- 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………
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