Replay in Little League, Lady Gaga is a cokehead and Riot Watch! returns

- Having long been an advocate of instant replay in baseball, I have to somewhat contradict myself and say that this isn’t quite what I had in mind. When I said instant replay was needed in the game, I meant at the Major League level and not as a part of the Little League World Series. The LLWS is the annual gathering of 16 teams from around the world (eight American teams and eight international squads) consisting of 11- and 12-year-old players who compete their hearts out while volunteer coaches, umpires and tournament officials make the event as memorable as possible for the kids. Starting this year, those memories will grow to include instant replay as a part of games, as managers at this month's tournament in South Williamsport, Pa. will be able to challenge certain calls under a revised instant replay system. Additionally, the 2-year-old system will be expanded to include more types of plays, including force outs, tags on base paths, missed bases and hit batters. In the past, reviews were only allowed on plays that should have resulted in a dead ball, but were called otherwise by the umpire. These plays typically centered on the outfield fence, where questionable home runs and other close plays were eligible for a review. With this year’s LLWS fast approaching, officials announce the new rules Monday while also stating that umpires will still have the option to call for a replay. However, the major change is that managers will now be allowed to challenge calls or request a replay if umpires don't ask for one. Mimicking the replay system used in the NFL to an extent, managers would be limited to one unsuccessful replay challenge in the first six innings, and one unsuccessful challenge in extra innings. The replays would be conducted by a replay team consisting of an umpire who is not on the field and a Little League official. That duo would then review up to 12 camera angles provided by ESPN and decide whether to reverse the call. Knowing that the volunteer umpires might have some trepidation about the expansion of video replay, officials did their best to put the men in blue at ease. "So we let them know this is just another tool to help them do their job," Little League president Stephen Keener said in a statement. "This retains not only the human element in the process, but the volunteer element." So will expanded replay drastically alter the LLWS in a negative way? Well, replay reviews were used twice in each of the system's first two seasons, and no calls were reversed, so there’s no guarantee. Still, I can't help but have an uneasy feeling about this one………

- This explains a whole lot. When Lady Gaga admitted in a recent interview that she dabbles in the Colombian nose candy every now and then, a lot of pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “And when I say occasional, I mean a couple of times a year,” the freak show confessed. She added that while she’s “terrified of heroin,” blow is a habit of hers. She vaguely referred to a period in her life when she was “completely mental," talking in big generalities about what led to and fueled those times. “All I will say is I hit rock bottom, and it was enough to send a person over the edge. My mother knew the truth about that day, and she screamed so loud on the other end of the phone, I’ll never forget it," she recalled. You may have hit rock bottom personally, but your music clearly hasn’t. Your new songs somehow manage to suck even worse than your older ones and I never thought that was possible. You, L. Gaga, have taken over-produced, crappy techno-pop/electronica to new lows and for the worst genre in all of music, that’s saying something. So of course drugs play a role in that because there is not a person who has ever lived on this planet capable of the kind of crap-tacular tunes this woman has churned out unless they are heavily under the influence of multiple illegal narcotics. “I do not want my fans to ever emulate that or be that way,” Gaga said of her drug-addled past. “I don’t want my fans to think they have to be that way to be great. It’s in the past. It was a low point, and it led to disaster.” Yes, it did lead to disaster: your musical career. So Lady Gaga fans and followers, heed her advice and realize that if you take drugs, you too could end up dressing like a giant drop of blood on steroids mixed with an explosion of lace, writhing onstage to horrific, poorly written and musically worthless songs that drag pop music to new lows that no one ever believed possible. If ever there was a walking, talking billboard for not using drugs, this chick is it and she is terrifyingly good at the gig…………

- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! The hiatus has been excruciatingly long, but everyone’s favorite overview of social dissidence ‘round the world is back and hanging in Srinagar, India, where a massive upheaval rocked the region Monday with violent clashes between protesters and the security forces that resulted in eight deaths. A security officer was struck by a bullet fired by a militant from within the mob at Bumia in Sopore in Baramulla district in the melee and Srinagar was essentially cut off from the rest of the country as protesters descended on the road to the local airport. Their heroic efforts led to hundreds of people missing their flights out of the valley, a sacrifice well worth it for all involved. You can't blame these brave protestors for doing what they did, not after The Man attempted to hit them with a curfew to keep them off the streets after dark. By unifying and taking a stand, the dissidents have been able to throw the region into sheer and utter chaos, clearing the way for some always-welcome hand-to-hand combat with security forces. This run of violence has been raging on for nearly two months and along the way, 36 deaths have been reported, included 20 in the last three days alone. What a beautiful sight it is, looking down on blocked roads, disrupted supply lines and fuel, food and medicine shortages. Leading the way in many areas are local Islamist groups, going house to house asking people to boycott families of local policemen. The mobs are growing increasingly brazen, ripping weapons from policemen and forced them to join the ‘azadi’ chorus of dissidence. But the highlight of the rebellion thus far has to be the massive blaze set off Monday at the Budgam railway station by a group of angry rioters, resulting in the total gutting of local government officials. Rioters are attacking the homes of local legislators, lobbing stones at their places of residence and creating genuine fear and panic on the streets - good times. “It’s virtually impossible to reach the (Srinagar) airport given the restrictions on people’s movement and the rampaging mobs,’’ said an unidentified police officer who had to take shelter at the state police headquarters en route to the airport as a mob tried to attack his motorcade. That all of this came one day after the government tried in vain to enforce the curfew and other related measures makes me even prouder, as did thousands of protesters takin’ it to the streets and raising anti-India slogans, descending from all directions towards Srinagar to make their voice heard…………

- Whoa there, this rocked me to the core and I think I’m not the only one stunned to learn that a supplement called Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) that claims to treat diseases ranging from HIV to acne is a) not safe and b) doesn’t actually treat the illnesses it vows to combat. Seriously, with a name like Miracle Mineral Solution, it has to be good, right? Or not. Here’s a good life rule: If any medical device or supply has “miracle” in its name, go ahead and assume that it’s a total sham designed to separate you from your money while delivering on none of its promises. So anyone who used MMS almost deserves what they get in my opinion, but that hasn’t stopped the Food and Drug Administration from rallying to their defense and warning people not to use the supplement that claims to because of receiving reports it is making consumers sick. According to the FDA, when used as directed, MMS produces chlorine dioxide, a potent bleach often used in industrial water treatment and stripping textiles. What, that’s a bad thing? Since when is ingesting bleach a bad thing? It has to clean your insides and leave them a bright, sparkling white, right? Either that or cause side effects including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and life threatening low-blood pressure from dehydration, but one or the other? So a few over-reactionaries have contacted the FDA with reports of the aforementioned illnesses after using MMS. Let’s not overreact on the word of a few hypochondriacs, k? There are many companies selling Miracle Mineral Supplement online and I don’t think that reputable, respected Internet sellers of miracle cure products have ever lied - as far as I know. Stop the alarmist act, FDA, before you create a panic. "At this point, we are just trying to get the word out and warn consumers," says Elaine Gansz Bobo, spokesperson for the FDA. Bobo (should be Bozo) and her FDA cronies claim that they are merely trying to determine how many people have used the supplement and urging anyone using MMS to throw it away immediately. Who throws away a miracle cure for multiple illnesses, FDA? Not me, that’s for sure…………

- While traveling in Europe - especially Germany - I saw a lot of solar panels and wind turbines, demonstrating the Germans’ focus on green energy sources. It’s a passion shared by the Pocono Raceway, a racetrack that officially opened its own 25-acre solar farm this weekend. Track president Brandon Igdalsky and track CEO John "Doc" Mattioli, officially opened the solar farm, which is still getting up and to full strength. When fully operational, the farm will produce between 3 million to 4 million kilowatt hours per year and will provide all of the power for the track. In fact, the solar farm is expected to be so productive that it will also add electricity to the local power grid. "Several hundred thousand dollars a year is what our electric bill is," said Igdalsky. He pointed to the 39,690 solar panels on the farm and boasted that the massive investment the track made in them will soon pay off. "We're spending almost $16 million to put this project in. We're not going to have an electric bill anymore, and we'll also be benefiting the grid when we're not drawing power and supplying energy to the grid that will go to our neighbors' homes ... almost close to a thousand homes with this project." Mattioli chimed in as well, explaining that the project has been a long time in the making. "We started thinking about it about five years ago," said Mattioli. "I read about solar energy and I had the idea [to put] the panels on top of our grandstand, the building, and all the garage buildings." Through much intense research, track officials determined that a parking lot adjacent to the track would be the best locations for the panels. No sooner than the solar farm opened than NASCAR's top racing circuit, the Sprint Cup Series, came to town along with the Camping World Truck Series and ARCA circuits. "This is the largest solar project, [the] largest renewable energy project at any stadium anywhere in the world -- not just America, but the world. We're the largest solar plant in Pennsylvania; [the] tenth largest in the country," Igdalsky said. It reminds me of the Rheinpark Stadion, a soccer stadium in the city of Vaduz, Liechtenstein, that I visited on my trip, a facility that also runs on solar power. The idea of running a venue of any sort on solar power is a great one and hopefully more facilities will follow. Those who wish to do would be well-advised to contact, enXco, a company that creates, constructs, and operates renewable energy projects throughout the United States and created the solar farm at Pocono. "All the power that's being supplied to the garages, all those electric tools that they're using is plugged into our outlets," Igdalsky said. "We're providing power for all the lights, the water pumps, the heaters, the air conditioners, all the computers that are running, anything that is plugged-in out there to the buildings. ... If you're plugged into an outlet in there, you're using solar energy." I like the idea and here’s hoping it catches on…………