A Google+ forecast, a UFC shocker and time in a Russian gulag

- Google+ may not be anywhere close to overtaking Facebook or even Twitter in terms of popularity, but Google’s attempt to break in to the social networking world is going well enough if you believe Microsoft co-founder and to Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen, who calls himself the "unofficial statistician" of Google+. Allen said this week that the Google+ social network has topped 60 million users and predicted that that it would reach 400 million users by the end of 2012. Allen runs hundreds of queries on various surnames on Google+ every week (rich people tend to have a lot of free time on their hands) and has been tracking those names since Google first announced that Google+ had reached 10 million users in July. Growth had slowed since then and it took Google+ three months to expand to 40 million users, according to Google's numbers. The company has declined to give an official count since October, but Allen said Tuesday the service now has 62 million users. "It may be the holidays, the TV commercials, celebrity and brand appeal, or positive word of mouth, or a combination of all these factors, but there is no question that the number of new users signing up for Google+ each day has accelerated markedly in the past several weeks," Allen wrote on his own Google+ page. He estimated the service’s rate of growth at 625,000 new users per day. For Allen’s prognostication of 400 million users by the end of 2012 (assuming the world doesn’t end before then, of course), that rate would have to go up significantly. The one fallacy of Allen’s research is that he overlooks the distinction between people who sign up for Google+ and not those who actually use it. To draw in more of those who signed up but have not made use of their account, Google recently redesigned the service’s homepage. Cosmetic changes aside, Google still faces an uphill battle on this one…………

- If members of the Occupy movement are actively seeking someone to punch them in the face, its Charlotte-area contingent is well on its way to making that happen. Occupy kooks have tried anything and everything they can think of to garner attention for their cause - however unspecific it may be - and while occupying the Manhattan set of one of the 15,000,000 “Law & Order” franchises is pretty damn impressive, nothing infuriates the “America, love it or leave it” crowd of uber-right wing, red-blooded, gun-toting conservatives quite like setting fire to an American flag. That tactic was utilized by members of Occupy Charlotte at a mini-demonstration on Friday. "Those were actions taken on my behalf," Occupy Charlotte member Alex Tyler said. "I did it to display my utter contempt for American greed, not (the military)." Oh, OK. No one will have a problem with it in that case. Never mind that Tyler and fellow Occupy members Jason Bargert, Michael Berle and Stephen Morris set fire to American flags and triggered a fire that spread to woods in the area of tents that previously housed members of the local Occupy movement because they were in no way showing disrespect to anyone other than the soulless corporate bastards who are ruining this country. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police may have charged Tyler and three other men with arson, but they will undoubtedly drop those charges once they hear Tyler’s side of the story. In a truly hilarious twist, Bargert has been listed on Occupy Charlotte press releases as a spokesman for the group. Clearly, Occupy Charlotte has some top-notch thinkers among its leadership group. Sparking a wildfire that Smokey the Bear could have helped them avert doesn’t exactly scream intelligence, does it? But no sooner than news of the arson became public, Occupy Charlotte released a statement saying the group is no long affiliated with the camp where the fire broke out and that the burning of the flag doesn't reflect its members or its message. According to Tyler, the flag burning was also meant to wake up the Occupy movement because he feels its members have been slacking. "I've seen this group lose its activism and become lazy," Tyler said, adding that he and his fellow IQ-deprived pals wanted to "give Occupy Charlotte a wake-up call." If nothing else, they have awakened us all to the fact that there are more idiots among us than we ever realized…………

- Guns N’ Roses have lived to tease but ultimately disappoint for more than a decade. While the blame for that trend belongs more on egomaniacal frontman Axl Rose than on the rest of the iconic metal band’s original lineup, GNR fans and music fans in general grew weary of waiting for the much-anticipated “Chinese Democracy” album that ultimately turned out to be Rose and whoever he could convince to work with him to finish it. Now that GNR has been selected for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame (a truly dubious “honor”), hype around the band is once again building - albeit for a different reason. Since the announcement that GNR would be inducted along with The Faces/The Small Faces, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys inducted at a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 14, 2012, rumors have circulated that the original GNR lineup may reunite for the occasion. Former guitarist Slash was asked about that possibility and said that while he is not eager to revisit all of the drama between he and Rose, he does want to resolve the lingering tension between the two of them. Slash explained that the split between the two of them originally happened very quietly, only to mushroom into something much bigger as time passed. "The split between Axl and I was a quiet one. But because there was so much attention on the break-up - and are we going to get back together - it got built up into this monster that led to a kind of animosity that wasn't the focus for me. Neither one of us wants to be down each other's throats for no reason. At this point, I'm trying to put it to rest," Slash said. Putting all of the bad feelings to rest with the bombastic, arrogant Rose won’t be easy. Performing with the current incarnation of GNR, Rose is still showing up late for shows, berating fans and acting like he’s still one of the biggest rock stars in the world and not some bloated, flabby version of his former rock star self. Even so, Slash said he still takes pride in what he accomplished as a member of the band. "When I see footage of Guns N' Roses, I see that f**king hunger and attitude. You could not f**k with those five guys. It was just raw. It was this lean, hungry thing on its way up. It was as sincere as any rock 'n' roll that I've ever heard, and I'm proud of that,” he proclaimed………….

- Not that resolutions for the new year are anything other than a ginormous waste of time, but if the Russian government is in the habit of making them then a good one might be improving security at facilities where military technology is manufactured or stored. Keeping that resolution could prevent incidents like bloggers sneaking in to unguarded strategic military rocket motor factories near Moscow on five separate occasions and roaming around snapping pictures for more than an hour. Blogger Lana Sator and her friends exposed this glaring lack of security by visiting around state rocket-maker Energomash's plant five times over the past few months and posting nearly almost 100 pictures of decrepit-looking hardware ranging from the plant’s control room to its roof and most everything in between. Sator claimed she and her friends did not encounter a single employee or security guard during any of their visits and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin did not seem happy to hear that news. Rogozin vowed Thursday to punish "sleepy" security officials for their poor performance and other defense officials compared the incident to German pilot Mathias Rust's brazen Cessna flight under Soviet radar to land on Red Square in 1987. During in a televised meeting with Roskosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin, Rogozin characterized said the security failure as "unacceptable," warning that "sleepy cats" who failed to maintain security at strategic defense sites face punishment. Enjoy spending the rest of your natural life at the gulag in Siberia, V. Popovkin…………

- Two 265-pound mountains of muscle met in Las Vegas inside an octagon of chain-link fencing and proceeded to pummel each other for about three minutes. Someone was going to get destroyed and odds are, it wouldn’t take long for either Brock Lesnar or Alistair Overeem to get the better of the other in the headline but of UFC 141. Sure enough, Overeem stopped Lesnar with a brutal vicious kick to the body at 2:26 of the first round and not only ended the fight, but apparently Lesnar’s mixed-martial arts career. The former collegiate and WWE wrestler, who also tried out for the Minnesota Vikings after leaving WWE, became a rising star in UFC thanks to his massive physique and wrestling skills, coupled with a surly, prickly demeanor that made him polarizing among fans. He talked big beat Randy Couture in 2008 to win the heavyweight title, defending it twice before losing the belt to Cain Velasquez last year. Since then, he has battled a lower-intestinal ailment known as diverticulitis that nearly killed him. He returned from a 14-month absence that included surgery to address his condition and was promptly demolished by Overeem. Once the fight was over, Lesnar wasted no time waving the white flag on his career. "This is the last time you'll see me in the octagon," Lesnar said. "I've had a really difficult couple of years with my disease, and I'm going to officially say tonight is the last time. I promised my wife and my kids if I won this fight, I would get a title shot, and that would be my last fight. But if I lost tonight ... you've been great.” If he actually does stick with retirement, Lesnar will walk away from the sport with a 5-3 record. UFC President Dana White admitted he did not know about Lesnar’s announcement prior to the fight, but insisted he was not stunned by it. "I had no idea he would do that, (but) am I surprised? No,” the loquacious White said. "Brock Lesnar has made a lot of money in his career and has achieved a lot of things. ... He brought a lot of excitement to the heavyweight division. What he accomplished in a short amount of time is amazing, but I get it. It doesn't shock me." With the win in his first UFC bout, Overeem will get the next shot at UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, who watched the fight from a seat near the octagon……………

Idiotic kickers, Verizon jam jobs and skipping days in Samoa

- Of all the reasons to hate Kelly Clarkson’s music, the one many fans seem to be rallying around (several years too late) is, ironically enough, a reason that has nothing to do with the cookie-cutter pop garbage Clarkson churns out. No, a chunk of Clarkson’s fans are angry because she has dared to share who she supports in the ever-changing Republican presidential campaign derby. Fans who have followed Clarkson since her “American Karaoke” days are now jumping ship because of Clarkson’s Twitter endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. They have taken to Twitter to proclaim that they have listened to Clarkson’s hits like……um…..uh……that one song with the words and the notes…..for the last time. The offending tweet Clarkson sent out wasn’t profane, overly political or even effusive in its praise of Paul. "I love Ron Paul,” Clarkson tweeted. “I liked him a lot during the last Republican nomination and no one gave him a chance. If he wins the nomination for the Republican party in 2012 he's got my vote. Too bad he probably won't." Some of Clarkson’s Twitter followers immediately demanded that she retract her statement, but she would not. Despite tweets with messages like “Soz Kelly, not your fan anymore” and “Oh Jebus Kelly Clarkson is a Ron Paul fan. My love for you has taken a severe hit, Kelly...” and even more idiotic remarks, Clarkson is standing by her fellow Texan. Some of the outrage is tied to Paul’s links to a series of newsletters published in the 1980s and ’90s that included racist and homophobic remarks. An organization Paul was associated with published the newsletters, but he has disavowed any connection to the messages themselves. Not that it matters at all, but why does the former “American Karaoke-er” like Ron Paul? Clarkson explained she supports Paul’s idea for limited government. “I am really sorry if I have offended anyone. Obviously that was not my intent. I do not support racism. I support gay rights, straight rights, women's rights, men's rights, white/black/purple/orange rights,” she tweeted in response to her critics. “I like Ron Paul because he believes in less government and letting the people (all of us) make the decisions and mold our country. That is all.” Truly, truly a discouraging situation. That anyone cares what some irrelevant, crappy pop singer thinks about a political candidate is truly heartbreaking…………


- Samoa, I see what you’re doing and I like it. Scratch that, I LOVE it. There are days when a person wakes up, doesn’t want to be there and doesn’t want to show up for life. Unfortunately, they don’t have a choice and the day happens whether they like it or not. But on the tiny South Pacific island nation, skipping a day is less of a pipe dream and more of a reality. Unlike every other country in the world, Samoa didn’t have a Friday. As soon as the clock struck midnight Thursday, the country skipped over Friday and moved 24 hours ahead -- straight into Saturday, Dec. 31. Why? To align Samoa’s time zone with key trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region by shifting west of the international date line. The dateline was drawn by mapmakers and is not mandated by any international body, but runs roughly through the 180-degree line of longitude with various zigzags to accommodate the choices of Pacific nations on how to align their calendars. It separates one calendar day from the next and for years, Samoa has been on the opposite side of the line from its top trading partners. In June, the Samoan government passed a law to move Samoa west of the international date line and the move became official at the end of the day Thursday. Samoans gathered around a main clock tower in the capital of Apia to mark the historic moment and sirens and fireworks hailed the country’s jump across the timeline. Samoa's 186,000 citizens, and the 1,500 in the three-atoll United Nations dependency of Tokelau, will also be the first in the world to ring in the new year, rather than the last. The move is something of a slap in the face to the United States, as it was a group of U.S. traders persuaded local Samoans to align their islands' time with nearby U.S.-controlled American Samoa and the U.S. to assist their trading with California back in 1892. Being aligned with neighboring Australia and New Zealand is more important to Samoa these days, as many Samoans move away to one of those two countries. "We've got to remember that over 90 percent of our people emigrate to New Zealand and Australia. That's why it is absolutely vital to make this change," Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi explained. The idea of skipping days you don’t like is actually a good pull from this situation as well. Who wouldn’t be down with the idea of glossing over an unwanted, dreary Monday every now and then? Thanks for the inspiration, Samoa…………


- Karma can kick your ass, eh Verizon? As being the first carrier in the world to widely roll out LTE 4G technology, Verizon has seemed pretty proud of itself. So proud, in fact, that comp any executives decided to smack customers with a $2 fee for paying their bill via a one-time payment on the carrier’s website. , “[A] new $2 payment convenience fee will be instituted for customers who make single bill payments online or by telephone,” an official statement on the Verizon website read. A company has to be rocking a pretty big pair of corporate kahones to assess that kind of fee and not blink. But even as it looks to stick it to customers who don’t pay by the methods it prefers, Verizon is getting a healthy dose of trouble from its 4G network. Significant service outages have plagued the network outages throughout 2011. Verizon VP of network engineering Mike Haberman blamed relative immaturity of LTE as the reason for the company’s 4G struggles. “Being the pioneers, we’re going to experience some growing pains,” Haberman said. “These issues we’ve been experiencing are certainly regrettable but they were unforeseeable.” Ah, the old “paint yourself as a visionary to cover your failings” ploy, never gets old. What does get old is 4G network outages, which Verizon customers have experienced three times in December alone to go with a major failure in April. Haberman pointed to bugs with Verizon’s service delivery core, also known as the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), as the cause. To Verizon’s credit, issues causing 4G outages have not reoccurred once a specific case has been dealt with. In an attempt to further mitigate the problems, the company is also begin segmenting its LTE network by geographic location so that issues don’t affect the network nationally. There is still that damn $2 convenience fee to be dealt with, though……….


- The ganja might be fake, but the problem is becoming very real and extremely vexing for the American military. According to the Pentagon, U.S. troops are increasingly using an easy-to-get herbal mix called "Spice," which simulates a marijuana high and can cause hallucinations that last for days. Military officials are concerned enough that they've launched an aggressive testing program that has already has led to the investigation of more than 1,100 suspected users, according to military figures. Synthetic chron is readily available on the Internet and has become an issue of contention around the country. Now that it is affecting servicemen and women, Pentagon officials are confronting the issue as well. “You can just imagine the work that we do in a military environment," said Mark Ridley, deputy director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. “You need to be in your right mind when you do a job. That's why the Navy has always taken a zero tolerance policy toward drugs." It seems like a fair point, really. When a person commits to the military, he or she does so knowing sacrifices must be made. Individual free will in many cases, safety and time spent with family are all on the chopping block, right alongside one’s ability to get baked and enjoy the stoner (or synthetic stoner) lifestyle. Sailors, pilots and soldiers don’t have the luxury of taking a few bong rips and lying on their couch for hours on end with plenty of Cheetos and Pop Tarts nearby. To put the problem in perspective, a mere 29 Marines and sailors were investigated for Spice two years ago. Contrast that with more than 700 such cases this year and it’s clear the issue is growing. Those found guilty of using Spice forced out of the military. The Air Force and Army are seeing a rise in Spice cases as well, with 497 Air Force members punished this year and 119 soldiers treated by the Army for the effects of the synthetic drug. Spice is made up of exotic plants from Asia like Blue Lotus and Bay Bean, which have leaves coated with chemicals that mimic the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. Depending on the plant, their byproducts can be anywhere from five to 200 times more potent. Up until this year, there was no way to detect spice on typical urine tests for drugs. Unfortunately for synth-stoners, the Drug Enforcement Administration put a one-year emergency ban on five chemicals found in the drug and a test was developed for Spice. It is a dangerous substance because the potency and composition vary from batch to batch. Spice use was responsible for the dismissal of 28 sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and 49 sailors on the USS Carl Vinson. Time to find the next alternative high or a new career, Spice-loving military members……….


- Kickers aren’t considered real football players. They trot onto the field a few times a day to drop kick or place kick the ball for a point or three, or for field position, and the rest of the time they stand idly by while the real athletes do their work. With their minimal role, kickers are also wise to not cause any disruptions or distractions for their team. Someone should convey that to the kickers for Virginia Tech because they’ve been a major headache for coach Frank Beamer and his team in the space between the end of the regular season and the Hokies’ appearance in the Sugar Bowl against Michigan Tuesday night. Regular kicker Cody Journell was suspended last week after being arrested for his alleged involvement in a home invasion, putting the kicking job in the hands of Tyler Weiss. Weiss held on to the gig for all of a week, but fumbled it away when he failed to be present for a 1 a.m. bed check Thursday at the team’s hotel in New Orleans. Weiss was sent home immediately, booked on a flight to Roanoke, Va. His absence may not be a massive setback for Virginia Tech, as he missed his only field goal try this season, a 29-yard attempt. Still, placing the kicking duties entirely in the hands of kickoff specialist Justin Myer, who missed both of his field goal tries -- from 57 and 53 yards -- this season can’t leave Beamer and his staff beaming with confidence. The coach didn’t mince words about Weiss’ discipline. "We had curfew. We talked about it a lot. (Weiss) didn't make it and we're going to send him home," Beamer said of the decision. "My kickers are not bad guys. They just made bad decisions.” They may not be bad guys, but they aren’t very bright. They just need to hope that Tuesday’s game doesn’t come down to a clutch field goal for a Virginia Tech win that sails wide right as Michigan players pour onto the field in jubilation…………

Americans heart guns, cracking down on smoking and Captain Jack still insane

- Did you find a nice, shiny 9mm in your stocking or that long-desired AK-47 under the tree on Christmas morning? If so, you were not alone. America is in the middle of a major arms race - even if most of us don’t realize it - and December’s gun sales figures represent that startling reality. According to the latest FBI figures on background checks required to buy firearms, December has already been a record month for gun sales. Days before its end, December has already seen the number of background checks for gun purchases top the previous one-month record -- set only in November -- of 1,534,414 inquiries by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System also known as NICS. Nearly one-third of those background checks - just under half a million - were done in just the last six days before Christmas. Waiting until the week before Christmas to buy that Colt .45 for your loved one is a risky move, but more than 100,000 Americans not only waited until a week before Christmas, but waited until two days before the holiday. Two days before Christmas, NICS ran 102,222 background checks, which was the second-busiest day in history. Finding the current record holder doesn’t take much digging, lack Friday, the big shopping day following Thanksgiving, of this year has that distinction. Further elevating the gun run, the FBI doesn’t know how many guns were actually purchased in December because buyers often take home more than one gun. But most people pass the background checks. A mere 1.3 percent of the searches result in people being denied permission to buy a weapon, said FBI spokesman Steve Fischer. While the FBI does not have an official theory on the spike in gun sales, the gun-toting kooks of the National Rifle Association believe the figures indicate more people feel they need guns for self defense. "I think there's an increased realization that when something bad occurs, it's going to be between them and the criminal," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said. Oh, and the NRA says more Americans are participating in skeet shooting and other gun-related hobbies. All in all, a truly heartwarming holiday season…………


- Brilliant medical minds work for the British Heart Foundation. Evidence of their brilliance can be found simply by listening to their plea to the British government Thursday to follow Australia's lead and ban all eye-catching designs and branding from cigarette packs to stop young people being lured into smoking. Everyone knows the younger the person, the more likely they are to be lured in by a colorful, shiny package with bright graphics. Unless those graphics show a diseased, smoke-maligned lung in neon shades, that’s a problem. Australia is boldly taking the lead by becoming the first nation to introduce so-called "plain" packaging on tobacco products by the end of 2012. In place of colorful packaging, the bland designs will sport graphic health warnings about smoking. Attractive colors and logos will be banned. To prove the importance of such an effort in England, the British Heart Foundation charity conducted a survey on how tobacco product packaging affects children. The survey found that more than a quarter of young people make assumptions about the relative harm of cigarettes based on the packaging alone. For the project, BHF researchers surveyed more than 2,700 16-to-25 year-old smokers and non-smokers. They learned that three quarters of those who responded thought selling cigarettes in packs with no colorful brands or logos, and larger health warnings, would make it easier for people to smoke less or quit. Worse still, 16 percent said they would consider the pack design when deciding which cigarettes to buy and 12 percent said they would choose a brand because it was considered “cool.” Bearing in mind that half of all smokers will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease, now might be a solid time to rethink any factor that could lead to an increase in a person’s likelihood of smoking. World, join the BHF’s push for the introduction of plain packaging which has no eye-catching colors or brands but is mostly covered with graphic warnings about the health dangers of smoking. "As informed adults we know that smoking is a deadly addiction," said Betty McBride, BHF's director of policy and communications. "But young people are not always fully aware of the risks, and the power of branding holds more sway." ‘Nuff said, B………….


- Milwaukee Bucks forward Stephen Jackson, a.k.a. Captain Jack, is insane. Anyone who has seen Jackson’s act during his 11 years in the NBA would not argue with that assessment, even if their only memory is of his role swinging on innocent fans alongside then-teammate Ron Artest (now known as Metta World Peace) during their time with the Indiana Pacers, when they instigated the infamous “Brawl at the Palace” in which they stormed the stands and attacked a fan Artest believed had thrown a cup of beer at him during a game. Given Jackson’s insane reputation, it isn't the least bit surprising that he recently admitted to mentally checking out on the team he played for last season, Charlotte, after the Bobcats traded Gerald Wallace to Portland. Seeing his friend and teammate traded away didn’t sit well with Jackson and he made no attempt to hide that fact during an interview prior to the Bucks’ season opening in Charlotte Monday night. “When Gerald left, I really left,’’ Jackson said. “Considering what we did (getting to) the playoffs, and then all those changes. To take Gerald away really took a lot out of me. I still was trying to do my job as best I can, but it was a lot harder. When they got rid of Gerald, that let me know they didn’t want to win. I didn’t want to be part of a place like that.” Wallace was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks on draft night and Jackson was shipped out of town shortly thereafter. Those looking for an optimistic viewpoint on the situation can take solace in the fact that Jackson merely stopped trying or caring and didn’t go on a locker room rampage in which he trashed TVs, lockers, stereo equipment and lights. Maybe, just maybe, Captain Jack is maturing a bit………….


- Mud slides and mudflows of death: They aren't just a Southern California thing. Residents of a remote area in eastern Indonesia have some fast-moving mudflows of doom on their hands today after Mount Gamalama, located in the Molucca Islands, roared back to life this month with a powerful, non-fatal eruption. The eruption caused seismic activity in the area and coupled with days of heavy rains that triggered flows of cold lava, rocks and other debris, villagers near Ternate found themselves literally running for their lives as the mudflows slammed into villages near the base of the volcano. Four villagers were confirmed dead Wednesday and about 1,000 others have fled their homes, according to officials. Government spokesman Yusuf Sunnya confirmed the deaths and said more than a dozen others were hospitalized with injuries ranging from broken bones to head wounds. For the geographically ignorant, Indonesia is a sprawling archipelago with millions of people living on mountains or near fertile flood plains. Landslides and mudflows are common because of seasonal downpours that cause the disasters. Mixing in a volcano explosion just seems unfair and the thought of thousands of villagers frantically grabbing their most important possessions and running from their about-to-be destroyed homes is heartbreaking. Much sadder than wealthy SoCal snobs trying to figure out whether to go for their backup iPad or their alternate iPhone on their way to their $150,000 luxury can in the garage they will drive to escape the approaching mudslide or wildfire……………


- Guys who spend a fair amount of time dreaming about being married to Megan Fox should be aware of just what the job entails. Although the job is currently taken by Brian Austin Green, celebrity marriages rarely last long and odds are the spot on M. Fox’s arm will be open shortly. Those interested in the opportunity need to know what they’re in for and as an example, take Fox’s decision to have her famous Marilyn Monroe tattoo removed from her forearm via laser. Like commoners, celebrities get ink they later regret but unlike the little folks, famous people can afford to pay a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon to laser it off. Fox made the decision to have her tat lasered off, but there was a caveat. “After the first session Megan was freaking out over how badly it hurt," a source said of the tattoo removal process. "Her friend suggested a mouth guard to bite down on to help deal with the pain and protect her teeth." Hmm, an interesting idea. What’s a girl to do when she needs a mouth guard but has neither the time nor the interest in actually going out to buy one? That’s right, send her husband. Fox reportedly Green to a sporting goods store for a mouth guard. Depending on who you ask, tattoo removal is either one of the most painful experiences this side of a root canal or relatively minor pain. Other celebrities have walked this road before Fox, including Angelina Jolie, who covered up a dragon bearing the name of now ex-hubby Billy Bob Thornton with geographical coordinates of her children's birthplaces. Thinking before you ink would also help, but again, famous people are really no different than everyone else. In other words, a lot of them are idiots……………

Hating on holiday music, kooks taking snakes on planes and ruining "The Fresh Prince"

- Holiday music sucks. It’s annoying, it’s corny and if you replace the holiday-themed lyrics with normal ones atop the same notes and chords, no one would want to listen to it during the rest of the year. This should be common knowledge, but it somehow managed to escape a Boston subway dispatcher who programmed an electronic message board in a station to scroll the lyrics of "Deck the Halls" instead of the normal service announcements on Christmas Day. While there wasn’t exactly a groundswell of commuter outrage over the forced inclusion of Christmas music on their day, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials were angry about the message and said the dispatcher could be strongly disciplined. Unfortunately, State Transportation Secretary Richard Davey sold out the MBTA by saying any punishment will be light, perhaps as lenient as a reminder not to use the signs for anything other than their real purpose. Davey suggested that because the dispatcher is a long-term employee with good intentions and a solid service record, there is no need for anything too strict. Wrong, Rich. The message needs to be sent loud and clear that this sort of perpetuation the worst music this side of disco, country and polka will not be tolerated. Fire this kook, see if there is any way to file a lawsuit for violation of civil rights and ensure this never happens again. Christmas music is not something to be laughed at or taken lightly and those who further its cause need to meet with swift and severe consequences…………


- Those who enjoy beautiful sights in the skies will have a solid next few days. Those who are not fans of radio blackouts, not so much. Astronomers are predicting fallout of particles from a recent solar storm that will slam into Earth and produce amazing Northern Lights, or auroras. However, the fallout may also cause radio blackouts for a few days due to the radiation from the flare – or coronal mass ejection (CME) for you outer space dorks. Radiation causes magnetic storms and boom, down go radio signals. The uptick in solar junk is due to a larger increase in activity in the sun, which runs in 11-year cycles and is expected to peak around 2013. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center addressed the impending downfall of space particles in a blog post. “Category G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are expected 28 and 29 December due to multiple coronal mass ejection arrivals. R1 (Minor) radio blackouts are expected until 31 December,” the post read. GPS systems, radios and mobile phones could all be affected by the particle storm because they all depend on radio waves. For the non-“Star Trek”/NASA crowd, a coronal mass ejection contains billions of tons of gases full of X-rays and ultraviolet radiation hurled out into space at around 5 million mph. Their temperatures reach as high as 100,000,000 degrees Celsius. When ionized solar particles becoming imprisoned by Earth’s magnetic field, the gases in the atmosphere are excited and they emit bursts of energy in the form of light. This causes auroras and magnetic storms, which in extreme cases can disrupt satellites and electricity grids. A major flare occurred in August but did not have a large impact because it took place on the side of the Sun not facing Earth. Maybe this time a little chaos will ensue…………


- Way to ruin the formative TV years of millions of Americans retroactively, relatively anonymous actress Janet Hubert. Hubert is not well-known, but her most prominent role is: that of Aunt Vivian on Will Smith's breakout sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show, which is a staple of the ‘90s pop culture and remains well-known even today thanks to the magic of syndication and too many cable networks in need of programming, depicted Smith as a troubled teenager in Philadelphia whose mother sent him to live with her upper-class sister and family in the posh Beverly Hills suburb of Bel-Air. The concept was loosely based on Smith’s experience growing up in Philadelphia and in many ways, the show helped launch Smith into the role of major action star he now occupies. Along the way he has dabbled in music (never doing anything too adventurous or ground-breaking) but made tens of millions of dollars cultivating a good-guy image in films and playing carefully selected roles that feed the persona he has created. Hubert, speaking after Smith posted a photo of the “Fresh Prince” cast reunion just before Christmas, poked a giant hole in Smith’s positive aura. "He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up," Hubert fumed. Asked about Smith’s hints that a possible reunion show could happen, Hubert could not have been more dismissive. "This constant reunion thing will never ever happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology, which he doesn't know the word. There will never be a reunion ... as I will never do anything with a jerk like Will Smith," Hubert continued. What she wants an apology for, Hubert didn’t say. As for Smith never growing up…..in his position, who would? If you could be one of the highest-grossing actors of all-time, carefully select your roles and be considered one of the good guys in a place (Hollywood) full of a-holes, why would anyone want to grow up…………


- “Snakes on a Plane” was not a documentary or a how-to film, all. This seems like a salient point to mention now that someone, no names mentioned Czech citizen Karel Abelovsky, attempted to smuggle 247 exotic and endangered species in his luggage on board an Ibiza Airlines flight from Buenos Aires' international airport to Madrid. Airport security officials made him open his baggage at after police spotted the reptiles in the X-ray scanner and inside they found the nearly 250 poisonous snakes and endangered reptiles inside plastic containers, bags, and even socks, with each creature meticulously labeled with its Latin name. Oddly enough, that isn't even the most compelling part of the story. Those details take a backseat to the fact that authorities believe Abelovsky was a courier for a criminal organization that smuggles exotic species whose exports are banned. An Argentinian judicial source revealed that detail along with the fact that Abelovsky only arrived in Argentina days earlier and wouldn't have had time to gather all the animals. Judge Marcelo Aguinsky presided over Abelovsky’s initial hearing and said she spoke about the possibility that the boa constrictors, poisonous pit vipers and coral snakes, lizards, and spiders could have escaped the cloth suitcase in the unpressurized cabin of the Dec. 7 Iberia flight to Madrid, and perhaps attacked people there or at his final destination in Prague. Instead of heading to Madrid or Prague, Abelovsky will now spend some quality time in Argentina. He will remain them after surrendering his passport and being released on $2,500 bail. He refused to cooperate with police and now faces up to 10 years in prison. Back home in the Czech Republic, Abelovsky runs a Czech website that offers reptiles for sale. Business may take a bit of hit with its proprietor’s current legal situation…………


- Germany: The new medical Mecca for ailing athletes in need of some experimental procedures to heal their broken-down bodies. Tiger Woods, New York Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee and Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant have all traveled to Deutschland in the past 18 months for an experimental procedure in which a patient's own blood is drawn from the arm and put into a centrifuge to separate out a certain protein. The engineered protein compound is then injected into the affected joint to expedite the healing process. Bryant had two such procedures done, one on his ailing knee and one on his aching elbow. Noted steroid user and all-around disliked New York Yankees third basemen Alex Rodriguez recently joined the club when he traveled to Germany to receive Orthokine therapy on his right knee and left shoulder, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed. Rodriguez was hampered by injuries at the end of last season and the Yankees were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs. Athletes travel to Germany to have the procedure done because it is not common elsewhere and also because they want to avoid the scrutiny and questions that would likely ensue if they had it done in the U.S., but Cashman insisted Major League Baseball and WADA have approved the procedure. With just three games under his belt in a new NBA season, it’s too soon to determine how much Bryant’s procedures have helped him, but Rodriguez could clearly use a boost after he had surgery on his right knee last July and saw his power drop in the second half and postseason. He played in just 99 games and hit a mere 16 home runs, then batted a paltry .111 with no homers and three RBIs in the division series loss to the Tigers. Cashman said Rodriguez is "100 percent" right now and should be at full strength heading into spring training in February. If he and Bryant see career boosts in their respective seasons, expect a lot more elite athletes to head to the land of beer and 1,000 different kinds of sausages for their own medical miracles…………

Legalizing online gambling, China's own navigation system and the death of a "Buffy" film

- Times are tough for states, individuals and yes, even governments. State and federal agencies and bureaucratic organizations are having an impossibly difficult time figuring out how to balance their budgets while also carrying dozens of dead-weight slackers who do little to no work on a daily basis. Cutting some of these do-nothings loose would help, but of course the government isn't going to do that. Instead, the Justice Department is reversing its stance on most forms of Internet gambling in the hopes of fleecing America’s growing quotient of degenerate gamblers out of enough money to adequately fund the government’s day-to-day operations. The department has reversed its long-held opposition to nearly all Internet gambling, eliminating a major legal obstacle for states that want to legalize online gambling to help fix their budget deficits. In a legal opinion issued by the department’s office of legal counsel in September but made public on Friday, the Justice Department responded to requests by New York and Illinois to clarify whether the Wire Act of 1961, which prohibits wagering over telecommunications systems that cross state or national borders. Illinois and New York wanted to use the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within their own borders, but the impact of the Justice Department’s change in position will almost certainly extend beyond those parameters. In the simplest of all possible explanations, the decision opens the door for states to allow Internet poker and other forms of online betting that do not involve sports. New York has offered an online subscription service since 2005 by which state residents can enter Lotto or Mega Millions drawings. The state has been working on plans for a broader online gaming system, but the contractor for the project feared legal battles if it moved forward. Armed with its newfound freedom, New York Lottery officials plan to add two additional jackpot games, Powerball and Sweet Million, to its current online lottery subscription service and permit New York residents to buy single-draw tickets online. In Illinois, the superintendent of the state lottery had the gall to suggest that the new policy would enable the lottery to regulate purchases and actually protect gambling addicts. “Right now we can’t guard against someone walking into a lottery retailer and buying too many tickets and behaving excessively,” superintendent Michael Jones said. “Now with credit card purchases, we can guard against excessive play.” Yes, that is exactly how the system will work. Some bureaucratic pencil-pusher behind a desk will determine whether or not a deadbeat dad who isn't supporting his four children by three different mothers can buy that extra batch of Powerball tickets. No one is sure how big the online gambling industry actually is, but most estimates put it in the 11-figure range, as in tens of billions of dollars annually. Both the District of Columbia and Nevada have both approved limited forms of Internet gambling, and New Jersey has been considering legislation allowing sports betting and other forms of Internet gambling, so this party is only getting started. Let the excessive online gambling by those who can least afford it commence……………


- NATO may be an organization supposedly dedicated to making a positive impact around the world, but it certainly doesn’t have any goodwill in the bank with Pakistan. That may have something to do with last month's NATO raid on Pakistani border posts that killed 24 soldiers. Pakistan could be upset about a report issued last week by the U.S. military that blamed inadequate coordination by both Pakistani and U.S.-led forces. Either way, Pakistan says it will only consider reopening key NATO supply routes to neighboring Afghanistan if NATO is willing to pay. Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar insisted his government has not yet decided whether to allow NATO to resume overland shipments of non-lethal supplies to Afghanistan, but suggested it will be a cash-to-cross arrangement if anything at all. Mukhtar informed media members in Sukkur that if the routes are reopened, "it will not be free." Well played Pakistan, well played. Allowing NATO to use your roads for free is a weak move and no one is going to respect you if you agree to that. While claiming the reasoning behind the decision is the high volume of heavy traffic that has damaged the country’s road infrastructure over the last 10 years is not as strong a play as simply forcing NATO to pay because you feel like it, adding tolls or tariffs on NATO shipments is still a balls play. Mukhtar explained that any money raised through would go to road infrastructure. Sadly, he did not punctuate his words by looking directly into the nearest camera, telling NATO it could kiss Pakistan’s ass and holding a middle finger aloft as he walked from the podium………….


- Dropping a new jersey on the Washington Wizards does not change the insanity of the Washington Wizards. As long as the Wizards are suiting up crazy Andray Blatche, they will continue to have one of the more mentally unstable rosters in the NBA - or any other sport for that matter. Following the Wizards’ season-opening 90-84 loss to the New Jersey Nets, in which Washington blew a 21-point lead, Blatche was asked about coach Flip Saunders observing that the team began to rely too much on individual efforts in the second quarter. While Saunders did not mention Blatche directly, it was clear from how the Washington offense operated during the period that Blatche was among Saunders’ targets. The temperamental 6’11 forward sounded off in the locker room after the game. "You can't keep having me pick-and-pop and shooting jump shots," Blatche said in the locker room. "Give me the ball in the paint. That's where I'm most effective at. I've been saying that since training camp: I need the ball in the paint. I don't want to be the pick-and-pop guy that I used to be. It's not working for me." Blatche scored 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting and further hurt the team by earning a technical foul exchanging words with Kris Humphries, a.k.a. the ex-Mr. Kim Kardashian. Suggesting the team wasn’t using him to the best of his abilities made some media members and experts question whether Blatche was lashing out at his coaches and teammates, a suggestion he didn’t like. "Every body need to shut up I didn't call out my coach or team mates I said I had a bad game need it n the post instead of jump shots," Blatche tweeted. Saunders met with Blatche before practice Tuesday to talk about the situation. "We talked about what he said about as far as wanting to be in the post," Saunders said. "And I told him, that's something to my ears. I love hearing that. ... But then he also has to understand that just because you get it at 17 feet, you don't have to shoot it either. I'm not twisting his arm to do that." Seventeen is an ironic number for Saunders to reference because prior to the league’s five-month lockout, he gave Blatche a book titled "The 17 Essential Qualities Of A Team Player." Blatche said he has read about half of it. Now might be an optimal time to read the other half……….


- Those hoping for a full-length film version of the cult TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer, there is no good news for you at the moment. A reboot of the forerunner to the “Twilight” saga and all of the other vampire flicks of recent years was in the works, but the project has been put in an indefinite holding pattern because screenwriter Whit Anderson, who was not part of the original series, failed miserably in his attempts to recreate the vampire magic of “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon, who is not a part of the new project. Anderson had been given the job of reinventing Whedon’s brainchild but delivered a script that "fell far short of expectations and, in the end, was rejected completely” by studio executives according to sources close to the situation. Anderson’s failure doesn’t mean the project is dead and a new writer is reportedly being sought to take the project forward, but producers are also debating whether to kill the concept entirely. That would probably hit favorably with Whedon and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who portrayed the show's heroine during its successful run from 1997 to 2003. Both Whedon and Gellar have criticized the idea of reviving the franchise. Whedon is currently working on “The Avengers” but found a moment to share his thoughts on the “Buffy” film. "This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths, just because can’t think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself," Whedon fumed. Gellar wasn’t any sunnier in her remarks, declaring, "I think it's a horrible idea. To try to do a 'Buffy' without Joss Whedon, I mean that's, like, honestly, to be incredibly non-eloquent: that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard." Seems at least a few people agree with those sentiments……….


- GPS is not for everyone. Specifically, it’s not for China because the Chinese aren’t fans of most things American unless it’s chunks of America’s national debt the Chinese can buy up and lord over the United States. In the latest attempt to prove it doesn’t need America for anything other than an economic punching bag, China officially launched its own satellite navigation system Tuesday, which will provide initial positioning, navigation, and timing operational services to China and the surrounding region. State media reported the debut of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BNSS), which is intended to replace China's reliance on the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). The BNSS has been under construction and in the interim, China has launched 10 satellites, the most recent of which went up in November. Six additional satellites will be launched in 2012 and the system as a whole will be completed by 2020. Although it is not complete, Beidou is reportedly compatible with the U.S. system, as well as the EU's Galileo Positioning System and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS - yes, its actual name). But as with everything the Communist Party does in China, there is a more sinister overtone to the satellite navigation system. In other words, it won’t just be to help commuters find their way through the traffic-packed, smog-riddled streets of major cities. China has recently developed an antiship ballistic missile that could hit a moving aircraft carrier up to 1,700 miles offshore and Beidou could be used with other technology to locate the whereabouts of U.S. ships in the region. In other words, it could be useful should China decide to make an American ship go kaboom. Not that China would ever consider such an attack…………

States love online gambling, NFL teams beg fans and excuses for the FAT

- Times are tough for states, individuals and yes, even governments. State and federal agencies and bureaucratic organizations are having an impossibly difficult time figuring out how to balance their budgets while also carrying dozens of dead-weight slackers who do little to no work on a daily basis. Cutting some of these do-nothings loose would help, but of course the government isn't going to do that. Instead, the Justice Department is reversing its stance on most forms of Internet gambling in the hopes of fleecing America’s growing quotient of degenerate gamblers out of enough money to adequately fund the government’s day-to-day operations. The department has reversed its long-held opposition to nearly all Internet gambling, eliminating a major legal obstacle for states that want to legalize online gambling to help fix their budget deficits. In a legal opinion issued by the department’s office of legal counsel in September but made public on Friday, the Justice Department responded to requests by New York and Illinois to clarify whether the Wire Act of 1961, which prohibits wagering over telecommunications systems that cross state or national borders. Illinois and New York wanted to use the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults within their own borders, but the impact of the Justice Department’s change in position will almost certainly extend beyond those parameters. In the simplest of all possible explanations, the decision opens the door for states to allow Internet poker and other forms of online betting that do not involve sports. New York has offered an online subscription service since 2005 by which state residents can enter Lotto or Mega Millions drawings. The state has been working on plans for a broader online gaming system, but the contractor for the project feared legal battles if it moved forward. Armed with its newfound freedom, New York Lottery officials plan to add two additional jackpot games, Powerball and Sweet Million, to its current online lottery subscription service and permit New York residents to buy single-draw tickets online. In Illinois, the superintendent of the state lottery had the gall to suggest that the new policy would enable the lottery to regulate purchases and actually protect gambling addicts. “Right now we can’t guard against someone walking into a lottery retailer and buying too many tickets and behaving excessively,” superintendent Michael Jones said. “Now with credit card purchases, we can guard against excessive play.” Yes, that is exactly how the system will work. Some bureaucratic pencil-pusher behind a desk will determine whether or not a deadbeat dad who isn't supporting his four children by three different mothers can buy that extra batch of Powerball tickets. No one is sure how big the online gambling industry actually is, but most estimates put it in the 11-figure range, as in tens of billions of dollars annually. Both the District of Columbia and Nevada have both approved limited forms of Internet gambling, and New Jersey has been considering legislation allowing sports betting and other forms of Internet gambling, so this party is only getting started. Let the excessive online gambling by those who can least afford it commence……………


- Is the NFL really the king of American professional sports? Television ratings and revenues from merchandise and TV rights sales would suggest as much, but how can a sport be the king if one of its teams is openly begging fans to show up for the biggest game of the season? The Cincinnati Bengals have been one of the biggest surprises of the NFL season, bouncing back from winning four games last year to a 9-6 record that has them on the brink of making the playoffs in the AFC. With rookie quarterback Andy Dalton leading the way and a rugged defense keeping the Bengals in games, coach Marvin Lewis’ team needs only to defeat Baltimore in Sunday’s regular-season finale at home to make the postseason. For some reason, the prospect of watching a potential playoff team fight for the chance to compete for a championship has failed to excite the Cincinnati faithful. Attendance at Paul Brown Stadium has been lackluster all season and in the hopes of changing that trend the team is trotting out some of its stars to plead with fans to show up for the Baltimore game. "It's going to be a big week, and we're going to need everyone to come out and support us," Dalton said of the contest. "Everyone in Cincinnati needs to come out for this big game." Lewis also chimed in, hinting at the need for fans to show up and support the Bengals in their big matchup. "The crowd really affected the game with the noise, and I'm sure they'll be anxious to get here next Sunday as we play for something special," Lewis said. The begging comes on the heels of a crowd of just 41,273 showing up for Saturday’s 23-16 victory over Arizona at the 65,500-seat stadium. Seeing so many empty seats even inspired the Bengal with the longest rap sheer - cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones - to get all political with his plea for a bigger crowd for Week 17. "I'm just happy for the team and the city of Cincinnati," Jones declared. "The fans did a great job getting behind us, and we need all of you this week. We need the fans this week. Who Dey! Please come support us. I'm Adam Jones, and I approved this message." How pissed are those fans who do buy a ticket going to be when the Ravens roll into the Queen City, smack the Bengals and send them into the offseason one week early………….


- FAT people, here you go. A late Christmas gift has just come down the chimney and no, it’s not an extra plate of Christmas cookies, fudge and pumpkin pie to pair with the leftover stuffing, ham and mashed taters you have left over from Sunday’s family gathering. Instead, it’s a study by researchers at Ohio State informing you that you can blame your ever-growing girth on that terrible relationship you have with your mother. Sarah Anderson, assistant professor of epidemiology at Ohio State and lead author of the study, and her team examined the mother-child relationships of 977 children born in 1991. They measured how the mothers interacted with their children at numerous points during their childhoods and evaluated factors such as emotional attachment and children’s sense of security within their family. Those who had a low level of emotional security in their family relationship were more likely to battle obesity as they grew older. A stunning 26.1 percent of children who had troubled relationships with their mothers were obese at the age of 15, compared with just 13 percent of those children who were close to their mothers. “Sensitive parenting increases the likelihood that a child will have a secure pattern of attachment and develop a healthy response to stress,” Anderson explained. “A well-regulated stress response could in turn influence how well children sleep and whether they eat in response to emotional distress — just two factors that affect the likelihood for obesity.” Anderson’s research team had previously found that young children without a strong emotional relationship with their parents were more likely to be obese by the age of 4 1/2. In spite of the potentially guilt-tripping implications for bad mothers, Anderson made it clear the findings should not be used to blame mothers, but rather as a tool to prevent the spread of childhood obesity. "It is possible that childhood obesity could be influenced by interventions that try to improve the emotional bonds between mothers and children rather than focusing only on children's food intake and activity," she said. Whatever you say, S. Read more about this FAT excuse in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics………


- Take one last wistful, longing look at all of those shirtless magazine cover shots and two-page photos, ladies. Drink in the hunky goodness of everyone woman’s favorite shirt-eschewing Texan because the acting talent-deprived Matthew McConaughey is finally going where George Clooney will never dare to venture. That’s right, the star of iconic films like “Fool’s Gold” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” is finally ready to get married after proposing to longtime girlfriend Camila Alves on Christmas Day. She said yes and he broke the news to millions of distraught female fans around the world on his WhoSay account Sunday. "Just asked Camila to marry me, Merry Christmas," McConaughey wrote on his account, underneath a photo of the couple kissing near a Christmas tree. For Alves, the proposal means a payoff for sticking with McConaughey through five years - yes, they began dating back in 2006 - and approximately 24 crappy romantic comedies he filmed during that time (number approximate). The couple have a 23-month-old daughter, Vida, and 3-year-old son Levi, together and now they are just another slice of the American dream: rich, good-looking people with a wedding ring, two kids and the little people despising them for having all of the above. So once you can see through the tears, ladies, and can unclench your hands from the tiny balls of rage you have curled them into since hearing this heartbreaking news, maybe you can head on over to McConaughey’s WhoSay page and leave him a note of congratulations…………


- New Jersey, what’s your problem? You have a lot of garbage - and no, the Nets don’t count any longer - and yet you are one of the worst states in the U.S. when it comes to recycling? It was a mere 25 years ago that New Jersey became the first to require residents to recycle. Now…….the state’s rate of recycling is plummeting and stands at a measly 37 percent, barely ahead of the national average of 34 percent. That’s a marked decline from 1995, when 45 percent of the waste picked up by municipal collectors was headed for recycling. New Jersey residents are either lazy or indifferent to the plight of the planet, because their level of environmental consciousness has fallen to disturbingly low levels. Environmental groups believe that trash dumping is a major part of the problem and are hoping that a tax on trash dumping, which was reinstated in 2008 after being eliminated a dozen years earlier, will help encourage recycling. Further underscoring the role sheer, unabashed laziness plays in the unwillingness of the average New Jerseyite to recycle, these same groups are putting their minimal might behind a collection of new recycling programs that do not require people to separate bottles and paper. Maybe if those programs take the extra step of not forcing people to actually sort their recycling from their trash or take either one out of the house, all the way to the curb, they can really attain a high level of participation. Asking New Jersey to step up its collective recycling game is just too much to ask. Allow them to turn their state into even more of a massive trash dump that the residents of the other 49 states already assume it to be………….

Kobe's Deutschland excursions, Pakistani conspiracy theories and holiday movie news

- Ever hear someone deny a conspiracy theory and pray that they’re lying? That’s the prevailing emotion when Pakistan's army chief denies claims that the military is working to overthrow the country's civilian government. Faced with the revelation of a secret memo sent to Washington earlier this year about an alleged coup, the Pakistani military is now fighting a battle of a different sort against allegations of a possible coup. Tensions between the army and government are at an all-time high even as the omnipresent threat of the Taliban looms over all. Toss in a faltering economy and worsening relations with its most important ally, the United States, and the holiday season has been a wee bit tense for Pakistan. As if to provide a reminder of just how tenuous the political and social landscape is, Taliban fighters attacked a paramilitary fort in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others who they promised to kill soon. But back to the conspiracy theory……Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani stoked that fire Thursday when he claimed there was a conspiracy under way to topple the government. He stopped short of accusing the military but chastised the army’s leadership and insisting it must be answerable to the parliament and cannot operate as a "state within a state." Army chief Gen. Pervez Ashfaq Kayani returned fire, denying allegations promising the army’s full support of democracy in Pakistan. "The army is fully cognizant of its constitutional obligations and responsibilities," Kayani said. Sadly, most experts doubt the likelihood of a coup at this time and don’t put much stock in the memo or its alleged author, former Pakistani ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani. Haqqani allegedly acted with President Asif Ali Zardari's support in asking the U.S. to help avert a coup attempt in light of the unilateral U.S. mission to kill Osama bin Laden within Pakistan. Kayani went with a predictable misdirection play, saying rumors of a coup were "being used as a bogey to divert the focus from the real issues." Embrace the conspiracy, general…………


- An additional 3,023 theaters to expand on its limited-release debut last weekend still were not enough to light a fuse under Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol as Tom Cruise and Co. lumbered to a box office win with unimpressive numbers. Ghost Protocol netted a mere $26.5 million in domestic earnings, wresting the top spot from Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Through two weeks, Ghost Protocol has made $58.9 million domestically, which doesn’t exactly qualify as a record-setting start. Sherlock Holmes ended up in second place for the weekend, adding $17.8 million to its two-week haul despite a 55 percent decline. Through two weeks, the film has grossed $76.6 million domestically. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was the weekend’s third-place film on the strength of a $13.3 million effort, giving the animated flick $50.2 million in cumulative earnings. A trio of new films were next on the list, as Sony’s heavily promoted The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo failed to live up to its own immense hype by finishing fourth with a modest $13 million. That was enough to hold off kid-friendly The Adventures of Tintin for fourth place, but not enough to crack the top three. Tintin secured fifth place with a $9.2 million debut, also falling short of expectations on what is widely considered one of the best weekends of the year for family movies. The critically panned We Bought a Zoo led off the bottom half of the top 10 as the presence of Scarlett Johansson’s hotness and the always solid Matt Damon were not enough to make the film a resounding success. Zoo earned $7.8 million for the weekend despite opening in more than 3,100 theaters. Seventh place went to New Year’s Eve, which dropped from fourth place and made $3.1 million in its third weekend of release. Arthur Christmas ranked eighth with $2.7 million in its fifth weekend in theaters while The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 tumbled three notches to No. 9 with a $2.1 million weekend and Hugo rounded out the top 10 with $2 million. The Muppets (No. 11), Young Adult (No. 13) and The Sitter (No. 14) all fell out of the top 10 this weekend………….


- Thank you, science, for proving that toddlers don’t listen. Directly defying what their parents tell them to do is ample evidence of this, but a new study published in the journal Current Biology hammers that point home even more decisively. Conducted by Ewen MacDonald of the Technical University of Denmark and his team of inquisitive scientific minds, the study featured adults, four-year-olds, and two-year-olds saying the word “bed” repeatedly while hearing a recording of themselves saying “bad” to trick their brain into thinking they were making the wrong sound. Taking the cue, the adults and 4-year-olds began trying to compensate by changing the vowel, saying something that sounded more like the word “bid”. However, the 2-year-olds continued pronouncing “bed” the same way, suggesting they do not respond to their own voice the same way that adults have been found to do. MacDonald drew a parallel to the way musicians listen to notes as they play to determine if their instrument is in tune and adjust accordingly. “When we speak, we do something very similar. We subconsciously listen to vowel and consonant sounds in our speech to ensure we are producing them correctly,” McDonald said in a press release. “If the acoustics of our speech are slightly different from what we intended, then, like the violinists, we will adjust the way we speak to correct for these slight errors.” If they don’t listen to the sound of their own voice, then how do toddlers monitor their speech? Researchers theorized that they may rely on their parents or other people rather than their own words. Anyone who has spent time around a toddler knows full well that idiots who like to talk baby talk usually do repeat words back to children after they speak. Based on their findings, MacDonald’s team will now explore potential applications for understanding or addressing delayed and abnormal early speech development. Sounds like fun………….


- When both major parties are doing a terrible job attempting to drag a country out of its economic and political doldrums, what is a populace to do? Go in search of something new, if an analysis of state voter registration is any indication. The research, conducted by USA TODAY, showed that more than 2.5 million voters have left the Democratic and Republican parties since the 2008 elections. Those free-agent voters aren't necessarily flocking to the Green or Libertarian parties and most are choosing to remain independent. On a national scale, the number of Democrats declined in 25 of the 28 states that register voters by party and Republicans dipped in 21 states. Despite the defections, independents increased in just 18 of those states. With next year’s presidential elections approaching quickly, those independent voters will be more prized than ever. Eight so-called swing states that register voters by party feature Democratic registration down by 800,000 and Republicans down by 350,000. That may not be enough to give libertarian Republican Ron Paul or the newly independent Donald Trump an actual chance to be elected, but there is no question the trend underscores Americans’ growing dissatisfaction with both major parties. Democrats find themselves in the lead in terms of registered voters with 42 million, compared to 30 million Republicans and 24 million independents. However, Democrats have lost the most voters since 2008 - 1.7 million, to be exact. That is nearly 4 percent of their voter base and Democratic registration has suffered more than Republican registration in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — the eight swing states with party registration. Republicans losses’ have been the most severe in Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, independent voters are skyrocketing in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Arizona, meaning those states and their electoral votes will see a heavy dose of President Barack Obama and whomever emerges from the Republican clusterf**k in a few months. Ah, the sheer, unbridled joy of election season………….


- Kobe Bryant is going to need all the help he can get to keep the Los Angeles Lakers competitive this season. David Stern indefensibly squashing a trade that would have brought All-Star point guard Chris Paul to the Lakers, Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom being traded to Dallas for next to nothing and Paul landing with the rival Clippers have all stacked the deck against Bryant and his team. Factor in all the miles on Bryant’s basketball odometer and his own health issues and…..well, it could be a long year for the purple and gold. But if Bryant looks rejuvenated this season, a large part of the credit may well go to Deutschland. That’s right, Germany is in the lead for praise any time Bryant drops a game-winning shot or leads a fourth-quarter rally this season. Bryant underwent an experimental but increasingly popular procedure in Germany in July in an attempt to help heal his oft-injured right knee and as the NBA lockout dragged on into the fall, he reportedly returned to Germany in October to undergo an innovative procedure on his left ankle. The July procedure, a treatment known as platelet-rich plasma therapy, consists of centrifuging the patient's blood to isolate platelets and growth factors and injecting that mixture into an injured area to accelerate healing. Tiger Woods, New York Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee are among the athletes who have undergone the treatment and Bryant hopes he will experience similar success in alleviating the pain from an arthritic joint in his right knee. The procedure on his knee was his fourth since 2003 and it needs to hold up because losing him for any length of time could propel the Lakers right out of the playoff race. Oh, and Bryant is also suffering from a torn ligament in his right wrist sustained in an exhibition game Monday against the Clippers. When asked about the wrist injury and his status for the season opener against Chicago, Bryant seemed very receptive to the line of questioning. "I'm fine," he replied. "I'm not talking about my injury." Well then…………….

Russian revolution, raging MLBers and unwanted fruitcakes

- Don’t tell Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba that playing winter league baseball is just a way to stay in shape and polish his skills for the coming Major League Baseball season. Torrealba, back in his native Venezuela to play for he Leones del Caracas squad in the Venezuelan League, had something of a bad night Friday and it wasn’t just a bad plate appearance that ruined his evening. Swinging at strike three and having to head back to the bench with an empty at-bat is the worst outcome for any batter, but Torrealba kicked it up a notch after swinging and missing at a well-placed fastball. Rather than take his anger out by slamming his bat on the ground or snapping it over his knee, he instead began a heated argument with Dario Rivera Jr. over a previous strike call during the at-bat. Torrealba and Rivera argued for about 15 seconds before Torrealba went from really angry to nuclear, delivering an open-handed strike to the umpire’s mask. Rivera was smart enough to keep his mask on during the argument, while Torrealba wasn’t intelligent enough to realize that smacking an umpire was a poor choice that will likely lead to a fine and possible suspension from the league. Then again, when you’re an accomplished MLB star who hit .273 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs last season, you clearly expect preferential treatment from umpires no matter where in the world you’re playing at any given time. Stay classy, Y……………


- Caffeine is available in many different forms. Old-school types chug cup after cup of coffee to get themselves up and going for the day, while others bolt down energy drinks or Five Hour Energy shots. The makers of something known as AeroShot Pure Energy want to put another option on the menu for those who don’t like the taste or calories of coffee and don’t want to drink their daily infusion of caffeine. The plan is to deliver caffeine and a mix of B vitamins into the consumer’s mouth while allowing them to embrace their inner asthmatic. That’s right, the caffeine inhaler is finally here - for now. The makers of AeroShot Pure Energy claim their product complies with FDA dietary supplement guidelines, but some lawmakers aren't so sure about the product. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) believe the Food and Drug Administration should evaluate AeroShot Pure Energy to determine if it is safe to use. "They should check it out, see if it has negative consequences, and don't let it go on the shelves until it is thoroughly checked out," Schumer said. His warnings were dismissed by the company, which insists the product is safe as long as it's used as intended. "AeroShot Pure Energy contains the same amount of caffeine as a cup of premium coffee and has less caffeine than the leading energy shot," said CEO Tom Hadfield. “AeroShot is not intended for use by children, and it is not marketed to children." Fair enough because we all know that products not designed or intended for children never make their way into children’s hands, so that shouldn’t be a problem. As for adults, AeroShot Pure Energy can’t be any worse than downing three or four Red Bulls or six cups of coffee during the course of the day, so what the hey…………


- Fruitcakes: Christmas time’s unwanted quasi-food staple for decades. No one wants them now and apparently no one wanted them back in World War II times either. That would explain how an anonymous Ohio man was able to put a 1941 fruitcake made by The Kroger Co. up for auction through Ohio-based Elite Estate Group and flip the cake for a nice chunk of change he then donated to a local charity helping the homeless. The fruitcake sold for $525 to an Arizona man and the money was immediately donated to help homeless individuals in southwest Ohio, Elite Estate Group CEO Larry Chaney said. Chaney theorized that the anonymous do-gooders probably purchased the fruitcake as an investment. There is an interesting story attached to the cake, as it was produced in 1941 and returned unopened to a Kroger store in 1971. No one is sure why a person would return a three-decade-old fruitcake to the store, but equally inexplicable is why the store’s manager took the cake home and kept it until recently when he and his son were doing some cleaning and came across it. They took the fruitcake to Chaney to put up for auction and from there, it was a matter of finding someone who wanted to throw away a few hundred dollars on a 71-year-old semi-food product they would never actually eat. In actuality, the fruitcake may still be edible given that it was vacuum-sealed and made with a healthy dose of rum that helped to preserve it. With the value of the U.S. dollar in a nonstop freefall, perhaps this could be the start of the fruitcake as the preferred method of long-term investment……….


- Quite a few artists in various genres of the music industry seem unhappy with the current state of their chosen profession. Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof blasted rock as having nothing substantial to say about the world during his speech as last year’s South By Southwest festival, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie called most of today’s rock stars sellouts in a recent interview and Kaiser Chiefs drummer Nick Hodgson joined the party this week by proclaiming that guitar music "is at an all-time low.” Hodgson claimed that indie music had declined in popularity since the band released their debut album, “Employment,” in 2005. “It's a strange time to be in a band. We all know guitar music is at an all-time low,” Hodgson lamented. "You look at the line-up at V Festival and there were only four or five bands. Very few bands which started when we did have stood the test of time." Hodgson elected not to blame the demise of guitar-based rock on the obvious lack of talent, artistry and originality present in music in the current era, instead identifying the lack of festival spots for guitar groups as evidence of the genre’s decline. His comments echoed the thoughts of Wilson who admitted back in October he was worried for the future of guitar bands. "Necessity is the mother of invention and there will always be music," Wilson said. "Whether it will be a viable career for five guys with guitars I'm not sure at the moment but you know, they'll be there in a garage somewhere." Kaiser Chiefs did what they could to further the cause of guitar bands earlier this year when they took a unique approach to releasing fourth album, “The Future Is Medieval.” The band wrote 25 songs and allowed fans to choose their own track listing, with the album only available online. They also plan to release a new single that did not appear on the album called 'On The Run' in January, which takes aim at "rude, cruel people" who use Twitter…………

- Rage is a great Christmas present, especially if you live in Russia and are chafing under the oppressive rule of Bad Vlad Putin and his United Russia Party. Protests have been a hallmark of this holiday season behind the soon-to-rise-again Iron Curtain, where opposition supporters have lashed out over what they believe to be rigged election results earlier this month that returned Vladimir Putin's party to power. Cries for new elections haven’t subsided and bitterly cold temperatures have done nothing to cool the fires of dissent. That was evident Saturday as thousands of people filled the streets of Moscow to renew calls for fair elections. Using social media and word of mouth, organizers were able to create a massive wave of anti-Putin sentiment for the gathering. Current dictator/President Dmitry Medvedev provided more fuel for the fire when he issued what most critics viewed as a hollow promise of sweeping political reforms in a supposed effort to address discontent following the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections. Police estimated crowds for Saturday’s protest at 25,000, while organizers said at least twice as many participated. A crowd of more than 40,000 was expected based on the always shaky measuring stick of participation in a Facebook forum discussion moderated by protest organizers. On the heels of a massive protest across the country earlier this month, Saturday’s demonstration was the strongest condemnation yet of election results that kept Putin's ruling United Russia party in power. Medvedev’s suggestion that Russia return to direct elections of regional governors, simplify the registration of political parties and presidential candidates and establish a new editorially-independent national public TV channel have done little to abate the outrage thus far. Even the announcement of new anti-corruption measures had little impact and that may have had something to do with his dismissive rejection of public criticism of the parliamentary elections. Labeling the campaign to overturn the results as "attempts to manipulate the people and foment social discord" was a poor choice. "We will not allow instigators and extremists to involve society in their reckless schemes, nor will we tolerate interference in our internal affairs from the outside," Medvedev said. “Russia needs democracy, not chaos.” Yes, democracy would be super. Rights-trampling communist dictatorship doesn’t seem to be working too well………

Profitable heart abnormalities, the death of the camera and Chinese oppression

- Having a heart abnormality has never been this profitable. For free-agent forward Chuck Hayes, finding a new team once the NBA lockout ended was more challenging than he expected but the end result of his journey was a deal that will net him a $1.1 million more than he was to receive under the terms of the original deal he signed with the Sacramento Kings. Hayes thought he had a contract with the Kings earlier this week, but Sacramento voided the deal after Hayes failed a physical because a heart exam showed an abnormality that would require Hayes to undergo further testing, the Kings said. Hayes went to see the experts at the Cleveland Clinic and underwent further testing as his career and long-term health hung in the balance. After more tests, Hayes was given clearance to play and his agent, Calvin Andrews, resumed negotiations with the Kings. With the original four-year, $21.3 million offer off the table, Hayes was somehow able to score another four-year offer worth $22.4 million. Discovering a heart abnormality made him an extra $1 million-plus and in a statement released by Andrews, he expressed what he had been through over the course of a fairly unpredictable week. "It's been an incredible week of emotional highs and lows," Hayes said in the statement. "The Kings have been very supportive during this process and I feel very comfortable with the relationships that I have started there. After reviewing my options, the Kings were still the choice for me." Making $5.6 million a season for four seasons seems like a high price for a player who averaged 3.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 17 minutes per game in six seasons with Houston, but Hayes is known as a rugged, physical defender and excellent chemistry guy who does all of the dirty work for his team. Andrews was also thrilled about the outcome of the negotiations and showed some holiday goodwill in assessing how the situation played out. "I want to make it clear there were never any bad feelings between Chuck and the Kings," Andrews said. "We understood the process and their medical staff had to take the necessary precautions when it came to seeing any abnormalities of the heart.” As usual, truckloads of cash salve a lot of wounds……….


- China is at it again, although in truth the Communist Party never truly stops. Oppressing people is what the commies do in China and trampling the basic rights and freedoms of men like human rights campaigner Chen Wei is par for the course. Because Chen dared to post blog entries denouncing the Chinese government and advocating Chinese citizens’ right to free speech, he was found guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" on Friday after a two-hour trial. That’s right, the trial lasted two whole hours. The court clearly took its time hearing evidence and deliberating Chen’s case. The most potent moment of the trial came after the verdict as Chen ominously warned the court: "Dictatorship will fail, democracy will prevail." Chen was one of more than 130 dissidents arrested by security officials in February after taking part in calls for what they deemed a Jasmine revolution in China to mirror the Arab Spring uprisings. Chen's wife Wang Xiaoyan was in the courtroom for the trial and said her husband and other dissidents would not have their spirits broken by their excessive punishment. She blasted the sentence as a measure designed to scare and intimate those who continue to dare speak out against Beijing's Communist leadership. "His behavior will be tested by history," Wang wrote in a post on China's version of Twitter, Weibo, shortly after the trial. "They don't allow people to speak. There is no freedom of speech.” Chen’s specific crime was writing four articles for foreign websites in which he criticized the government and championed a civil society. He contended that he was merely expressing his opinions as allowed under the Chinese constitution, clearly forgetting that the Chinese constitution has about as much validity as a contract signed by a man in a coma. The trial itself was also a farce, taking place behind closed doors and featuring a whopping 35 minutes of deliberations by the justices after the “evidence” was presented. Wang said he husband would not appeal the verdict because there "is no point.” Chen is no stranger to being jailed for speaking out as he was previously imprisoned for taking part in the famed 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest the government crushed by sending in the army. Welcome to China, where every day is oppressively the same and has been for decades…………


- Someone really should clue Odd Future's Tyler, The Creator in to the fact that he’s not Angus Young, Ozzy Osbourne, Dr. Dre or Jay-Z. The musical legends have accumulated years of success and built reputations as world-class stars. If they act like a rock star and cause a scene by trashing a hotel room or destroying property, so be it. Tyler, The Creator seems to believe he’s in the same class as those musical icons and subsequently forgetting that, well, he’s Tyler, The Creator. He illustrated that point perfectly after Odd Future's Christmas show at the famed Roxy club in Los Angeles. Following the group’s set, the rapper allegedly trashed sound equipment at the venue and Roxy staffers contacted the police. Officers showed up and arrested Tyler, The Creator on suspicion of vandalism and took him for a ride to the station in the back of a squad car. Making the scene that much better, Tyler, The Creator was reportedly handcuffed and arrested in front of his mother, who had been at the Roxy to see the show. The arrest came on the heels of Odd Future’s other half, 'Left Brain' Vyron Turner, getting arrested in November and charged with assault for the incident in which he allegedly slapped a female photographer. Freelance photographer Amy Harris claimed Turner struck her during a show, a claim an Odd Future representative disputed in a statement insisting there was "no truth to the accusation.” Once he clears up his latest legal issues, Tyler, The Creator will start work on this third album, 'Wolf.’ The album is set to drop in May and Tyler, The Creator has promised that the new album will move away from the grisly subject matter of 2010's 'Goblin' because he is tired of "talking about rape and cutting up bodies." Glad to hear that brutal crimes no longer interest you, T……….


- Interesting things have been happening on buses this week. First, the Son of God showed up on a bus in Connecticut and smashed a window when fellow passengers attempted to force him off the bus. Technically, it may have been a mentally unstable kook who thought he was Jesus, but that is neither here nor there. Compared to what happened a few hundred miles away in Philadelphia on Tuesday, a smashed window is actually getting off cheap. There was no appearance by Yahweh on this bus, but rather a brief lapse in judgment by a student at a Boston conservatory who left a rare violin worth $172,000 on a bus after arriving in Philadelphia. The New England Conservatory student got on a Megabus in Boston with the 176-year-old violin and briefly went brain-dead when she exited the bus and left her instrument behind. Muchen Hsieh told police she forgot the violin in an overheard bin and did not realize her mistake until after she was picked up from the bus stop. Investigators are now asking for the public’s help in recovering the valuable violin, which was lent to Hsieh by the Chi Mei Culture Foundation in her native Taiwan while she studies in the U.S. “I’m a violin major, so I really hope that the person that took it can give it back to me so I can continue my studies because right now, I can’t do anything,” Hsieh explained. She frantically dialed the bus company to see if anyone had turned in the instrument, but it was no longer on the bus by the time she called. The instrument is so valuable because it was made in 1835 by Vincenzo Jorio in Naples, Italy. When Hsieh left it on the bus, the violin was in a reddish case with two straps on the back, police Lt. John Walker said. “We believe that somebody may have grabbed the item without realizing its value,” Walker said. Either that or they immediately recognized its value and were looking to cash in. Stealing it and selling it are two very different endeavors to be sure, as the violin has a serial number, original label and is extremely rare. Whoever has the instrument can either fence it and make some quick (and illegal) cash or they can hand the violin over to Philadelphia police with no questions asked. Your move, anonymous Philadelphia violin thief…………


- Smartphones are gradually emerging as the death of many things (common sense, common decency, intelligence while in public places, competent driving just to name a few), but they are also in the process of killing off low-end digital still cameras and video cameras. According to tech research firm the NPD Group, the point-and-shoot camera market saw a 17-percent decline in the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period in 2010 and that decline is directly attributable to smartphones with their own serviceable cameras. Video camera sales fell by 13 percent and an online survey conducted by NPD Group suggested users were also more likely to opt for their phone camera to snap pictures or record video. In the survey, respondents said they were more likely to use their smartphone to take pictures or video of "fun, casual or spontaneous moments” than to reach for a traditional camera. For the first time, NPD's suggested that the total share of photos taken on a camera represented less than half of pictures taken for any purpose. Forty-four percent of images were taken on a camera for the first 11 months of 2011 as opposed to 52 percent for the previous, according to the survey. "There is no doubt that the smartphone is becoming 'good enough' much of the time," said NPD's senior imaging analyst Liz Cutting. "But for important events, single purpose cameras or camcorders are still largely the device of choice." High-end cameras remain an exception to this trend, as NPD found that 12 percent more detachable lens cameras - including SLRs - were sold over the last 11 months. Professional photographers - or merely overzealous sports parents willing to splurge $1,500 on a camera to take pictures of their 9-year-old’s youth soccer game - still need the performance of a high-end camera. However, those who just want to snap a picture of themselves and their buddies at the bar on a Friday night or at the epic rager at their apartment complex for a given weekend are turning more and more to smartphone apps including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for their imaging needs. Data from Yahoo-owned Flickr's photo sharing site backs that notion up, as Apple's iPhone 4 is the most popular camera in its community. Considering how expensive most smartphones are, they probably should be serviceable for more than just making calls, texting and browsing the Internet……….

Jesus on a Connecticut bus, Turkey v. France and "Blair Witch" a decade later

- Do the good people of Branford, Conn. not read their Bibles? Do they not know that the Son of God has to exert some righteous indignation from time to time? Clearly not because if they knew those things, they would not be kicking Jesus (or some kook who thinks he’s Jesus) off the bus just because he allegedly smashed one of the vehicle’s windows. The bus was driving down Route One in Branford when a passenger police incorrectly identified as Mark Esposito allegedly became loud and belligerent. Esposito, who may have been under the influence of one or more illegal drugs - or simply insane - took to pounding on the windows as horrified fellow passengers looked on. "All of a sudden I looked and I see this guy, he is just banging on the windows," said witness Donna Hackley. "I don't know what his problem was, but he was cursing." Other passengers told police Esposito claimed to be Jesus. After a few moments of mayhem, passengers convinced the driver to pull over and they attempted to force the messiah off the bus. Several male passengers teamed up against Yahweh and he reacted angrily, smashing a window with the same sort of rage he once displayed in turning over the tables of the money changers in the temple for cheating worshippers. Police praised the passengers for their actions and Esposito/Jesus was arrested and charged with breach of peace and second degree criminal mischief. Theories about what caused his angry reaction were offered by both witnesses and police, but the most common theory was that it could have been a particular color. "Somebody was wearing something purple and it caused him to go wild," Hackley postulated. I Am was processed and taken for a psychiatric evaluation. Of course, people treated Jesus like he was crazy back in biblical times, so why should anything change in the 21st century…………


- While it’s difficult to believe that it’s been 12 years since Heather Donahue annoyed the hell out of millions of people with her breathy, pathetic and irritating performance in “The Blair Witch Project,” but Donohue has completely dropped off the cinematic radar since then. No one has missed her or clamored for her return and that’s good because Donohue isn't coming back to acting. She’s found something she loves more than being a thespian: pot. No, she’s not a raging stoner, although it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that she enjoys the chron from time to time. No, Donohue is in the business of growing medical marijuana in Northern California. On her website, Donohue took a moment to lash out at the film industry and explain her decision to move to the middle of nowhere to cultivate weed. "I wanted to change my life, see what else was out there for me, what else I might become," she wrote. "So I burned most of the stuff from my life in LA (resumes, headshots, lingerie, lint) in the desert and moved to pretty little Nuggettown. I had no idea what to do next, and growing pot was what presented itself. I felt better about putting medical marijuana in the world than I did about making another terrible movie." Oddly enough, everyone else feels the same way, H. Her post was mainly to promote her new memoir, GrowGirl: How My Life After The Blair Witch Project Went to Pot, but no one is going to waste time reading the pathetic musings of a disillusioned, talent-deprived actress who now supplies stoners with their beloved hippie lettuce. Her moving to a community where cultivation is legal is far more interesting than anything Donohue might say in a book. Not surprisingly, she believes pot should be legal because it’s been "intertwined with human culture for thousands of years." In other words, she’s definitely a stoner and dabbles in her own product more often than she would admit. Keep it up and never think for one second about coming back to acting, Heather…………


- Look the hell out, France. Turkey is not happy with you after the lower house of your parliament passed a so-called genocide bill, which criminalizes the denial of the Armenian genocide in 1915. Turkey viewed the bill’s passage as a slap in its face and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday recalled the country's ambassador in Paris for consultations. Erdogan also announced sanctions against France and made it extremely clear where relations between the two nations stood. "From now on, we freeze all kinds of political consultations with France," Erdogan said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovic in Ankara. All visits, military relations, courses and conferences are cancelled indefinitely and French military vessels and aircraft will not be allowed to use Turkish ports or airports until France reverses the law. Oh, and all military cooperation, including common military exercises, will be suspended for now. French aircraft will require special permission for every single flyover and Erdogan threatened even more repercussions if France does not change its mind. "This is the first stage," Erdogan vowed. All of this venom comes merely because the lower house of parliament passed the bill. Just imagine what may happen if the French Senate also approves the bill. What has Turkey so upset, you ask? If passed, the bill would make the denial of all genocides, crimes against humanity and war crimes that are recognized by French law, punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of €45,000 ($58,600). That resonates in Turkey because Armenians claim 1.5 million of their ancestors were systematically killed during World War I in today's Eastern Turkey, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Like any good genocidal nation, Turkey denies the allegations and says those Armenians died in the war and from famine. "There is no such a genocide in history. – We are proud of our history," Erdogan said. He went on to accuse French President Nicolas Sarkozy of acting on misguided ideas of "islamophobia" and "racism" and suggested that said France had betrayed its own principles of the French Revolution. "I am asking you this: Is there freedom of thought in France? Is there freedom of expression? Let me answer: No," Erdogan proclaimed. Relations between the two countries were already frigid and France exacerbated the tensions by voicing opposition to Turkey's bid to join the European Union. France boasts a large Armenian community, which Turkey believes is being manipulated as a pawn for the country’s upcoming elections. Turkish ambassador to France Tahsin Burcuoglu will return to Ankara on Friday and the cold war will progress from there. Both Sarkozy and the opposition Socialist Party have backed the bill, which parliament members insist is not targeted at any specific nation. That hasn’t stopped Turkey from embracing its inner persecution complex and ratcheting the angry diplomatic rhetoric in to high gear. Stay classy, Turkey, stay classy………….


- Remember when the bird flu was poised to wreak havoc with public health and well-being to the point where people were stockpiling supplies and checking to see if the old World War II bomb shelter in their family’s back yard was still useable? The threat has yet to materialize, but the U.S. government is still working behind the scenes to study the issue in case the bird flu becomes a real hazard. And by “working behind the scenes,” take it to mean that the government is paying scientists millions of dollars to study the bird flu and how it may eventually become a bigger threat to Americans and then pressuring those scientists to keep their findings secret. On Tuesday, government officials literally asked scientists from two research labs that studied the bird flu not to publicize the results of their studies. In attempting to defend the indefensible, officials argued that making the research public could provide valuable data to possible bioterrorists looking for the perfect weapon to bring the United States to its knees. Scientists found that it was easier than previously believed for the H5N1 bird flu to evolve in a way that lets it spread easily between at least some mammals. Would this information be valuable to the public? Maybe, but those who are conspiring to keep the research secret are convinced it is the right decision. "It wasn't an easy decision," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious diseases chief at the National Institutes of Health, which funded the original research. The research was conducted at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the findings now locked in high-security labs. Never mind publishing studies so other scientists can expound on their findings and use them as a platform for additional learning, dammit. Government biosecurity advisors warned that that the journals Science and Nature should be allowed to publish only the general discoveries, not the full blueprint for these man-made strains of the virus. Both research teams have capitulated even though Science editor in chief Dr. Bruce Alberts said his journal pushed the U.S. government to set up a system where certain international researchers will be able to get the full genetic recipe for these lab-bred strains. Big Brother tramples rights once again…………


- Making the ultimate publicity grab/look-at-me moment play of all-time, exuding a nonstop air of pomposity and proclaiming his intention to win seven or more NBA titles in Miami despite not having won any yet made LeBron James the most hated player in the NBA last year. All it took for New Jersey Nets forward Kris Humphries to rip the title from James at the outset of a new season was being married to Kim Kardashian for a few hours (time frame approximate). In a survey conducted by Nielsen and E-Poll Market Research, Mr. Kardashian, er, um, Humphries was voted the most disliked player in the NBA. Humphries received a 50 percent dislike percentage, while James stayed fairly strong at 48 percent. In order to be considered for the poll, players had to have a minimum 10 percent awareness level from the public. Behind James on the list were some very predictable names Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker, Metta World Peace, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade and Lamar Odom. Two of those eight are James’ teammates on the hated Miami Heat and Odom also married a Kardashian although unlike Humphries, he has managed to keep his wedded bliss going for more than eight hours (time once again approximate). Humphries recently signed a new one-year deal to return to the Nets and will make $8 million this season. He had something of a breakthrough season last year, averaging 10 points and ranking fifth in the league with 10.4 rebounds. Had he merely kept his head down, worked hard during the league’s lockout and gotten ready for the season, he wouldn’t have been anywhere close to the top of the most-disliked list. Instead, he dated Kardashian, the two got engaged when he gave her a $2 million ring and they had the biggest sham of a reality TV wedding possible. Divorce followed a day or so later and now Humphries is being booed relentlessly by crowds at exhibition games. "I don't know. I'm not too focused on it. I'm just here to win games," Humphries said of the treatment. Don’t marry any more Kardashian sisters and you can probably get off the list next season, K…………..