- Most people enjoy Halloween candy and you’d think that a dentist would especially enjoy the non-holiday because it would create more business for him or her. But Dr. Alan Friedler is not your normal dentist when it comes to Halloween and he has a unique offer for kids and parents in Madison, Wisc. Dr. Friedler is offering to buyback Halloween candy and then he plans to send it to troops serving overseas. He’s doing this even though he insists that not all candy is bad for your teeth, especially in moderation. "Candy by itself is not necessarily bad, it depends on how much you eat and how frequently you eat it and what kind of candy you're eating. Occasional chocolate, occasional candy is not the worst thing in the world, but if you have sticky candy, something that stays in your teeth," Dr. Friedler explained. However, the acids from certain candies and other sweets are what can wreck a person’s teeth and lead them to a life of dentist visits. So what kind of offer does Doc Friedler have in mind? He’ll buy Halloween candy at $1 a pound and then ship it off to American military personnel serving abroad. Apparently he’s not as concerned with the dental health and overall fitness of those defending our country as with the smiles and fitness of children. Operation Gratitude, as the effort is known, collected over 600 pounds of candy last year. "It wasn't just the candy, the kids actually wrote notes, little hearts out of construction paper, it was touching," Dr. Friedler said. Hmm, why don’t you just go out and buy some candy and send it to the troops yourself, doc? That way, the kids get to keep their candy, the troops still get their gift and you’re dishing out money either way. But who am I to attempt to inject logic into this mess? For those interested, Dr. Friedler's candy buyback will be Monday, Nov. 1 from 3 to 6 p.m. at his office. If you are one of those kids who wish that people handed out money instead of candy at Halloween, this is just the offer for you……….
- Maybe I’m the only one who laughed hysterically when they heard about this next story and watched the accompanying video, but that’s all right. Renewing your wedding vows just seems like a cheesy, TV sitcom-like thing to do and if you’re dumb enough to do it in a foreign country where you don’t understand the language…..well, what do you expect? That’s the question I have for the two Swiss tourists who chose the Maldives' white-sand beaches as the setting for the renewal of their vows and didn’t exactly get the romantic ceremony they were hoping for. Instead, they were mocked by the officiator, who chanted abuse and curses in the local language at them as the couple stood there, smiling politely and without an idea of what was being said. Video of the ceremony has since made its way to YouTube, accompanied by subtitles translating the abuse. The day didn’t end well for any of the involved parties in the ceremony, as the couple was obviously humiliated once they realized what had happened and the celebrant and a helper were arrested. Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed also "personally apologized" to the couple in a telephone conversation on Saturday afternoon in an attempt to save face for his island nation, which is something of a hotspot for destination weddings, vow renewals, etc. Nasheed condemned the ceremony as "absolutely disgraceful." A statement from Nasheed’s office read: "President Nasheed explained to the couple -- who have requested anonymity -- that the Maldives Police Service have arrested two members of the resort's staff who conducted the renewal of vows ceremony. The president said he will personally oversee an overhaul of the way wedding vows ceremonies are conducted in the Maldives.” The statement also explained that new regulations for resort weddings will be in place within a week. That’s fine, just as long as those doing ceremonies don’t actually follow the new rules. Seriously, watch the video of the Oct. 11 wedding and see if the sight of this clueless couple being taunted and subjected to scathing, bitter verbal vitriol isn’t amusing. "You are swine," the couple were told. "The children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine. Your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage. One of you is an infidel. The other, too, is an infidel and, we have reason to believe, an atheist." Freaking awesome, unidentified hotel employee who conducted the ceremony. You insulted their marriage, their future children and their religious beliefs in one short burst. Impressive, to say the least. These people paid you $1,300 for the privilege of being berated in a language they didn’t understand, which is also hilarious. If only pop skank Katy Perry and comic Russell Brand had held their wedding in Maldives instead of only honeymooning there, this kook could have been the one doing the ceremony for them. Keep it up, Maldives wedding officiators, no matter what your president says……..
- To the surprise of exactly no one, Saw 3-D won the Halloween weekend box office. And to the surprise of probably no one outside of those involved with the movie, it did so with a relatively uninspiring $22.5 million total that doesn’t exactly bode well for a successful long-term run in theaters. Yet it was enough to edge out fellow fright fest Paranormal Activity 2 for the top spot, with the latter plummeting 59 percent in its second weekend of release to finish with $16.5 million, upping its cumulative take to $65.7 million and counting. Hanging tough in its third weekend of wide release was geezer action flick Red, featuring aging spies trying to get back into the espionage game and scoring $10.8 million. The movie declined a mere 28 percent from last weekend to hold its spot in third place. On its heels was Jackass 3-D, which fell off the side of a cliff with a 61 percent drop and $8.4 million take, yet still crossed the $100 million cumulative barrier ($101.6 million and counting). Fifth place went to the mind-bender Hereafter, which conjured up $6.3 million in its third weekend of wide release and has made more than $22.1 million up to this point. The latter half of the top 10 was occupied by: Secretariat (No. 6 with $5 million and just under $45 million overall), Oscar favorite The Social Network (No. 7 with $4.7 million to up its overall earnings to an impressive $79.7 million after five weekends in theaters), the top 10’s worst movie, Life As We Know It (No. 8 with an even $4 million and an undeserved $43.5 million overall total), The Town (hanging on at No. 9 with $2 million and a running tally of $87.6 million) and Conviction (jumping up from No. 25 last weekend to No. 10 this weekend, earning $1.8 million to edge out former top 10 dwellers Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and Easy A, both of which finally dropped out of the top 10 after fairly successful runs there………
- The inevitable has become reality. Tiger Woods has finally lost his spot as golf’s No. 1-ranked player. The change will officially come Monday morning, which England’s Lee Westwood supplants Woods after a year in which the game’s former most-dominating, intimidating player failed to win a single tournament while his personal life went down the drain. "It's a great honor and a big responsibility," Westwood said. "It certainly sounds and feels good right now." It marks the first No. 1 ranking in Westwood’s 17-year pro career and ironically, he made it to the top during a stretch in which he hasn't even been playing golf. Instead, Westwood has spent his days following the endeavors of Hoof It, a racehorse he owns and which recently won a race at 9-1 odds. "All I did for a week was sit with my foot in the air and then I started in the gym last week," Westwood wrote on his website last week. "I was just about to start practicing when a bout of flu sidelined me again." Of course, he could spend less than a week at the top of the rankings if Woods, Phil Mickelson or Martin Kaymer wins at this week's HSBC Champions in Shanghai. There, he will compete in a field that also includes all three players with a chance to take over No. 1 with a win. Still, golf’s jacked-up rankings system gives a player the chance to ascend to No. 1 even after sitting out much of the season, including the PGA Championship, with a right calf injury. Westwood did return for the Ryder Cup in Wales, where he went 2-1-1 to lead Europe to a narrow victory. His return lasted about one week, as he accidentally slid down a bank and aggravated his calf while playing Kingsbarns at the Alfred Dunhill Cup and has been out ever since. His move to the top ends Woods’ string of 281 straight weeks as the world’s top-ranked player. But cheating on your then-wife with a conga line of porn stars, Perkins hostesses, club promoters and other hangers-on, ruining your personal life and losing endorsements by the boatload can weigh on a guy and even with the two-year cycle of the World Ranking, Woods couldn’t hold onto his top spot any longer. Westwood is a worthy holder of the spot, with 20 career victories on the European tour, a runner-up finish to Phil Mickelson at the Masters and to Louis Oosthuizen at the British Open and a win at the PGA Tour's St. Jude Classic in June. The one glaring hole in his resume is a major championship and he does become the first player without a major title to his name to take over the top spot in the world. Kaymer could have seized the top spot with a top-2 finish this weekend, but he fell well short and will have to make another run at it in Shanghai. Of course, most fans stopped paying attention to golf when it became clear that Tiger was no longer Tiger as we knew him and might never be again, so Westwood’s achievement isn’t exactly burning up the sports news scene………..
- Beware, would-be robbers of bodegas in the greater Manhattan area. The powers that be in the city are looking to help bodega owners defend themselves by giving them a firearm and a campaign to make that dream a reality is set to launch Thursday. Leading the way is Fernando Mateo, president of Hispanics Across America and representative of the Bodegueros Association. Mateo is calling the effort "Operation: Guns for All Bodega Owners." Hmm, such a cryptic name, whatever could it mean? "Sitting behind a counter 18 hours a day as a sitting duck is no longer acceptable, they must be able to defend themselves," a release from Hispanics Across America stated. To achieve their efforts, the group is attempting to distribute applications for gun permits bodega owners throughout New York City and lobby local politicians to pass a law requiring bodegas to install surveillance cameras. "Now that Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg has lowered the prices of the application bodega owners will apply for hand guns. We must send a message to criminals: 'If you rob a bodega you can lose your life in the process'," Mateo explained in a statement. Spurring the campaign on is the most recent example of a robbery gone wrong, an incident in which bodega owner Juan Torres of Cypress Hills was fatally shot while trying to protect his 50-year-old brother Felix, who was behind the register and the robber's initial target. "Last week, we lost Juan Torres in a robbery gone bad. Mr. Torres left a wife and four children. He was only 54-years-old. If he had a gun, he could have defended himself. We must allow bodega owners the right to carry a gun and defend themselves," said Ramon Murphy, president of the Bodegueros Association, in a statement. As a quick aside, the past week has to set a record for the most releases ever issued by bodega owners and their representatives in a one-week period. For the Torres family, it marks the second time they have lost a family member to a robbery-related shooting, as Juan Torres' brother Jesus was gunned down during a 1999 robbery at the family’s Ridgewood Deli on Ridgewood Avenue. Securing a gun permit is no cheap task, as applicants must pay an application fee or $340, and some may be required to submit their fingerprints for a fee of $94.25 to $104.25. They must also submit to the NYPD documents including their birth certificate, proof of citizenship/alien registration, military discharge, proof of residence, social security card, proof of business ownership and a letter of necessity. But Hispanics Across America and the Bodegueros Association aren’t merely looking to add more guns to an already dangerous battle. They are also lobbying for a law requiring all bodega owners to have working surveillance cameras in their stores. It’s a difficult situation with no easy, fix-it-all solution, but at least someone is attempting to address the issue………
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Sue a 4-year-old, college football fun and own a piece of "Transformers"
- Finally! The day I’ve been waiting for all these years has come and it’s now legally permissible to sue children as young as 4 years old for negligence. This judicial gem comes courtesy of Justice Paul Wooten of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, who ruled that a young girl accused of running down an elderly woman while racing a bicycle with training wheels on a Manhattan sidewalk two years ago can be sued for negligence. Wooten based his ruling on precedents set by cases dating back as far as 1928 in allowing a lawsuit brought against Juliet Breitman can proceed. Wooten allowed to proceed claims that in April 2009, Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn, who were both 4, were racing their bicycles, under the supervision of their mothers, Dana Breitman and Rachel Kohn, on the sidewalk of a building on East 52nd Street. For some reason, probably the typically oblivious and inconsiderate manner in which most 4-year-olds approach the world, they didn’t pay attention to what was ahead of them and during their race, they struck 87-year-old Claire Menagh, who was walking in front of the building. Menagh suffered a hip fracture that required surgery and three months after the accident, she died. Perhaps blaming one irresponsible 4-year-old girl for your mother or grandmother’s death might seem…..what’s the word….oh yes, insane, but Menagh’s estate sued the children and their mothers, claiming they had acted negligently during the accident. According to the complain, Menagh was “seriously and severely injured” in the accident. When the case went to court, Juliet’s lawyer, James P. Tyrie, argued that the girl was not “engaged in an adult activity” at the time of the accident. “She was riding her bicycle with training wheels under the supervision of her mother” and thus too young to be held liable for negligence, Tyire feebly argued. Thankfully, Judge Wooten saw right through that flimsy defense and rejected Tyrie’s assertion that, “Courts have held that an infant under the age of 4 is conclusively presumed to be incapable of negligence.” Instead, the judge rejected a motion to dismiss the case because of Juliet’s age on Oct. 1,admitting that while Tyrie “correctly notes that infants under the age of 4 are conclusively presumed incapable of negligence. Juliet Breitman, however, was over the age of 4 at the time of the subject incident. For infants above the age of 4, there is no bright-line rule.” Now, it’s wise to not get too excited about this decision because all Wooten did was allow the case to proceed. That being said, it’s about freaking time that the rest of us were allowed to drag 4-year-olds to court and hold them accountable for all the ways they wrong the world on a daily basis………
- FAT people, you’re going to have to figure out another way to get thin besides some miracle in a bottle that won't necessitate you actually working out, eating better and living healthier - at least if the experimental weight-loss drug Qnexa was the thing you were relying on to shed those unwanted pounds. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected the approval of the drug used to treat obesity. The FDA informed the drug maker, Vivus, that the drug could not be approved in its present form. Vivus announced the decision Thursday in a statement, leading to muffled groans of dismay from millions of FAT Americans who would have yelled out in anger if not for the fudge bars and pieces of chocolate-chocolate cake being shoved into their pie holes at the time the news came out. For the record, Qnexa is a combination of two older medications: phentermine, an amphetamine that made up the "phen" half of 1990s diet drug Fen-Phen, and is topiramate, an anti-seizure medication that's been used to treat a range of conditions, including alcoholism. You might recall that Fen-Phen was yanked from the market in the 1990s after some users developed heart problems. Apparently death was not a side effect the FDA was willing to tolerate back then and judging by this ruling, they still won’t. But no one could have seriously banked on Qnexa’s approval, not after an FDA advisory committee recommended in July that Qnexa not be approved. The committee cited concerns ranging from heart issues to psychiatric side effects. What, so people might develop heart conditions and go insane? How are those things any worse than being 150 pounds overweight, having lousy self-esteem and slowly eating yourself to death with Ho-Ho’s, chocolate éclairs, extra-large pizzas, Cheetos and ice cream sundaes? To Vivus’ credit, it is not giving up on its new wonder drug or the FAT people who would benefit from it. "We remain confident in the efficacy of Qnexa and look forward to continue working with the FDA towards the approval for the treatment of obesity," said Leland Wilson, chief executive officer of Vivus. Look for a response to the FDA’s rejection of Qnexa some time FDA around mid-December………
- So many interesting stories for one Saturday of college football…..how’s about two top-10 teams losing on the road in true curb-stomp fashion, a lying, cheating, rule-breaking scumbag of a coach taking another step toward a third straight late-season collapse in his third year at the helm of a once-proud program or another of the sport’s legendary programs suffering as brutal a loss as any in recent memory? The two top-10 teams on the receiving end of beatdowns would be No. 5 Michigan State and No. 6 Missouri, both of whom were wildly overrated on the strength of undefeated records against weak schedules featuring almost no quality opponents. These two might have been the most obvious targets for an “upset” in any season in the past decade, with the Spartans actually an underdog despite their unbeaten record and rankings superiority over their opponent, No. 18 Iowa. Yet the Hawkeyes b*tch-slapped the Spartans from the opening kickoff, ran all over them and came out with a 37-6 win that should end any talk of Michigan State as a national title contender for the next five years, minimum. The margin may not have been as high in Missouri’s loss to No. 14 Nebraska, but the school-record 309 yards that Nebraska running back Roy Helu Jr. racked up on the Tigers’ hapless defense was almost as embarrassing. The Huskers manhandled Missouri and every time it appeared the Tigers were about to get back in the game, Helu was there with a big run. For those who want to see Boise State receive the national championship shot it deserves, these losses mean two less teams have a chance to leapfrog the Broncos in the (always asinine) BCS standings going forward. As for the coach presiding over a third straight late-season collapse, that would be Michigan head coach Rich-er Fraud-riguez, who posed 3-9 and 5-7 records in his first two seasons in Ann Arbor, committed multiple NCAA rules violations that the school is still disputing and has now lost three straight games - all Big 10 affairs - after a 5-0 start to the season. This time around, R-Fraud might actually lose his job if he can’t pull the team out of its nosedive and the 41-31 loss to a Penn State team starting its backup quarterback won't help in that endeavor. Couldn’t happen to a better guy than you, R-Fraud. Lastly, Notre Dame capped as bad a week as the program has had in a long time with a stunning 28-27 home loss to Tulsa - yes, that Tulsa. After a football program volunteer died this week when the tower from which he was filming practice collapsed, the Irish lost starting quarterback Dayne Crist for the season when he suffered a first-quarter knee injury, lost leading rusher Armando Allen later in the game and lost the game itself when freshman quarterback Tommy Rees, filling in for Crist, did the one thing he couldn’t do with his team in field-goal range in the final minute and trailing by one - throw an interception. His pass was picked off in the end zone with less than 45 seconds left and his team lost to drop to 4-5, meaning the Irish need to win two of their final three games just to become bowl eligible. Yes, quite a Saturday of college football……….
- Been asking yourself how to take a piece of one of the most bloated, overhyped, underwhelming “blockbusters” of the past few years in your driveway while also putting an end to those darned neighborhood kids TP’ing your yard or egging your windows? This could be the answer you’ve been waiting for. It’s a 2005 Saleen Mustang tricked out to look like one of the cars used in the recent Transformers movies, directed so ham-handedly by Michael Bay and successful only in wasting ridiculous sums of money on special effects while expending no real effort on scripts and plots that were sensible, believable or well-executed. Famed car guy Steve Saleen customized three 2005 Saleen S281 Mustangs for the films and now, one of those cars has turned up where else but eBay. According to the seller, this is the second of three cars that filled a role in the movie, was used primarily as a camera car and “was heavily screen used in the movie.” The car, as with any Saleen, has a beefed-up engine, revamped body and remodeled interior. With carbon fiber throughout, this whip has a cherry-colored interior, police LED lights all over the exterior and a ginormous push bar on the front in case you need to ram someone - on the road, that is. The only downside is that unlike in the movie, the car doesn’t actually transform into a 18-foot-tall robot. But other than that, it’s totally a great excuse to throw away tens of thousands of dollars on a completely impractical vehicle that you would probably never drive anyhow. Bid now……..
- Maybe I’m just being cynical, but I don’t jump for joy when I hear that a joint American-Russian effort has resulted in the destruction of Afghan drug laboratories in the first instance of Russia deploying security forces in the region since the Soviet military withdrew in 1989. According to Russia's anti-narcotics chief, the operation in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan on Thursday was jointly conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Department of Defense, NATO, the Afghan Ministry of Interior and the Russian drug control agency. These teetotalers raided four laboratories associated with a significant dugs trafficker in the province. What sort of carnage resulted? Well, approximately one metric ton of heroin worth $250 million was seized, along with a smaller quantity of opium and items used in drug production. "This is the first operation in Afghanistan in which Russian drug police officers took part," said Victor Ivanov, head of Russia's federal drug control agency. Stop and think for a moment about all of the poor, friendly neighborhood heroin addicts that sort of seizure will affect and you can start to understand my beef with this operation. I don’t care whether or not this international consortium was in Afghanistan as a military unit or not, their efforts are bad news. Actually, Ivanov claimed that the group was in Afghanistan as part of an agreement between Moscow, the Afghan government and the U.S. DEA to share information about the flow of drugs into Russia via its vast southern borders with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. "For the first time our officials handed over information about the location of drug laboratories, which was confirmed by the Afghan Interior Ministry and the U.S. DEA," he explained. This operation took three months to plan and execute as officials compiled coordinates, names, locations, and other important data was established. On the big day, some 70 people were involved in the raid, which took place not far from the Pakistan border. There were helicopter gunships and Afghan police providing air and ground cover. "It was a huge success which became possible as a result of our joint well-coordinated work," as well as a result of the "resetting" of Russian-U.S. relations," Ivanov gloated at a news conference in Moscow. Oh, and the heroin addicts who will be harmed by this raid aren’t solely American addicts. Russia is estimated by the United Nations to have between one-and-half and six million heroin addicts, so its own people will also bear a heavy burden here. Making matters worse, Ivanow made a point of saying that Moscow is eager to cooperate further with NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. "We are interested in further cooperation in destroying drug laboratories," he stated. "According to our sources, in Badakhshan alone, there are more than 400 drug laboratories and a large number are located in Helmand. The number of laboratories is huge, as we see." I just hope you have the courage to explain all of this to your millions of heroin users in person, Ivanov………
- FAT people, you’re going to have to figure out another way to get thin besides some miracle in a bottle that won't necessitate you actually working out, eating better and living healthier - at least if the experimental weight-loss drug Qnexa was the thing you were relying on to shed those unwanted pounds. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected the approval of the drug used to treat obesity. The FDA informed the drug maker, Vivus, that the drug could not be approved in its present form. Vivus announced the decision Thursday in a statement, leading to muffled groans of dismay from millions of FAT Americans who would have yelled out in anger if not for the fudge bars and pieces of chocolate-chocolate cake being shoved into their pie holes at the time the news came out. For the record, Qnexa is a combination of two older medications: phentermine, an amphetamine that made up the "phen" half of 1990s diet drug Fen-Phen, and is topiramate, an anti-seizure medication that's been used to treat a range of conditions, including alcoholism. You might recall that Fen-Phen was yanked from the market in the 1990s after some users developed heart problems. Apparently death was not a side effect the FDA was willing to tolerate back then and judging by this ruling, they still won’t. But no one could have seriously banked on Qnexa’s approval, not after an FDA advisory committee recommended in July that Qnexa not be approved. The committee cited concerns ranging from heart issues to psychiatric side effects. What, so people might develop heart conditions and go insane? How are those things any worse than being 150 pounds overweight, having lousy self-esteem and slowly eating yourself to death with Ho-Ho’s, chocolate éclairs, extra-large pizzas, Cheetos and ice cream sundaes? To Vivus’ credit, it is not giving up on its new wonder drug or the FAT people who would benefit from it. "We remain confident in the efficacy of Qnexa and look forward to continue working with the FDA towards the approval for the treatment of obesity," said Leland Wilson, chief executive officer of Vivus. Look for a response to the FDA’s rejection of Qnexa some time FDA around mid-December………
- So many interesting stories for one Saturday of college football…..how’s about two top-10 teams losing on the road in true curb-stomp fashion, a lying, cheating, rule-breaking scumbag of a coach taking another step toward a third straight late-season collapse in his third year at the helm of a once-proud program or another of the sport’s legendary programs suffering as brutal a loss as any in recent memory? The two top-10 teams on the receiving end of beatdowns would be No. 5 Michigan State and No. 6 Missouri, both of whom were wildly overrated on the strength of undefeated records against weak schedules featuring almost no quality opponents. These two might have been the most obvious targets for an “upset” in any season in the past decade, with the Spartans actually an underdog despite their unbeaten record and rankings superiority over their opponent, No. 18 Iowa. Yet the Hawkeyes b*tch-slapped the Spartans from the opening kickoff, ran all over them and came out with a 37-6 win that should end any talk of Michigan State as a national title contender for the next five years, minimum. The margin may not have been as high in Missouri’s loss to No. 14 Nebraska, but the school-record 309 yards that Nebraska running back Roy Helu Jr. racked up on the Tigers’ hapless defense was almost as embarrassing. The Huskers manhandled Missouri and every time it appeared the Tigers were about to get back in the game, Helu was there with a big run. For those who want to see Boise State receive the national championship shot it deserves, these losses mean two less teams have a chance to leapfrog the Broncos in the (always asinine) BCS standings going forward. As for the coach presiding over a third straight late-season collapse, that would be Michigan head coach Rich-er Fraud-riguez, who posed 3-9 and 5-7 records in his first two seasons in Ann Arbor, committed multiple NCAA rules violations that the school is still disputing and has now lost three straight games - all Big 10 affairs - after a 5-0 start to the season. This time around, R-Fraud might actually lose his job if he can’t pull the team out of its nosedive and the 41-31 loss to a Penn State team starting its backup quarterback won't help in that endeavor. Couldn’t happen to a better guy than you, R-Fraud. Lastly, Notre Dame capped as bad a week as the program has had in a long time with a stunning 28-27 home loss to Tulsa - yes, that Tulsa. After a football program volunteer died this week when the tower from which he was filming practice collapsed, the Irish lost starting quarterback Dayne Crist for the season when he suffered a first-quarter knee injury, lost leading rusher Armando Allen later in the game and lost the game itself when freshman quarterback Tommy Rees, filling in for Crist, did the one thing he couldn’t do with his team in field-goal range in the final minute and trailing by one - throw an interception. His pass was picked off in the end zone with less than 45 seconds left and his team lost to drop to 4-5, meaning the Irish need to win two of their final three games just to become bowl eligible. Yes, quite a Saturday of college football……….
- Been asking yourself how to take a piece of one of the most bloated, overhyped, underwhelming “blockbusters” of the past few years in your driveway while also putting an end to those darned neighborhood kids TP’ing your yard or egging your windows? This could be the answer you’ve been waiting for. It’s a 2005 Saleen Mustang tricked out to look like one of the cars used in the recent Transformers movies, directed so ham-handedly by Michael Bay and successful only in wasting ridiculous sums of money on special effects while expending no real effort on scripts and plots that were sensible, believable or well-executed. Famed car guy Steve Saleen customized three 2005 Saleen S281 Mustangs for the films and now, one of those cars has turned up where else but eBay. According to the seller, this is the second of three cars that filled a role in the movie, was used primarily as a camera car and “was heavily screen used in the movie.” The car, as with any Saleen, has a beefed-up engine, revamped body and remodeled interior. With carbon fiber throughout, this whip has a cherry-colored interior, police LED lights all over the exterior and a ginormous push bar on the front in case you need to ram someone - on the road, that is. The only downside is that unlike in the movie, the car doesn’t actually transform into a 18-foot-tall robot. But other than that, it’s totally a great excuse to throw away tens of thousands of dollars on a completely impractical vehicle that you would probably never drive anyhow. Bid now……..
- Maybe I’m just being cynical, but I don’t jump for joy when I hear that a joint American-Russian effort has resulted in the destruction of Afghan drug laboratories in the first instance of Russia deploying security forces in the region since the Soviet military withdrew in 1989. According to Russia's anti-narcotics chief, the operation in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan on Thursday was jointly conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Department of Defense, NATO, the Afghan Ministry of Interior and the Russian drug control agency. These teetotalers raided four laboratories associated with a significant dugs trafficker in the province. What sort of carnage resulted? Well, approximately one metric ton of heroin worth $250 million was seized, along with a smaller quantity of opium and items used in drug production. "This is the first operation in Afghanistan in which Russian drug police officers took part," said Victor Ivanov, head of Russia's federal drug control agency. Stop and think for a moment about all of the poor, friendly neighborhood heroin addicts that sort of seizure will affect and you can start to understand my beef with this operation. I don’t care whether or not this international consortium was in Afghanistan as a military unit or not, their efforts are bad news. Actually, Ivanov claimed that the group was in Afghanistan as part of an agreement between Moscow, the Afghan government and the U.S. DEA to share information about the flow of drugs into Russia via its vast southern borders with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. "For the first time our officials handed over information about the location of drug laboratories, which was confirmed by the Afghan Interior Ministry and the U.S. DEA," he explained. This operation took three months to plan and execute as officials compiled coordinates, names, locations, and other important data was established. On the big day, some 70 people were involved in the raid, which took place not far from the Pakistan border. There were helicopter gunships and Afghan police providing air and ground cover. "It was a huge success which became possible as a result of our joint well-coordinated work," as well as a result of the "resetting" of Russian-U.S. relations," Ivanov gloated at a news conference in Moscow. Oh, and the heroin addicts who will be harmed by this raid aren’t solely American addicts. Russia is estimated by the United Nations to have between one-and-half and six million heroin addicts, so its own people will also bear a heavy burden here. Making matters worse, Ivanow made a point of saying that Moscow is eager to cooperate further with NATO-led forces in Afghanistan. "We are interested in further cooperation in destroying drug laboratories," he stated. "According to our sources, in Badakhshan alone, there are more than 400 drug laboratories and a large number are located in Helmand. The number of laboratories is huge, as we see." I just hope you have the courage to explain all of this to your millions of heroin users in person, Ivanov………
Friday, October 29, 2010
Bad news for music freeloaders, a hollow $1 million offer and H20 on Mars
- Time to get your free music elsewhere, LimeWire users. Napster popped up and was shot down as a free filesharing service, reemerging as a neutered version of itself that no one likes or uses, and now LimeWire faces a similar quandary after a judge ruled that its main filesharing functions must be disabled. Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Kimba Wood ruled that functions that led to file-sharing through the site must be disabled. In announcing her decision, Wood decreed that the company must disable the site's "searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality." In essence, she gutted what makes Limewire Limewire. If people can’t upload or download files and share them with other users, then they have no use for LimeWire. It’s like giving someone a cell phone except there is no service plan and no cell towers for 2,000 miles - what’s the point? The decision is the tipping point of a battle LimeWire’s owners have been fighting the past four-plus years in a series of court cases against various record companies. The labels have sued LimeWire on copyright infringement charges and on Tuesday, Wood gave those labels the kill shot they were looking for. Predictably, the Recording Industry Association Of America could not wait to gloat over the decision and released a statement saying: "For the better part of the last decade, LimeWire and [company founder Mark] Gorton have violated the law. The court has now signed an injunction that will start to unwind the massive piracy machine that LimeWire and Gorton used to enrich themselves immensely." Likewise, LimeWire posted a depressing message on its Web site conceding defeat and waving the electronic white flag: "This is an official notice that LimeWire is under a court-ordered injunction to stop distributing and supporting its filesharing software. Downloading or sharing copyrighted content without authorization is illegal." As for the Napster analogy…..it appears that LimeWire is headed down the same road because its executives plan to hold talks with representatives from record labels in the U.S. in an attempt to negotiate a legitimized version of the site. Don’t even bother, LimeWire, because no one has any interest in that………
- Offering to donate $1 million to charity is a grandiose gesture and worthy of admiration…..until the details of your offer emerge and it’s clear that there’s as much chance of Rosie O’Donnell becoming the next Miss America as you actually making that donation. So no credit to Liberty Mutual Insurance for its offer to donate a total of $1 million to charity if a college football game this season was completed with no penalties. Why is this offer such a farce? Well, consider that that the last penalty-free game between two college football teams was 24 years ago, when Army took on Navy, and you begin to understand just how small a financial risk the insurance giant is taking. But they sure did churn out a super-sounding press release for the promotion, a release reading: “Pioneering the pursuit of sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility, and excellence on the field, the quest for the penalty-free game – worth $1 million to charity – is taking place for the first time during the 2010 season. Liberty Mutual will (up to $500,000 per team) to a charity selected by each school. If more than one game is completed penalty-free, the million-dollar donation will be split among all winning schools’ charities.” The actual odds of a penalty-free game are 16,000-to-1, so the company won't go completely overboard promoting this, right? Wrong. “Performance through excellence and sportsmanship, on and off the field, are pillars upon which the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award stands. We know that ultimately it’s about winning, and coaches and their teams play to win. We don’t want to change that but if a team can achieve that win - without a penalty on either side - we want to celebrate that accomplishment,” beamed Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual senior vice president. Very big of you, G. Shockingly, there have been no games this season free of penalties and thus far, only three Division I schools have reached the achievement at all. Ole Miss on Sept. 4 vs. Jacksonville State, Ohio State on Sept. 18 vs. Ohio and Notre Dame last week vs. Navy. I’ll go out on a limb and say that Liberty Mutual goes the rest of this season without having to pay a dime on this offer. Then again, that means they can trot it out next year, even double the prize and still have nothing to worry about………
- One giant step for mankind….towards living on Mars. That’s right, we’re one step closer to being able to cram all of our undesirables into a giant space squad car and send them off to live on the red planet next door after the rover Spirit that is currently stuck on Mars discovered evidence that liquid water still exists below the planet’s surface. That means the soft Martian soil could eventually be home to human life…..just as long as it’s the life of people we can do without here on Earth. Spirit may end up as something of a martyr in this story, as it became stuck after breaking through the crust of a sand pit called “Troy” in April 2009, leaving the craft immobilized. NASA officially gave up on trying to extract the rover in January, yet in its broken-down state, Spirit’s still-spinning wheels exposed the soil that led to the discovery that water is still under the ground. Those exposed surface layers contain minerals thought to be hematite, silica and gypsum, which don’t dissolve easily in water. However, a few centimeters below the crust are layers of iron sulfate minerals, which do dissolve easily. Putting two and two together, that’s evidence of water, maybe in the form of frost or snow, which has seeped into the ground recently and carried the soluble minerals deeper into the soil. NASA scientists postulate that this seepage could have occurred during cycles in Mars’ history when the planet tilted further on its axis. The fact that none of the soluble materials are visible on the surface indicates
the soil interacted with water recently. Factoring in the omnipresent Martian winds that constantly reshape the planet’s surface and you know that these layers would have long ago eroded away had they not come to be in the past few months. The Spirit rover team also speculated that the water could also have come from fumaroles or hot vents beneath the surface. All of these fun facts are available in a publication I’m sure you all subscribe to and read religiously, the Journal of Geophysical Research. “On Earth, fumaroles and hydrothermal systems provide the environmental conditions, water, nutrients and energy sources needed to sustain robust microbial communities,” the team wrote. “It seems likely that the region in and around Home Plate may have likewise supported a habitable environment.” For now, no one knows how much water there is and if enough of a supply exists to sustain life for a prolonged period of time. But hey, we can hope………
- If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is serious about making American football a staple of the European sports scene, and it appears that he is, then there are a few points he needs to consider. For the fourth straight season, the league will play a game at London’s Wembley Stadium and for the third time in those four years, the game will feature two of the crappiest teams in the NFL. This time, we’re offering Brits the distinct privilege of watching the San Francisco 49ers (1-6) take on the mighty Denver Broncos (2-5). We’re shipping our national sport across the Atlantic and THAT’S the matchup we’re going with? Look, I realize that planning and staging this game is a huge undertaking and teams that will be taking part need to know as far in advance as possible because the trip absolutely wrecks their regular schedule, but this might be a good time to incorporate the flex scheduling the league uses over the latter part of the season in order to give NBC and ESPN the best prime-time games and apply it to the London game. Maybe have four teams on notice that they may be playing in London and pick the two best from that group. The two teams that don’t go will be thrilled to avoid the hassle even as they scramble to put together a plan to sell tickets for and host the game at their home field. Another point Goodell would be wise to consider is that Europeans as a whole don’t give a rat’s ass about American football. Seriously, I was just there and in most countries, I found people who had no idea who LeBron James is. If they don’t know the most recognizable player in an American sport that truly is global, how much less must they care about the NFL? Yet there’s Goodell, insisting that the NFL is moving f/w with plans to increase the number of games it plays overseas. "Each year, the different barometers indicate that our popularity continues to rise," Goodell said this week. "I think the next step will be multiple games (in Europe). And if that's successful then I think the idea of a franchise here is realistic." That’s right, his ultimate expansion goal is having a full-time franchise in London. What Goodell’s problem may be is mistaking the positive reviews from the teams that have made the trip on a one-time basis as endorsements of the possibility of having teams regularly make the voyage. Again, having flown to Europe and spent 9 or 10 hours on a plane, it’s not something you want to do often. So placing a team in London, unless you have three other teams in Europe to form an entire division, would mean that team making eight trips to the U.S. each season for road games and eight teams having to fly to London for Games. Currently, the league gives any team playing in London their bye week following the trip, but bye weeks occur in the fourth through eighth weeks of the season. What happens if a team plays the London Big Bens in Week 14 in jolly old England? Do they wait for a Week 15 bye? All of these factors must be addressed before Goodell and his cronies try to drop a team in London, which he is intent on doing “as fast as is practical." None of this is meant as an indictment of London, which is a great city. It’s more an indictment of trying to force the NFL into a place where it just wouldn’t be a good fit in the name of greed……
- There are situations in life where you’re just not sure which side to take. Both sides are either equally likeable or equally loathsome and there is no right choice. This would be one of those situations and in this case, the problem is that neither side if sympathetic or likeable. On the one side, you have ABC’s subpar sitcom Modern Family, which has angered some oversensitive Peruvians who were offended by a joke on last week’s episode. On the other hand is the dynamic duo of ABC and Modern Family, a combo that is about as palatable as human waste and ice cream. In the offending episode, Jay (Ed O’Neill) makes a remark about Colombia and Gloria (Sofia Vergara) replies, “Ah, here we go. Because, in Colombia, we trip over goats and we kill people in the street. Do you know how offensive that is? Like we’re Peruvians!” Uh-oh! That remark caught the attention of various alarmist/watchdog groups, groups like the online collection of no-humor tools known as Peru USA Southern Ca. Milagros Lizarraga, founder of the online group, whined, “It’s incredible that in a country where everything is politically correct, ABC would have a line of this sort.” No Milagros, what’s incredible is that anyone is watching Modern Family at all. Ed O’Neill? Seriously? That guy is still alive and getting roles in prime-time shows? I haven’t checked lately, but something tells me the ratings for this garbage heap of a show aren’t exactly pressing the finales of M*A*S*H and Seinfeld for the top of the all-time TV ratings mountain. Of course, a terrible show is no less detestable than a group of stick-up-their-butt, humorless people who take every passing joke that includes their nationality, race or religion as a reason to go. Simmer down, angry Peruvians, and realize that you’re wasting time and energy on a show that probably 12 people saw. For the record, ABC has not responded to requests for comment on the matter, but it’s not exactly a travesty if they don’t respond at all………
- Offering to donate $1 million to charity is a grandiose gesture and worthy of admiration…..until the details of your offer emerge and it’s clear that there’s as much chance of Rosie O’Donnell becoming the next Miss America as you actually making that donation. So no credit to Liberty Mutual Insurance for its offer to donate a total of $1 million to charity if a college football game this season was completed with no penalties. Why is this offer such a farce? Well, consider that that the last penalty-free game between two college football teams was 24 years ago, when Army took on Navy, and you begin to understand just how small a financial risk the insurance giant is taking. But they sure did churn out a super-sounding press release for the promotion, a release reading: “Pioneering the pursuit of sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility, and excellence on the field, the quest for the penalty-free game – worth $1 million to charity – is taking place for the first time during the 2010 season. Liberty Mutual will (up to $500,000 per team) to a charity selected by each school. If more than one game is completed penalty-free, the million-dollar donation will be split among all winning schools’ charities.” The actual odds of a penalty-free game are 16,000-to-1, so the company won't go completely overboard promoting this, right? Wrong. “Performance through excellence and sportsmanship, on and off the field, are pillars upon which the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award stands. We know that ultimately it’s about winning, and coaches and their teams play to win. We don’t want to change that but if a team can achieve that win - without a penalty on either side - we want to celebrate that accomplishment,” beamed Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual senior vice president. Very big of you, G. Shockingly, there have been no games this season free of penalties and thus far, only three Division I schools have reached the achievement at all. Ole Miss on Sept. 4 vs. Jacksonville State, Ohio State on Sept. 18 vs. Ohio and Notre Dame last week vs. Navy. I’ll go out on a limb and say that Liberty Mutual goes the rest of this season without having to pay a dime on this offer. Then again, that means they can trot it out next year, even double the prize and still have nothing to worry about………
- One giant step for mankind….towards living on Mars. That’s right, we’re one step closer to being able to cram all of our undesirables into a giant space squad car and send them off to live on the red planet next door after the rover Spirit that is currently stuck on Mars discovered evidence that liquid water still exists below the planet’s surface. That means the soft Martian soil could eventually be home to human life…..just as long as it’s the life of people we can do without here on Earth. Spirit may end up as something of a martyr in this story, as it became stuck after breaking through the crust of a sand pit called “Troy” in April 2009, leaving the craft immobilized. NASA officially gave up on trying to extract the rover in January, yet in its broken-down state, Spirit’s still-spinning wheels exposed the soil that led to the discovery that water is still under the ground. Those exposed surface layers contain minerals thought to be hematite, silica and gypsum, which don’t dissolve easily in water. However, a few centimeters below the crust are layers of iron sulfate minerals, which do dissolve easily. Putting two and two together, that’s evidence of water, maybe in the form of frost or snow, which has seeped into the ground recently and carried the soluble minerals deeper into the soil. NASA scientists postulate that this seepage could have occurred during cycles in Mars’ history when the planet tilted further on its axis. The fact that none of the soluble materials are visible on the surface indicates
the soil interacted with water recently. Factoring in the omnipresent Martian winds that constantly reshape the planet’s surface and you know that these layers would have long ago eroded away had they not come to be in the past few months. The Spirit rover team also speculated that the water could also have come from fumaroles or hot vents beneath the surface. All of these fun facts are available in a publication I’m sure you all subscribe to and read religiously, the Journal of Geophysical Research. “On Earth, fumaroles and hydrothermal systems provide the environmental conditions, water, nutrients and energy sources needed to sustain robust microbial communities,” the team wrote. “It seems likely that the region in and around Home Plate may have likewise supported a habitable environment.” For now, no one knows how much water there is and if enough of a supply exists to sustain life for a prolonged period of time. But hey, we can hope………
- If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is serious about making American football a staple of the European sports scene, and it appears that he is, then there are a few points he needs to consider. For the fourth straight season, the league will play a game at London’s Wembley Stadium and for the third time in those four years, the game will feature two of the crappiest teams in the NFL. This time, we’re offering Brits the distinct privilege of watching the San Francisco 49ers (1-6) take on the mighty Denver Broncos (2-5). We’re shipping our national sport across the Atlantic and THAT’S the matchup we’re going with? Look, I realize that planning and staging this game is a huge undertaking and teams that will be taking part need to know as far in advance as possible because the trip absolutely wrecks their regular schedule, but this might be a good time to incorporate the flex scheduling the league uses over the latter part of the season in order to give NBC and ESPN the best prime-time games and apply it to the London game. Maybe have four teams on notice that they may be playing in London and pick the two best from that group. The two teams that don’t go will be thrilled to avoid the hassle even as they scramble to put together a plan to sell tickets for and host the game at their home field. Another point Goodell would be wise to consider is that Europeans as a whole don’t give a rat’s ass about American football. Seriously, I was just there and in most countries, I found people who had no idea who LeBron James is. If they don’t know the most recognizable player in an American sport that truly is global, how much less must they care about the NFL? Yet there’s Goodell, insisting that the NFL is moving f/w with plans to increase the number of games it plays overseas. "Each year, the different barometers indicate that our popularity continues to rise," Goodell said this week. "I think the next step will be multiple games (in Europe). And if that's successful then I think the idea of a franchise here is realistic." That’s right, his ultimate expansion goal is having a full-time franchise in London. What Goodell’s problem may be is mistaking the positive reviews from the teams that have made the trip on a one-time basis as endorsements of the possibility of having teams regularly make the voyage. Again, having flown to Europe and spent 9 or 10 hours on a plane, it’s not something you want to do often. So placing a team in London, unless you have three other teams in Europe to form an entire division, would mean that team making eight trips to the U.S. each season for road games and eight teams having to fly to London for Games. Currently, the league gives any team playing in London their bye week following the trip, but bye weeks occur in the fourth through eighth weeks of the season. What happens if a team plays the London Big Bens in Week 14 in jolly old England? Do they wait for a Week 15 bye? All of these factors must be addressed before Goodell and his cronies try to drop a team in London, which he is intent on doing “as fast as is practical." None of this is meant as an indictment of London, which is a great city. It’s more an indictment of trying to force the NFL into a place where it just wouldn’t be a good fit in the name of greed……
- There are situations in life where you’re just not sure which side to take. Both sides are either equally likeable or equally loathsome and there is no right choice. This would be one of those situations and in this case, the problem is that neither side if sympathetic or likeable. On the one side, you have ABC’s subpar sitcom Modern Family, which has angered some oversensitive Peruvians who were offended by a joke on last week’s episode. On the other hand is the dynamic duo of ABC and Modern Family, a combo that is about as palatable as human waste and ice cream. In the offending episode, Jay (Ed O’Neill) makes a remark about Colombia and Gloria (Sofia Vergara) replies, “Ah, here we go. Because, in Colombia, we trip over goats and we kill people in the street. Do you know how offensive that is? Like we’re Peruvians!” Uh-oh! That remark caught the attention of various alarmist/watchdog groups, groups like the online collection of no-humor tools known as Peru USA Southern Ca. Milagros Lizarraga, founder of the online group, whined, “It’s incredible that in a country where everything is politically correct, ABC would have a line of this sort.” No Milagros, what’s incredible is that anyone is watching Modern Family at all. Ed O’Neill? Seriously? That guy is still alive and getting roles in prime-time shows? I haven’t checked lately, but something tells me the ratings for this garbage heap of a show aren’t exactly pressing the finales of M*A*S*H and Seinfeld for the top of the all-time TV ratings mountain. Of course, a terrible show is no less detestable than a group of stick-up-their-butt, humorless people who take every passing joke that includes their nationality, race or religion as a reason to go. Simmer down, angry Peruvians, and realize that you’re wasting time and energy on a show that probably 12 people saw. For the record, ABC has not responded to requests for comment on the matter, but it’s not exactly a travesty if they don’t respond at all………
Thursday, October 28, 2010
NBA drama, Dalai Lama retirement talk and FAT people take offense
- Not that the NBA offseason wasn’t a blast, but I really could do without the regular season being consumed by the same superstar-changing-places drama that the Pompous One, LeBron James, put us through over the summer. This time around, it’s Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony at the center of the drama and Anthony isn’t doing anything to put out the fires of upheaval by stating after Denver's season-opening victory Wednesday that he still doesn't intend to sign a contract extension and speculating that it might be time for he and the team to part ways. In a postgame interview, Anthony admitted that Denver management wants "to sit down and talk, but my thing is it's way beyond this year.” In other words, I want out. Whatever the future is in Denver, ‘Melo wants no part of it. Why he feels that way is a mystery, because he clearly has a better chance of making the Finals out of the Western Conference as opposed to the East, where all of the teams rumored to be interested in trading for him play. The New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets are the current frontrunners in a potential trade, with the Chicago Bulls in the mix as well. But a trade to any of those three teams would then force Anthony and his new team to go through Boston, Orlando and Miami to win a championship, as opposed to having to go mainly through the Lakers in the West if he were to remain with the Nuggets. Whatever his reasoning, Anthony appears set on an exit from Denver and nothing the front office could do seems likely to change his mind. "It ain't got nothing to do with the new GM [Masai Ujiri], Josh [Kroenke, team president], the players. For me, I feel it's a time for change,” Anthony stated. "If I do nothing now, I'm never going to do anything. I feel like my time is now to make a decision if I want to leave or if I want to stay." That three-year, $65 million extension the Nuggets put on the table months ago is still out there, but the team may as well take a match to it at this point because it won't be signed. Thus, they can trade Anthony now for 75 cents on the dollar or wait for him to walk away after the season. Although the Nuggets have until the February trade deadline to deal him, the reality is that his trade value shrinks with each passing day. For now, he’s content to go on a media tour talking about his tenuous situation in Denver, appearing on ESPN Radio Tuesday and saying that the deal is about more than money, although he wouldn’t explain what the “something more” was. But for the love of God, can someone make whatever trade is going to happen, happen because the season is starting to look a lot like the overwrought, drama-laden offseason at this point………
- No dice, Dalai Lama. You want to retire? Sorry, but unless you have an equally kind, wise and charismatic replacement lined up, the world does not accept your offer. I realize that you’re old, your life can be very stressful and a 75-year-old man typically is not asked to put up with the sh*t you put up with in your role is the spiritual guidance and oversight of the people of Tibet, but you took the job and now you have to keep it until someone impeccably qualified to take your place comes along? Why is this even an issue? Because my man D. Lama is whining about retiring and claiming that he has every right to do so, that’s why. “I'm also a human being. ... Retirement is also my right," the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet said in an interview with CNN while in Miami, Florida, this week. "Sooner or later, I have to go. I'm over 75, so next 10 years, next 20 years, one day I will go." Yeah, we’re also going to need advance notice from you when you will be “going,” because that too is going to create a void that someone needs to fill. Sure, the ongoing protests in the Dalai Lama’s home country of Tibet, from whence he is exiled, are a source of stress for him, even from afar. By the way, he supports the protests and the students who marched in them to oppose government plans to teach university classes in Mandarin Chinese, instead of the traditional Tibetan language. "My real boss is the Tibetan people inside Tibet. So now, whenever they carry some sort of movement, I have to support," he said. Perhaps the only sign I can see that would give the Lama-man justification for retiring is the fact that he only views the protests as lawful and reasonable if they are nonviolent. Don’t bring that weak junk around here, man, because sticking it to The Man, rioting, looting and plundering is the order of the day. So go ahead and be "optimistic" about the Tibet’s future, be okay with world leaders not wanting to meet with you so as not to anger China - just don’t bring that pacifist crap around here. "It doesn't matter," he said of world leaders not meeting with him. "If they find it a little bit inconvenient, then of course, it's absolutely OK." Instead, he insisted that his primary focus is meeting with the public to promote human values and religious harmony. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit to come out of the interview is the extent to which the Dalai Lama, a senior citizen, embraces the Internet and social media. He called them "extremely useful" in engaging what he called a "closed society" like China, although he did admit "as far as technology itself is concerned, I'm completely ignorant." Still, his staff tweets his thoughts for his almost 1 million followers. Oh, the wisdom of a respected leader in 140 characters…..wonder if the Dalai Lama also fires off angry tweets if he finds himself behind someone in the supermarket checkout line who has 13 items in the express lane………
- Maybe I’m the only person who will rally to the defense of Marie Claire writer Maura Kelly over the uproar caused by her comments regarding the “fatties” of CBS’ freshman sitcom Mike & Molly, but I’ve never been one to shy away from unpopular causes. The controversy boils down to a column Kelly wrote called “Should ‘Fatties’ Get a Room? (Even on TV?),” and in it, Kelly debated the question, do viewers feel uncomfortable watching overweight people making out on television? But her major sin seems to have been postulating that seeing Mike (Billy Gardell) and Molly (Melissa McCarthy) get physical would likely lead her to become physically ill: “I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other…because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything.” She then added the health risks of being overweight and offered up some fitness and nutrition tips, as if the words of a Marie Claire columnist would be the necessary push to inspire flabby Americans to get off their couches and get fit. Predictably, in the oversensitive and easily offended culture we live in, critics lined up angrily and swiftly to bash Kelly’s comments. Noted Mensa member an high-thinker Sharon Osbourne compared her to a Nazi on her new daytime series The Talk. As always, reaching for a Nazi analogy is never appropriate for any reason, anywhere, so way to chase what you deem horrible comments with even worse words, S. Mike & Molly creator Mark Roberts also chimed in, calling the post “hateful” in an interview. “Almost everybody I know struggles with something — whether its their weight or alcohol or temper,” Roberts said. “To stand in judgment of somebody — especially when you’re breaking it down to just the esthetic. It just makes me sad.” Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on there, Capt. Word-Twister. Kelly didn’t “stand in judgment” of anyone. She merely stated that watching two out-of-shape, obese people getting physical would make her ill. To be honest, I share her sentiments. Regular readers of this very column know how unappetizing, depressing and nauseating I find people who ignore their health and fitness to the point that they are packing on 70, 80 or 100+ pounds onto their poor bodies. It basically declares to the world, “I’ve given up on life on my health and on looking even remotely healthy and attractive.” That’s a depressing message and the sight of someone with rolls and rolls of fat getting it on……yuck. So I was heartbroken to learn that Kelly had amended her post with an apology. She also admitted her own struggles with anorexia and obsession with being thin. Her initial assessment that obesity is something people are doing to themselves was spot on. Shows like Mike & Molly, which hammer home the message that its lead characters are two overweight people and that characteristic defines them, are unappealing and honestly, off-putting. If you want to see a quality show featuring overweight people, watch NBC’s The Biggest Loser, which features morbidly obese people on their way to becoming healthy and fitter……..
- Dammit, America! China already owns pretty much everything of importance in this country and what they don’t own, they manufactured and sold to us. With that in mind, how the frak did we allow them to rip the title of owner of the world's fastest supercomputer from us? That’s right, they have the fastest supercomputer and now they’re one step closer to complete global domination thanks to a computer called Tianhe-1A, unveiled on Wednesday at a conference in Beijing. Tianhe-1A can run calculations faster than the previous speed leader, a computer at a U.S. lab in Tennessee. How fast is this new über-computer? It set a record by processing 2.507 petaflops of data at once. The previous record holder, a computer called Cray XT5 Jaguar and located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, completed 1.75 petaflop calculations. Of course, hyperbole-prone tech analysts claim that the new record reinforces China's position as a global technology leader. According to Nvidia, the computer technology company, Tianhe-1A will operate as an open access system and will be used for large scale scientific computations. In other words, scientists and engineers working with it will be able to play multiple hands of solitaire at once, update their Facebook pages and fire off tweets faster than ever before. Officially, supercomputers are just a string of multiple computers linked together. They are, ironically enough, a lot like early computers in the 1960s and 1970s, computers that fill entire rooms and even small warehouses. They are (theoretically) used to processes huge amounts of scientific data, but I prefer to think of them as a faster way for slacker scientists to goof around on the Internet………
- Finally, we know what all of the United States’ spy activities cost on an annual basis: $80 billion - if you believe a group of people whose job it is to lie for a living, of course. That’s the amount that the U.S. spent on intelligence activities in 2010 (projecting out for the remaining months of the year) and it’s noteworthy because it marks the first time the government has officially announced the total tab for intelligence spending. Included in that total is the $53.1 billion spent on non-military intelligence programs, a 6 percent increase from the previous year - supposedly. Those totals were included in a statement released Thursday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan confirmed that the military spent an additional $27 billion on its intelligence apparatus, giving us the $80 billion total. Why is this information coming out now? Because from here on out, the government is required by law to reveal the total amount of money spent to spy on other nations, terrorists and other groups by the CIA, the National Security Agency and the other agencies and offices that make up the 16-member intelligence community. Do not that even though this is the first time intelligence spending has formally been announced, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released the national intelligence budget figure for non-military activities for the past four years. As you’d expect, the intelligence community vociferously opposed and resisted efforts to reveal the number, making the asinine and transparent argument that enemies of the United States could learn valuable information by watching trends in spending. What, you mean knowing how much money you all blow on an annual basis on your snack budget? But if you want to blame anyone for this forced revelation of financial figures, blame those responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was that tragedy which inspired Congress to actually do something productive for once and as a result, they passed a law in 2007 mandating public disclosure of the non-military spending number at the end of each fiscal year. The current director of national intelligence, James Clapper, supported making budgets for both strategic intelligence and military spying public. One person who will undoubtedly give close attention to these figures is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the head of the Senate Intelligence committee. Sen. Feinstein said it is time to reduce non-military intelligence spending, which has doubled since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. "Given the nation's financial situation, it is my view that the intelligence budget needs to be carefully reviewed and that cuts will be necessary," Feinstein said. "It is clear that the overall spending on intelligence has blossomed to an unacceptable level in the past decade." Be careful what you demand, D., because odds are that the people you want to rip money from have information about every skeleton in your closet…………
- No dice, Dalai Lama. You want to retire? Sorry, but unless you have an equally kind, wise and charismatic replacement lined up, the world does not accept your offer. I realize that you’re old, your life can be very stressful and a 75-year-old man typically is not asked to put up with the sh*t you put up with in your role is the spiritual guidance and oversight of the people of Tibet, but you took the job and now you have to keep it until someone impeccably qualified to take your place comes along? Why is this even an issue? Because my man D. Lama is whining about retiring and claiming that he has every right to do so, that’s why. “I'm also a human being. ... Retirement is also my right," the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet said in an interview with CNN while in Miami, Florida, this week. "Sooner or later, I have to go. I'm over 75, so next 10 years, next 20 years, one day I will go." Yeah, we’re also going to need advance notice from you when you will be “going,” because that too is going to create a void that someone needs to fill. Sure, the ongoing protests in the Dalai Lama’s home country of Tibet, from whence he is exiled, are a source of stress for him, even from afar. By the way, he supports the protests and the students who marched in them to oppose government plans to teach university classes in Mandarin Chinese, instead of the traditional Tibetan language. "My real boss is the Tibetan people inside Tibet. So now, whenever they carry some sort of movement, I have to support," he said. Perhaps the only sign I can see that would give the Lama-man justification for retiring is the fact that he only views the protests as lawful and reasonable if they are nonviolent. Don’t bring that weak junk around here, man, because sticking it to The Man, rioting, looting and plundering is the order of the day. So go ahead and be "optimistic" about the Tibet’s future, be okay with world leaders not wanting to meet with you so as not to anger China - just don’t bring that pacifist crap around here. "It doesn't matter," he said of world leaders not meeting with him. "If they find it a little bit inconvenient, then of course, it's absolutely OK." Instead, he insisted that his primary focus is meeting with the public to promote human values and religious harmony. Perhaps the most interesting tidbit to come out of the interview is the extent to which the Dalai Lama, a senior citizen, embraces the Internet and social media. He called them "extremely useful" in engaging what he called a "closed society" like China, although he did admit "as far as technology itself is concerned, I'm completely ignorant." Still, his staff tweets his thoughts for his almost 1 million followers. Oh, the wisdom of a respected leader in 140 characters…..wonder if the Dalai Lama also fires off angry tweets if he finds himself behind someone in the supermarket checkout line who has 13 items in the express lane………
- Maybe I’m the only person who will rally to the defense of Marie Claire writer Maura Kelly over the uproar caused by her comments regarding the “fatties” of CBS’ freshman sitcom Mike & Molly, but I’ve never been one to shy away from unpopular causes. The controversy boils down to a column Kelly wrote called “Should ‘Fatties’ Get a Room? (Even on TV?),” and in it, Kelly debated the question, do viewers feel uncomfortable watching overweight people making out on television? But her major sin seems to have been postulating that seeing Mike (Billy Gardell) and Molly (Melissa McCarthy) get physical would likely lead her to become physically ill: “I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other…because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything.” She then added the health risks of being overweight and offered up some fitness and nutrition tips, as if the words of a Marie Claire columnist would be the necessary push to inspire flabby Americans to get off their couches and get fit. Predictably, in the oversensitive and easily offended culture we live in, critics lined up angrily and swiftly to bash Kelly’s comments. Noted Mensa member an high-thinker Sharon Osbourne compared her to a Nazi on her new daytime series The Talk. As always, reaching for a Nazi analogy is never appropriate for any reason, anywhere, so way to chase what you deem horrible comments with even worse words, S. Mike & Molly creator Mark Roberts also chimed in, calling the post “hateful” in an interview. “Almost everybody I know struggles with something — whether its their weight or alcohol or temper,” Roberts said. “To stand in judgment of somebody — especially when you’re breaking it down to just the esthetic. It just makes me sad.” Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on there, Capt. Word-Twister. Kelly didn’t “stand in judgment” of anyone. She merely stated that watching two out-of-shape, obese people getting physical would make her ill. To be honest, I share her sentiments. Regular readers of this very column know how unappetizing, depressing and nauseating I find people who ignore their health and fitness to the point that they are packing on 70, 80 or 100+ pounds onto their poor bodies. It basically declares to the world, “I’ve given up on life on my health and on looking even remotely healthy and attractive.” That’s a depressing message and the sight of someone with rolls and rolls of fat getting it on……yuck. So I was heartbroken to learn that Kelly had amended her post with an apology. She also admitted her own struggles with anorexia and obsession with being thin. Her initial assessment that obesity is something people are doing to themselves was spot on. Shows like Mike & Molly, which hammer home the message that its lead characters are two overweight people and that characteristic defines them, are unappealing and honestly, off-putting. If you want to see a quality show featuring overweight people, watch NBC’s The Biggest Loser, which features morbidly obese people on their way to becoming healthy and fitter……..
- Dammit, America! China already owns pretty much everything of importance in this country and what they don’t own, they manufactured and sold to us. With that in mind, how the frak did we allow them to rip the title of owner of the world's fastest supercomputer from us? That’s right, they have the fastest supercomputer and now they’re one step closer to complete global domination thanks to a computer called Tianhe-1A, unveiled on Wednesday at a conference in Beijing. Tianhe-1A can run calculations faster than the previous speed leader, a computer at a U.S. lab in Tennessee. How fast is this new über-computer? It set a record by processing 2.507 petaflops of data at once. The previous record holder, a computer called Cray XT5 Jaguar and located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, completed 1.75 petaflop calculations. Of course, hyperbole-prone tech analysts claim that the new record reinforces China's position as a global technology leader. According to Nvidia, the computer technology company, Tianhe-1A will operate as an open access system and will be used for large scale scientific computations. In other words, scientists and engineers working with it will be able to play multiple hands of solitaire at once, update their Facebook pages and fire off tweets faster than ever before. Officially, supercomputers are just a string of multiple computers linked together. They are, ironically enough, a lot like early computers in the 1960s and 1970s, computers that fill entire rooms and even small warehouses. They are (theoretically) used to processes huge amounts of scientific data, but I prefer to think of them as a faster way for slacker scientists to goof around on the Internet………
- Finally, we know what all of the United States’ spy activities cost on an annual basis: $80 billion - if you believe a group of people whose job it is to lie for a living, of course. That’s the amount that the U.S. spent on intelligence activities in 2010 (projecting out for the remaining months of the year) and it’s noteworthy because it marks the first time the government has officially announced the total tab for intelligence spending. Included in that total is the $53.1 billion spent on non-military intelligence programs, a 6 percent increase from the previous year - supposedly. Those totals were included in a statement released Thursday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan confirmed that the military spent an additional $27 billion on its intelligence apparatus, giving us the $80 billion total. Why is this information coming out now? Because from here on out, the government is required by law to reveal the total amount of money spent to spy on other nations, terrorists and other groups by the CIA, the National Security Agency and the other agencies and offices that make up the 16-member intelligence community. Do not that even though this is the first time intelligence spending has formally been announced, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released the national intelligence budget figure for non-military activities for the past four years. As you’d expect, the intelligence community vociferously opposed and resisted efforts to reveal the number, making the asinine and transparent argument that enemies of the United States could learn valuable information by watching trends in spending. What, you mean knowing how much money you all blow on an annual basis on your snack budget? But if you want to blame anyone for this forced revelation of financial figures, blame those responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was that tragedy which inspired Congress to actually do something productive for once and as a result, they passed a law in 2007 mandating public disclosure of the non-military spending number at the end of each fiscal year. The current director of national intelligence, James Clapper, supported making budgets for both strategic intelligence and military spying public. One person who will undoubtedly give close attention to these figures is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the head of the Senate Intelligence committee. Sen. Feinstein said it is time to reduce non-military intelligence spending, which has doubled since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. "Given the nation's financial situation, it is my view that the intelligence budget needs to be carefully reviewed and that cuts will be necessary," Feinstein said. "It is clear that the overall spending on intelligence has blossomed to an unacceptable level in the past decade." Be careful what you demand, D., because odds are that the people you want to rip money from have information about every skeleton in your closet…………
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Obama v. Stewart, Hugo on a rampage and a quasi-Nirvana reunion
- See, this is what happens when you allow one disgraced, ‘roided-up former slugger to return to baseball and serve as the hitting coach for one of the teams he played for. One guy does it and then every old slugger who hit tape-measure home runs with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs wants to follow suit. Mark McGwire started the trend this season when he became the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the team missing the playoffs because they faltered down the stretch in nearly every phase of the game, the team announced earlier this week that he would be back for a second season. All McGwire had to do was give non-answer answers to a few questions about steroids at the start of spring training and he was then able to live the rest of the year in relative obscurity. With that example in front of him and one of his former teams playing in the world series, Bar-roid Bonds wants to follow in McGwire’s footsteps. Speaking outside the San Francisco Giants' clubhouse before Game 1 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night, Bonds sounded very much like a guy who wants back into the game - the game he has never officially retired from. "I love being home. I love being here," he said. Asked about a possible coaching position with the Giants in the future, Bonds said he would be interested in becoming a hitting coach in the future. "I have a gift and sooner or later I have to give it away," Bonds said. "I have to share it. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity here." You do have a gift, but your “gift” is still illegal in baseball, Bar-roid. Plus, I think players know about the magic powers of PEDs you can pull from a bottle, needle or pill. You know, those same PEDs that helped you break McGwire's single-season home run record with 73 in 2001 and break Hank Aaron's career mark of 755. Despite having not played since 2007, when he broke Aaron’s record, Bonds and his 762 career homers have never officially retired. Oh, and before he tries to go forward with plans to pursue a hitting coach position with a team, Bonds may want to turn his focus on March, when he is scheduled to go to trial on charges that he lied to a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied knowingly taking steroids. But other than that, it sounds like a fabulous plan………
- President Barack Obama is really putting on the full-court press in an attempt to salvage the Democrats’ hold on both houses of Congress and thus make the final two years of his first term in office more pleasant and successful in terms of pushing his agenda through. After campaigning relentlessly over the past couple of weeks for Democratic candidates around the country, the president joined Jon Stewart for a taping of "The Daily Show" in Washington, where Stewart came in preparation for his "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall Saturday. Stewart’s Comedy Central Show is taping all week in Washington prior to the rally, a tongue-in-cheek response to über-conservative radio talker Bill O’Reilly’s rally on the National Mall last month. The show was a momentous occasion for Stewart, as it marked the first time a sitting president accepted an invitation to appear on the program. The taping took place at Washington's Harman Center for the Arts before a packed house, with all 550 seats filled after hundreds waited in line outside for up to four hours. But hey, what’s a four-hour wait and the strictest security screening of your life when on the other side is a chance to see a sitting president trade barbs and debate the issues with a basic cable funny man (who does a great show, by the way)? One of the first questions Stewart asked once the interview began referred to Obama's presidential campaign two years ago. "Are we the people we were waiting for, or does it turn out those people are still out there -- and we don't have their number?" Obama trotted out much of his familiar rhetoric from the campaign trail over the past few weeks, but it was his well-known mantras and catch phrases from his own campaign two years ago when running for president that Stewart prodded him on during much of the nearly 30-minute taping. "You ran on the idea that this system needed basic reform... feels like some reform was done in a political manner that has papered over a system that is corrupt," said Stewart. Obama countered, "Over the last two years in emergency situations our basic attitude was we have to get things done, in some cases quicker. They worked within the process instead of transforming the process." Later, he was asked about his campaign theme of change and took the chance to remind people that, in his mind, change of the magnitude he was referring to will take a while, saying, "When we promised change you can believe in, it wasn't in 18 months. It was change we were going to have to work on." The crowd was pro-Obama throughout the interview, applauding regularly. Obama also cited the health care and financial reforms that have been instituted under his watch, taking great umbrage with Stewart’s assertion that after Obama ran with "audacity," legislation "has felt timid at times" and has lacked authority. "Jon, I love your show, but this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you," Obama said, "This notion that health care was timid." If you missed the episode, catch it at “The Daily Show” page on Comedy’s Central’s Web site………
- Look out world, Hugo is on the rampage again! Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is angry and he’s on the war path, announcing late Monday that his government will take over two U.S.-owned Owens-Illinois glass-manufacturing plants as part of its push to nationalize private businesses. Chavez also ordered an environmental investigation at the sites, leaving Owens-Illinois officials unsure of what will happen next. "We haven't received official word from the government yet," said company spokeswoman Stephanie Johnston. You might not have received official word from the government, but on the ground at the Owens-Illinois plant in Los Guayos, Venezuelan military personnel were on the scene and seizing control. No Venezuelan authorities were on the scene at the company's plant in Valera, Johnston said, but that might only be because they haven’t gotten there yet. "Both plants continue to operate as usual," Johnston said. According to Owens-Illinois Inc., it is the world's leading glass container maker with more than 22,000 employees in 21 countries. And where is the world’s largest glass container manufacturer headquartered? Perrysburg, Ohio. The $7.1 billion company is observing the situation in Venezuela from there as Chavez continues his habit of nationalizing industries and land holdings that has grown throughout his 11-year tenure. His imbecilic comments in regards to the Owens-Illinois plants and other manufacturing operations is that a government takeover of the foreign companies will stop them from "exploiting the country's working class." Right, because a totalitarian ruler like you is completely focused on the needs and right of the everyman, Hugo. What a freaking kook this guy is and a hypocrite of the highest order. For someone who wants the people to have next to no say about whether or not he remains in office for the rest of his life (and possibly beyond), he sure is a friend of the working man. U.S. officials are monitoring the situation in Venezuela but have yet to commit to any action if and when Chavez makes good on his threat. "We've seen the announcement and are following the situation closely," the State Department said. "We would expect Venezuela to provide prompt, adequate and effective compensation for any expropriation of the investments of Owens-Illinois in accordance with international law." Then again, this isn’t anything the U.S. hasn’t seen from Chavez before. Lat year, he nationalized a local unit of U.S. food giant Cargill last year and previously, he has appropriated privately owned oil, telecommunications, power, cement and steel companies. Just Hugo being Hugo………
- Longing for the days of Nirvana, music fans? Obviously, Kurt Cobain is still gone from this world, but the closest thing you’ll ever get to a reunion of the final incarnation of a band that, whether they liked it or not, embodied the grunge movement during its heyday is closer than you might realize. Dave Grohl, the last drummer to pound out rhythms for the Seattle-based rockers, announced in an interview this week that his current band, Foo Fighters, will release a new album next year that features special help from Grohl's old Nirvana bandmate, bassist Krist Novoselic. The proclamation came during an interview with BBC Radio 1. Bringing a thorough Nirvana vibe to the project, the album will be steered by producer Butch Vig, who was at the controls for Nirvana’s legendary album "Nevermind.” Grohl, now the lead singer for Foo Fighters as opposed to drumming for Nirvana, said that he and his bandmates have spent the last month and a half "recording in my garage, totally old school analog," and that the group has finished seven songs thus far. The as-of-yet-untitled project will be the group's seventh studio album and Grohl mustered up the requisite excitement to get fans talking about songs they have not heard. "This whole project has been really cool. I haven't made a record with Butch for 20 years," Grohl said. As for the fans, they are definitely anxious for some new material as the Foos haven’t produced any new music since 2007's "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace," which earned a Grammy nod for album of the year and shifted 889,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In the meantime, Grohl went back to drumming with Them Crooked Vultures, his rock supergroup with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. The band as a whole went with the predictable greatest hits release to bridge the gap between new albums and the effort was released Nov. 2009 and has sold 333,000 copies. Even though their new album is far from finished, Foo Fighters are already lining up shows for next summer to promote it. Their two confirmed gigs are in the United Kingdom, at Buckinghamshire's Milton Keynes Bowl on July 2-3, with Biffy Clyro, Death Cab For Cutie and Jimmy Eat World as opening acts for the shows. "I know the record and I can't wait 'til everyone else hears it," Grohl said. "Foo Fighter fans are going to freak out because honestly, it's awesome." Duly noted and hopefully the music lives up to the hype………
- Umm, this doesn’t sound like good news. When the good folks at Harvard speak and warn of gloom and doom, the world listens because…..well, Hah-vud people are wicked smaht. If they say that one-fifth of the world's vertebrates are facing extinction because of invasion and the effects of agriculture, I say it’s time to panic. The disturbing proclamation is part of a global study released Wednesday by a Harvard-led team and introduced at the United Nations biodiversity summit in Nagoya, Japan, where talks on protecting the environment are under way. "The backbone of biodiversity is being eroded," said Edward O. Wilson, a professor and ecologist at Harvard University. "One small step up the Red List is one giant leap forward towards extinction. This is just a small window on the global losses currently taking place." The rate of species facing extinction is still increasing, but conservation efforts are at least slowing down the rate of increase. The study also gave birth to the so-called Red List, which warns of all species deemed to be facing extinction. The study will also be published in the journal Science for all of the (literate, subscription-armed) world to see. Among the alarming facts in the study are: at least 41 percent of amphibians are closer to extinction, making them the most threatened animals and 13 percent of birds qualify to be on the list. For the study, scientists reviewed data from 25,000 species to study the world's mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. “On average, 50 species of mammal, bird and amphibian move closer to extinction each year due to the impacts of agricultural expansion, logging, over-exploitation and invasive alien species," the report states. It’s worth noting that the entire study isn’t gloom and doom; the study also cited 64 mammals, birds and amphibian species whose status has improved, including three species once considered extinct. Comebacks from the E-list are possible, as the California Condor and black-footed ferret in the United States, and the Przewalski's horse, native to Mongolia, prove. The corner of the globe facing the most extinction threat, according to the report, is Southeast Asia. Due to rapid expansion of palm oil farms, timber operations and rice crops, species in Southeast Asia are facing major threats. The same is true for Central America, where a deadly fungus that affects amphibians is wreaking havoc. So what separates this study from all of the others lamenting the plight of endangered species in the world? Its authors claim that it's the first to present evidence of the effects of conservation efforts worldwide. "Results show that the status of biodiversity would have declined by nearly 20 percent if conservation action had not been taken," the report explains. Heed the words of warning and let’s step up to the plate on this one, world………
- President Barack Obama is really putting on the full-court press in an attempt to salvage the Democrats’ hold on both houses of Congress and thus make the final two years of his first term in office more pleasant and successful in terms of pushing his agenda through. After campaigning relentlessly over the past couple of weeks for Democratic candidates around the country, the president joined Jon Stewart for a taping of "The Daily Show" in Washington, where Stewart came in preparation for his "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall Saturday. Stewart’s Comedy Central Show is taping all week in Washington prior to the rally, a tongue-in-cheek response to über-conservative radio talker Bill O’Reilly’s rally on the National Mall last month. The show was a momentous occasion for Stewart, as it marked the first time a sitting president accepted an invitation to appear on the program. The taping took place at Washington's Harman Center for the Arts before a packed house, with all 550 seats filled after hundreds waited in line outside for up to four hours. But hey, what’s a four-hour wait and the strictest security screening of your life when on the other side is a chance to see a sitting president trade barbs and debate the issues with a basic cable funny man (who does a great show, by the way)? One of the first questions Stewart asked once the interview began referred to Obama's presidential campaign two years ago. "Are we the people we were waiting for, or does it turn out those people are still out there -- and we don't have their number?" Obama trotted out much of his familiar rhetoric from the campaign trail over the past few weeks, but it was his well-known mantras and catch phrases from his own campaign two years ago when running for president that Stewart prodded him on during much of the nearly 30-minute taping. "You ran on the idea that this system needed basic reform... feels like some reform was done in a political manner that has papered over a system that is corrupt," said Stewart. Obama countered, "Over the last two years in emergency situations our basic attitude was we have to get things done, in some cases quicker. They worked within the process instead of transforming the process." Later, he was asked about his campaign theme of change and took the chance to remind people that, in his mind, change of the magnitude he was referring to will take a while, saying, "When we promised change you can believe in, it wasn't in 18 months. It was change we were going to have to work on." The crowd was pro-Obama throughout the interview, applauding regularly. Obama also cited the health care and financial reforms that have been instituted under his watch, taking great umbrage with Stewart’s assertion that after Obama ran with "audacity," legislation "has felt timid at times" and has lacked authority. "Jon, I love your show, but this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you," Obama said, "This notion that health care was timid." If you missed the episode, catch it at “The Daily Show” page on Comedy’s Central’s Web site………
- Look out world, Hugo is on the rampage again! Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is angry and he’s on the war path, announcing late Monday that his government will take over two U.S.-owned Owens-Illinois glass-manufacturing plants as part of its push to nationalize private businesses. Chavez also ordered an environmental investigation at the sites, leaving Owens-Illinois officials unsure of what will happen next. "We haven't received official word from the government yet," said company spokeswoman Stephanie Johnston. You might not have received official word from the government, but on the ground at the Owens-Illinois plant in Los Guayos, Venezuelan military personnel were on the scene and seizing control. No Venezuelan authorities were on the scene at the company's plant in Valera, Johnston said, but that might only be because they haven’t gotten there yet. "Both plants continue to operate as usual," Johnston said. According to Owens-Illinois Inc., it is the world's leading glass container maker with more than 22,000 employees in 21 countries. And where is the world’s largest glass container manufacturer headquartered? Perrysburg, Ohio. The $7.1 billion company is observing the situation in Venezuela from there as Chavez continues his habit of nationalizing industries and land holdings that has grown throughout his 11-year tenure. His imbecilic comments in regards to the Owens-Illinois plants and other manufacturing operations is that a government takeover of the foreign companies will stop them from "exploiting the country's working class." Right, because a totalitarian ruler like you is completely focused on the needs and right of the everyman, Hugo. What a freaking kook this guy is and a hypocrite of the highest order. For someone who wants the people to have next to no say about whether or not he remains in office for the rest of his life (and possibly beyond), he sure is a friend of the working man. U.S. officials are monitoring the situation in Venezuela but have yet to commit to any action if and when Chavez makes good on his threat. "We've seen the announcement and are following the situation closely," the State Department said. "We would expect Venezuela to provide prompt, adequate and effective compensation for any expropriation of the investments of Owens-Illinois in accordance with international law." Then again, this isn’t anything the U.S. hasn’t seen from Chavez before. Lat year, he nationalized a local unit of U.S. food giant Cargill last year and previously, he has appropriated privately owned oil, telecommunications, power, cement and steel companies. Just Hugo being Hugo………
- Longing for the days of Nirvana, music fans? Obviously, Kurt Cobain is still gone from this world, but the closest thing you’ll ever get to a reunion of the final incarnation of a band that, whether they liked it or not, embodied the grunge movement during its heyday is closer than you might realize. Dave Grohl, the last drummer to pound out rhythms for the Seattle-based rockers, announced in an interview this week that his current band, Foo Fighters, will release a new album next year that features special help from Grohl's old Nirvana bandmate, bassist Krist Novoselic. The proclamation came during an interview with BBC Radio 1. Bringing a thorough Nirvana vibe to the project, the album will be steered by producer Butch Vig, who was at the controls for Nirvana’s legendary album "Nevermind.” Grohl, now the lead singer for Foo Fighters as opposed to drumming for Nirvana, said that he and his bandmates have spent the last month and a half "recording in my garage, totally old school analog," and that the group has finished seven songs thus far. The as-of-yet-untitled project will be the group's seventh studio album and Grohl mustered up the requisite excitement to get fans talking about songs they have not heard. "This whole project has been really cool. I haven't made a record with Butch for 20 years," Grohl said. As for the fans, they are definitely anxious for some new material as the Foos haven’t produced any new music since 2007's "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace," which earned a Grammy nod for album of the year and shifted 889,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In the meantime, Grohl went back to drumming with Them Crooked Vultures, his rock supergroup with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. The band as a whole went with the predictable greatest hits release to bridge the gap between new albums and the effort was released Nov. 2009 and has sold 333,000 copies. Even though their new album is far from finished, Foo Fighters are already lining up shows for next summer to promote it. Their two confirmed gigs are in the United Kingdom, at Buckinghamshire's Milton Keynes Bowl on July 2-3, with Biffy Clyro, Death Cab For Cutie and Jimmy Eat World as opening acts for the shows. "I know the record and I can't wait 'til everyone else hears it," Grohl said. "Foo Fighter fans are going to freak out because honestly, it's awesome." Duly noted and hopefully the music lives up to the hype………
- Umm, this doesn’t sound like good news. When the good folks at Harvard speak and warn of gloom and doom, the world listens because…..well, Hah-vud people are wicked smaht. If they say that one-fifth of the world's vertebrates are facing extinction because of invasion and the effects of agriculture, I say it’s time to panic. The disturbing proclamation is part of a global study released Wednesday by a Harvard-led team and introduced at the United Nations biodiversity summit in Nagoya, Japan, where talks on protecting the environment are under way. "The backbone of biodiversity is being eroded," said Edward O. Wilson, a professor and ecologist at Harvard University. "One small step up the Red List is one giant leap forward towards extinction. This is just a small window on the global losses currently taking place." The rate of species facing extinction is still increasing, but conservation efforts are at least slowing down the rate of increase. The study also gave birth to the so-called Red List, which warns of all species deemed to be facing extinction. The study will also be published in the journal Science for all of the (literate, subscription-armed) world to see. Among the alarming facts in the study are: at least 41 percent of amphibians are closer to extinction, making them the most threatened animals and 13 percent of birds qualify to be on the list. For the study, scientists reviewed data from 25,000 species to study the world's mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. “On average, 50 species of mammal, bird and amphibian move closer to extinction each year due to the impacts of agricultural expansion, logging, over-exploitation and invasive alien species," the report states. It’s worth noting that the entire study isn’t gloom and doom; the study also cited 64 mammals, birds and amphibian species whose status has improved, including three species once considered extinct. Comebacks from the E-list are possible, as the California Condor and black-footed ferret in the United States, and the Przewalski's horse, native to Mongolia, prove. The corner of the globe facing the most extinction threat, according to the report, is Southeast Asia. Due to rapid expansion of palm oil farms, timber operations and rice crops, species in Southeast Asia are facing major threats. The same is true for Central America, where a deadly fungus that affects amphibians is wreaking havoc. So what separates this study from all of the others lamenting the plight of endangered species in the world? Its authors claim that it's the first to present evidence of the effects of conservation efforts worldwide. "Results show that the status of biodiversity would have declined by nearly 20 percent if conservation action had not been taken," the report explains. Heed the words of warning and let’s step up to the plate on this one, world………
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Curb stomping in the name of Rand Paul, life in Kanye Land and finding new species
- Do Division I athletes to receive a so-called "free ride" through college on an athletic scholarship actually receive the free education that most assume they get? According to a report by Ithaca College researchers and a national athletes' advocacy group, the answer is no. According to the report, the average "full scholarship" Division I athlete winds up having to pay $2,951 annually in school-related expenses not covered by grants-in-aid. That figure encompasses expenses like tuition, student fees, room and board and ancillary costs not covered by scholarships, including campus parking fees and special equipment needed for specific classes (like a graphing calculator for a math class). The amount student-athletes in these situations end up paying out of pocket varies from institution to institution and in places like Arkansas-Little Rock, the 2009 shortfall as nearly $11,000. said Huma, a former UCLA linebacker who now heads the National College Players Association, believes that changing misperceptions about the supposed free ride that Division I student-athletes receive is a major necessity. "It's really deceptive to use the words 'full scholarship," Huma said. "There's never an explanation for recruited athletes that the price tag for attending school falls short of the scholarship amount." Why is this such an important issue? Because of the recent focus on unsavory agents plying financially struggling (or simply greedy and unscrupulous) college athletes with offers of illegal perks and benefits. Additionally, a law passed in California earlier this month requires the state's colleges and universities to disclose more complete information about the actual costs of attendance. Now, the cynic would argue that these athletes are still receiving a whole lot of financial support to kick, throw, spike, hit or bounce a ball and if that support doesn’t cover their entire tuition, so what? Non-athletes face the same struggles all the time. An athlete apologist would argue that the 20 or so hours a week athletes devote to their sport in addition to their class time makes it virtually impossible for them to work an actual job during their season. Yet another sign that college athletics are a business first and actually about the competition on the field a distant second………
- Now THAT is what I like to see. Check it, that’s what I LOVE to see. So many Americans are apathetic about politics to the point that they don’t vote, don’t become actively involved in any causes and have zero impact on the political process in any way, shape or form. But rest assured, a small-yet-vociferous minority are out there, full of rage and willing to use every ounce of strength and vitriol in their bodies to cram their beliefs and agenda down everyone else’s throat. Take, for example, the man wearing a "Rand Paul for Senate" T-shirt outside a televised debate Monday night in Lexington, Kentucky, a man who communicated his opposing viewpoint to a liberal outside the debate venue by stomping a mud hole in her and walking it dry. The woman, an employee with the liberal group MoveOn.org , was stomped by the Rand Paul supporter before the debate between Republican Paul and Democrat Jack Conway. Video footage from a local television station shows several men wearing Paul shirts ripping a blond wig off the head of Lauren Valle and pushing her to the ground. Next, one of the men stomps on her shoulder with his foot, which then lands on the side of her head. Bystanders could be heard shouting, "Get the cops. Get the police out here," during the incident. Valle did file an assault report with the Lexington police and an investigation using the video footage to try to identify those involved is underway, according to Sherelle Roberts, public information officer for the Lexington Division of Police. Paul’s campaign issues the requisite denouncement of the attack calling it "incredibly unfortunate" and issuing a statement condemning the use of violence to help elect Paul. "Violence of any kind has no place in our civil discourse, and we urge supporters on all sides to be civil to one another as tensions rise heading toward this very important election," a campaign statement said. In an incredible twist of irony, Valle claimed that she was at the debate to present Paul with an award from RepubliCorp, a MoveOn.org-created group that focuses on what it calls the merger between corporate America and the Republican Party. "We're here to present Rand Paul with the 'Employee of the Month' award. However, his supporters were not very nice to me and my message, which is the same as everyone else -- just wanted to get out here with a sign," Valle of East Falmouth, Massachusetts, explained. "I got my head stepped on, so I have a bit of a headache." In all honesty, I don’t know why everyone is so upset here. Aside from a headache, Valle is find. We know that there are people out there who are passionate about politics and care about the direction of their country. Rand Paul knows he has people backing him who like to fight and aren’t afraid to administer a healthy dose of vigilante justice. It’s a win-win-win from where I stand……….
- U.S. Americans, we are not faring very well in the various polls and rankings that decide who the best nations in the world are. First, Newsweek slots us 11th in its ranking of the best countries of the world to live in. Now, many of the nations ahead of us (Finland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg) have less debt and are amazing places (having visited three of those four, I can say as much), but coming in behind 10 other nations is unacceptable. Our debt, environmental issues and lack of unity be damned, we cannot be falling that far down any list. So maybe we should feel better about the fact that we moved up one spot on the list when the London analytical center Legatum Institute compiled its annual list ranking the prosperity of 110 of the world's nations. Norway, Denmark and Finland took the top three spots on the list and Sweden further cemented Scandinavia’s dominance by finishing sixth in the rankings. So how does the Legatum Institute compile its rankings? "The Prosperity Index seeks to understand how economic fundamentals, health, freedom, governance, safety, education, entrepreneurial opportunity, and social capital influence a country's economic growth and the happiness of its citizens," the group explained. In addition to scoring the top three, Europe locked down six of the 10 spots on the list, as Switzerland and Netherlands also made the cut. The lone representatives from the duo of North and South America are the United States and America’s Hat, a.k.a. Canada. As you would expect, eight of the Bottom 10 nations are from Africa, with Zimbabwe coming in last. Here is the list:
The Top 10:
1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Finland
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Sweden
7. Canada
8. Switzerland
9. Netherlands
10. United States
- New species discovery time, y’all! Who’s fired up to learn about new species of plants and animals being found in this big, wonderful world of ours? Let’s get it going. The World Wildlife Fund, which still has a black mark next to its name in my book for stealing the WWF acronym from what was formerly the World Wrestling Federation announced this week that more than 1,200 new species of plants and animals have been discovered in the Amazon rainforest over the past decade. A new WWF report called "Amazon Alive! A Decade of Discoveries 1999-2009," was published Tuesday and lays out the extraordinary diversity found in the world's largest rainforest which spans eight South American countries. The totals are absolutely staggering, as 637 new species of plant were found during the period, as well as nearly 500 new fish and amphibians, including 24 new poison dart frogs. Finding one or two poison frogs is a good decade in most centuries, so 24 of them is freaking epic. I’m so pumped up by this news that I am even tolerant of the fact that a four-meter long anaconda snake native to Bolivia and 54 other new reptile species were also discovered. I’m not a big reptile guy, so let’s keep moving on to cooler discoveries like a Bolivian river dolphin that was one of 39 new species of mammals. Then there’s the brightly colored bald parrot (Pyrilia aurantiocephala) and 15 other new bird species. "This is report is really intended to bring home the richness of the Amazon forest and how much is there. The Amazon is the single most important place on Earth for biodiversity -- it holds ten percent of the world's known species," said Jim Leape, WWF international director general. To put the number of new Amazon finds in perspective, the total is more than the combined number of new species found in Borneo, the Congo Basin and the Eastern Himalayas during the same time period, the report states. Making matters better (or worse, depending on your perspective) is the fact that nearly one-fifth of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down in the past 50 years. "All of us in the choices we make everyday in our supermarkets are actually part of this picture," Leape said. "On a more basic level, this is a place that stores perhaps more than 100 billion tons of carbon and it absorbs a lot of the carbon we put into the air. So it's hugely important to the future of the world's climate." Agreed and agreed, so here’s hoping the world steps up to change the terrible path it’s heading down………
- Must be nice to be Kanye West. You can walk around arrogantly proclaiming yourself to be the voice of a generation that views you as nothing more than a bombastic ass clown, jump up on stage at comically overhyped awards shows and interrupt crappy country pop singers enjoying their 15 minutes of fame, wear some of the most ridiculous shades known to man and you’re still good enough to record a joint album with freaking hip-hop royalty like Jay-Z? It’s true, West and Jay-Z are working on a joint album named “Watch The Throne.” West admitted that he and H.O.V.A. have already begun work on the album and if that wasn’t enough, they will soon restart the recording process in the freaking south of France. "We're going to the south of France at the end of this month, just to record new ideas," he said. "We'll probably be done with the album in a day or whatever. We’ve done about five [songs] so far… but we got some more. But think about it, it's really easy; he only has to think of 10 verses.” Way to rub it in our faces, K. Ah, just jetting off to the south of France to lay down some beats with the greatest rapper of this generation. Part of me hopes that West's new album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” absolutely flops when it drops on November 22, just on the off chance it might actually humble West. But then again, we’re talking about Kanye West here, so that ain’t happening………
- Now THAT is what I like to see. Check it, that’s what I LOVE to see. So many Americans are apathetic about politics to the point that they don’t vote, don’t become actively involved in any causes and have zero impact on the political process in any way, shape or form. But rest assured, a small-yet-vociferous minority are out there, full of rage and willing to use every ounce of strength and vitriol in their bodies to cram their beliefs and agenda down everyone else’s throat. Take, for example, the man wearing a "Rand Paul for Senate" T-shirt outside a televised debate Monday night in Lexington, Kentucky, a man who communicated his opposing viewpoint to a liberal outside the debate venue by stomping a mud hole in her and walking it dry. The woman, an employee with the liberal group MoveOn.org , was stomped by the Rand Paul supporter before the debate between Republican Paul and Democrat Jack Conway. Video footage from a local television station shows several men wearing Paul shirts ripping a blond wig off the head of Lauren Valle and pushing her to the ground. Next, one of the men stomps on her shoulder with his foot, which then lands on the side of her head. Bystanders could be heard shouting, "Get the cops. Get the police out here," during the incident. Valle did file an assault report with the Lexington police and an investigation using the video footage to try to identify those involved is underway, according to Sherelle Roberts, public information officer for the Lexington Division of Police. Paul’s campaign issues the requisite denouncement of the attack calling it "incredibly unfortunate" and issuing a statement condemning the use of violence to help elect Paul. "Violence of any kind has no place in our civil discourse, and we urge supporters on all sides to be civil to one another as tensions rise heading toward this very important election," a campaign statement said. In an incredible twist of irony, Valle claimed that she was at the debate to present Paul with an award from RepubliCorp, a MoveOn.org-created group that focuses on what it calls the merger between corporate America and the Republican Party. "We're here to present Rand Paul with the 'Employee of the Month' award. However, his supporters were not very nice to me and my message, which is the same as everyone else -- just wanted to get out here with a sign," Valle of East Falmouth, Massachusetts, explained. "I got my head stepped on, so I have a bit of a headache." In all honesty, I don’t know why everyone is so upset here. Aside from a headache, Valle is find. We know that there are people out there who are passionate about politics and care about the direction of their country. Rand Paul knows he has people backing him who like to fight and aren’t afraid to administer a healthy dose of vigilante justice. It’s a win-win-win from where I stand……….
- U.S. Americans, we are not faring very well in the various polls and rankings that decide who the best nations in the world are. First, Newsweek slots us 11th in its ranking of the best countries of the world to live in. Now, many of the nations ahead of us (Finland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg) have less debt and are amazing places (having visited three of those four, I can say as much), but coming in behind 10 other nations is unacceptable. Our debt, environmental issues and lack of unity be damned, we cannot be falling that far down any list. So maybe we should feel better about the fact that we moved up one spot on the list when the London analytical center Legatum Institute compiled its annual list ranking the prosperity of 110 of the world's nations. Norway, Denmark and Finland took the top three spots on the list and Sweden further cemented Scandinavia’s dominance by finishing sixth in the rankings. So how does the Legatum Institute compile its rankings? "The Prosperity Index seeks to understand how economic fundamentals, health, freedom, governance, safety, education, entrepreneurial opportunity, and social capital influence a country's economic growth and the happiness of its citizens," the group explained. In addition to scoring the top three, Europe locked down six of the 10 spots on the list, as Switzerland and Netherlands also made the cut. The lone representatives from the duo of North and South America are the United States and America’s Hat, a.k.a. Canada. As you would expect, eight of the Bottom 10 nations are from Africa, with Zimbabwe coming in last. Here is the list:
The Top 10:
1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Finland
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Sweden
7. Canada
8. Switzerland
9. Netherlands
10. United States
- New species discovery time, y’all! Who’s fired up to learn about new species of plants and animals being found in this big, wonderful world of ours? Let’s get it going. The World Wildlife Fund, which still has a black mark next to its name in my book for stealing the WWF acronym from what was formerly the World Wrestling Federation announced this week that more than 1,200 new species of plants and animals have been discovered in the Amazon rainforest over the past decade. A new WWF report called "Amazon Alive! A Decade of Discoveries 1999-2009," was published Tuesday and lays out the extraordinary diversity found in the world's largest rainforest which spans eight South American countries. The totals are absolutely staggering, as 637 new species of plant were found during the period, as well as nearly 500 new fish and amphibians, including 24 new poison dart frogs. Finding one or two poison frogs is a good decade in most centuries, so 24 of them is freaking epic. I’m so pumped up by this news that I am even tolerant of the fact that a four-meter long anaconda snake native to Bolivia and 54 other new reptile species were also discovered. I’m not a big reptile guy, so let’s keep moving on to cooler discoveries like a Bolivian river dolphin that was one of 39 new species of mammals. Then there’s the brightly colored bald parrot (Pyrilia aurantiocephala) and 15 other new bird species. "This is report is really intended to bring home the richness of the Amazon forest and how much is there. The Amazon is the single most important place on Earth for biodiversity -- it holds ten percent of the world's known species," said Jim Leape, WWF international director general. To put the number of new Amazon finds in perspective, the total is more than the combined number of new species found in Borneo, the Congo Basin and the Eastern Himalayas during the same time period, the report states. Making matters better (or worse, depending on your perspective) is the fact that nearly one-fifth of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down in the past 50 years. "All of us in the choices we make everyday in our supermarkets are actually part of this picture," Leape said. "On a more basic level, this is a place that stores perhaps more than 100 billion tons of carbon and it absorbs a lot of the carbon we put into the air. So it's hugely important to the future of the world's climate." Agreed and agreed, so here’s hoping the world steps up to change the terrible path it’s heading down………
- Must be nice to be Kanye West. You can walk around arrogantly proclaiming yourself to be the voice of a generation that views you as nothing more than a bombastic ass clown, jump up on stage at comically overhyped awards shows and interrupt crappy country pop singers enjoying their 15 minutes of fame, wear some of the most ridiculous shades known to man and you’re still good enough to record a joint album with freaking hip-hop royalty like Jay-Z? It’s true, West and Jay-Z are working on a joint album named “Watch The Throne.” West admitted that he and H.O.V.A. have already begun work on the album and if that wasn’t enough, they will soon restart the recording process in the freaking south of France. "We're going to the south of France at the end of this month, just to record new ideas," he said. "We'll probably be done with the album in a day or whatever. We’ve done about five [songs] so far… but we got some more. But think about it, it's really easy; he only has to think of 10 verses.” Way to rub it in our faces, K. Ah, just jetting off to the south of France to lay down some beats with the greatest rapper of this generation. Part of me hopes that West's new album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” absolutely flops when it drops on November 22, just on the off chance it might actually humble West. But then again, we’re talking about Kanye West here, so that ain’t happening………
Monday, October 25, 2010
Idiots removed from the gene pool, Yankee scapegoats and Somali pirates go soft
- And another idiot removes himself from the gene pool and makes the world a smarter place by his absence. That may sound like a cruel description of a man dying while attempting to steal copper wire from an electrical vault that exploded……but this tool was attempting to steal copper wire from an electrical vault that exploded. The attempted theft took place in South Gate, Calif., where this fool and his wife were looking to thieve valuable copper wire and likely sell it for a lot of money. Lowlifes do it all the time and it’s the reason many states have enacted laws requiring anyone wishing to sell copper wiring or other scrap metals to prove where they got the materials from before they can be paid. In this case, the unidentified man and woman were looking to snag some free copper wire from an empty lot in the 3000 block of Firestone Boulevard and instead found themselves as the direct cause of a massive transformer explosion reported about 4:15 p.m. Saturday morning. The man was killed and his wife was left with critical burns. "I believe they thought the power was off," said Lt. Keith Hupp of the South Gate Police Department. "It was a pretty ugly scene." Police officers who responded to the call found the two people next to a burning transformer. The man died at the scene and the woman was taken to a hospital. Police believe the woman was burned when she grabbed her husband trying to save him. "I just heard a loud explosion and a lady screaming," said witness Jose Carrasco. "I saw her half burned and she was crying, asking for help." As disastrously great at this story seems thus far, there’s even more to it. When they arrived at the scene, officers found two children, a 3-year-old and 6-year-old, in a truck parked near the lot - children believed to belong to the copper-thieving couple. The two youngsters were unharmed and taken into protective custody. Police have not released the names of the victims pending notification of next of kin, but suffice it to say that the kin are probably every bit as ashamed of these two as any of us would be……….
- That certainly didn’t take long. Just three days after a disappointing end to their season, the New York Yankees have already began whacking guys who were associated with their “failure” of a year, so designated because they only advanced to the American League Championship Series and lost in six games to a better team, the Texas Rangers. What would be a successful campaign for most teams is a massive letdown for the Yankees and as such, someone has to pay. In this case, that someone - the first someone, at least - is Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland. The team fired Eiland Monday, with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman announcing the decision and then cryptically refusing to explain it. "I'm not going into any detail about what the reasons were," Cashman said. Typically, a team will at least say compulsory niceties about a coach or manager that they fire and try to be nice to him or her on the way out the door because there’s no sense in kicking a guy you just put down. Cashman didn’t even bother to say kind things about what a hard worker Eiland is or how dedicated he was to the team, i.e. nice compliments that don’t have much meat to them. All the GM would do was label the decision a "private" one. It’s worth noting that Eiland missed nearly a month just before the All-Star break and during that time, A.J. Burnett’s season fell apart. Burnett is the combustible starting pitcher the Yankees are paying a crapload of money to be a world-beater and who drastically underachieved this season. Not that Eiland missing a month would have turned Burnett into Cliff Lee, but the Yankees clearly don’t have faith in him as a pitching coach any longer. The one man who did stick up for Eiland on his way out the door is Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who is himself a free agent and currently waiting to begin negotation on a new deal with the franchise. "Dave spent his entire coaching career with the Yankees organization, and there is little doubt the impact he had on a great number of pitchers during his tenure," Girardi said in a statement. "He was a passionate and knowledgeable pitching coach on the major league level, and he played a valuable role in our team's achievements in recent years. I wish him continued success moving forward as his baseball career continues to evolve." Knowing the Yankees and how they operate, this is the first of what will surely be many moves from this bunch of arrogant, white-collar baseball underachievers this offseason………
- Noooooooooo! Say it ain’t so, Somali pirates. Tell me that in the brief period of time since I last shone a much-needed light on your bold, courageous activities, you haven’t fallen so far that you’re now getting outsmarted and outdone by a crew aboard a cargo ship from a German-based company. Nothing against the Germans, whom I love, but no cargo ship crew should be outwitting, outplaying or outlasting the freaking Somali pirates. Yet that’s what happened Monday when the crew of the MV Beluga Fortune was rescued after one day under siege. The crew locked themselves in a panic room and switched off the main engine, cut off the fuel supply, blocked the bridge and reported the Indian Ocean attack to military forces. In decidedly un-piratey fashion, this group of ragtag high seas menaces was unable to figure out a way to get to the crew and formally take them hostage before law enforcement came on the scene. The crew of the ship, owned by the German-based Beluga Shipping company, was rescued Monday and the pirates’ plan for a million-dollar ransom was foiled. "The excellent behavior of our colleagues on board made such a swift and happy ending of the capture possible," said Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH. That might be your spin on it, Niels, but not mine. Naval forces riding to the rescue and ruining an attempted hostage-taking robs me of a great story, it further deteriorates the public’s already-eroding opinion of the Somali pirate and the competency of pirates overall. They go from swashbuckling scourges of the high seas to a bunch of jokers who can be shut down by any crew with access to a panic room. Thanks for nothing, everyone involved in this sad situation………
- Another reality dancing show? Super, just what we don’t need at all. Who could possibly be responsible for subjecting the world to yet another reality dancing show? How’s about noted pedophile haven MySpace, which is teaming with its old pal Ben Silverman to create a dance contest called Jerk All-Stars. Jerk All-Stars will focus all of its worthless attention on jerkin’, which is a dance style marked by loose knees and a bouncy style. I suppose a person looking for a silver lining to what is certain to be a complete and total train wreck could cite the fact that at least MySpace is finally involved in a project in which pedophiles won't (or at least shouldn’t) be a part. I’m not one of those optimists and all I can see is a foul-smelling, wretched stinkbomb of a show that should fail within a few weeks of its premiere, along with all 10 of the dance crews that will comprise its cast. But hey, mix in some profane language (which can be heard in a promotional video for the show) and a guy who has ties to MySpace from back in the days when the site was actually relevant in the social networking world and not just a laughingstock where sex offenders and 11-year-olds can congregate in one big, unsavory mix and you’ve got a recipe for a disaster that just might be horrifically bad enough to cause an implosion that will give us all a nice spectacle to look at for a few minutes before we just keep moving. So MySpace, I wish you all the success you deserve on this new project and I’m sure you’ll find that success sooner rather than later………
- Maybe it’s just me, but the world is moving closer and closer to a bizarre, sci-fi world that used to be a Hollywood creation but is inching ever nearer to reality with each passing day. The latest stride toward this tech-pocalypse is Square, an application that turns a smartphone into a what amounts to a mobile cash register. Square, created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, uses a free download and plastic card reader to allowers users to accept credit card payments. Much like merchants pay a certain percentage of a sale to credit card companies whose cards customers swipe at their checkout counter, Square charges users 2.75 percent of the transaction cost plus a 15-cent fee. If that seems high, know that, according to Dorsey anyhow, that rate is comparable to what retail stores pay for accepting cards. "No one carries cash any more," Dorsey said. "Everyone carries a little plastic card and nobody carries their checkbook. So being able to accept credit cards means more money, more volume." He sees the app benefitting small businesses and fundraisers, who can now accept on-the-spot donations from people who just don’t roll with greenbacks in their wallet any longer. Square is available for most major smartphones and mobile devices, including several phones using Google's Android system -- including the Droid, Droid X, HTC Evo and Samsung Galaxy S -- and the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. In keeping with the spirit of the app, Dorsey announced its launch via Twitter on Friday. "The doors are (finally) open @Square & we're going big," Dorsey tweeted. To download Square, visit its official Web site or the app stores for the different operating systems for which it is currently available………
- That certainly didn’t take long. Just three days after a disappointing end to their season, the New York Yankees have already began whacking guys who were associated with their “failure” of a year, so designated because they only advanced to the American League Championship Series and lost in six games to a better team, the Texas Rangers. What would be a successful campaign for most teams is a massive letdown for the Yankees and as such, someone has to pay. In this case, that someone - the first someone, at least - is Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland. The team fired Eiland Monday, with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman announcing the decision and then cryptically refusing to explain it. "I'm not going into any detail about what the reasons were," Cashman said. Typically, a team will at least say compulsory niceties about a coach or manager that they fire and try to be nice to him or her on the way out the door because there’s no sense in kicking a guy you just put down. Cashman didn’t even bother to say kind things about what a hard worker Eiland is or how dedicated he was to the team, i.e. nice compliments that don’t have much meat to them. All the GM would do was label the decision a "private" one. It’s worth noting that Eiland missed nearly a month just before the All-Star break and during that time, A.J. Burnett’s season fell apart. Burnett is the combustible starting pitcher the Yankees are paying a crapload of money to be a world-beater and who drastically underachieved this season. Not that Eiland missing a month would have turned Burnett into Cliff Lee, but the Yankees clearly don’t have faith in him as a pitching coach any longer. The one man who did stick up for Eiland on his way out the door is Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who is himself a free agent and currently waiting to begin negotation on a new deal with the franchise. "Dave spent his entire coaching career with the Yankees organization, and there is little doubt the impact he had on a great number of pitchers during his tenure," Girardi said in a statement. "He was a passionate and knowledgeable pitching coach on the major league level, and he played a valuable role in our team's achievements in recent years. I wish him continued success moving forward as his baseball career continues to evolve." Knowing the Yankees and how they operate, this is the first of what will surely be many moves from this bunch of arrogant, white-collar baseball underachievers this offseason………
- Noooooooooo! Say it ain’t so, Somali pirates. Tell me that in the brief period of time since I last shone a much-needed light on your bold, courageous activities, you haven’t fallen so far that you’re now getting outsmarted and outdone by a crew aboard a cargo ship from a German-based company. Nothing against the Germans, whom I love, but no cargo ship crew should be outwitting, outplaying or outlasting the freaking Somali pirates. Yet that’s what happened Monday when the crew of the MV Beluga Fortune was rescued after one day under siege. The crew locked themselves in a panic room and switched off the main engine, cut off the fuel supply, blocked the bridge and reported the Indian Ocean attack to military forces. In decidedly un-piratey fashion, this group of ragtag high seas menaces was unable to figure out a way to get to the crew and formally take them hostage before law enforcement came on the scene. The crew of the ship, owned by the German-based Beluga Shipping company, was rescued Monday and the pirates’ plan for a million-dollar ransom was foiled. "The excellent behavior of our colleagues on board made such a swift and happy ending of the capture possible," said Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH. That might be your spin on it, Niels, but not mine. Naval forces riding to the rescue and ruining an attempted hostage-taking robs me of a great story, it further deteriorates the public’s already-eroding opinion of the Somali pirate and the competency of pirates overall. They go from swashbuckling scourges of the high seas to a bunch of jokers who can be shut down by any crew with access to a panic room. Thanks for nothing, everyone involved in this sad situation………
- Another reality dancing show? Super, just what we don’t need at all. Who could possibly be responsible for subjecting the world to yet another reality dancing show? How’s about noted pedophile haven MySpace, which is teaming with its old pal Ben Silverman to create a dance contest called Jerk All-Stars. Jerk All-Stars will focus all of its worthless attention on jerkin’, which is a dance style marked by loose knees and a bouncy style. I suppose a person looking for a silver lining to what is certain to be a complete and total train wreck could cite the fact that at least MySpace is finally involved in a project in which pedophiles won't (or at least shouldn’t) be a part. I’m not one of those optimists and all I can see is a foul-smelling, wretched stinkbomb of a show that should fail within a few weeks of its premiere, along with all 10 of the dance crews that will comprise its cast. But hey, mix in some profane language (which can be heard in a promotional video for the show) and a guy who has ties to MySpace from back in the days when the site was actually relevant in the social networking world and not just a laughingstock where sex offenders and 11-year-olds can congregate in one big, unsavory mix and you’ve got a recipe for a disaster that just might be horrifically bad enough to cause an implosion that will give us all a nice spectacle to look at for a few minutes before we just keep moving. So MySpace, I wish you all the success you deserve on this new project and I’m sure you’ll find that success sooner rather than later………
- Maybe it’s just me, but the world is moving closer and closer to a bizarre, sci-fi world that used to be a Hollywood creation but is inching ever nearer to reality with each passing day. The latest stride toward this tech-pocalypse is Square, an application that turns a smartphone into a what amounts to a mobile cash register. Square, created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, uses a free download and plastic card reader to allowers users to accept credit card payments. Much like merchants pay a certain percentage of a sale to credit card companies whose cards customers swipe at their checkout counter, Square charges users 2.75 percent of the transaction cost plus a 15-cent fee. If that seems high, know that, according to Dorsey anyhow, that rate is comparable to what retail stores pay for accepting cards. "No one carries cash any more," Dorsey said. "Everyone carries a little plastic card and nobody carries their checkbook. So being able to accept credit cards means more money, more volume." He sees the app benefitting small businesses and fundraisers, who can now accept on-the-spot donations from people who just don’t roll with greenbacks in their wallet any longer. Square is available for most major smartphones and mobile devices, including several phones using Google's Android system -- including the Droid, Droid X, HTC Evo and Samsung Galaxy S -- and the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. In keeping with the spirit of the app, Dorsey announced its launch via Twitter on Friday. "The doors are (finally) open @Square & we're going big," Dorsey tweeted. To download Square, visit its official Web site or the app stores for the different operating systems for which it is currently available………
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Movie news, Riot Watch! and a meth lab to make ends meet
- There are plenty of happy people at Paramount Picture right now and the celebrations are due to the fact that Paranormal Activity 2 won the weekend with $41.5 million from 3,216 locations and set the record for the largest three-day opening for a horror film. It scared up more case than Friday the 13th‘s $40.6 million tally from last year, proving once again that a horror movie need not be good in order to make a lot of money. Second place went to last weekend’s winner, Paramount’s Jackass 3D. Johnny Knoxville’s latest knucklehead fest declined a whopping 57 percent but still conjured up $21.6 million, bringing its cumulative total to an impressive $87.1 million. Geezer action flick Red was third for the weekend after a modest 31-percent drop and a gross of $15 million for the three-day frame. Clint Eastwood’s supernatural drama Hereafter scored fourth place as it expanded to wider release. As the movie made the jump from six theaters into 2,181 locations, it upped its earnings to a respectable $12 million. The last of the top five was Sony’s The Social Network, which held strong for a $7.3 million weekend and has now grossed $72.9 million. The rest of the top 10 consisted of: Disney’s family flick Secretariat (No. 6 with $6.9 million after a 25-percent drop to elevate its cumulative tally to $37.4 million), the disappointing Life As We Know It (No. 7 with $6.2 million and a $37.6 million cumulative total after three lackluster weeks), Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (No. after making $3.2 million, dropping off 25 percent in its fifth weekend in theaters), Ben Affleck’s bank heist thriller The Town (No. 9 with $2.7 million and a running total of $84.7 million) and Easy A (No. 10 with $1.75 million, on its last legs in the top 10 and yet having turned a profit in excess of $46 million with a cumulative take of $54.8 million). Next weekend, look for Saw 3D to do ginormous business with it being Halloween and all………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Behold the power of the people, all. Italian residents in the Naples area have proven what the little guy is capable of by compelling the Italian government to stop the construction of a controversial landfill near Naples amidst vocal opposition from residents. You might think that would be enough to placate these proud people, but I credit them for not being easily quieted. Even after the government agreed to stop work on the new landfill, the locals still clashed with police Saturday night, injuring six police officers in the process. Why the riot even after they got what they wanted? Because merely stopping the building of the new landfill was not the entirety of these dissidents’ goal. They also took it to the streets to speak out against the conditions of an existing landfill, which they said pose an environmental and health hazard. The situation has become explosive enough that the government named Guido Bertolaso, the chief of Italy's civil protection agency, to deal with the issue. Bertolaso made the official announcement that the government was halting all work on the second landfill and undertaking an in-depth analysis of the current landfill to determine if it poses any dangers to people or natural resources. But like any good dissidents, these angry Italians were doubtful of The Man’s promises and went on lashing out anyhow. Some 500 protestors boldly blocked the road that leads to the landfill and only 20 or 30 of the bravest protestors then clashed with police. The rowdy rioters chucked rocks, hurled firecrackers and even lobbed a few Molotov cocktails at police - always a big plus in any riot. On Sunday, Bertolaso met with the mayors of the towns in the landfill area in Naples to reiterate the government’s position on the issue, but he has been unable to convince them to agree to his proposed compromise. The group will meet again Tuesday and attempt to reach some sort of resolution, but I wouldn’t count on it. "We are going to continue these battles and I believe that we'll obtain what we want," said Domenico Auricchio, mayor of Terzigno. "I only ask my citizens to have faith in the local institutions. We'll continue to battle to the end, but now I ask that these acts of vandalism stop because they don't bring any thing good to any one." Nice try, D. Your citizens (you said they were yours, bro) have already lost faith in their government and you aren’t going to get it back by asking nicely. Of course, Bertolaso and the national government are planning to movie forward unilaterally with their proposals regardless of how the local governments in the region respond. The most humorous note in the entire process was Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promising last week that "within 10 days, the situation should be brought to normality." I think those 10 days have some and gone…….
- How many of us even slow down when we pass a wreck or any sort of traffic problem on the expressway? Most of the time, we’re so busy and in so much of a rush to reach our next destination that we barely notice what’s going on around us. Thankfully for a few troubled travelers in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, University of Pittsburgh basketball coach Jamie Dixon didn’t take the typical approach to a wreck on the side of the road. When Dixon saw an accident on a busy stretch of interstate on Saturday night, he pulled over to help trapped passengers in a car that had turned over against a guard rail. The vehicle somehow managed to flip over while going on I-279 North near the McKnight Road exit in Pittsburgh. The car was on its side when Dixon, traveling in the same direction, stopped to help. "[Dixon] assisted in removing at least one of the two occupants," Pennsylvania state trooper Erik Fisher said. "He sustained some injuries to his hands in assisting in getting them out through the windshield of the vehicle on the passenger side." Sure, but what are a few cuts and scratches on your hands when you possibly save someone’s life or health in the process? Thankfully, the vehicle was not on fire when Dixon pulled over to help its occupants, or the rescue would have become a lot more stressful than it already was. Dixon was treated in an ambulance and then released before continuing on his way and was right back in practice with his team on Sunday morning. “He was a good Samaritan," Fisher said. "That's the way people are supposed to be. By all accounts he did exactly what a decent person should do. It's an Interstate freeway and I'm sure countless other cars drove right past. He was one of the very few who pulled over." He pulled over and I would imagine made a few lifelong Panthers fans in the process………
- Making ends meet is an Herculean task for millions of Americans, let alone the always-impoverished college students of this great nation. So while others may want to condemn two Georgetown University students arrested in connection with a suspected drug lab found inside a dormitory Saturday morning, I’m going to cut these stoners/aspiring entrepreneurs a break. The two men and a third person were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, said Officer Hugh Carew, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department. Amazingly enough, these future Mensas thought they could run a meth lab in a dorm room and not have anyone smell it. Oh, and given the propensity for meth labs blowing up at one point or another, the odds of success were not high for this endeavor. Yet these brave souls soldiered onward and were doing just fine until police showed up at their door shortly before 6 a.m. after receiving a call about a foul odor at Georgetown's Harbin Hall. Police theorized that the lab was for producing meth but later said it was used to make Dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogenic drug commonly known as DMT. The problem with DMT when it comes to being charged with its production is that it’s classified as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has no accepted medical use for treatment of any kind in the United States. That means you’re facing stiff sentencing guidelines if found guilty and in this case, that means a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on a conviction of federal trafficking of Schedule 1 drugs. As for the addicts at Georgetown who have been (allegedly) counting on these two kooks for their favorite synthetic hallucinogenic, your life just became that much tougher. DMT is popular because it can be sniffed, smoked or injected - a triple-threat drug. It is known for giving the user a short high sometimes referred to as a "business man's trip" because it lasts about an hour. In addition to the charges of drug paraphernalia possession, the three men arrested Saturday morning could see their legal burden become heavier if The Man adds federal drug trafficking charges, which could happen if anything more serious is uncovered by the DEA's investigation. Harbin Hall was evacuated for much of the day Saturday until the DEA determined that the chemicals used in the suspected lab posed no health risk to students in the dorm. "The DEA has informed us that there was never a health risk to students in Harbin, including those on the same floor, beyond those who lived in the room," Todd Olson, vice president of student affairs, said in a statement to Georgetown students and faculty. "Hazardous materials experts have now removed all potential contaminants. The use, production and distribution of illegal drugs are issues we take very seriously and are violations of the student code of conduct. MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] has arrested three individuals, two of whom are Georgetown undergraduates. They remain in police custody." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every college official and administrator at every school in the nation would say the same thing…..and a lot of them spent their very own college career smoking, snorting and ingesting illegal substances. Don’t allow this to deter you from chasing your dreams, aspiring meth, pot, coke and X dealers of the world. You can thrive, you can succeed and you can soar………
- Whoopsie. Was that wrong, Google asks? Yes Google, it was wrong for you to collect and store users’ e-mails, URLs and passwords - even if it was, as you claim, accidental. The tech titan admitted the error in a blog post Friday, conceding that external regulators have discovered the “mistakenly” collected information that was recorded while the vehicles for Google's Street View service were out documenting roadway locations. That process was controversial in and of itself, even before people knew their personal Internet data was being pirated. The erroneously gained data was mistakenly collected in more than 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, some of Europe, and parts of Asia, according to Google. Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research, wrote the blog post and explained that "we failed badly here" while adding that Google has spent months analyzing how to strengthen their internal privacy and security practices. "We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place," Eustace wrote. So how did Google manage to “accidentally” collect this data in the first place? Apparently the unencrypted WiFi data was recorded through its Street View service, but the severity of the situation was unknown. According to a Google spokesperson, the company first became aware of the problem when the Data Protection Authority in Germany asked Google to review all of the data collected through its Street View cars, which record street locations, but can also collect WiFi data about hot spots in order to improve the location database for things such as Google Maps for mobile. It (allegedly) wasn’t until Google went back and analyzed the data that the company realized what it had done. Yes, any data snagged by the Street View cars came from people not smart or forward-thinking enough to encrypt their wireless network, but that doesn’t excuse Google from taking 99.9999999 percent of the blame here. It snagged passwords and entire emails, many of which were likely of a personal nature. The improperly recorded data has since been segregated and secured, and WiFi data is no longer being collected from Street View cars. The data collected from Ireland, Austria, Denmark and Hong Kong has been deleted, but several countries have opened their own investigations into the matter. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal weighed in on the matter in a written statement that read: "This alarming admission that Google collected entire e-mails and passwords validates and heightens our significant concerns. Our multistate investigation, led by Connecticut, into Google's alleged invasion of privacy through wireless networks is continuing." Great, because we didn’t already have plenty of reasons to be concerned about who was out there trying to steal our personal information, thanks for that, Google………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Behold the power of the people, all. Italian residents in the Naples area have proven what the little guy is capable of by compelling the Italian government to stop the construction of a controversial landfill near Naples amidst vocal opposition from residents. You might think that would be enough to placate these proud people, but I credit them for not being easily quieted. Even after the government agreed to stop work on the new landfill, the locals still clashed with police Saturday night, injuring six police officers in the process. Why the riot even after they got what they wanted? Because merely stopping the building of the new landfill was not the entirety of these dissidents’ goal. They also took it to the streets to speak out against the conditions of an existing landfill, which they said pose an environmental and health hazard. The situation has become explosive enough that the government named Guido Bertolaso, the chief of Italy's civil protection agency, to deal with the issue. Bertolaso made the official announcement that the government was halting all work on the second landfill and undertaking an in-depth analysis of the current landfill to determine if it poses any dangers to people or natural resources. But like any good dissidents, these angry Italians were doubtful of The Man’s promises and went on lashing out anyhow. Some 500 protestors boldly blocked the road that leads to the landfill and only 20 or 30 of the bravest protestors then clashed with police. The rowdy rioters chucked rocks, hurled firecrackers and even lobbed a few Molotov cocktails at police - always a big plus in any riot. On Sunday, Bertolaso met with the mayors of the towns in the landfill area in Naples to reiterate the government’s position on the issue, but he has been unable to convince them to agree to his proposed compromise. The group will meet again Tuesday and attempt to reach some sort of resolution, but I wouldn’t count on it. "We are going to continue these battles and I believe that we'll obtain what we want," said Domenico Auricchio, mayor of Terzigno. "I only ask my citizens to have faith in the local institutions. We'll continue to battle to the end, but now I ask that these acts of vandalism stop because they don't bring any thing good to any one." Nice try, D. Your citizens (you said they were yours, bro) have already lost faith in their government and you aren’t going to get it back by asking nicely. Of course, Bertolaso and the national government are planning to movie forward unilaterally with their proposals regardless of how the local governments in the region respond. The most humorous note in the entire process was Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promising last week that "within 10 days, the situation should be brought to normality." I think those 10 days have some and gone…….
- How many of us even slow down when we pass a wreck or any sort of traffic problem on the expressway? Most of the time, we’re so busy and in so much of a rush to reach our next destination that we barely notice what’s going on around us. Thankfully for a few troubled travelers in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, University of Pittsburgh basketball coach Jamie Dixon didn’t take the typical approach to a wreck on the side of the road. When Dixon saw an accident on a busy stretch of interstate on Saturday night, he pulled over to help trapped passengers in a car that had turned over against a guard rail. The vehicle somehow managed to flip over while going on I-279 North near the McKnight Road exit in Pittsburgh. The car was on its side when Dixon, traveling in the same direction, stopped to help. "[Dixon] assisted in removing at least one of the two occupants," Pennsylvania state trooper Erik Fisher said. "He sustained some injuries to his hands in assisting in getting them out through the windshield of the vehicle on the passenger side." Sure, but what are a few cuts and scratches on your hands when you possibly save someone’s life or health in the process? Thankfully, the vehicle was not on fire when Dixon pulled over to help its occupants, or the rescue would have become a lot more stressful than it already was. Dixon was treated in an ambulance and then released before continuing on his way and was right back in practice with his team on Sunday morning. “He was a good Samaritan," Fisher said. "That's the way people are supposed to be. By all accounts he did exactly what a decent person should do. It's an Interstate freeway and I'm sure countless other cars drove right past. He was one of the very few who pulled over." He pulled over and I would imagine made a few lifelong Panthers fans in the process………
- Making ends meet is an Herculean task for millions of Americans, let alone the always-impoverished college students of this great nation. So while others may want to condemn two Georgetown University students arrested in connection with a suspected drug lab found inside a dormitory Saturday morning, I’m going to cut these stoners/aspiring entrepreneurs a break. The two men and a third person were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, said Officer Hugh Carew, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department. Amazingly enough, these future Mensas thought they could run a meth lab in a dorm room and not have anyone smell it. Oh, and given the propensity for meth labs blowing up at one point or another, the odds of success were not high for this endeavor. Yet these brave souls soldiered onward and were doing just fine until police showed up at their door shortly before 6 a.m. after receiving a call about a foul odor at Georgetown's Harbin Hall. Police theorized that the lab was for producing meth but later said it was used to make Dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogenic drug commonly known as DMT. The problem with DMT when it comes to being charged with its production is that it’s classified as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has no accepted medical use for treatment of any kind in the United States. That means you’re facing stiff sentencing guidelines if found guilty and in this case, that means a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on a conviction of federal trafficking of Schedule 1 drugs. As for the addicts at Georgetown who have been (allegedly) counting on these two kooks for their favorite synthetic hallucinogenic, your life just became that much tougher. DMT is popular because it can be sniffed, smoked or injected - a triple-threat drug. It is known for giving the user a short high sometimes referred to as a "business man's trip" because it lasts about an hour. In addition to the charges of drug paraphernalia possession, the three men arrested Saturday morning could see their legal burden become heavier if The Man adds federal drug trafficking charges, which could happen if anything more serious is uncovered by the DEA's investigation. Harbin Hall was evacuated for much of the day Saturday until the DEA determined that the chemicals used in the suspected lab posed no health risk to students in the dorm. "The DEA has informed us that there was never a health risk to students in Harbin, including those on the same floor, beyond those who lived in the room," Todd Olson, vice president of student affairs, said in a statement to Georgetown students and faculty. "Hazardous materials experts have now removed all potential contaminants. The use, production and distribution of illegal drugs are issues we take very seriously and are violations of the student code of conduct. MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] has arrested three individuals, two of whom are Georgetown undergraduates. They remain in police custody." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every college official and administrator at every school in the nation would say the same thing…..and a lot of them spent their very own college career smoking, snorting and ingesting illegal substances. Don’t allow this to deter you from chasing your dreams, aspiring meth, pot, coke and X dealers of the world. You can thrive, you can succeed and you can soar………
- Whoopsie. Was that wrong, Google asks? Yes Google, it was wrong for you to collect and store users’ e-mails, URLs and passwords - even if it was, as you claim, accidental. The tech titan admitted the error in a blog post Friday, conceding that external regulators have discovered the “mistakenly” collected information that was recorded while the vehicles for Google's Street View service were out documenting roadway locations. That process was controversial in and of itself, even before people knew their personal Internet data was being pirated. The erroneously gained data was mistakenly collected in more than 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, some of Europe, and parts of Asia, according to Google. Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research, wrote the blog post and explained that "we failed badly here" while adding that Google has spent months analyzing how to strengthen their internal privacy and security practices. "We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place," Eustace wrote. So how did Google manage to “accidentally” collect this data in the first place? Apparently the unencrypted WiFi data was recorded through its Street View service, but the severity of the situation was unknown. According to a Google spokesperson, the company first became aware of the problem when the Data Protection Authority in Germany asked Google to review all of the data collected through its Street View cars, which record street locations, but can also collect WiFi data about hot spots in order to improve the location database for things such as Google Maps for mobile. It (allegedly) wasn’t until Google went back and analyzed the data that the company realized what it had done. Yes, any data snagged by the Street View cars came from people not smart or forward-thinking enough to encrypt their wireless network, but that doesn’t excuse Google from taking 99.9999999 percent of the blame here. It snagged passwords and entire emails, many of which were likely of a personal nature. The improperly recorded data has since been segregated and secured, and WiFi data is no longer being collected from Street View cars. The data collected from Ireland, Austria, Denmark and Hong Kong has been deleted, but several countries have opened their own investigations into the matter. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal weighed in on the matter in a written statement that read: "This alarming admission that Google collected entire e-mails and passwords validates and heightens our significant concerns. Our multistate investigation, led by Connecticut, into Google's alleged invasion of privacy through wireless networks is continuing." Great, because we didn’t already have plenty of reasons to be concerned about who was out there trying to steal our personal information, thanks for that, Google………
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