- Ah, the Christmas spirit. Shoppers reigning blows down upon one another in a display of unbridled aggression that would make Frank Costanza and all Festivus devotees proud. The setting is Humble, Tex., where an angry mob gathered at Deerbrook Mall before the sun came up in the hopes of being the first to get their hands on the latest Nike Air Jordans. In a show of shopping gusto rarely seen outside of Black Friday, more than 500 people lined up outside the mall and as so often happens when a large group of festive people all eager for the same limited supply of a certain product, a fight eventually broke out as would-be shoe buyers jostled for a spot in line. You know how it unfolds: Some accuses someone else of cutting in line or saving a spot for someone who just showed up an hour into the process, the other person takes exception and fires back with a witty retort, other shoppers join in on the dispute and next thing you know, punches are being thrown, shoves are being traded and glass doors are being broken by the unruly mob. Police showed up, moved the crowds back from the building into the parking lot and hoped that would calm the storm - it didn’t. Once the mall opened at 6 a.m., it was an all-out sprint to the doors and at some point in the process, the glass panes of several exterior doors were broken. Even with multiple Harris County sheriff's deputies on the scene, the end result was total chaos and as you might expect, those in the middle of the mayhem had a perfect perspective on why paying $200 for a pair of tennis shoes was important. "These are for my cousin. I did all of this for my cousin," said shopper Akem Baer. "I did all of this for her so she better have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Kwanzaa." Really? I don’t know a ton about Kwanzaa, but I’m guessing having a pair of $200 kicks that your cousin elbowed some soccer mom in the head to grab off the shelf isn’t exactly the embodiment of the Kwanzaa spirit. But seeing angry, amped-up shoppers beating the living heck out of one another for the right to pay $200 for a pair of shoes that cost $2 to make just takes the concept of holiday cheer to a whole new level………
- God freaking bless you, Ozzy Osbourne. The Prince of Darkness has always had a special place in my heart on account of being a lunatic, maniac and weirdo in the best possible way, but my love for him has now gone to a whole other level. While I can't say that I have tried the many, many illegal drugs and substances that the Ozz Man has snorted, shot, ingested, injected and smoked over the years and have never snorted ants off a popsicle stick or bitten the head off a live bat on stage, I have to say that if the end result of those activities is being in a state of mind where you don’t know who Justin Bieber is and still hate Lady Gaga, then maybe I should start doing those things. In a new Billboard interview, Ozzy blasted Lady Gaga for being "too overexposed" when asked if he has any advice for current musicians.
"I do think Lady Gaga should take a break for a little while," Osbourne says. "She's getting to be too much, and she doesn't watch the exposure of her clothes."
Wow…..if Ozzy Osbourne thinks your clothes are too slutty, then you should probably tone it down a notch. While he believes that Gaga could "be the next Madonna," which I think is an insult but am not completely sure, he warns, "When I turn on the TV, I see her wearing another lamp shade or whatever...the specialness of her is gonna get killed if she doesn't calm it down." But Ozzy’s best comments came in regards to Bieber, the Canadian chick who sounds like she’s seven years old and has all the edge and street cred of Barney the Dinosaur. Asked his thoughts on Biebs, Ozzy was at a bit of a loss. "Who?" he asked. "Oh, the young kid who sits there with the guitar. He's like 9." How hilarious is that? I’m fairly certain that Bieber doesn’t play the guitar when she “performs,” so Ozzy could be a bit off base there. When the interviewer informed him that Bieber is (allegedly) 16 years old, he responded, "I think it's the same guy. I saw this kid at an awards show playing the guitar sitting on a barstool. I don't know!" Taking a backseat during the interview were the two topics Ozzy was there to actually promote, his new album "Let Me Hear You Scream" and touring to promote the album. Prompted on those topics, he said that touring has been "going great. The band I have is great. I've got no complaints at all. For the first time in a long time, actually most of the time, I enjoy being on the road. I'm a bit burnt out from being on the road right now, but that's normal. You can't be resentful or moaning all the time. It's really a fun time to be Ozzy!" I don’t know that there’s a bad time to be Ozzy, really………
- Because no one’s Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa) is complete without a dose of communism, let’s all turn our eyes toward Russia, where the government has finally decided to buy at least two of France's advanced Mistral-class amphibious warships in an unprecedented military deal between Moscow and the West. The two nations announced the deal Friday after prolonged, tense negotiations. The announcement came in a joint declaration by the Elysee Palace and the Kremlin and marks the first time in modern history that Russia has made such a major defense acquisition abroad. Russia dragged its heels for months on the multimillion-dollar sale before green-lighting an agreement that shows it can indeed have a business relationship with former Cold War enemies. The world saw a harbinger of things to come at last month's NATO summit in Lisbon, when President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to work with NATO on ways to cooperate with the U.S.-led alliance in establishing a new missile defense system for Europe. The deal also speaks well of the sales skills of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and should bolster both France's sagging defense industry and its struggling economy. Sarkozy’s administration claimed the deal will provide the equivalent of 5 million hours of work over four years for 1,000 qualified French employees at the STX shipyards at St. Nazaire on the Atlantic Coast. In the rosiest of projections, the agreement could also lead to the purchase of two more vessels. "Presidents Medvedev and Sarkozy hail the concretization of this unprecedented cooperation, which will benefit industry and employment in our two countries, and which illustrates the will and capacity in France and Russia to develop large-scale partnerships in all areas, including defense and security," the Elysee said. Of course, every good story needs at least one wet blanket to ruin the fun and in this case, Georgia (country not state) is playing the role of wet blanket. Georgian leaders said it would be interpreted as a tacit approval of Russia's role there during a brief war in the summer of 2008 and the stationing of Russian troops on territory still considered part of Georgia by NATO nations, including France. Six whiny Republican U.S. senators objected to the sale more than a year ago on the same grounds. Noticeably silent on the deal? The Obama administration, which has said nothing other than President Obama stating at the Lisbon summit that Russia was no longer NATO's enemy but its partner, despite the differences over Georgia. That much was confirmed by the Christmas Eve telephone call from Medvedev to Sarkozy to finalize the deal. Selling a 600-foot ship - a boxy helicopter carrier, command center and hospital nonetheless - is no easy task. Russia did its research and estimated that the 23,700-ton vessel would cost $750 million a copy, meaning that it wasn’t willing to fork over the money for the deluxe package, which includes the ship's most advanced electronic equipment. That equipment will not be included in the package negotiated with Moscow. Ultimately, this is a story of progress, hope and happiness because it brings a nice burst of communist joy to all our lives on Christmas and that’s one gift everyone can use………
- In the technology business, it’s always about getting faster and smarter. If you’re standing still, then you’re falling behind. Either progress or die. For IBM, taking the next step means developing faster memory that can help computers operate at an even quicker pace. If a new kind of memory from IBM Labs that is currently receiving plenty of buzz actually pans out, computers will soon be taking a huge step forward. The memory, called Racetrack, aims to revolutionize how much data can be stored and how fast it can be accessed on mobile and desktop devices. The project has dragged on for six long years, but IBM recently confirmed that the process took a huge step forward when researchers confirmed that their theories of the physics behind Racetrack are valid and can be used to develop and manufacture this new type of memory. Because it would apply to laptops, smartphones, and other mobile devices, Racetrack has the potential impact nearly every technology user. If the projections for Racetrack bear out, users would be able to store as much as 100 more times data on their portable gadgets, perhaps keeping as many as 500,000 songs or 3,500 full-length movies on one mobile device. As someone who recently had to upgrade the hard drive in his iPod to accumulate a bigger chunk of the world’s best iTunes collection, that sounds great to me. Even better, Racetrack would use significantly less power, meaning a single battery charge could power a device for weeks rather than days or hours. In addition to improving the smartphones, mobile devices and laptops that so many users prefer, the new memory is also expected to play a role in desktop computers and servers, allowing them to access more data much faster. Its basic composition combines the best elements of flash memory and magnetic storage and could eventually replace RAM and even traditional disk drives. As it now exists, memory must locate data wherever it is stored on a drive. Racetrack proactively moves the data to where it can be used, which expedites the process while also allowing more data to be stored in a smaller, more concentrated area. It derives its name from the fact that it moves the magnetic bits of data along thin, nanowire "racetracks," 1,000 times finer than a strand of human hair. Data is stored in magnetic regions known as domains and can be moved at hundreds of miles per hour and stop them at atomically precise spots along the nanowire. By utilizing the spin of individual electrons, Racetrack memory can move these domains at high speed and allow users to retrieve information in less than a billionth of a second. The key step forward in Racetrack’s development was the ability to measure the time and distance involved in moving these domain walls, thus providing a clearer understanding of how to control their movement and moving Racetrack that much further from research into reality………
- It is incredibly commendable of NFL players to be so incredibly giving during this, the holiday season. At a time of year when so many charitable organizations are doing so much to help so many and need all the support they can get, it fires me up to see one NFLer after another step up and deliver an illegal hit to an opposing player and fork over a chunk of their paycheck to charity after the league fines them for said hit. After the league announced an increased emphasis on “devastating” hits earlier this season, it was expected that fines galore and perhaps even a suspension or two would be doled out on account of guys just having to go helmet-to-helmet or crush a helpless receiver who ventures across the middle on a crossing pattern. Those expectations were high, but if possible, exceeded this past weekend. After an exciting slate of games and the league office having chance to break down tape from said games, it handed out 16 fines to players for illegal hits, ranging from $15,000 to two of the most violent hits to $5,000 for the more generic ones. Eight players from each conference (nice balance) were fined, including Atlanta defensive end Kroy Biermann and Cincinnati linebacker Dhani Jones, each docked $15,000. Biermann drew the stiffest fine for a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Seattle quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, while Jones was fined for the same infraction against Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. They were two of the seven players were fined for roughing the passer. Three others were fined for flagrant fouls on defenseless receivers, another point of emphasis by the league this year. Among the players receiving $10,000 fines were Baltimore free safety Ed Reed for hitting New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in the face and Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher for striking defenseless Minnesota tight end Visanthe Shiancoe in the neck and head area, Urlacher's second violation. Others in the $10,000 club were Bears safety Major Wright, Colts defensive end Robert Mathis and safety Antoine Bethea and New England cornerback Devin McCourty. Just a step down the Ladder O’ Fines were Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams and cornerback Antoine Winfield, Giants linebacker Jonathan Goff and Chiefs linebacker Demorrio Williams, all of whom were fined $7,500. Getting off the lightest among those fined on the week were Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, Cowboys cornerback Terrence Newman and Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno, each receiving a $5,000 fine. On behalf of charitable organizations in all of the above-mentioned communities, thank you to each and every one of these players for having such a giving heart……….
No comments:
Post a Comment