that dream isn’t coming true, they are beginning testing on a device designed to stop apnea by zapping the tongue during sleep. The basic concept is to stop the tongue and throat muscles from relaxing so much that they collapse and block breathing. Sleep apnea sufferers have that happen for as long as 35 seconds, causing them to jerk awake and gasp in a cycle that repeats itself 30 or more times an hour. Being jolted awake that often robs apnea sufferers of crucial deep sleep, raising their risk for car crashes and potentially deadly diseases. More pressing for family members and loved ones of apnea sufferers is the airplane-loud snoring the disorder produces. Beginning in the last week of January, researchers at Minneapolis-based Inspire Medical Systems will launch a study with 100 apnea patients to see if so-called hypoglossal nerve stimulation really works. Two other medical supply companies, San Diego-based ImThera Medical and Apnex Medical of St. Paul, Minn., are also developing similar devices. I’m not sure why frigid northern Minnesota is the epicenter of sleep apnea research, but there really isn’t much else to do in Minnesota during the winter - just kidding, Minnesotans - so why not? "In this kind of research, we're not looking for little changes," says Dr. Meir Kryger, a sleep medicine specialist at Gaylord Hospital in Connecticut, who is leading the study for Inspire Medical Systems. "What we're looking for is actually cure." Some 12 million Americans have obstructive sleep apnea, so a cure or treatment of any sort would be huge. So would convincing FAT Americans to lose weight, as sleep apnea is particularly common in overweight people, but zapping their tongues with electricity is a more realistic option. At present, the best treatment for apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which employs a mask that gently blows air through the nose to keep airways open during sleep. However, a large percentage of apnea sufferers refuse to wear the uncomfortable mask. Foregoing treatment is also risky, as apnea raises the risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes and increases the chance of a car crash sevenfold. Surgery is sometimes an option, but having a surgeon remove part of the roof of the mouth or other soft tissue is a drastic and costly step. As always, good to know that your obesity is contributing to yet another major national health problem, America………
Monday, December 27, 2010
China finally does something good, Hugh Hefner does the predictable and the NHL does all it can to save the Winter Classic
- Look at you, China! You might still be the biggest, ugliest example of communism still alive and kicking in this great big world, but that doesn’t mean you can't take time out from oppressing citizens’ basic human rights to do something good. Not only would I characterize a plan to make Beijing "tobacco free" by the end of 2015 as good, I would go so far as to call it great. According to China’s capital's health authorities, the plan is to make all of the city’s public spaces, including work sites and public transport, no smoking zones by the end of 2015. An article in a major Chinese daily on Monday stated that the Beijing Health Bureau is also aiming significantly to reduce the proportion of men who smoke. A 2005 estimate by the government pegged the number of smokers in China at 350 million, including 60 percent of its male population. Just three percent of women smoked according to that study, so reducing the number of men choking down cancer sticks would make a significantly higher impact on air and health quality in the capital city. This news pumps me up so much that I don’t care that the Beijing Health Bureau has yet to reveal details of its plan. For all I know, it could center on parading every smoker out into Tiananmen Square and running them over with a tank and from where I stand, there are only a few minor issues with that plan. Beijing residents may be ignorant of many things going on in the world because their restrictive government shields them from any information it deems to run contrary to its aims and beliefs, but a study released last week showed that 95 percent of respondents knew that smoking could cause lung cancer and that nearly 60 percent of interviewees knew smoking could lead to cardiovascular and heart problems. Those figures are markedly higher than the 16 percent nationwide who know that smoking can be harmful to health, which would insinuate that China’s more educated and worldly capital city residents are more aware of the potential harms of smoking than their 1.3 billion fellow countrymen. In a city of 22 million, that means something. Likewise, 11.5 percent of teenagers admitting that they smoked is also noteworthy. Du Hong, an official from the Health Bureau, confirmed that the agency sent out more than 25,000 posters and 20,000 handbooks promoting smoke-free living to hospitals, residential clinics and medicine stores this year and also conduced a pilot project to train general practitioners how to offer advice about how to become tobacco-free to patients in their communities. Health authorities estimate that at present, 80 percent of doctors in residential clinics have now been trained in how to help patients quit smoking. Let’s raise that number to 100 and ratchet the attack on cancer sticks up to full strength……….
- Raise your hand if you’re surprised to hear that Hugh Hefner, the octogenarian founder of Playboy, is tying the knot for the third time. Good, good. Always nice to know how many morons are in the crowd. For most of his adult life, Hefner has lived the dream life of every so-called “red-blooded American male” by hanging around with as many Playboy Playmates as he wants, sleeping with them whenever he wants and trading in one young, smokin’ hot blonde or brunette for another on his every whim. He never has a shortage of eye candy or sleeping partners and while he has only been married twice, the fact remains that an 84-year-old guy, even one as lively as Hefner, is bound to see the end coming not that far in the distance. Knowing that he doesn’t have many years left, why not give marriage another whirl? And when the lucky bride-to-be is Crystal Harris, December 2009 playmate of the month, where’s the downside. Hefner proposed on Christmas eve and shared the news in the same place everyone communicates their big life developments these days, Twitter. “When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears,” Hefner posted on his Twitter account. "This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory. Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring." The engagement ring came at the end of a night of movie watching and present giving, including several pricey baubles Harris tweeted pictures of, one of which was the legendary diamond Playboy watch. The capper was the engagement ring and needless to say, it was a big hit, making for a "memorable Christmas Eve together," Hefner tweeted. This time around, his love life wasn’t documented by a soul-less reality show as it was a few years ago on the E! network’s "The Girls Next Door." Hefner didn’t wait long to remarry after he and his previous wife, 1988 playmate of the year Kimberley Conrad, divorced earlier this year after nearly 21 years of marriage. His third wedding will come some 52 years after his first marriage in 1959 to Mildred Williams. For those who insist that Harris is in for a short and unfaithful marriage, Hefner begs to differ. "I was married and completely faithful for eight years," he countered. "I lived a single life, a playboy lifestyle, before and after it, but while I was married I was faithful to it." Whatever you say Hef, whatever you say………
- This can’t be good. After bending over so far backwards to promote its annual Winter Classic, to be held on New Year’s Day in Pittsburgh, that it sent its two biggest stars on a fourth-rate game show (The Price is Right) hosted by a FAT, foul-mouthed, C-list comedian, the NHL cannot be pumped up that rain showers and temperatures in the low 50s are being forecast for the Capitals-Penguins outdoor game Saturday at Heinz Field. The game has been a hit in all three years it has been played, starting with 2008’s game between the Penguins and Sabres in Buffalo, 2009’s edition in Chicago and 2010’s version in Boston at Fenway Park. The weather has been virtually ideal for all three games, but if the forecast plays out according to script this time, the conditions on the ice could become dangerous and unsafe in a hurry. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. ET, but the league has reserved the right to push it back to later in the day if improved conditions are expected or hold the game on Sunday, when the forecast is more favorable. Pushing the game back one day would not be ideal because the NHL is already the fourth- or fifth-biggest professional sport in the United States and playing the game on Sunday would force it to compete with a full slate of Week 17 NFL games, including the Steelers' game in Cleveland in which Pittsburgh’s favorite sons can claim the AFC North title and No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. The biggest weather concern is the rain, not necessarily the above-freezing temperatures. NHL operations facilities manager Dan Craig said warmer temperatures wouldn't necessarily affect a 2½-inch thick ice surface that is refrigerated to a very low temperature -- 22 degrees. However, any sort of rainfall could be disastrous because even a light rain could freeze almost immediately after hitting the ice, creating an uneven surface that could quickly become unplayable. If that rain worsened from light to steady, it could flood the surface. Both AccuWeather, based in State College, Pa., and the National Weather Service after forecasting temperatures at or above 50 degrees with a chance of rain for Saturday. Sunday’s forecast is marginally better, with predicated temperatures in the high 30s or low 40s and a chance of rain. Unfortunately for the NHL, Saturday and Sunday are its only options for playing the Winter Classic outdoors in Pittsburgh because after that, the stadium must be turned back over to the Steelers so the turf has can be replaced for the second time this season before any Steelers home playoff game. If weather precludes the game from being played this weekend, it would be rescheduled for later this season at Consol Energy Center. Craig holds out hope that improved ice maintenance technologies than existed for the first three Winter Classic games will help fend off any possible problems this time around. "We have instrumentation that we put into the system called Eye on the Ice that we monitor; [it] sends us signals all the time," Craig said. "Every 15 minutes we'll log and trend it so we can graph what's happening on any given day. And every city we go to, we have a complete weather breakdown of our area so we know what [weather] systems are coming through." The rink for this year’s game has been finished on top of a platform above Heinz Field's grass turf, and icemaking began Sunday. After the ice was finished, it was painted white and will now be decorated with rink markings and logos. And to think all of that effort could be for naught………
- Would you like some chromium-6 with your water, America? If you live in one of 31 cities identified in an alarming new study by the non-profit Environmental Working Group, you may not have a choice. According to the study, millions of Americans in at least 31 U.S. cities could be drinking tap water contaminated with the harmful chemical hexavalent chromium, a dangerous carcinogen otherwise known as chromium-6. That name is not familiar to most Americans, but it’s the very carcinogen that famed do-gooder Erin Brockovich fought against after it was discovered in the water supply of Hinkley, Calif. - before her story was co-opted and turned into another bad Julia Roberts movie. Brockovich helped bring about a lawsuit that ultimately ended in 1996 with the utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric, paying more than $330 million in damages to those affected by the pollution. So who are the biggest culprits this time around? Norman, Oklahoma; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, California, top the non-profit organization's list of cities with water supplies contaminated by chromium-6. The Environmental Protection Agency has classified the toxin as a carcinogen to humans only if it is inhaled, but a designation of "likely to be carcinogenic to humans" if ingested is under consideration. Chromium-6 is a natural byproduct of total chromium and according to the EPA, water utilities are required to test for total chromium levels in the water but not explicitly for chromium-6. "In order to protect people's health, EPA has had drinking water standards for total chromium, which includes chromium-6," the agency said in a statement. "When this scientific assessment is finalized in 2011, EPA will carefully review the conclusions and consider all relevant information, including the Environmental Working Group's study, to determine if a new standard needs to be set." The level of chromium present in the water came as a surprise to those conducting the study. "I was expecting to find hexavalent chromium in some of the cities we checked, but I didn't expect it to be so widespread," said Rebecca Sutton, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group and the lead author of the study. Sutton also cited a well-documented corollary between exposure to chromium-6 and a greater risk of stomach cancer in humans and evidence showing a broad risk of gastrointestinal tumors in rats and mice exposed to the toxin. Even switching from tap water to bottled water is not a guaranteed solution to the problem, as no one can be certain that bottled water comes from a pure source. Among the major cities on the list are: San Jose, Calif., Tallahassee, Fla., Albuquerque, N.M., Salt Lake City, Utah, Los Angeles, Calif., Phoenix, Ariz., Washington, D.C., Chicago, Ill. and New York, N.Y. Drink up, all………
- A potentially rigged criminal trial and related riots in the streets? Count me in! Mix in an über-wealthy Russian oil tycoon and you have an award-winning, must-see legal event. The tycoon in question is Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is in legal limbo after a court in Moscow found him guilty on Monday of theft and money laundering in a politically charged trial that is seen as a barometer of Russia’s future economic and judicial landscape. Viktor Danilkin, the trial judge, informed a crowded courtroom that Khodorkovsky, 47, and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, 54, "carried out the embezzlement of property entrusted to the defendants". Where the proceedings differ from the American legal system is that Khodorkovsky will not be sentenced until Danilkin finishes reading his full 250-page verdict, which could take several days. That’s right - 250 pages. Within the Kremlin, the debate over how much longer Khodorkovsky should remain in prison has created political fault lines between rival factions. Because he has already spent seven years in jail on earlier fraud charges, Khodorkovsky’s supporters argue that he should receive a more lenient sentence for this conviction. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev whispered to each other and completely ignored the judge as he said the court had established their guilt. Outside the court in the Khamovniki district of southern Moscow, hundreds of angry protesters shouted "freedom" and "Russia without Putin.” They also clashed with police, who arrested 20 people in a disturbing show of force, dragging their targets out of the crowd and crushing their signs. Khodorkovsky's lead lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, used a recess in the proceedings to blast the trial and its outcome. “The trial was a charade of justice, the charges were absolutely false, but I fear the sentencing will be very real," fumed. Another of Khodorkovsky's attorneys, Yury Shmidt, another lawyer, blasted Danilkin as "not talking, but droning" throughout the reading of his verdict. But disputed conviction or not, the day marked another sad note in a downward spiral for Khodorkovsky, who part-owned the Yukos oil company and was once Russia's richest man. His supporters blasted the court’s decision as an arranged outcome determined by the Kremlin because it has a vendetta against Khodorkovsky for funding opposition politicians. So wait……we’re adding a conspiracy theory to the mix? This is a true holiday gift to the masses, most definitely. Even the story around Khodorkovsky's capture is epic, as he was seized by special forces as his plane landed to refuel on a Siberian runway in 2003 and has been jailed ever since. While imprisoned, he was then put on trial for the charges for which he was convicted Monday. Prosecutors want the men to stay in prison until 2017. Political analysts view the verdict as a harbinger of which dueling political faction has the upper hand for 2012’s presidential election. Former dictator and current Prime Minister “Bad” Vlad Putin frequently expresses his hatred for Khodorkovsky and says publicly that he is guilty of theft, so there’s no mystery where he comes out on the issue. Thanks to the good folks at WikiLeaks, we also know that prominent U.S. diplomats believe the case is emblematic of attempts by the Russian government to put "lipstick on a political pig" by following the proper steps of due process in the trial. Expect plenty more fireworks when the trial resumes tomorrow………
- Raise your hand if you’re surprised to hear that Hugh Hefner, the octogenarian founder of Playboy, is tying the knot for the third time. Good, good. Always nice to know how many morons are in the crowd. For most of his adult life, Hefner has lived the dream life of every so-called “red-blooded American male” by hanging around with as many Playboy Playmates as he wants, sleeping with them whenever he wants and trading in one young, smokin’ hot blonde or brunette for another on his every whim. He never has a shortage of eye candy or sleeping partners and while he has only been married twice, the fact remains that an 84-year-old guy, even one as lively as Hefner, is bound to see the end coming not that far in the distance. Knowing that he doesn’t have many years left, why not give marriage another whirl? And when the lucky bride-to-be is Crystal Harris, December 2009 playmate of the month, where’s the downside. Hefner proposed on Christmas eve and shared the news in the same place everyone communicates their big life developments these days, Twitter. “When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears,” Hefner posted on his Twitter account. "This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory. Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring." The engagement ring came at the end of a night of movie watching and present giving, including several pricey baubles Harris tweeted pictures of, one of which was the legendary diamond Playboy watch. The capper was the engagement ring and needless to say, it was a big hit, making for a "memorable Christmas Eve together," Hefner tweeted. This time around, his love life wasn’t documented by a soul-less reality show as it was a few years ago on the E! network’s "The Girls Next Door." Hefner didn’t wait long to remarry after he and his previous wife, 1988 playmate of the year Kimberley Conrad, divorced earlier this year after nearly 21 years of marriage. His third wedding will come some 52 years after his first marriage in 1959 to Mildred Williams. For those who insist that Harris is in for a short and unfaithful marriage, Hefner begs to differ. "I was married and completely faithful for eight years," he countered. "I lived a single life, a playboy lifestyle, before and after it, but while I was married I was faithful to it." Whatever you say Hef, whatever you say………
- This can’t be good. After bending over so far backwards to promote its annual Winter Classic, to be held on New Year’s Day in Pittsburgh, that it sent its two biggest stars on a fourth-rate game show (The Price is Right) hosted by a FAT, foul-mouthed, C-list comedian, the NHL cannot be pumped up that rain showers and temperatures in the low 50s are being forecast for the Capitals-Penguins outdoor game Saturday at Heinz Field. The game has been a hit in all three years it has been played, starting with 2008’s game between the Penguins and Sabres in Buffalo, 2009’s edition in Chicago and 2010’s version in Boston at Fenway Park. The weather has been virtually ideal for all three games, but if the forecast plays out according to script this time, the conditions on the ice could become dangerous and unsafe in a hurry. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. ET, but the league has reserved the right to push it back to later in the day if improved conditions are expected or hold the game on Sunday, when the forecast is more favorable. Pushing the game back one day would not be ideal because the NHL is already the fourth- or fifth-biggest professional sport in the United States and playing the game on Sunday would force it to compete with a full slate of Week 17 NFL games, including the Steelers' game in Cleveland in which Pittsburgh’s favorite sons can claim the AFC North title and No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. The biggest weather concern is the rain, not necessarily the above-freezing temperatures. NHL operations facilities manager Dan Craig said warmer temperatures wouldn't necessarily affect a 2½-inch thick ice surface that is refrigerated to a very low temperature -- 22 degrees. However, any sort of rainfall could be disastrous because even a light rain could freeze almost immediately after hitting the ice, creating an uneven surface that could quickly become unplayable. If that rain worsened from light to steady, it could flood the surface. Both AccuWeather, based in State College, Pa., and the National Weather Service after forecasting temperatures at or above 50 degrees with a chance of rain for Saturday. Sunday’s forecast is marginally better, with predicated temperatures in the high 30s or low 40s and a chance of rain. Unfortunately for the NHL, Saturday and Sunday are its only options for playing the Winter Classic outdoors in Pittsburgh because after that, the stadium must be turned back over to the Steelers so the turf has can be replaced for the second time this season before any Steelers home playoff game. If weather precludes the game from being played this weekend, it would be rescheduled for later this season at Consol Energy Center. Craig holds out hope that improved ice maintenance technologies than existed for the first three Winter Classic games will help fend off any possible problems this time around. "We have instrumentation that we put into the system called Eye on the Ice that we monitor; [it] sends us signals all the time," Craig said. "Every 15 minutes we'll log and trend it so we can graph what's happening on any given day. And every city we go to, we have a complete weather breakdown of our area so we know what [weather] systems are coming through." The rink for this year’s game has been finished on top of a platform above Heinz Field's grass turf, and icemaking began Sunday. After the ice was finished, it was painted white and will now be decorated with rink markings and logos. And to think all of that effort could be for naught………
- Would you like some chromium-6 with your water, America? If you live in one of 31 cities identified in an alarming new study by the non-profit Environmental Working Group, you may not have a choice. According to the study, millions of Americans in at least 31 U.S. cities could be drinking tap water contaminated with the harmful chemical hexavalent chromium, a dangerous carcinogen otherwise known as chromium-6. That name is not familiar to most Americans, but it’s the very carcinogen that famed do-gooder Erin Brockovich fought against after it was discovered in the water supply of Hinkley, Calif. - before her story was co-opted and turned into another bad Julia Roberts movie. Brockovich helped bring about a lawsuit that ultimately ended in 1996 with the utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric, paying more than $330 million in damages to those affected by the pollution. So who are the biggest culprits this time around? Norman, Oklahoma; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, California, top the non-profit organization's list of cities with water supplies contaminated by chromium-6. The Environmental Protection Agency has classified the toxin as a carcinogen to humans only if it is inhaled, but a designation of "likely to be carcinogenic to humans" if ingested is under consideration. Chromium-6 is a natural byproduct of total chromium and according to the EPA, water utilities are required to test for total chromium levels in the water but not explicitly for chromium-6. "In order to protect people's health, EPA has had drinking water standards for total chromium, which includes chromium-6," the agency said in a statement. "When this scientific assessment is finalized in 2011, EPA will carefully review the conclusions and consider all relevant information, including the Environmental Working Group's study, to determine if a new standard needs to be set." The level of chromium present in the water came as a surprise to those conducting the study. "I was expecting to find hexavalent chromium in some of the cities we checked, but I didn't expect it to be so widespread," said Rebecca Sutton, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group and the lead author of the study. Sutton also cited a well-documented corollary between exposure to chromium-6 and a greater risk of stomach cancer in humans and evidence showing a broad risk of gastrointestinal tumors in rats and mice exposed to the toxin. Even switching from tap water to bottled water is not a guaranteed solution to the problem, as no one can be certain that bottled water comes from a pure source. Among the major cities on the list are: San Jose, Calif., Tallahassee, Fla., Albuquerque, N.M., Salt Lake City, Utah, Los Angeles, Calif., Phoenix, Ariz., Washington, D.C., Chicago, Ill. and New York, N.Y. Drink up, all………
- A potentially rigged criminal trial and related riots in the streets? Count me in! Mix in an über-wealthy Russian oil tycoon and you have an award-winning, must-see legal event. The tycoon in question is Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is in legal limbo after a court in Moscow found him guilty on Monday of theft and money laundering in a politically charged trial that is seen as a barometer of Russia’s future economic and judicial landscape. Viktor Danilkin, the trial judge, informed a crowded courtroom that Khodorkovsky, 47, and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, 54, "carried out the embezzlement of property entrusted to the defendants". Where the proceedings differ from the American legal system is that Khodorkovsky will not be sentenced until Danilkin finishes reading his full 250-page verdict, which could take several days. That’s right - 250 pages. Within the Kremlin, the debate over how much longer Khodorkovsky should remain in prison has created political fault lines between rival factions. Because he has already spent seven years in jail on earlier fraud charges, Khodorkovsky’s supporters argue that he should receive a more lenient sentence for this conviction. Khodorkovsky and Lebedev whispered to each other and completely ignored the judge as he said the court had established their guilt. Outside the court in the Khamovniki district of southern Moscow, hundreds of angry protesters shouted "freedom" and "Russia without Putin.” They also clashed with police, who arrested 20 people in a disturbing show of force, dragging their targets out of the crowd and crushing their signs. Khodorkovsky's lead lawyer, Vadim Klyuvgant, used a recess in the proceedings to blast the trial and its outcome. “The trial was a charade of justice, the charges were absolutely false, but I fear the sentencing will be very real," fumed. Another of Khodorkovsky's attorneys, Yury Shmidt, another lawyer, blasted Danilkin as "not talking, but droning" throughout the reading of his verdict. But disputed conviction or not, the day marked another sad note in a downward spiral for Khodorkovsky, who part-owned the Yukos oil company and was once Russia's richest man. His supporters blasted the court’s decision as an arranged outcome determined by the Kremlin because it has a vendetta against Khodorkovsky for funding opposition politicians. So wait……we’re adding a conspiracy theory to the mix? This is a true holiday gift to the masses, most definitely. Even the story around Khodorkovsky's capture is epic, as he was seized by special forces as his plane landed to refuel on a Siberian runway in 2003 and has been jailed ever since. While imprisoned, he was then put on trial for the charges for which he was convicted Monday. Prosecutors want the men to stay in prison until 2017. Political analysts view the verdict as a harbinger of which dueling political faction has the upper hand for 2012’s presidential election. Former dictator and current Prime Minister “Bad” Vlad Putin frequently expresses his hatred for Khodorkovsky and says publicly that he is guilty of theft, so there’s no mystery where he comes out on the issue. Thanks to the good folks at WikiLeaks, we also know that prominent U.S. diplomats believe the case is emblematic of attempts by the Russian government to put "lipstick on a political pig" by following the proper steps of due process in the trial. Expect plenty more fireworks when the trial resumes tomorrow………
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Weekend movie news, bad news for Tiger and possible good news for Christians in Pakistan
- Funny how that works. When you become the most scandalized athlete in all of sports and don’t win a single tournament all year, companies don’t want to be in business with you any longer. Tiger Woods used to be a hot commodity for the corporate world, but he’s fallen from grace and so has his worth as a spokesman for products. Accenture LLP, AT&T Inc. and Gatorade all dropped Woods as an endorser soon after then-wife Elin chased him from the house with a 9-iron and he bounced his car off a fire hydrant on Thanksgiving night last year. Other endorsers like Nike Inc. and Electronic Arts, which had more invested in his skills as a golfer rather than an all-around good guy and role model, stuck with him. Others, such as Gillette and Tag Heuer, stuck with Woods but stopped featuring him in their ads. Now that Woods’ contract with Gillette’s parent company Procter & Gamble Co. is about to end, he won't be repping their razors any more. Along with other past-their-prime athletes like soccer stars Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, and Kaka, Woods is out as a Gillette pitchman. But according to the company, it is merely phasing out that program and not renewing the contract with Woods and several other athletes. Of course Procter & Gamble isn’t going to unnecessarily stir up a hornets’ nest by linking the decision to the fact that Woods is still Public Enemy No. 1 for many would-be customers because of his plowing through a chorus line of hookers, club promoters, Perkins hostesses and porn stars and cheating on his wife in as prolific a fashion as any husband ever has. Just yank him from your ad campaigns - which the company did months ago - and wait for his contract to expire. Then you can walk away and explain your decision as simply the natural end of the three-year "Gillette Champions" marketing campaign. For Woods, it’s a fitting end to a year that ends as his first in which he failed to win a tournament since turning pro and lost his ranking as the top player in the world. For Gillette, it’s a chance to dump dead weight and move forward with non-scandal-riddled, still-successful stars like Federer, NHL star Alex Ovechkin and New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter -- for new local marketing campaigns……….
- About that whole closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay……not quite yet, it seems. Given that the Obama administration said more than one year ago that the military prison would close, it has made little or no progress toward achieving that goal. In fact, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday that the facility won't go away in the near future. He appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and explained that even though the site is a recruiting tool for Islamic terrorists, various legal and legislative issues have prevented its closing. "It's certainly not going to close in the next month. I think it's going to be a while before that prison closes," Gibbs stated. "I think part of this depends on the Republicans' willingness to work with the administration on this." Nice, put the blame on the GOP for Gitmo remaining open and provide a built-in excuse any time someone asks you why that hell hole is still open. Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham previously negotiated with the White House on closing the prison, but those talks arrived at a dead end and no one has restarted them. Lest anyone forget, closing down Guantanamo Bay was a frequent campaign promise by Obama during the 2008 election. Saying that would happen and making it happen have proven to be two extremely different things and a large part of the controversy has come from the debate over whether to try the suspected terrorists imprisoned there in federal court or in military commissions.
"Well, obviously, there are prohibitions, legislatively, on the transfer of some of the prisoners," Gibbs said. "Some would be tried in federal courts, as we've seen done in the past. Some would be tried in military commissions, likely spending the rest of their lives in a maximum-security prison that nobody, including terrorists, have ever escaped from. And some, regrettably, will have to be indefinitely detained." Sounds like Gitmo is going to be around for a nice, long time………
- This may not be the best time of year to share this news, but many of you are probably finding it out the hard way anyhow, so science may as well go and confirm what was so emphatically hammered home to you as you spent time with your family over the holidays: stressful relationships with family members can be extremely bad for your heart. While positive social connections have been linked with greater longevity, and a good companion may lower heart disease risk, a new study suggests that if relationships are stressful, it could lead to you developing heart disease of some sort. According to the study, published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, middle-age people who feel that their family members are excessively demanding or a source of worry are more than twice as likely as worry-free people to develop angina, the chest pain that occurs with exercise or exertion due to a reduced blood flow to the heart. The study, which took place over a six-year span, included people in their 40s and 50s, about 1 in 10 people developed angina. Angina can be a precursor of more serious problems such as heart attacks and even death. Perhaps lending a bit of credence to the study, it involved 4,573 healthy Danish men and women. Since Europeans tend to live a more relaxed lifestyle than their American counterparts, finding out that these situations and relationships impact them so profoundly is noteworthy. Researchers found that 8.3 percent of those in their 40s developed angina during the study as did 10.2 percent of those in their 50s. The angina risk was 3.5 times higher for people who had a demanding or worrisome spouse and twice as high if the problems were between that person and a child or other family member. Furthermore, people who frequently fought with a partner had an angina risk 1.4-fold higher than conflict-free people and a contentious neighbor led to an even bigger risk -- 1.6 times higher. These results were constant regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic class, use of heart medications and whether or not the person lived alone or had depression. Critics point out that the researchers didn't check whether or not the symptoms translated into actual heart disease, which puts a hole in the findings. Other factors could be in play, but those factors were not measured. Those critics can take their complaints up with the lead author of the study, Rikke Lund, MD, PhD, an associate professor of social medicine at the Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen. "More attention to this should be drawn by both doctors and ourselves. It might be as important to know if your patient has very demanding/worrying social relations as to know if they are smokers," Dr. Lund stated. "Although we admit that the solution to that problem is more challenging than asking people to stop smoking." More complex indeed, which means back to the lab for a lot more of that expensive, long-term research that the scientific community is so fond of………
- Attention all! We have the most concrete, definitive proof yet that horrible, unimaginative, ridiculously bad and formulaic movies can in fact make money based solely on the horrible movie taste of the American public. That’s right, Little Fockers is your top film for this Christmas weekend and while it has a long way top go before breaking even, this disaster of a movie made $48.3 million in its opening week, including a $34 million tally for the three-day holiday weekend. In its debut, Fockers beat out fellow newcomer True Grit for the top spot. True Grit made $25.6 million for the weekend alone and has conjured up $36.8 million overall since its release. Both newbies did well enough to beat out last weekend’s top flick, Tron Legacy, which fell to third place with a so-so tally of $20.1 million, a 53-percent decline from its own opening weekend. With a massive $170 million budget and $88.3 million in earnings thus far, the movie has a long, long way to go before turning any semblance of a profit. Fourth place went to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which dropped off just 13 percent but only made $10.8 million and has been wildly disappointing thus far with $63.9 million in cumulative earnings. Right behind Narnia and in the fifth spot was another free-falling returner form last weekend, Yogi Bear. The animated/live action mix fell off 46 percent, made $8.8 million and raised its overall take to $36.8 million and counting. The rest of the top 10 consisted of: The Fighter (No. 6 and still in only 2,511 theaters, but making $8.5 million and with a three-week total of $27.6), Gulliver's Travels (No.7 as the weekend’s biggest flop with $7.2 million in its opening frame), Black Swan (No. 8 and still in limited release - 1,466 theaters - but making $6.6 million and elevating its overall tally to $29 million for one month in theaters), Tangled (No. 9 after adding $6.5 million to its coffers following a 25-percent decline in its fifth week but still boosting its five-week total to a solid $143.8 million) and The Tourist (No. 10 with just $5.7 million following a 33-percent drop-off). Falling out of the top 10 from last weekend was Sony’s How Do You Know, which fell all the way to 12th with a measly $3.7 million………
- Big news for you, Pakistan. Your ever-responsive government has decreed that it will review blasphemy laws to prevent them from targeting innocent people. Shahbaz Bhatti, the federal minister for minority affairs, announced this past week the formation of a committee (always a recipe for swift, decisive action) of scholars to review the law. That committee will submit its suggestions and procedures, which will be implemented to stop the law's misuse. "After the formation of the committee we will .... find the way that whether through the legislation or some other procedural way we can stop the blasphemy law," Bhatti said. The laws came to the forefront due to the now-infamous case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy of Islam. In regards to her case and a possible pardon, Bhatti said the president has no choice but to wait for the judicial proceedings to run their course. Bibi’s attorney has argued that the proceedings might take years because the case is still in high court and may later go to the Supreme court. The governor of Punjab province drew heavy criticism for helping file a mercy petition with President Asif Ali Zardari's office requesting a pardon for Bibi. Bibi has drawn international attention ever since November, when a Pakistani court found her guilty of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during a 2009 argument with Muslim fellow field workers. In a rather stunning twist, the offense is punishable by death or life imprisonment, according to Pakistan's penal code. Working in Bibi’s favor is the fact that an investigation by a Pakistani government ministry found the charges stemmed from "religious and personal enmity" and recommended Bibi's release. Zadarai continues to hide behind the fact that, while he would supposedly pardon Bibi, a court has ruled that the president can't act until the sentence is confirmed by a higher court, which could take two to three years. The outcome of the case is of particular interest to the approximately 2 million Christians living in Pakistan amongst a heavily Islamic population of about 170 million. Religious parties are already planning protests against possible changes, so it should be a fun battle that only has the interests and futures of millions of people hanging in the balance, so really, it’s no big deal at all………
- About that whole closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay……not quite yet, it seems. Given that the Obama administration said more than one year ago that the military prison would close, it has made little or no progress toward achieving that goal. In fact, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday that the facility won't go away in the near future. He appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and explained that even though the site is a recruiting tool for Islamic terrorists, various legal and legislative issues have prevented its closing. "It's certainly not going to close in the next month. I think it's going to be a while before that prison closes," Gibbs stated. "I think part of this depends on the Republicans' willingness to work with the administration on this." Nice, put the blame on the GOP for Gitmo remaining open and provide a built-in excuse any time someone asks you why that hell hole is still open. Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham previously negotiated with the White House on closing the prison, but those talks arrived at a dead end and no one has restarted them. Lest anyone forget, closing down Guantanamo Bay was a frequent campaign promise by Obama during the 2008 election. Saying that would happen and making it happen have proven to be two extremely different things and a large part of the controversy has come from the debate over whether to try the suspected terrorists imprisoned there in federal court or in military commissions.
"Well, obviously, there are prohibitions, legislatively, on the transfer of some of the prisoners," Gibbs said. "Some would be tried in federal courts, as we've seen done in the past. Some would be tried in military commissions, likely spending the rest of their lives in a maximum-security prison that nobody, including terrorists, have ever escaped from. And some, regrettably, will have to be indefinitely detained." Sounds like Gitmo is going to be around for a nice, long time………
- This may not be the best time of year to share this news, but many of you are probably finding it out the hard way anyhow, so science may as well go and confirm what was so emphatically hammered home to you as you spent time with your family over the holidays: stressful relationships with family members can be extremely bad for your heart. While positive social connections have been linked with greater longevity, and a good companion may lower heart disease risk, a new study suggests that if relationships are stressful, it could lead to you developing heart disease of some sort. According to the study, published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, middle-age people who feel that their family members are excessively demanding or a source of worry are more than twice as likely as worry-free people to develop angina, the chest pain that occurs with exercise or exertion due to a reduced blood flow to the heart. The study, which took place over a six-year span, included people in their 40s and 50s, about 1 in 10 people developed angina. Angina can be a precursor of more serious problems such as heart attacks and even death. Perhaps lending a bit of credence to the study, it involved 4,573 healthy Danish men and women. Since Europeans tend to live a more relaxed lifestyle than their American counterparts, finding out that these situations and relationships impact them so profoundly is noteworthy. Researchers found that 8.3 percent of those in their 40s developed angina during the study as did 10.2 percent of those in their 50s. The angina risk was 3.5 times higher for people who had a demanding or worrisome spouse and twice as high if the problems were between that person and a child or other family member. Furthermore, people who frequently fought with a partner had an angina risk 1.4-fold higher than conflict-free people and a contentious neighbor led to an even bigger risk -- 1.6 times higher. These results were constant regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic class, use of heart medications and whether or not the person lived alone or had depression. Critics point out that the researchers didn't check whether or not the symptoms translated into actual heart disease, which puts a hole in the findings. Other factors could be in play, but those factors were not measured. Those critics can take their complaints up with the lead author of the study, Rikke Lund, MD, PhD, an associate professor of social medicine at the Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen. "More attention to this should be drawn by both doctors and ourselves. It might be as important to know if your patient has very demanding/worrying social relations as to know if they are smokers," Dr. Lund stated. "Although we admit that the solution to that problem is more challenging than asking people to stop smoking." More complex indeed, which means back to the lab for a lot more of that expensive, long-term research that the scientific community is so fond of………
- Attention all! We have the most concrete, definitive proof yet that horrible, unimaginative, ridiculously bad and formulaic movies can in fact make money based solely on the horrible movie taste of the American public. That’s right, Little Fockers is your top film for this Christmas weekend and while it has a long way top go before breaking even, this disaster of a movie made $48.3 million in its opening week, including a $34 million tally for the three-day holiday weekend. In its debut, Fockers beat out fellow newcomer True Grit for the top spot. True Grit made $25.6 million for the weekend alone and has conjured up $36.8 million overall since its release. Both newbies did well enough to beat out last weekend’s top flick, Tron Legacy, which fell to third place with a so-so tally of $20.1 million, a 53-percent decline from its own opening weekend. With a massive $170 million budget and $88.3 million in earnings thus far, the movie has a long, long way to go before turning any semblance of a profit. Fourth place went to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which dropped off just 13 percent but only made $10.8 million and has been wildly disappointing thus far with $63.9 million in cumulative earnings. Right behind Narnia and in the fifth spot was another free-falling returner form last weekend, Yogi Bear. The animated/live action mix fell off 46 percent, made $8.8 million and raised its overall take to $36.8 million and counting. The rest of the top 10 consisted of: The Fighter (No. 6 and still in only 2,511 theaters, but making $8.5 million and with a three-week total of $27.6), Gulliver's Travels (No.7 as the weekend’s biggest flop with $7.2 million in its opening frame), Black Swan (No. 8 and still in limited release - 1,466 theaters - but making $6.6 million and elevating its overall tally to $29 million for one month in theaters), Tangled (No. 9 after adding $6.5 million to its coffers following a 25-percent decline in its fifth week but still boosting its five-week total to a solid $143.8 million) and The Tourist (No. 10 with just $5.7 million following a 33-percent drop-off). Falling out of the top 10 from last weekend was Sony’s How Do You Know, which fell all the way to 12th with a measly $3.7 million………
- Big news for you, Pakistan. Your ever-responsive government has decreed that it will review blasphemy laws to prevent them from targeting innocent people. Shahbaz Bhatti, the federal minister for minority affairs, announced this past week the formation of a committee (always a recipe for swift, decisive action) of scholars to review the law. That committee will submit its suggestions and procedures, which will be implemented to stop the law's misuse. "After the formation of the committee we will .... find the way that whether through the legislation or some other procedural way we can stop the blasphemy law," Bhatti said. The laws came to the forefront due to the now-infamous case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy of Islam. In regards to her case and a possible pardon, Bhatti said the president has no choice but to wait for the judicial proceedings to run their course. Bibi’s attorney has argued that the proceedings might take years because the case is still in high court and may later go to the Supreme court. The governor of Punjab province drew heavy criticism for helping file a mercy petition with President Asif Ali Zardari's office requesting a pardon for Bibi. Bibi has drawn international attention ever since November, when a Pakistani court found her guilty of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during a 2009 argument with Muslim fellow field workers. In a rather stunning twist, the offense is punishable by death or life imprisonment, according to Pakistan's penal code. Working in Bibi’s favor is the fact that an investigation by a Pakistani government ministry found the charges stemmed from "religious and personal enmity" and recommended Bibi's release. Zadarai continues to hide behind the fact that, while he would supposedly pardon Bibi, a court has ruled that the president can't act until the sentence is confirmed by a higher court, which could take two to three years. The outcome of the case is of particular interest to the approximately 2 million Christians living in Pakistan amongst a heavily Islamic population of about 170 million. Religious parties are already planning protests against possible changes, so it should be a fun battle that only has the interests and futures of millions of people hanging in the balance, so really, it’s no big deal at all………
Saturday, December 25, 2010
NFL players big on giving, holiday shoppers brawl for shoes and a dose of Christmas communism
- Ah, the Christmas spirit. Shoppers reigning blows down upon one another in a display of unbridled aggression that would make Frank Costanza and all Festivus devotees proud. The setting is Humble, Tex., where an angry mob gathered at Deerbrook Mall before the sun came up in the hopes of being the first to get their hands on the latest Nike Air Jordans. In a show of shopping gusto rarely seen outside of Black Friday, more than 500 people lined up outside the mall and as so often happens when a large group of festive people all eager for the same limited supply of a certain product, a fight eventually broke out as would-be shoe buyers jostled for a spot in line. You know how it unfolds: Some accuses someone else of cutting in line or saving a spot for someone who just showed up an hour into the process, the other person takes exception and fires back with a witty retort, other shoppers join in on the dispute and next thing you know, punches are being thrown, shoves are being traded and glass doors are being broken by the unruly mob. Police showed up, moved the crowds back from the building into the parking lot and hoped that would calm the storm - it didn’t. Once the mall opened at 6 a.m., it was an all-out sprint to the doors and at some point in the process, the glass panes of several exterior doors were broken. Even with multiple Harris County sheriff's deputies on the scene, the end result was total chaos and as you might expect, those in the middle of the mayhem had a perfect perspective on why paying $200 for a pair of tennis shoes was important. "These are for my cousin. I did all of this for my cousin," said shopper Akem Baer. "I did all of this for her so she better have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Kwanzaa." Really? I don’t know a ton about Kwanzaa, but I’m guessing having a pair of $200 kicks that your cousin elbowed some soccer mom in the head to grab off the shelf isn’t exactly the embodiment of the Kwanzaa spirit. But seeing angry, amped-up shoppers beating the living heck out of one another for the right to pay $200 for a pair of shoes that cost $2 to make just takes the concept of holiday cheer to a whole new level………
- God freaking bless you, Ozzy Osbourne. The Prince of Darkness has always had a special place in my heart on account of being a lunatic, maniac and weirdo in the best possible way, but my love for him has now gone to a whole other level. While I can't say that I have tried the many, many illegal drugs and substances that the Ozz Man has snorted, shot, ingested, injected and smoked over the years and have never snorted ants off a popsicle stick or bitten the head off a live bat on stage, I have to say that if the end result of those activities is being in a state of mind where you don’t know who Justin Bieber is and still hate Lady Gaga, then maybe I should start doing those things. In a new Billboard interview, Ozzy blasted Lady Gaga for being "too overexposed" when asked if he has any advice for current musicians. "I do think Lady Gaga should take a break for a little while," Osbourne says. "She's getting to be too much, and she doesn't watch the exposure of her clothes." Wow…..if Ozzy Osbourne thinks your clothes are too slutty, then you should probably tone it down a notch. While he believes that Gaga could "be the next Madonna," which I think is an insult but am not completely sure, he warns, "When I turn on the TV, I see her wearing another lamp shade or whatever...the specialness of her is gonna get killed if she doesn't calm it down." But Ozzy’s best comments came in regards to Bieber, the Canadian chick who sounds like she’s seven years old and has all the edge and street cred of Barney the Dinosaur. Asked his thoughts on Biebs, Ozzy was at a bit of a loss. "Who?" he asked. "Oh, the young kid who sits there with the guitar. He's like 9." How hilarious is that? I’m fairly certain that Bieber doesn’t play the guitar when she “performs,” so Ozzy could be a bit off base there. When the interviewer informed him that Bieber is (allegedly) 16 years old, he responded, "I think it's the same guy. I saw this kid at an awards show playing the guitar sitting on a barstool. I don't know!" Taking a backseat during the interview were the two topics Ozzy was there to actually promote, his new album "Let Me Hear You Scream" and touring to promote the album. Prompted on those topics, he said that touring has been "going great. The band I have is great. I've got no complaints at all. For the first time in a long time, actually most of the time, I enjoy being on the road. I'm a bit burnt out from being on the road right now, but that's normal. You can't be resentful or moaning all the time. It's really a fun time to be Ozzy!" I don’t know that there’s a bad time to be Ozzy, really………
- Because no one’s Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa) is complete without a dose of communism, let’s all turn our eyes toward Russia, where the government has finally decided to buy at least two of France's advanced Mistral-class amphibious warships in an unprecedented military deal between Moscow and the West. The two nations announced the deal Friday after prolonged, tense negotiations. The announcement came in a joint declaration by the Elysee Palace and the Kremlin and marks the first time in modern history that Russia has made such a major defense acquisition abroad. Russia dragged its heels for months on the multimillion-dollar sale before green-lighting an agreement that shows it can indeed have a business relationship with former Cold War enemies. The world saw a harbinger of things to come at last month's NATO summit in Lisbon, when President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to work with NATO on ways to cooperate with the U.S.-led alliance in establishing a new missile defense system for Europe. The deal also speaks well of the sales skills of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and should bolster both France's sagging defense industry and its struggling economy. Sarkozy’s administration claimed the deal will provide the equivalent of 5 million hours of work over four years for 1,000 qualified French employees at the STX shipyards at St. Nazaire on the Atlantic Coast. In the rosiest of projections, the agreement could also lead to the purchase of two more vessels. "Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy hail the concretization of this unprecedented cooperation, which will benefit industry and employment in our two countries, and which illustrates the will and capacity in France and Russia to develop large-scale partnerships in all areas, including defense and security," the Elysee said. Of course, every good story needs at least one wet blanket to ruin the fun and in this case, Georgia (country not state) is playing the role of wet blanket. Georgian leaders said it would be interpreted as a tacit approval of Russia's role there during a brief war in the summer of 2008 and the stationing of Russian troops on territory still considered part of Georgia by NATO nations, including France. Six whiny Republican U.S. senators objected to the sale more than a year ago on the same grounds. Noticeably silent on the deal? The Obama administration, which has said nothing other than President Obama stating at the Lisbon summit that Russia was no longer NATO's enemy but its partner, despite the differences over Georgia. That much was confirmed by the Christmas Eve telephone call from Medvedev to Sarkozy to finalize the deal. Selling a 600-foot ship - a boxy helicopter carrier, command center and hospital nonetheless - is no easy task. Russia did its research and estimated that the 23,700-ton vessel would cost $750 million a copy, meaning that it wasn’t willing to fork over the money for the deluxe package, which includes the ship's most advanced electronic equipment. That equipment will not be included in the package negotiated with Moscow. Ultimately, this is a story of progress, hope and happiness because it brings a nice burst of communist joy to all our lives on Christmas and that’s one gift everyone can use………
- In the technology business, it’s always about getting faster and smarter. If you’re standing still, then you’re falling behind. Either progress or die. For IBM, taking the next step means developing faster memory that can help computers operate at an even quicker pace. If a new kind of memory from IBM Labs that is currently receiving plenty of buzz actually pans out, computers will soon be taking a huge step forward. The memory, called Racetrack, aims to revolutionize how much data can be stored and how fast it can be accessed on mobile and desktop devices. The project has dragged on for six long years, but IBM recently confirmed that the process took a huge step forward when researchers confirmed that their theories of the physics behind Racetrack are valid and can be used to develop and manufacture this new type of memory. Because it would apply to laptops, smartphones, and other mobile devices, Racetrack has the potential impact nearly every technology user. If the projections for Racetrack bear out, users would be able to store as much as 100 more times data on their portable gadgets, perhaps keeping as many as 500,000 songs or 3,500 full-length movies on one mobile device. As someone who recently had to upgrade the hard drive in his iPod to accumulate a bigger chunk of the world’s best iTunes collection, that sounds great to me. Even better, Racetrack would use significantly less power, meaning a single battery charge could power a device for weeks rather than days or hours. In addition to improving the smartphones, mobile devices and laptops that so many users prefer, the new memory is also expected to play a role in desktop computers and servers, allowing them to access more data much faster. Its basic composition combines the best elements of flash memory and magnetic storage and could eventually replace RAM and even traditional disk drives. As it now exists, memory must locate data wherever it is stored on a drive. Racetrack proactively moves the data to where it can be used, which expedites the process while also allowing more data to be stored in a smaller, more concentrated area. It derives its name from the fact that it moves the magnetic bits of data along thin, nanowire "racetracks," 1,000 times finer than a strand of human hair. Data is stored in magnetic regions known as domains and can be moved at hundreds of miles per hour and stop them at atomically precise spots along the nanowire. By utilizing the spin of individual electrons, Racetrack memory can move these domains at high speed and allow users to retrieve information in less than a billionth of a second. The key step forward in Racetrack’s development was the ability to measure the time and distance involved in moving these domain walls, thus providing a clearer understanding of how to control their movement and moving Racetrack that much further from research into reality………
- It is incredibly commendable of NFL players to be so incredibly giving during this, the holiday season. At a time of year when so many charitable organizations are doing so much to help so many and need all the support they can get, it fires me up to see one NFLer after another step up and deliver an illegal hit to an opposing player and fork over a chunk of their paycheck to charity after the league fines them for said hit. After the league announced an increased emphasis on “devastating” hits earlier this season, it was expected that fines galore and perhaps even a suspension or two would be doled out on account of guys just having to go helmet-to-helmet or crush a helpless receiver who ventures across the middle on a crossing pattern. Those expectations were high, but if possible, exceeded this past weekend. After an exciting slate of games and the league office having chance to break down tape from said games, it handed out 16 fines to players for illegal hits, ranging from $15,000 to two of the most violent hits to $5,000 for the more generic ones. Eight players from each conference (nice balance) were fined, including Atlanta defensive end Kroy Biermann and Cincinnati linebacker Dhani Jones, each docked $15,000. Biermann drew the stiffest fine for a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Seattle quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, while Jones was fined for the same infraction against Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. They were two of the seven players were fined for roughing the passer. Three others were fined for flagrant fouls on defenseless receivers, another point of emphasis by the league this year. Among the players receiving $10,000 fines were Baltimore free safety Ed Reed for hitting New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in the face and Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher for striking defenseless Minnesota tight end Visanthe Shiancoe in the neck and head area, Urlacher's second violation. Others in the $10,000 club were Bears safety Major Wright, Colts defensive end Robert Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea and New England cornerback Devin McCourty. Just a step down the Ladder O’ Fines were Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams and cornerback Antoine Winfield, Giants linebacker Jonathan Goff and Chiefs linebacker Demorrio Williams, all of whom were fined $7,500. Getting off the lightest among those fined on the week were Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, Cowboys cornerback Terrence Newman and Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno, each receiving a $5,000 fine. On behalf of charitable organizations in all of the above-mentioned communities, thank you to each and every one of these players for having such a giving heart……….
- God freaking bless you, Ozzy Osbourne. The Prince of Darkness has always had a special place in my heart on account of being a lunatic, maniac and weirdo in the best possible way, but my love for him has now gone to a whole other level. While I can't say that I have tried the many, many illegal drugs and substances that the Ozz Man has snorted, shot, ingested, injected and smoked over the years and have never snorted ants off a popsicle stick or bitten the head off a live bat on stage, I have to say that if the end result of those activities is being in a state of mind where you don’t know who Justin Bieber is and still hate Lady Gaga, then maybe I should start doing those things. In a new Billboard interview, Ozzy blasted Lady Gaga for being "too overexposed" when asked if he has any advice for current musicians. "I do think Lady Gaga should take a break for a little while," Osbourne says. "She's getting to be too much, and she doesn't watch the exposure of her clothes." Wow…..if Ozzy Osbourne thinks your clothes are too slutty, then you should probably tone it down a notch. While he believes that Gaga could "be the next Madonna," which I think is an insult but am not completely sure, he warns, "When I turn on the TV, I see her wearing another lamp shade or whatever...the specialness of her is gonna get killed if she doesn't calm it down." But Ozzy’s best comments came in regards to Bieber, the Canadian chick who sounds like she’s seven years old and has all the edge and street cred of Barney the Dinosaur. Asked his thoughts on Biebs, Ozzy was at a bit of a loss. "Who?" he asked. "Oh, the young kid who sits there with the guitar. He's like 9." How hilarious is that? I’m fairly certain that Bieber doesn’t play the guitar when she “performs,” so Ozzy could be a bit off base there. When the interviewer informed him that Bieber is (allegedly) 16 years old, he responded, "I think it's the same guy. I saw this kid at an awards show playing the guitar sitting on a barstool. I don't know!" Taking a backseat during the interview were the two topics Ozzy was there to actually promote, his new album "Let Me Hear You Scream" and touring to promote the album. Prompted on those topics, he said that touring has been "going great. The band I have is great. I've got no complaints at all. For the first time in a long time, actually most of the time, I enjoy being on the road. I'm a bit burnt out from being on the road right now, but that's normal. You can't be resentful or moaning all the time. It's really a fun time to be Ozzy!" I don’t know that there’s a bad time to be Ozzy, really………
- Because no one’s Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa) is complete without a dose of communism, let’s all turn our eyes toward Russia, where the government has finally decided to buy at least two of France's advanced Mistral-class amphibious warships in an unprecedented military deal between Moscow and the West. The two nations announced the deal Friday after prolonged, tense negotiations. The announcement came in a joint declaration by the Elysee Palace and the Kremlin and marks the first time in modern history that Russia has made such a major defense acquisition abroad. Russia dragged its heels for months on the multimillion-dollar sale before green-lighting an agreement that shows it can indeed have a business relationship with former Cold War enemies. The world saw a harbinger of things to come at last month's NATO summit in Lisbon, when President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to work with NATO on ways to cooperate with the U.S.-led alliance in establishing a new missile defense system for Europe. The deal also speaks well of the sales skills of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and should bolster both France's sagging defense industry and its struggling economy. Sarkozy’s administration claimed the deal will provide the equivalent of 5 million hours of work over four years for 1,000 qualified French employees at the STX shipyards at St. Nazaire on the Atlantic Coast. In the rosiest of projections, the agreement could also lead to the purchase of two more vessels. "Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy hail the concretization of this unprecedented cooperation, which will benefit industry and employment in our two countries, and which illustrates the will and capacity in France and Russia to develop large-scale partnerships in all areas, including defense and security," the Elysee said. Of course, every good story needs at least one wet blanket to ruin the fun and in this case, Georgia (country not state) is playing the role of wet blanket. Georgian leaders said it would be interpreted as a tacit approval of Russia's role there during a brief war in the summer of 2008 and the stationing of Russian troops on territory still considered part of Georgia by NATO nations, including France. Six whiny Republican U.S. senators objected to the sale more than a year ago on the same grounds. Noticeably silent on the deal? The Obama administration, which has said nothing other than President Obama stating at the Lisbon summit that Russia was no longer NATO's enemy but its partner, despite the differences over Georgia. That much was confirmed by the Christmas Eve telephone call from Medvedev to Sarkozy to finalize the deal. Selling a 600-foot ship - a boxy helicopter carrier, command center and hospital nonetheless - is no easy task. Russia did its research and estimated that the 23,700-ton vessel would cost $750 million a copy, meaning that it wasn’t willing to fork over the money for the deluxe package, which includes the ship's most advanced electronic equipment. That equipment will not be included in the package negotiated with Moscow. Ultimately, this is a story of progress, hope and happiness because it brings a nice burst of communist joy to all our lives on Christmas and that’s one gift everyone can use………
- In the technology business, it’s always about getting faster and smarter. If you’re standing still, then you’re falling behind. Either progress or die. For IBM, taking the next step means developing faster memory that can help computers operate at an even quicker pace. If a new kind of memory from IBM Labs that is currently receiving plenty of buzz actually pans out, computers will soon be taking a huge step forward. The memory, called Racetrack, aims to revolutionize how much data can be stored and how fast it can be accessed on mobile and desktop devices. The project has dragged on for six long years, but IBM recently confirmed that the process took a huge step forward when researchers confirmed that their theories of the physics behind Racetrack are valid and can be used to develop and manufacture this new type of memory. Because it would apply to laptops, smartphones, and other mobile devices, Racetrack has the potential impact nearly every technology user. If the projections for Racetrack bear out, users would be able to store as much as 100 more times data on their portable gadgets, perhaps keeping as many as 500,000 songs or 3,500 full-length movies on one mobile device. As someone who recently had to upgrade the hard drive in his iPod to accumulate a bigger chunk of the world’s best iTunes collection, that sounds great to me. Even better, Racetrack would use significantly less power, meaning a single battery charge could power a device for weeks rather than days or hours. In addition to improving the smartphones, mobile devices and laptops that so many users prefer, the new memory is also expected to play a role in desktop computers and servers, allowing them to access more data much faster. Its basic composition combines the best elements of flash memory and magnetic storage and could eventually replace RAM and even traditional disk drives. As it now exists, memory must locate data wherever it is stored on a drive. Racetrack proactively moves the data to where it can be used, which expedites the process while also allowing more data to be stored in a smaller, more concentrated area. It derives its name from the fact that it moves the magnetic bits of data along thin, nanowire "racetracks," 1,000 times finer than a strand of human hair. Data is stored in magnetic regions known as domains and can be moved at hundreds of miles per hour and stop them at atomically precise spots along the nanowire. By utilizing the spin of individual electrons, Racetrack memory can move these domains at high speed and allow users to retrieve information in less than a billionth of a second. The key step forward in Racetrack’s development was the ability to measure the time and distance involved in moving these domain walls, thus providing a clearer understanding of how to control their movement and moving Racetrack that much further from research into reality………
- It is incredibly commendable of NFL players to be so incredibly giving during this, the holiday season. At a time of year when so many charitable organizations are doing so much to help so many and need all the support they can get, it fires me up to see one NFLer after another step up and deliver an illegal hit to an opposing player and fork over a chunk of their paycheck to charity after the league fines them for said hit. After the league announced an increased emphasis on “devastating” hits earlier this season, it was expected that fines galore and perhaps even a suspension or two would be doled out on account of guys just having to go helmet-to-helmet or crush a helpless receiver who ventures across the middle on a crossing pattern. Those expectations were high, but if possible, exceeded this past weekend. After an exciting slate of games and the league office having chance to break down tape from said games, it handed out 16 fines to players for illegal hits, ranging from $15,000 to two of the most violent hits to $5,000 for the more generic ones. Eight players from each conference (nice balance) were fined, including Atlanta defensive end Kroy Biermann and Cincinnati linebacker Dhani Jones, each docked $15,000. Biermann drew the stiffest fine for a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Seattle quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, while Jones was fined for the same infraction against Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. They were two of the seven players were fined for roughing the passer. Three others were fined for flagrant fouls on defenseless receivers, another point of emphasis by the league this year. Among the players receiving $10,000 fines were Baltimore free safety Ed Reed for hitting New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in the face and Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher for striking defenseless Minnesota tight end Visanthe Shiancoe in the neck and head area, Urlacher's second violation. Others in the $10,000 club were Bears safety Major Wright, Colts defensive end Robert Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea and New England cornerback Devin McCourty. Just a step down the Ladder O’ Fines were Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams and cornerback Antoine Winfield, Giants linebacker Jonathan Goff and Chiefs linebacker Demorrio Williams, all of whom were fined $7,500. Getting off the lightest among those fined on the week were Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, Cowboys cornerback Terrence Newman and Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno, each receiving a $5,000 fine. On behalf of charitable organizations in all of the above-mentioned communities, thank you to each and every one of these players for having such a giving heart……….
Friday, December 24, 2010
High-class theft, brawling teammates and standing up to The Man
- Oh, how it warms my heart when a community can come together, take a stand and speak out against The Man when a family is about to be evicted from their house just before Christmas. Normally, protests and uprisings are about major issues affecting thousands and even millions of people, but on the rare occasion a protest can be about an issue affecting a select few people. Such is the case in Springfield, Mass., where an angry uprising by a local community group may have helped save a Springfield family from being on the streets this holiday. The No One Leaves Project rode to the rescue after Noelia Ramos was laid off an didn’t have the money to continue paying her mortgage. When the bank foreclosed, it set Thursday, Dec. 23 as the unfortunate foreclosure date. Ramos and her family faced the very real prospect of being booted from their home two days before Christmas, but members of the No One Leaves Project showed up and spoke out against the bank’s decision. Faced with a public fight and the ugly task of evicting a family and putting them out on the streets at Christmas, the bank relented and postponed the bankruptcy auction until Jan. 25. But like any good activist group, the No One Leaves Project isn’t satisfied with just pushing back the date of the auction. “We know that this is not the end, we will be back on the 25th. This is only the beginning of our struggle to keep Noelia safe and to keep our communities stable,” No One Leaves Project member Miriam Kudler-Flam said. She and other members of the group plan to return for additional protests once the re-scheduled auction date nears. Protest on, No One Leaves Project, protest on………
- Any coach loves seeing a competitive, fighting spirit in his team. You want guys who will go to battle, scrap and claw for every point, yard, run or goal. Having said that, channeling that fight into on-field aggression is probably the best way to go, advice that would have been good to share with Mississippi State basketball players Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey before they brawled with one another in the stands just a few minutes before tipoff of the consolation game between tournament host Hawaii and Utah at the Diamond Head Classic tournament in Honolulu. Ironically enough, in a game held at the Stan Sheriff Center, sheriff’s deputies and arena security had to intervene and pull these two away from one another. Sidney was seen being escorted away by arena ushers and Honolulu police, but no arrests were made. Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury refused comment until he "finds out all the facts," so it’s not known who initiated the physicality. Regardless, these two clowns should both share equal blame because there is just no good reason for fighting with a teammate in the stands before a game. Players get into scuffles behind closed doors in the locker room from time to time, but how these two had so little self control that one of them said something, insulted the other’s girlfriend, knocked the other’s iPhone to the ground or did whatever sparked the fight and that led to an all-out brawl is beyond reason. Bailey was reportedly sent back to the team hotel, while Sidney remained at the arena. "It's disappointing. Still gathering information, but it's not how we want our school represented," MSU athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a text message. What? Teammates throwing actual haymakers isn’t what you want to represent Mississippi State basketball? It’s easy to see where Sidney might be a little frustrated, as he was a highly touted McDonald's All-American out of Fairfax (Los Angeles) High, had to sit out last season while awaiting clearance from the NCAA and has appeared in just two games this season. Earlier this week, he was suspended by Stansbury for "conduct detrimental to the team" and was benched for the first-round loss to Washington State on Wednesday. Way to class things up, Renardo. I hope you and your pal E. Bailey have a wonderful time playing together for the next few seasons………
- God love cheesy promotional stunts by companies looking to generate buzz for the next big thing. Seeing the brilliant ideas that these marketing Mensas come up with in order to launch their new car, cereal, electronic gadget or household appliance always makes you laugh……and wonder how so many stupid people attain high-paying corporate jobs. I’m not sure that the plan for Google to celebrate the release of its new Nexus S smartphone is one of the dumbest I’ve heard in the past few months, but it’s certainly unique. To commemorate the launch of the phone (but mostly to generate publicity in away way possible even if it has nothing to do with the product itself), Google employees constructed seven hobbyist-style air balloons, each containing a phone, and sent them into orbit. Google staffer Zi Wang chronicled the promotional stunt on the company’s blog and wrote that the project was intended to help test some of the hardware sensors in the phone. Uh huh, sure it wasn’t. But hey, if you can attempt to justify goofing off of engaging in typical marketing employee lameness by invoking he name of science, go for it. Or the balloon release could be tied in to negotiations Google has undertaken with a UK satellite manufacturer about contributing the core technology in the Nexus S to help build small satellites, according to multiple reports. "The phone is powerful enough," Wang said in a recent interview. Google claims it recovered all seven capsules from the test run and after testing the phones from inside the balloons, found that they all stopped functioning at 60,000 feet -- nearly twice as high as most planes fly. One of the phones reached a height of 100,000 feet, which equates to more than 20 miles up in the air. According to data provided by Google, the phones began working again on their descent and the company posted several videos on YouTube to detail the entire project……….
- High-class thievery is always exciting. Whether it’s valuable art, jewels or other trinkets of which rich people are so fond, the idea of someone going all Ocean’s Eleven and heisting something worth millions of dollars just rises about the normal fray of common, everyday theft. That’s what makes the case of a stolen 300-year-old violin worth $1.88 million from a London-based musician so thrilling. Police still haven’t located the violin, but they arrested three suspects Wednesday in connection with the theft of the 1696 Stradivarius. Police said the violin was stolen near a train station in central London earlier this month under circumstances that have not been made public because the owner wishes to remain anonymous. She reportedly noticed her black, rectangular violin case was taken and called police. Along with the expensive instrument, the thief also made off with a Peccatte bow, valued at $97,400, and another bow, made by the School of Bazin, valued at more than $7,800, police said. "These items hold enormous sentimental and professional value for the victim, but although they are extremely valuable, it would be difficult to sell them on as they are so rare and distinctive that they will be easily recognized as stolen property," said Detective Inspector Andy Rose. "We are continuing to follow a number of leads as part of our investigation into this theft, have spoken with a number of people who were at Euston station." Stradivarius violins were made by the world's most celebrated violin maker, Antonio Stradivari, in the 1600s, and are extremely valuable because just 600 of the instruments, of which Stradivari made approximately 1,116, are still in existence. Stradivari also made violas, cellos, mandolins and guitars, but is best known for his violins. During the 18th century, he was the unquestioned maestro in Europe when it came to making instruments and his pieces were coveted by royalty, aristocracy, church dignitaries and top musicians because of the extraordinary sound they produced. He made his last violin in 1737 at age 92 and died shortly thereafter. I’m guessing that those historical details were not entirely lost on the kooks who stole this particular violin. Perhaps John Michael Maughan and his two teen cohorts from North London can shed some light on the thief’s identity, as they are the three suspects police nabbed late Wednesday. The teens were released after appearing in West London Magistrates Court on Thursday, but Maughan was detained for further questioning. Here’s hoping that the instrument is returned safely to its owner, but not before this exciting story plays out and shows once again why high-class theft is the best kind of theft……..
- When reality television cast members are treated in the truly disrespectful, disdainful fashion they deserve, it brings a ray of sunshine to the heart of each and every person in this world with an actual soul and an IQ above 57 (thus excluding all current or past reality TV cast members). People like Lisa Vanderpump (Her real name? I say no), one of the cast members of "Real Houseskanks of Beverly Hills," walk around like they are actual, talented celebrities worthy of attention and recognition. If that recognition comes at the hands of some rich lush at the famous Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel and that rich lush is talking all manner of smack to Vanderpump and her husband, so be it. The alleged incident happened early Friday morning as Vanderpump was sitting in a booth with her husband Ken and L.A. news reporter Robert Kovacik and two other people when a man at a nearby table began harassing them with verbal taunts. She described the man as "extremely drunk" and shouting, "I've seen the show. You're wearing a lot more make-up now, and your eyes are darker and smokier." Oh no, not that. He didn’t just say her eyes are darker and smokier in person, did he? Who was this, some aspiring screenwriter or fired Hallmark greeting card employee? But the belligerent bar patron didn’t stop there and went on screaming. "What are you doing sitting with old people?" he bellowed before allegedly walking over to her booth and continued his smack talking. At that point, Kovacik supposedly stood up and said, "Please stop." Clearly not a fan of Kovacik’s journalistic efforts, the man clocked him with a swift jab to the face before shoving Ken Vanderpump to the ground, injuring him in the process. Oddly enough, when Beverly Hills police arrived, Kovacik said he did not want to press charges. He will reportedly have stitches done to sew up his busted lip, but because neither he nor Ken Vanderpump wanted to press charges, the attacker was not arrested. "I hope Robert presses charges. The man was outrageous,” Lisa Vanderpump fumed. Yeah, we’re all very sorry that you and your crew received exactly the sort of attention and treatment that you all so richly deserve……….
- Any coach loves seeing a competitive, fighting spirit in his team. You want guys who will go to battle, scrap and claw for every point, yard, run or goal. Having said that, channeling that fight into on-field aggression is probably the best way to go, advice that would have been good to share with Mississippi State basketball players Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey before they brawled with one another in the stands just a few minutes before tipoff of the consolation game between tournament host Hawaii and Utah at the Diamond Head Classic tournament in Honolulu. Ironically enough, in a game held at the Stan Sheriff Center, sheriff’s deputies and arena security had to intervene and pull these two away from one another. Sidney was seen being escorted away by arena ushers and Honolulu police, but no arrests were made. Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury refused comment until he "finds out all the facts," so it’s not known who initiated the physicality. Regardless, these two clowns should both share equal blame because there is just no good reason for fighting with a teammate in the stands before a game. Players get into scuffles behind closed doors in the locker room from time to time, but how these two had so little self control that one of them said something, insulted the other’s girlfriend, knocked the other’s iPhone to the ground or did whatever sparked the fight and that led to an all-out brawl is beyond reason. Bailey was reportedly sent back to the team hotel, while Sidney remained at the arena. "It's disappointing. Still gathering information, but it's not how we want our school represented," MSU athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a text message. What? Teammates throwing actual haymakers isn’t what you want to represent Mississippi State basketball? It’s easy to see where Sidney might be a little frustrated, as he was a highly touted McDonald's All-American out of Fairfax (Los Angeles) High, had to sit out last season while awaiting clearance from the NCAA and has appeared in just two games this season. Earlier this week, he was suspended by Stansbury for "conduct detrimental to the team" and was benched for the first-round loss to Washington State on Wednesday. Way to class things up, Renardo. I hope you and your pal E. Bailey have a wonderful time playing together for the next few seasons………
- God love cheesy promotional stunts by companies looking to generate buzz for the next big thing. Seeing the brilliant ideas that these marketing Mensas come up with in order to launch their new car, cereal, electronic gadget or household appliance always makes you laugh……and wonder how so many stupid people attain high-paying corporate jobs. I’m not sure that the plan for Google to celebrate the release of its new Nexus S smartphone is one of the dumbest I’ve heard in the past few months, but it’s certainly unique. To commemorate the launch of the phone (but mostly to generate publicity in away way possible even if it has nothing to do with the product itself), Google employees constructed seven hobbyist-style air balloons, each containing a phone, and sent them into orbit. Google staffer Zi Wang chronicled the promotional stunt on the company’s blog and wrote that the project was intended to help test some of the hardware sensors in the phone. Uh huh, sure it wasn’t. But hey, if you can attempt to justify goofing off of engaging in typical marketing employee lameness by invoking he name of science, go for it. Or the balloon release could be tied in to negotiations Google has undertaken with a UK satellite manufacturer about contributing the core technology in the Nexus S to help build small satellites, according to multiple reports. "The phone is powerful enough," Wang said in a recent interview. Google claims it recovered all seven capsules from the test run and after testing the phones from inside the balloons, found that they all stopped functioning at 60,000 feet -- nearly twice as high as most planes fly. One of the phones reached a height of 100,000 feet, which equates to more than 20 miles up in the air. According to data provided by Google, the phones began working again on their descent and the company posted several videos on YouTube to detail the entire project……….
- High-class thievery is always exciting. Whether it’s valuable art, jewels or other trinkets of which rich people are so fond, the idea of someone going all Ocean’s Eleven and heisting something worth millions of dollars just rises about the normal fray of common, everyday theft. That’s what makes the case of a stolen 300-year-old violin worth $1.88 million from a London-based musician so thrilling. Police still haven’t located the violin, but they arrested three suspects Wednesday in connection with the theft of the 1696 Stradivarius. Police said the violin was stolen near a train station in central London earlier this month under circumstances that have not been made public because the owner wishes to remain anonymous. She reportedly noticed her black, rectangular violin case was taken and called police. Along with the expensive instrument, the thief also made off with a Peccatte bow, valued at $97,400, and another bow, made by the School of Bazin, valued at more than $7,800, police said. "These items hold enormous sentimental and professional value for the victim, but although they are extremely valuable, it would be difficult to sell them on as they are so rare and distinctive that they will be easily recognized as stolen property," said Detective Inspector Andy Rose. "We are continuing to follow a number of leads as part of our investigation into this theft, have spoken with a number of people who were at Euston station." Stradivarius violins were made by the world's most celebrated violin maker, Antonio Stradivari, in the 1600s, and are extremely valuable because just 600 of the instruments, of which Stradivari made approximately 1,116, are still in existence. Stradivari also made violas, cellos, mandolins and guitars, but is best known for his violins. During the 18th century, he was the unquestioned maestro in Europe when it came to making instruments and his pieces were coveted by royalty, aristocracy, church dignitaries and top musicians because of the extraordinary sound they produced. He made his last violin in 1737 at age 92 and died shortly thereafter. I’m guessing that those historical details were not entirely lost on the kooks who stole this particular violin. Perhaps John Michael Maughan and his two teen cohorts from North London can shed some light on the thief’s identity, as they are the three suspects police nabbed late Wednesday. The teens were released after appearing in West London Magistrates Court on Thursday, but Maughan was detained for further questioning. Here’s hoping that the instrument is returned safely to its owner, but not before this exciting story plays out and shows once again why high-class theft is the best kind of theft……..
- When reality television cast members are treated in the truly disrespectful, disdainful fashion they deserve, it brings a ray of sunshine to the heart of each and every person in this world with an actual soul and an IQ above 57 (thus excluding all current or past reality TV cast members). People like Lisa Vanderpump (Her real name? I say no), one of the cast members of "Real Houseskanks of Beverly Hills," walk around like they are actual, talented celebrities worthy of attention and recognition. If that recognition comes at the hands of some rich lush at the famous Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel and that rich lush is talking all manner of smack to Vanderpump and her husband, so be it. The alleged incident happened early Friday morning as Vanderpump was sitting in a booth with her husband Ken and L.A. news reporter Robert Kovacik and two other people when a man at a nearby table began harassing them with verbal taunts. She described the man as "extremely drunk" and shouting, "I've seen the show. You're wearing a lot more make-up now, and your eyes are darker and smokier." Oh no, not that. He didn’t just say her eyes are darker and smokier in person, did he? Who was this, some aspiring screenwriter or fired Hallmark greeting card employee? But the belligerent bar patron didn’t stop there and went on screaming. "What are you doing sitting with old people?" he bellowed before allegedly walking over to her booth and continued his smack talking. At that point, Kovacik supposedly stood up and said, "Please stop." Clearly not a fan of Kovacik’s journalistic efforts, the man clocked him with a swift jab to the face before shoving Ken Vanderpump to the ground, injuring him in the process. Oddly enough, when Beverly Hills police arrived, Kovacik said he did not want to press charges. He will reportedly have stitches done to sew up his busted lip, but because neither he nor Ken Vanderpump wanted to press charges, the attacker was not arrested. "I hope Robert presses charges. The man was outrageous,” Lisa Vanderpump fumed. Yeah, we’re all very sorry that you and your crew received exactly the sort of attention and treatment that you all so richly deserve……….
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)