- Like it or not, the quality of any riot or protest is judged by the era and landscape of dissidence in which it takes places. What that means for anyone looking to stage an uprising right now is, simply put, you must compete with the world-class chaos being created by tens of thousands of angry Egyptians who are looking to boot their president from office. Anything less than violent clashes with police, overturned and burned vehicles and public spaces crammed with 10,000 or more furious, chanting dissidents is just not going to cut it. So while I would like to salute the 25 activists who were handcuffed and led from a busy intersection on Sunday in front of the Rancho Las Palmas Resort where a secret group of wealthy conservative business people met to discuss political strategy, I simply can't muster the enthusiasm for it. With approximately 1,000 political action and open access group supporters on hand to whine about their belief that corporations were being given unfettered control of the nation, only 25 of these kooks did enough to leave the premises in handcuffs and receive citations. The meeting of über-wealthy business leaders that the protest took place in conjunction with is something the group of businesspeople has done for several years now. Gathering at some posh, exclusive resort for society’s elite screams of, well, elitism, but Charles Koch and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who own an oil conglomerate that is the largest privately-held corporation in the U.S, probably don’t care and neither do their wealthy pals who attended the invitation-only strategy session in Rancho Mirage. Koch Industries could not care less about a few angry, disenfranchised misfits meeting in a hotel ballroom across the street from the resort and marching outside to denounce the meeting of the rich in public fashion. By the time the protest grew to full size, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department estimated the crowd at 1,200. In other words, about 2 percent of these kooks were belligerent enough to get arrested…..not a good percentage for any protest. Signs reading “Medicare for All,'' “Troops Home Now'' and “Tea Party Founded and Funded By The Kochs” are great, but you need more if you hope to be a great dissident. In truth, police wearing riot helmets and visors probably weren’t necessary with this group. Seriously, I doubt any of them had the kahones to bum rush the resort gates that the riot police were so vigilantly guarding. None of this is to diminish, by the way, the ridiculous impact that arrogant, elitist businesspeople like the Kochs have on the political process. They did fund the effort behind Citizens United, the challenge to federal campaign laws that prompted a 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that corporations or other groups can secretly spend as much money on political efforts as they desire. Koch Industries also spent $2.5 million in the last election cycle and $2 million more was spent by individual with ties with Koch Industries, so they carry a certain amount of influence in the political world. Having said that, let’s come up with a better protest the next time someone wants to speak out against them………
- Life continues to be a series of failures, terminations, losses, dissolutions and disappointments these days for Tiger Woods, who is losing spouses, sponsors and business partnerships at a consistent clip and can no longer get the job done on the golf course in the same dominating fashion that was once commonplace for him. Even building a signature golf estate in a corner of the world known for its excess and opulence is too much to ask for Tiger at this point. Plans for a Woods-designed golf paradise in Dubai, including a boutique hotel and sheik-style palaces, have been postponed indefinitely as Dubai's financial downturn continues to wreak havoc in the Middle East paradise. The project’s developer -- part of a conglomerate controlled by Dubai's debt-squeezed ruler - said in a written statement that "market conditions" were behind the decision to halt work on The Tiger Woods Dubai on the city's desert outskirts. "It's been put on hold for right now. A lot of projects are out there," Woods confirmed on Sunday after he finished his season debut at Torrey Pines. "It's still there. We've got six completed holes and a few that were about to be grassed before construction was halted. Everything is on hold." Great, so you have one-third of a golf course. Sounds like the average Tiger Woods tournament effort right now: one or two good rounds and then fall apart on the weekend. But hey, at least Tiger won't get a thousand questions about the situation when he plays in the Dubai Desert Classic next week. To be fair, this development is probably more about the faltering Dubai property market than it is about Woods’ inability to get things done lately, but one can’t help but smile and the irony. Right now, projects that were horribly unnecessary and ridiculously lavish - ensuring they would get done - are being shelved at an alarming rate in Dubai. Heck, a larger version of the manmade palm-shaped island that helped put Dubai on the map is on hold, for God’s sake. The financial outlook for Woods’ new course is so bad that the property is no longer watered and that after Woods plays in Dubai, the project will "return to sand," according to sources close to the situation. The only party expressing any hope that the project may eventually be revived is the developer, who issued a statement saying that: "These conditions will continue to be monitored. A decision will be made in the future when to restart the project." Mmm hmm. So just to be clear, you have a planned $1 billion course surrounded by a complex of 100 villas, 75 mansions, 22 palaces, a boutique hotel, a golf academy and 30,000 full-grown imported trees and you’re thinking that the economy is suddenly going to turn around and make that sort of over-the-top spending possible again? Sure thing. Neither this monstrosity nor the far-larger leisure and living master plan known as Dubailand that Woods’ project is a part of will ever come to fruition, which means the multiple theme parks, including Universal Studios, Legoland and Six Flags, aren’t going to happen either. Taking all of this in, it’s just unfathomable to think how Dubai ever found itself in such dire financial straits in the first place………
- Before anyone is too hard on the hard-charging dissidents who bum-rushed Cairo's Egyptian Museum Friday night as thousands of Egyptians defied a government curfew for completely missing the point once they entered the museum, just step back at the situation and try to view it from their perspective. After the loathsome riot police, who had fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters all day, suddenly withdrew from the streets at around the start of the curfew, including from their positions guarding Cairo's famed antiquities museum in the heart of the capital, on Tahrir Square, protestors stormed the building. Although the museum had been closed all day because of the street demonstrations, it was still a target once protestors had the freedom to roam as they saw fit. After virtually all police abandoned their posts, "people began to enter the museum," says Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's antiquities department. At that point, there were plenty of possible outcomes for the situation and few of them were good - at least as far as museum officials were concerned. With scores of priceless artifacts unprotected, the financial loss could have been staggering. But bear in mind that we’re not talking about knowledgeable antiquities thieves who know the value of an ancient mask, painting or vase; these are blue-collar, enraged political dissidents looking to do some damage. Some onlookers might rip the intruders for scaling walls, busting through doors and raiding the museum’s gift shop as their kill shot, but not me. I definitely would not call them idiots, which some ignoramuses have done (no names mentioned……cough…..Zahi Hawass……cough). "I'm glad that those people were idiots," Hawass said. "They looted the museum shop. Thank God they thought that the museum shop was the museum." Or they just didn’t want to waste valuable time trying to determine which artifacts were the most valuable or have the hassle of trying to unload them on the black market. Watch an Indiana Jones movie some time and you’ll realize how difficult that task can be. A cynic might view ignoring the Egyptian Museum’s extraordinary collection of ancient treasures, including those from Tutankhamun's tomb, which take up nearly half of the second floor, in lieu of a sphinx-shaped paperweight as shortsighted, but those people are simply missing the point. Just because you have a chance to steal King Tut's exquisite golden death mask, two of his three golden coffins and other pharaonic jewelry, stone statues of pharaohs and ancient Egyptian gods that reach heights of 20 ft. or more; intricately painted sarcophagi; papyri; brilliant blue faience animals and delicate glass objects doesn’t mean you should steal those things. The point was to do damage and send a message, not rob visitors of their chance to see amazing historical artifacts. A group of nine rioters did explore the museum beyond the gift shop, but when they didn’t find the gold they were looking for, they abandoned their quest. Some stick-up-their-butt Cairenes gathered outside in a futile attempt to protect the museum, not realizing that it was an important chess piece in an ongoing battle to overthrow an unjust regime……….
- Before you sit down to watch the Super Bowl this Sunday, it might be wise to consider the physical toll that being a spectator for the NFL’s biggest game may take on your body. No, I’m not referring to your digestive system and circulatory system having to cope with the copious amount of calories in those slices of pizza, fatty chicken wings, potato chips, Funjuns, candy, ice cream and triple cheeseburgers you plan to cram down your pie hole, although those could certainly do plenty of damage in shortening your lifespan. But the bigger issue, assuming that you’re more than a non-football fan tuning in to see the sure-to-disappoint commercials instead of the game itself, could be the impact of rooting for either team on your overall health. A new study published in Monday's edition of the journal Clinical Cardiology, suffering an emotional loss in the Super Bowl may be hazardous to a fan's health. For the study, researcher Robert Kloner, a physician and professor at the University of Southern California, and his team studied cardiac death rates in Los Angeles County after the Los Angeles Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1980 Super Bowl. They found that those cardiac death rates increased after the loss and unlike a previous study linking World Cup soccer game losses to cardiac deaths mostly in men, this study showed death rates increased more for women (27 percent) than for men (15 percent) and older individuals (22 percent). Although overall death rates increased as well, the cardiac death increases were the most dramatic. "The higher rates of female deaths surprised us," explained Kloner. "More and more women are becoming avid sports fans, but some people suggested we think about the interaction between men and women. If a man gets angry and upset (about the loss), that's going to upset a partner." That line of thought inspired Kloner and his team of researchers at the Heart Institute of Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles to examine at death rates in Los Angeles county following the Los Angeles Rams’ 1980 loss and the Los Angeles Raiders’ 1984 victory and compare those rates with death rates during those same periods in non-Super Bowl years. To ensure that they included all potential heart-related deaths, Kroner’s team also looked at deaths from circulatory diseases such as heart failure and ischemic heart disease. What they found was that death rates decreased slightly following the win, most notably in people 65 and older and women and as mentioned, skyrocketed after a loss. This could of course indicate that the cathartic release Los Angelinos achieve by rioting and trying to burn their town to the ground after a win is the secret to peace and tranquility, but that’s just my own quasi-scientific opinion. As for the actual study, Kloner believes a fan's emotional response to a team can be as strong as a connection to a family member and can be a trigger for heart-related death if the person has an underlying heart condition. He feels strongly enough about his findings to issue a slightly cryptic warning for Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers fans heading into Super Bowl XLV on Sunday in Dallas. "Talk to your physician. There might be medicines, such as beta blockers, aspirin or anti-anxiety drugs that can help. Breathing exercises can also help if you find your heart starting to pound," he warns. There’s always the option of putting sports into perspective and not becoming so enraged by the result of a sporting event that you have a heart attack, but that seems like the least likely option for most fans………
- Kim Kardashian is either serious about nudity or she’s schizophrenic, but one or the other. For a chick whose sole qualification to be in the public eye is being hot and who has scored reality shows and many a magazine cover because she has a nice backside and not much else, Kardashian sure is biting the hand that feeds. When she’s not dishing out life wisdom to MTV’s army of teen mothers who populate their bargain-basement reality shows or making sex tapes, she is appearing in W magazine, both on the cover and in a photoshoot by Mark Seliger, in pictures revealing enough to make the issue the second-highest seller of 2010 for the artistic fashion magazine. Those who enjoyed the strategically censored images of Kardashian may not have known how she felt about pictures to which she agreed to have taken and posed for, but the latest episode of Kourtney and Kim Take New York on E! gave plenty of insight into what happened during Kim's silver-body-paint only fashion shoot. "I was naked but fully covered in silver paint," she told her sister Kourtney during the episode. "This artist will put images of architecture and buildings and stuff on top of me so you will see my body shape and the outline but not actually my boobs or anything." But as so often happens when a dumb, naïve girl poses for a photographer who promises her that the photos of her taking off all her clothes will be tasteful and artistic, Kardashian felt differently when the photos arrived. "I'm more naked here than I was in my Playboy," she cried. "I'm so f*cking mad right now...She promised I would be covered with artwork....This is serious porn....You can see nipple." Calm down, KK. It’s not like tons of people haven’t already seen you with your clothes off doing much dirtier things than posing for…..well, you get the point. In the aftermath, an exasperated Kim said through sobs that she will never, EVER take her clothes off for a photographer again. "The whole concept was sold to me that nothing would be seen. I feel so taken advantage of. I've learned my lesson. I'm never taking my clothes off again, even if it's for Vogue," she pouted. It didn’t take very long for her to reverse field on that one, because she soon showed up on teeth-bleaching, man-blouse-wearing, tip-frosting tool Ryan Seacrest’s radio show and said that she now "loved" the images. Score one for crazy……..
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Mystery in the death of a former Pentagon official, weekend movie news and drinks for stoners
- The mystery around former Pentagon official John P. Wheeler III’s death keeps on growing. Ever since Wheeler's body was discovered New Year's Eve at Wilmington's Cherry Island landfill as a sanitation truck was unloading garbage it had picked up from metal trash bins in Newark, Delaware police have struggled to piece together exactly how he died and the circumstances that surrounded his harrowing final hours. On Friday, the Delaware medical examiner's office announced autopsy results whose conclusion was that Wheeler died as a result of blunt force trauma after being assaulted." Results of a toxicology analysis done during the autopsy were not announced, nor have police identified any suspects in the case. "We don't know, ultimately, who was responsible for his death," said Lt. Mark Farrall spokesman for the Newark Police Department. Police have determined that Wheeler was last seen by a surveillance camera in Wilmington at 8:42 p.m. on December 30. On footage recorded near the Nemours Building in Wilmington, Wheeler appears confused and unsteady. Complicating matters further, police are not sure about the circumstances that led him to Newark in the first place. "We don't know how he got to Newark," Farrall explained. "We're still canvassing the area, conducting interviews, checking video surveillance." On Dec. 29, a Wilmington parking lot attendant, Iman Goldsborough, spotted Wheeler when he stumbled into her garage. "It striked me as being odd because he had one shoe in his hand and no coat on," said Goldsborough. A dearth of witnesses and other evidence has stymied the case thus far, which further adds to a sad and tragic ending for the first chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, a man who worked relentlessly to construct the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Wheeler also worked in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Yet now, the thing he will be most known for is a bizarre, peculiar ending to his life, a mystery that may never be solved………
- A bad run for movies continued this weekend……and I’m not only referring to the quality of the films themselves. No, those crappy flicks are in turn producing subpar revenue numbers and this weekend’s results won't do anything to reverse than trend or stem the tide. Even the weekend’s top film turned in an uninspired effort, as Anthony Hopkins latest scare flick, The Rite, scared up a measly $15 million in its opening weekend. That was still enough to beat out the thoroughly awful No Strings Attached, which has the misfortunate of a) having Ashton Kutcher as its star and b) sucking. Strings made $13.7 million in its second weekend and has now made $39.7 million through two weeks of release. Debuting in a disappointing third place was Jason Statham’s latest cookie-cutter action film, The Mechanic, in which he once again plays a mercenary who does dangerous things for money, saves hot girls and blows things up, made $11.51 million in its first weekend. That put it in a virtual dead heat with The Green Horney, which made $11.5 million in its fourth weekend, a 35-percent dropoff from last weekend and yet, still enough to boost the superhero-themed action/comedy to $79 million through three weeks. Rounding out the top five was The King’s Speech, which rode high on the buzz from 12 Oscar nominations and the addition of 877 theaters to raise its earnings by 41 percent from last weekend and make $11.1 million in its tenth weekend of release. Making $72.2 million in 10 weeks might not seem that impressive for a movie, but considering that King’s Speech is still in fewer theaters than any movie above it on this list, I’d make an exception in this case. The rest of the top 10 was comprised of: True Grit (No. 6 with $7.6 million in its sixth weekend and an impressive $148.5 million and counting in its coffers), The Dilemma (still sucking exponentially at No. 7 with $5.5 million and a three-week tally of $40.6 million), Black Swan (No. 8 and dropping a bit for the first time since its release, declining 13 percent but still making $5.1 million to up its running total to $90.7 million for nine weeks), The Fighter (No. 9 with $4.1 million, now having made $78.4 million through eight weeks) and Yogi Bear (No. 10 with $3.2 million and a solid-but-not-overwhelming $92.6 million for its seven weeks of work). Dropping out of the top 10 from last week was Tron Legacy, which checked in at No. 11 this week and remains $3.3 million from turning a profit on its $170 million budget……….
- How convenient that the NFL players union chose now of all times to release a report called "Dangers of the Game of Football" in which it claims the average number of injuries has risen during the 2010 season? I mean, it’s not as if the union is currently engaged in a bitter battle with NFL owners over a new collective bargaining agreement, right? But hey, I’m sure it’s just a giant coincidence. Either way, the report’s most significant claim is that injuries increased from 3.2 to 3.7 per week per team and the share of players injured increased to 63 percent compared to a 2002-09 average of 59 percent. Additionally, the report indicates that 13 percent of all injuries required players to be placed on injured reserve this season, compared to an average of 10 percent for 2002-09. In other words, there are more injuries occurring and those injuries are more serious than ever before. The NFLPA based its findings on data from NFL Weeks 1 through 16 from Football Outsiders, which compiles information from the publicly available weekly injury reports. The league has its own data and those numbers also show more players on IR than in recent years: 464 for the entire season, up from 388 the previous year, 416 in 2008 and 413 in 2007. Predictably, the league was quick to protect its position in CBA negotiations, er, to urge everyone not to overreact to the statistics about the number of players placed in injured reserve on face value. "Every year almost 2,600 players go through the system [32 teams x 80 players going into training camp] and a few hundred are put on injured reserve for different reasons," Aiello said. "That number could include everything from rookies put on IR for the season with injuries of differing severity to players with relatively minor injuries who then reach injury settlements with their teams and are released." You can be certain that you will hear these numbers bandied about often over the next few weeks as the current CBA nears its expiration and the two sides try to position themselves for a favorable new deal. NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith will undoubtedly point to the report’s claim that 37.7 percent of all injuries caused players to miss games and 30 percent of players missed at least some game time, up 1 percent. Asked about the report’s findings at the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald pointed to the ever-increasing size, strength and speed of players as a primary cause. "I think the sheer size and athleticism of guys creates that," Fitzgerald said. "You got a guy moving at that speed, hitting somebody, more damage is going to be done. That's just the way football is. It's a violent game." As the negotiation process moves forward, expect plenty more maneuvers and power plays like this report to come from both sides. The current collective bargaining agreement expires March 4, so time is running out for both sides to get their final jabs in and stake out their positions for what could be a long and bitter work stoppage………
- Rest assured that if there is a way to oppress his people, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez will find it. Thus, it surprises me not at all to hear that a whopping 1,734 violations of private-property rights have been attributed to President Hugo Chavez's government since 2005, according to an advocacy group that promotes economic and personal freedoms in Venezuela (a lost cause if I’ve ever seen one). Now, Liderazgo y Vision (Leadership and Vision) is trying to fend off its own rights being violated after Chavez’s administration has enacted a new law that bans certain vaguely defined organizations from accepting foreign money. In other words, any group that opposes Chavez can't accept money from foreign sources because it would help them spread their message in Venezuela. It fits perfectly with scores of other laws put in place during Chavez’s 12-year reign of terror to clamp down on critics. "There's great uncertainty in Venezuela today because many organizations are in doubt about whether to continue projects that were financed by U.S., European and Asian organizations," said Liderazgo y Vision official Alonso Dominguez. Liderazgo y Vision relies heavily on Venezuelan donors, but Dominguez admits he has also leaned on foreign funding to run courses in leadership training and community policing. Some of that support has come from the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which can't sit well with known U.S. hater Chavez. “Are we to allow political parties, NGOs, figures of the counterrevolution to continue being financed with millions and millions of dollars from the Yankee empire?" Chavez said in a speech in November, a month before his allies in the National Assembly crammed the new legislation down Venezuelans’ throats. The law even came with a catch title: the "Law for the Defense of Political Sovereignty and National Self-determination." It empowers the government to fine a group double the sum it receives from abroad, bar offenders from running for office, and impose similar penalties for inviting foreigners who publicly give "opinions that offend state institutions." All in all, a gross abuse of power and a complete fraud, so well done on the part of one of the world’s worst dictators and his sycophants. Such a generic, undefined and sweeping law gives Chavez more unmitigated power, the one thing a dictator can never have too much of. It’s wording speaks of groups promoting "political rights" and individuals engaging in "political activities" without defining how foreign funding for these might incur prosecution. Chavez’s paranoia of U.S. support for any organization in his country stems almost entirely from the 2002 coup he survived that he believes to have been heavily supported by American sources. He’s also in denial over the current political state of his country, saying in a recent speech, “There is no dictatorship here, nor will there be a dictatorship.” Hugo, look in the dictionary under the word “dictator” and then look in the mirror, amigo………
- Booyah! For all my stoner friends out there, this next story should fire you up…….well, as fired up as a bunch of toked-out, blunted, stoned, über-mellow people can be. As it currently stands, you’re pretty much limited to getting baked the old-fashioned way…..smoking the chronic. Whether you roll a fattie or light up your bong, you’re essentially getting your high the same way. Maybe you bake some into your brownies, but that’s more effort than the average stoner wants to put out. But now, you might just have an option thanks to a California entrepreneur with plans to market a line of medical marijuana soft drinks. With many medical marijuana dispensaries carrying an increasing number of edibles or so called medibles - food products containing THC - and stoners embracing the concept, Daminan Gunther is looking to cash in with a line of beverages by Cana Catering that are sold with the names "Leisurely Lemonade" and "Compassion Fruit Punch." For those who don’t want to bake or munch their way to a nice high, Gunther offers liquid refreshment. "It's really a chill cool drink. It tastes really good," he said. He will soon have competition from a new drink containing THC that will be launched next month in Colorado. That drink is already generating a huge amount of controversy among haters who want to keep it off the shelves. "This should appear to be a legitimate form of medication, not a soda pop that children could easily confuse as a real soda pop," Regional Director of the National Narcotic officer's Association Coalition Bob Cooke said. So what, you want it with giant skull-and-crossbones emblems all over the packaging? If stores can't handle the product responsibly or stoners who buy it can't keep it out of the hands of their kids, then that’s on them and not the company making this innovative new drink. Stop hassling stoners, especially when one of them is innovative enough to come up with something cool and new………
- A bad run for movies continued this weekend……and I’m not only referring to the quality of the films themselves. No, those crappy flicks are in turn producing subpar revenue numbers and this weekend’s results won't do anything to reverse than trend or stem the tide. Even the weekend’s top film turned in an uninspired effort, as Anthony Hopkins latest scare flick, The Rite, scared up a measly $15 million in its opening weekend. That was still enough to beat out the thoroughly awful No Strings Attached, which has the misfortunate of a) having Ashton Kutcher as its star and b) sucking. Strings made $13.7 million in its second weekend and has now made $39.7 million through two weeks of release. Debuting in a disappointing third place was Jason Statham’s latest cookie-cutter action film, The Mechanic, in which he once again plays a mercenary who does dangerous things for money, saves hot girls and blows things up, made $11.51 million in its first weekend. That put it in a virtual dead heat with The Green Horney, which made $11.5 million in its fourth weekend, a 35-percent dropoff from last weekend and yet, still enough to boost the superhero-themed action/comedy to $79 million through three weeks. Rounding out the top five was The King’s Speech, which rode high on the buzz from 12 Oscar nominations and the addition of 877 theaters to raise its earnings by 41 percent from last weekend and make $11.1 million in its tenth weekend of release. Making $72.2 million in 10 weeks might not seem that impressive for a movie, but considering that King’s Speech is still in fewer theaters than any movie above it on this list, I’d make an exception in this case. The rest of the top 10 was comprised of: True Grit (No. 6 with $7.6 million in its sixth weekend and an impressive $148.5 million and counting in its coffers), The Dilemma (still sucking exponentially at No. 7 with $5.5 million and a three-week tally of $40.6 million), Black Swan (No. 8 and dropping a bit for the first time since its release, declining 13 percent but still making $5.1 million to up its running total to $90.7 million for nine weeks), The Fighter (No. 9 with $4.1 million, now having made $78.4 million through eight weeks) and Yogi Bear (No. 10 with $3.2 million and a solid-but-not-overwhelming $92.6 million for its seven weeks of work). Dropping out of the top 10 from last week was Tron Legacy, which checked in at No. 11 this week and remains $3.3 million from turning a profit on its $170 million budget……….
- How convenient that the NFL players union chose now of all times to release a report called "Dangers of the Game of Football" in which it claims the average number of injuries has risen during the 2010 season? I mean, it’s not as if the union is currently engaged in a bitter battle with NFL owners over a new collective bargaining agreement, right? But hey, I’m sure it’s just a giant coincidence. Either way, the report’s most significant claim is that injuries increased from 3.2 to 3.7 per week per team and the share of players injured increased to 63 percent compared to a 2002-09 average of 59 percent. Additionally, the report indicates that 13 percent of all injuries required players to be placed on injured reserve this season, compared to an average of 10 percent for 2002-09. In other words, there are more injuries occurring and those injuries are more serious than ever before. The NFLPA based its findings on data from NFL Weeks 1 through 16 from Football Outsiders, which compiles information from the publicly available weekly injury reports. The league has its own data and those numbers also show more players on IR than in recent years: 464 for the entire season, up from 388 the previous year, 416 in 2008 and 413 in 2007. Predictably, the league was quick to protect its position in CBA negotiations, er, to urge everyone not to overreact to the statistics about the number of players placed in injured reserve on face value. "Every year almost 2,600 players go through the system [32 teams x 80 players going into training camp] and a few hundred are put on injured reserve for different reasons," Aiello said. "That number could include everything from rookies put on IR for the season with injuries of differing severity to players with relatively minor injuries who then reach injury settlements with their teams and are released." You can be certain that you will hear these numbers bandied about often over the next few weeks as the current CBA nears its expiration and the two sides try to position themselves for a favorable new deal. NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith will undoubtedly point to the report’s claim that 37.7 percent of all injuries caused players to miss games and 30 percent of players missed at least some game time, up 1 percent. Asked about the report’s findings at the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald pointed to the ever-increasing size, strength and speed of players as a primary cause. "I think the sheer size and athleticism of guys creates that," Fitzgerald said. "You got a guy moving at that speed, hitting somebody, more damage is going to be done. That's just the way football is. It's a violent game." As the negotiation process moves forward, expect plenty more maneuvers and power plays like this report to come from both sides. The current collective bargaining agreement expires March 4, so time is running out for both sides to get their final jabs in and stake out their positions for what could be a long and bitter work stoppage………
- Rest assured that if there is a way to oppress his people, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez will find it. Thus, it surprises me not at all to hear that a whopping 1,734 violations of private-property rights have been attributed to President Hugo Chavez's government since 2005, according to an advocacy group that promotes economic and personal freedoms in Venezuela (a lost cause if I’ve ever seen one). Now, Liderazgo y Vision (Leadership and Vision) is trying to fend off its own rights being violated after Chavez’s administration has enacted a new law that bans certain vaguely defined organizations from accepting foreign money. In other words, any group that opposes Chavez can't accept money from foreign sources because it would help them spread their message in Venezuela. It fits perfectly with scores of other laws put in place during Chavez’s 12-year reign of terror to clamp down on critics. "There's great uncertainty in Venezuela today because many organizations are in doubt about whether to continue projects that were financed by U.S., European and Asian organizations," said Liderazgo y Vision official Alonso Dominguez. Liderazgo y Vision relies heavily on Venezuelan donors, but Dominguez admits he has also leaned on foreign funding to run courses in leadership training and community policing. Some of that support has come from the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which can't sit well with known U.S. hater Chavez. “Are we to allow political parties, NGOs, figures of the counterrevolution to continue being financed with millions and millions of dollars from the Yankee empire?" Chavez said in a speech in November, a month before his allies in the National Assembly crammed the new legislation down Venezuelans’ throats. The law even came with a catch title: the "Law for the Defense of Political Sovereignty and National Self-determination." It empowers the government to fine a group double the sum it receives from abroad, bar offenders from running for office, and impose similar penalties for inviting foreigners who publicly give "opinions that offend state institutions." All in all, a gross abuse of power and a complete fraud, so well done on the part of one of the world’s worst dictators and his sycophants. Such a generic, undefined and sweeping law gives Chavez more unmitigated power, the one thing a dictator can never have too much of. It’s wording speaks of groups promoting "political rights" and individuals engaging in "political activities" without defining how foreign funding for these might incur prosecution. Chavez’s paranoia of U.S. support for any organization in his country stems almost entirely from the 2002 coup he survived that he believes to have been heavily supported by American sources. He’s also in denial over the current political state of his country, saying in a recent speech, “There is no dictatorship here, nor will there be a dictatorship.” Hugo, look in the dictionary under the word “dictator” and then look in the mirror, amigo………
- Booyah! For all my stoner friends out there, this next story should fire you up…….well, as fired up as a bunch of toked-out, blunted, stoned, über-mellow people can be. As it currently stands, you’re pretty much limited to getting baked the old-fashioned way…..smoking the chronic. Whether you roll a fattie or light up your bong, you’re essentially getting your high the same way. Maybe you bake some into your brownies, but that’s more effort than the average stoner wants to put out. But now, you might just have an option thanks to a California entrepreneur with plans to market a line of medical marijuana soft drinks. With many medical marijuana dispensaries carrying an increasing number of edibles or so called medibles - food products containing THC - and stoners embracing the concept, Daminan Gunther is looking to cash in with a line of beverages by Cana Catering that are sold with the names "Leisurely Lemonade" and "Compassion Fruit Punch." For those who don’t want to bake or munch their way to a nice high, Gunther offers liquid refreshment. "It's really a chill cool drink. It tastes really good," he said. He will soon have competition from a new drink containing THC that will be launched next month in Colorado. That drink is already generating a huge amount of controversy among haters who want to keep it off the shelves. "This should appear to be a legitimate form of medication, not a soda pop that children could easily confuse as a real soda pop," Regional Director of the National Narcotic officer's Association Coalition Bob Cooke said. So what, you want it with giant skull-and-crossbones emblems all over the packaging? If stores can't handle the product responsibly or stoners who buy it can't keep it out of the hands of their kids, then that’s on them and not the company making this innovative new drink. Stop hassling stoners, especially when one of them is innovative enough to come up with something cool and new………
Saturday, January 29, 2011
CBS hits a new sitcom low, riots inspire and Pujols woes in St. Louis
- Could the unthinkable become reality in St. Louis? Could the consensus best player in baseball actually be traded in his prime? No. Scratch that off the list of possible outcomes for the ongoing drama between the aforementioned best in the game, Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, and his team. Even though the two sides are entering the final days in which to negotiate a contract extension for the perennial MVP candidate before his self-imposed deadline of the beginning of spring training, Pujols has made it clear that he will not accept any trade going forward, according to sources. As a 10-and-5 player (ten years in the majors and the last five with the same team), he has the right to veto any possible trade. If the Cardinals were to become desperate as the trading deadline nears this coming season and panic, attempting to trade their star rather than risk losing him via free agency after the season, that option is not available to them - unless Pujols changes his mind. Sources sat that multiple teams have registered their interest in trading for him if he becomes available, but the Cardinals have never really pursued any of that trade discussion. That leaves only two possible outcomes for this saga: Either Pujols signs a contract extension with the Cardinals, or he will become a free agent this coming fall. For now, there is still a small window in which the two sides can operate. Pujols and the Cardinals’ other non-pitchers and catchers will report to spring training on Feb. 19, so three weeks remain in that negotiating timeframe. Pujols made it clear during the offseason that he does not want his agent, Dan Lozano, to discuss a contract with the Cardinals because he doesn't want to have any distractions. Signing him would likely mean a deal along the lines of the 10-year, $275 million deal that Alex Rodriguez signed with the Yankees in fall 2007. Allowing him to leave through free agency would mean the team would receive nothing more than a couple of compensatory draft picks in return and have to face the backlash from angry St. Louis fans, known as the best in baseball. But best fans in the game or not, losing a player who has never failed to hit at least 32 homers or drive in at least 103 runs and has posted an on-base percentage of .403 or better in nine of his 10 seasons would be an exceptionally bitter pill to swallow…………
- How did you celebrate your Martin Luther King Jr. Day? If you’re like most Americans……you didn’t. Maybe you had the day off and slept in or maybe you had to work just like any other day and didn’t give it a second thought. Both of which, by the way, are entirely appropriate and awesome ways to celebrate the life and honor the passing of one of the most important figures in American history. But if you were on the campus of the University of California-Irvine, you could have celebrated the holiday with a possible touch of racist controversy. See, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day cafeteria special at the UC Irvine student union was none other than chicken and waffles, a popular Southern meal and one that is often stereotypically tied to black culture. Predictably, some black students complained that the meal, promoted on placards in Pippin Commons, trivialized their public commemoration of the holiday. Never mind that the man responsible for the menu, a Filipino chef, who took his cue from black students "when he wanted to do something sensitive culturally" for the King holiday menu, asked black students for advice, and they suggested the chicken and waffles combo. Those black students should be the ones with whom the offended black students have a chat, but of course the controversy blew up once it went public and in sparked a complaint from Black Student Union Co-Chair Ricardo Sparks, a Facebook photo, a blog post in the OC Weekly, a story in The Times, an hourlong program forum with listeners on KPCC, and a rant by radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh. UC Irvine spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said she has fielded more calls and e-mails on the subject than on any other she can recall. Perhaps the offended students are up in arms because they are an extremely small minority - 2 percent - on the UC Irvine campus and thus are more sensitive to any sleights, real or perceived. Rather than use the incident as a springboard to any sort of meaningful discussion on racial issues or about the significance of the holiday, it’s good to see that the black students upset with the chicken-and-waffles menu have instead managed to coax the truly valuable treasure of apologies and mea culpas from university officials. Never mind that Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Thomas Parham, who happens to be black, absolved the chef of blame by explaining, "This is a guy who takes great pride in creating 'comfort food' for the students. Somebody who was really trying to do something nice, that was perceived differently by a small group of people. No racist intent, nothing hostile about it.” Score one for oversensitivity and overreaction……….
- Riots as a source of hope? I say yes and for once, I’m not the only one blowing that political trumped. Joining me on the stage for the riot movement is Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who scanned the landscape of billowing smoke, orange flames and angry chants in Egypt and saw hope that those protests could spark the kind of change that has so far evaded his own country. Mousavi compared the uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen with the protest movement that followed the 2009 disputed presidential election in Iran. Now, he may have an ax to grind because he still believes that he was the real winner of that election, but I don’t think he’s out of line in what he’s saying. Mousavi characterized Iran's protest movement as a starting point but nonetheless, one aimed at ending the "oppression of the rulers." To jog your memory, a ginormous wave of protests and riots erupted after the (bogus) re-election of President/dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and gave Iran’s clerical leadership its biggest challenge since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Some of those powerful clerics sided with the opposition, but Ahmadinejad’s iron grip on the country could not be loosed. A massive military crackdown suppressed the protests in an outpouring of blood and violence. Scores of opposition members — from midlevel political figures to street activists, journalists and human rights workers — were arrested and all protests have been stifled in Iran since December 2009. I give Mousavi an immense amount of credit for not being bitter because he had an election stolen from him and his own wave of protests fell short of their desired impact. Instead, he is rooting for the protestors in Egypt to bring change to their country and hoping that their efforts will inspire his people. "Our nation respects and salutes the huge revolution by the brave Tunisian people and the rightful uprising of the Egyptian and Yemeni people," Mousavi said in an interview with an Arab-language Web site. "We demand that God bestow on them victory in their truthful struggle." Not able to leave well enough alone, Iran’s ass-hatted hard-line rulers have attempted to hijack credit for the riots in Egypt, likening them to the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-U.S. shah and brought hardline clerics to power. Ironically, Iran and Egypt broke diplomatic relations in 1979 after Tehran condemned Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for signing the Camp David peace treaty with Israel and despite resuming contact in the late 1980s, they now have interest sections, not embassies, in each other's capitals. The lesson, as always: Never underestimate the power of riots to bring people together………
- Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t we already have technology that keeps a car from starting if the driver is drunk? Courts regularly order breath-test-based ignition locks on vehicles of convicted drunk drivers so they can’t get behind the wheel while hammered (unless a sober friend wants to help them out by breathing into the little tube for them), but that hasn’t stopped researchers in Massachusetts from working on creating the Driver Alcohol Detection Systems for Safety, which would keep impaired drivers off the road by detecting their blood alcohol content through two potential methods. The system would work by analyzing the driver's breath or the driver's skin through touch-based sensors on places like the steering wheel or door locks. If the system detected blood alcohol content above the legal limit of .08, the vehicle would not start. Again, the concept is a near-carbon copy of the alcohol ignition interlock systems that are often court-ordered for convicted drunk drivers, but researchers at QinetiQ North America claim it would be sleeker and less obtrusive. The Massachusetts-based lab, which is developing the technology, said these would be the best methods because they would not add extra steps. The company managed to hook U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood into visiting the lab for a demonstration on Friday. He said afterward that the technology would be " another arrow in our automotive safety quiver" but added that it would not be mandated. In the demonstration, researchers had a woman weighing about 120 pounds tried to start a vehicle after drinking two, 1 1/2 ounce glasses of vodka and orange juice about 30 minutes apart, also eating some cheese and crackers in between. Because he blood alcohol content registered .06, the system allowed her to start the car. Still, including such systems in all new cars would be completely ridiculous and intrusive because people who don’t drink shouldn’t be subjected to having to blow into a tube every time they want to start their vehicle. Big ups to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, which jointly donated $10 million to fund the project that duplicates technology that already exists, but the cynical part of me wonders how much good this new idea will do……….
- Because it just wasn’t scraping the bottom of the sitcom barrel enough with its current slate of crap-tacular half-hour “comedies” (How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men, etc.), CBS has decided to come up with a new, even worse idea for a sitcom and base it on one of the most arrogant and detestable voices in the world of broadcasting: ESPN talk show host Colin Cowherd. Cowherd, who typically takes incredibly asinine positions on issues just to generate controversy so people will listen to his horrible show and whose attempts at comedy are forced and artificial, has apparently inspired a comedy project at CBS. The network has inexplicably ordered a pilot that focuses Cowherd’s life and work as an obnoxious sports talk show host. As if hosting a terrible radio show wasn’t enough, Cowherd will also produce this sure-to-be-train-wreck of a sitcom, although that may not be much of an issue because once it debuts to horrible ratings he won't have to devote any additional effort to the canceled show. The show’s writing and producing team also includes Bill Martin and Mike Schiff (Grounded for Life), as well as the non-writing producing team of Eric and Kim Tannenbaum. Hope you all enjoy being part of what could the worst sitcoms ever to hit the air. But hey, some of the other new comedy pilots CBS has ordered for next season could be as bad or worse, including one about a man who opts to take a more candid approach to life following a life-changing experience, and a workplace ensemble centered around the young people who work at a high-powered venture capital firm. See, even in the darkest of times, there always remains a glimmer of hope……….
- How did you celebrate your Martin Luther King Jr. Day? If you’re like most Americans……you didn’t. Maybe you had the day off and slept in or maybe you had to work just like any other day and didn’t give it a second thought. Both of which, by the way, are entirely appropriate and awesome ways to celebrate the life and honor the passing of one of the most important figures in American history. But if you were on the campus of the University of California-Irvine, you could have celebrated the holiday with a possible touch of racist controversy. See, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day cafeteria special at the UC Irvine student union was none other than chicken and waffles, a popular Southern meal and one that is often stereotypically tied to black culture. Predictably, some black students complained that the meal, promoted on placards in Pippin Commons, trivialized their public commemoration of the holiday. Never mind that the man responsible for the menu, a Filipino chef, who took his cue from black students "when he wanted to do something sensitive culturally" for the King holiday menu, asked black students for advice, and they suggested the chicken and waffles combo. Those black students should be the ones with whom the offended black students have a chat, but of course the controversy blew up once it went public and in sparked a complaint from Black Student Union Co-Chair Ricardo Sparks, a Facebook photo, a blog post in the OC Weekly, a story in The Times, an hourlong program forum with listeners on KPCC, and a rant by radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh. UC Irvine spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said she has fielded more calls and e-mails on the subject than on any other she can recall. Perhaps the offended students are up in arms because they are an extremely small minority - 2 percent - on the UC Irvine campus and thus are more sensitive to any sleights, real or perceived. Rather than use the incident as a springboard to any sort of meaningful discussion on racial issues or about the significance of the holiday, it’s good to see that the black students upset with the chicken-and-waffles menu have instead managed to coax the truly valuable treasure of apologies and mea culpas from university officials. Never mind that Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Thomas Parham, who happens to be black, absolved the chef of blame by explaining, "This is a guy who takes great pride in creating 'comfort food' for the students. Somebody who was really trying to do something nice, that was perceived differently by a small group of people. No racist intent, nothing hostile about it.” Score one for oversensitivity and overreaction……….
- Riots as a source of hope? I say yes and for once, I’m not the only one blowing that political trumped. Joining me on the stage for the riot movement is Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who scanned the landscape of billowing smoke, orange flames and angry chants in Egypt and saw hope that those protests could spark the kind of change that has so far evaded his own country. Mousavi compared the uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen with the protest movement that followed the 2009 disputed presidential election in Iran. Now, he may have an ax to grind because he still believes that he was the real winner of that election, but I don’t think he’s out of line in what he’s saying. Mousavi characterized Iran's protest movement as a starting point but nonetheless, one aimed at ending the "oppression of the rulers." To jog your memory, a ginormous wave of protests and riots erupted after the (bogus) re-election of President/dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and gave Iran’s clerical leadership its biggest challenge since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Some of those powerful clerics sided with the opposition, but Ahmadinejad’s iron grip on the country could not be loosed. A massive military crackdown suppressed the protests in an outpouring of blood and violence. Scores of opposition members — from midlevel political figures to street activists, journalists and human rights workers — were arrested and all protests have been stifled in Iran since December 2009. I give Mousavi an immense amount of credit for not being bitter because he had an election stolen from him and his own wave of protests fell short of their desired impact. Instead, he is rooting for the protestors in Egypt to bring change to their country and hoping that their efforts will inspire his people. "Our nation respects and salutes the huge revolution by the brave Tunisian people and the rightful uprising of the Egyptian and Yemeni people," Mousavi said in an interview with an Arab-language Web site. "We demand that God bestow on them victory in their truthful struggle." Not able to leave well enough alone, Iran’s ass-hatted hard-line rulers have attempted to hijack credit for the riots in Egypt, likening them to the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-U.S. shah and brought hardline clerics to power. Ironically, Iran and Egypt broke diplomatic relations in 1979 after Tehran condemned Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for signing the Camp David peace treaty with Israel and despite resuming contact in the late 1980s, they now have interest sections, not embassies, in each other's capitals. The lesson, as always: Never underestimate the power of riots to bring people together………
- Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t we already have technology that keeps a car from starting if the driver is drunk? Courts regularly order breath-test-based ignition locks on vehicles of convicted drunk drivers so they can’t get behind the wheel while hammered (unless a sober friend wants to help them out by breathing into the little tube for them), but that hasn’t stopped researchers in Massachusetts from working on creating the Driver Alcohol Detection Systems for Safety, which would keep impaired drivers off the road by detecting their blood alcohol content through two potential methods. The system would work by analyzing the driver's breath or the driver's skin through touch-based sensors on places like the steering wheel or door locks. If the system detected blood alcohol content above the legal limit of .08, the vehicle would not start. Again, the concept is a near-carbon copy of the alcohol ignition interlock systems that are often court-ordered for convicted drunk drivers, but researchers at QinetiQ North America claim it would be sleeker and less obtrusive. The Massachusetts-based lab, which is developing the technology, said these would be the best methods because they would not add extra steps. The company managed to hook U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood into visiting the lab for a demonstration on Friday. He said afterward that the technology would be " another arrow in our automotive safety quiver" but added that it would not be mandated. In the demonstration, researchers had a woman weighing about 120 pounds tried to start a vehicle after drinking two, 1 1/2 ounce glasses of vodka and orange juice about 30 minutes apart, also eating some cheese and crackers in between. Because he blood alcohol content registered .06, the system allowed her to start the car. Still, including such systems in all new cars would be completely ridiculous and intrusive because people who don’t drink shouldn’t be subjected to having to blow into a tube every time they want to start their vehicle. Big ups to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, which jointly donated $10 million to fund the project that duplicates technology that already exists, but the cynical part of me wonders how much good this new idea will do……….
- Because it just wasn’t scraping the bottom of the sitcom barrel enough with its current slate of crap-tacular half-hour “comedies” (How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men, etc.), CBS has decided to come up with a new, even worse idea for a sitcom and base it on one of the most arrogant and detestable voices in the world of broadcasting: ESPN talk show host Colin Cowherd. Cowherd, who typically takes incredibly asinine positions on issues just to generate controversy so people will listen to his horrible show and whose attempts at comedy are forced and artificial, has apparently inspired a comedy project at CBS. The network has inexplicably ordered a pilot that focuses Cowherd’s life and work as an obnoxious sports talk show host. As if hosting a terrible radio show wasn’t enough, Cowherd will also produce this sure-to-be-train-wreck of a sitcom, although that may not be much of an issue because once it debuts to horrible ratings he won't have to devote any additional effort to the canceled show. The show’s writing and producing team also includes Bill Martin and Mike Schiff (Grounded for Life), as well as the non-writing producing team of Eric and Kim Tannenbaum. Hope you all enjoy being part of what could the worst sitcoms ever to hit the air. But hey, some of the other new comedy pilots CBS has ordered for next season could be as bad or worse, including one about a man who opts to take a more candid approach to life following a life-changing experience, and a workplace ensemble centered around the young people who work at a high-powered venture capital firm. See, even in the darkest of times, there always remains a glimmer of hope……….
Friday, January 28, 2011
Rock cookbooks, Riot Watch! has an epic day in Egypt and two ulcers can't stop an All-Star
- While I’m not sure what qualifies one to write a cookbook, I know one thing you most definitely do not need: a strong musical resume of well-written, high-quality songs that don’t put people to sleep. If that were one of the prerequisites for penning your own book of recipes, then suffice it to say that Sheryl Crow would be nowhere near a cookbook. Instead, she’s playing off one of her better-known (and yet still crappy) songs, If It Makes You Happy, and coming out with a cookbook on March 29 called If It Makes You Healthy, which losers who preorder things that will in no way, shape or form ever be in danger of running out of supplies if they waited and ordered when the item was actually available can now preorder on Amazon. Seeing that she has a cookbook, you might think that Crow enjoys spending time in the kitchen and at least fancies herself as something of an amateur chef. Not so, she says. The book is actually co-written by her personal chef, Chuck White, which was a wise choice because in a video to promote the book, Crow admits she doesn’t really have many culinary skills. "I'm not that comfortable in the kitchen, I'd much rather be in the studio,” she explains. White has been Crow’s personal chef since she was battling breast cancer and she credits him with teaching her about healthy eating. What can one expect if he or she throws away their hard-earned money on this tome? According to Crow, the book is 125 "rock-and- roll flavored" recipes and is arranged seasonally. Presumably, it will be easier to suffer through than one of her albums………
- RIOT WATCH! RIOT WATCH! Sorry for the ALL CAPS, but an epic day of rioting deserves that sort of emphasis, especially when the entire world knew that day of rioting was coming and no one could do anything to prevent it. The scene in Egypt today truly was epic as darkness fell and thousands of angry Egyptians defied a government curfew, shook off police tear gas and marched through the streets of Cairo and other cities demanding change. Even as thick-headed haters like the United States government tried to encourage Egyptians to show restraint in their protesting, the sounds of gunfire and outraged citizens were the order of the day. Even though the Egyptian government knew Friday’s uprising was coming, they were still fighting an uphill battle against tens of thousands of livid locals who clashed with thousands of riot and plain-clothes police and the force of the army in armored personnel carriers equipped with gun turrets. That show of force could not back down rioters, who fought back by chanting, screaming, throwing rocks, lighting things on fire and causing as much mayhem as possible. Ironically, it was embattled President Hosni Mubarak who imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. Mubarak’s ouster is one of the main ends that protsters are demanding, so it’s fitting that he would be the one to tell them that couldn’t gather due to the "hooliganism and lawlessness" of the protesters over the past few days. If it doesn’t fire you up to see vVans packed with riot police driving around Cairo neighborhoods before the start of weekly prayers in the afternoon, followed by Egyptian soldiers filling the streets and still have that not be enough to stop the people from taking to the streets……then I’m afraid you don’t have a pulse. This is the first time the army has been deployed to quell unrest since 1985, so it’s something of a momentous occasion. Responding with riots, marches and chants of "God is Great" and “Down, Down, Mubarak" darn near brings a tear to the eye of this riot lover. Setting the ruling political party’s headquarters on fire and then watching smoke billow over the Nile also make for a great day of rioting. After spending the entire day firing tear gas, one has to wonder if police in Cairo have any left. In between firing off canisters, police were busy thieving cameras from tourists who dared to take pictures of the action. Thankfully, no protestors heeded the advice of U.S. Secretary of State Hank Clinton, who urged dissidents to “refrain from violence and express themselves peacefully." Cairo may have been ground zero for the riots, but things were also hopping in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, where at least 1,000 protesters gathered and chucked rocks through black clouds of gas. The same scene unfolded in Suez, where 15,000 riot police were out, using tear gas to disperse crowds. Other protests and riots too place in Ismailia, Fayoum and Shbin Elkoum, according to the anti-government group Egyptian Liberation. From start to finish, it was an inspiring and uplifting day of riots and here’s hoping the rage just keeps on flowing………
- The jury may still be out on whether Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was tough enough during Sunday’s NFC championship game when he could not play the bulk of the second half due to what was later diagnosed as a second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, but no one in the Windy City should be questioning the toughness of Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose right now, not after the All-Star missed practice the past two days, spent Wednesday in the hospital undergoing tests for what he thought was heartburn, was diagnosed with two ulcers and yet was still fighting to get on the court for Friday night’s showdown with the Orlando Magic. "I will have to see when I get down [to the United Center]," Rose said. "More than likely I am [playing]. [I'm] just a little fatigued, but I should be fine." Having an ulcer seems odd for a guy who is barely old enough to drink, but the pressure of being an NBA star is definitely something that could weigh on a guy. Battling two ulcers, Rose must now keep close tabs on what he eats. He said Thursday that he's been drinking shakes and smoothies and is on medication, which has caused him to lose six pounds. "It still hurts, but this is a game that I love, so I should be able to play," Rose said. "I've been eating portions of things, but I haven't had a whole meal in three or four days. Still very sore, but it's something I've just got to fight through ... I'm just waiting for it to heal a little bit more so I can feel better." The Bulls have to hope he can go because replacing an All-Star who averages 24.6 points, 8.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game is a near-impossible task. Replacing that same player against one of the best teams in the NBA could lead to a beatdown on the scoreboard………
- Typically, passengers can't wait to get off the subway or train in New York City. Not many people enjoy riding public transit even though it’s definitely the way to go in NYC and not nearly as dirty, dangerous or scary as many make it out to be. But for nearly 100 people booted from the N and Q trains at 2 a.m. in a snowstorm Wednesday near the Coney Island station, getting off the train was the last thing they wanted to do. Around midnight, passengers boarded the train at various stops and it inched along, stopped a few times, then at 2 a.m., it reached the Coney Island station. There, passenger Charlie Oliver of Manhattan and his fellow riders were told to get off. "There's no excuse for the lack of communication and there's never any excuse for lack of respect," Oliver stated. "Finally, they say everybody off, get off the train, that's how nice they were too." Railway officials clearly did not want a repeat of the incident that occurred back on Dec. 26, when hundreds of passengers were stuck on a train in between stations for seven hours during a blizzard. When the conductor ordered everyone off the train and into the snow, the angry mob turned on him and refused to go. "Everyone came at him and I said, dude, you're going to kick us out in the snow? He said, take a cab," Oliver recalled. Eventually, passengers were able to reason with the conductor and convince him to allow them to spend the night in the train. And so for four hours, an entire train full of people hung out and waited for the train to start moving again. That finally occurred around 6 a.m. in the aftermath, MTA Chairman Jay Walder defended the response to the situation by saying that MTA officials didn't expect such a large amount of snow. "We worked to be able to move trains into a station where people could leave the train and be able to or get assistance or go to whatever they were doing," Walder offered. Sounds like you fell a bit short on this one………
- The pursuit may be futile, but don’t tell the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its Dutch counterpart BREIN that shutting down 51 torrent sites this month is a waste of time. The two groups formed up for a joint effort that also involved the sites' hosting providers to take them offline, thinking that doing so would stop Internet users from illegally sharing files and scoring pirated copies of movies and television shows. Neither the MPAA nor BREIN was willing to say which sites were shut down, only that 12 of them were in the United States and 39 were in the Netherlands. On the Dutch side, BREIN stated that the torrent sites in question published links to copyrighted movies, leading it and the MPAA to send copyright infringement letters to the sites' hosts. Taking down 51 sites seems impressive on the surface and overall, the organizations claim they have shut down a total of 665. Tech analysts put the number at closer to 1,000, but whatever the number is, it makes no difference. Shutting down torrent sites is like going through your yard in the summer and ripping out dandelions. For every one you cut down, two or three more will spring up in its place. Besides, none of the sites shut down thus far have been major enough to register on the Internet radar. There have been no reports of complaints of major file-sharing sites going down, so the MPAA and BREIN probably shouldn’t celebrate all that vociferously. Google has also joined the battle, announcing Thursday that it has stopped autocompleting searches for certain torrent-related keywords. Sites like BitTorrent, RapidShare, uTorrent. Oh no, not that! Anything but not autocompleting search queries. The lingering question in all of this is why the shuttered sites aren’t being named. BREIN director Tim Kuik explained that it's meant to keep them from being found elsewhere if they pop up under new domains. "New sites are popping up, but we take these down faster and faster so they can’t gain an audience,” Kuik said in a statement posted to BREIN's Dutch-language website. "Our goal is to limit the availability of illegal sites so people rather use legal platforms. BREIN doesn’t publish any names because some sites relocate and start over elsewhere." Hmm…..reading those comments almost makes it sound like you believe that you’re winning this battle. Keep on believing that if it makes you feel better………
- RIOT WATCH! RIOT WATCH! Sorry for the ALL CAPS, but an epic day of rioting deserves that sort of emphasis, especially when the entire world knew that day of rioting was coming and no one could do anything to prevent it. The scene in Egypt today truly was epic as darkness fell and thousands of angry Egyptians defied a government curfew, shook off police tear gas and marched through the streets of Cairo and other cities demanding change. Even as thick-headed haters like the United States government tried to encourage Egyptians to show restraint in their protesting, the sounds of gunfire and outraged citizens were the order of the day. Even though the Egyptian government knew Friday’s uprising was coming, they were still fighting an uphill battle against tens of thousands of livid locals who clashed with thousands of riot and plain-clothes police and the force of the army in armored personnel carriers equipped with gun turrets. That show of force could not back down rioters, who fought back by chanting, screaming, throwing rocks, lighting things on fire and causing as much mayhem as possible. Ironically, it was embattled President Hosni Mubarak who imposed a nationwide curfew from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. Mubarak’s ouster is one of the main ends that protsters are demanding, so it’s fitting that he would be the one to tell them that couldn’t gather due to the "hooliganism and lawlessness" of the protesters over the past few days. If it doesn’t fire you up to see vVans packed with riot police driving around Cairo neighborhoods before the start of weekly prayers in the afternoon, followed by Egyptian soldiers filling the streets and still have that not be enough to stop the people from taking to the streets……then I’m afraid you don’t have a pulse. This is the first time the army has been deployed to quell unrest since 1985, so it’s something of a momentous occasion. Responding with riots, marches and chants of "God is Great" and “Down, Down, Mubarak" darn near brings a tear to the eye of this riot lover. Setting the ruling political party’s headquarters on fire and then watching smoke billow over the Nile also make for a great day of rioting. After spending the entire day firing tear gas, one has to wonder if police in Cairo have any left. In between firing off canisters, police were busy thieving cameras from tourists who dared to take pictures of the action. Thankfully, no protestors heeded the advice of U.S. Secretary of State Hank Clinton, who urged dissidents to “refrain from violence and express themselves peacefully." Cairo may have been ground zero for the riots, but things were also hopping in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, where at least 1,000 protesters gathered and chucked rocks through black clouds of gas. The same scene unfolded in Suez, where 15,000 riot police were out, using tear gas to disperse crowds. Other protests and riots too place in Ismailia, Fayoum and Shbin Elkoum, according to the anti-government group Egyptian Liberation. From start to finish, it was an inspiring and uplifting day of riots and here’s hoping the rage just keeps on flowing………
- The jury may still be out on whether Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was tough enough during Sunday’s NFC championship game when he could not play the bulk of the second half due to what was later diagnosed as a second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, but no one in the Windy City should be questioning the toughness of Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose right now, not after the All-Star missed practice the past two days, spent Wednesday in the hospital undergoing tests for what he thought was heartburn, was diagnosed with two ulcers and yet was still fighting to get on the court for Friday night’s showdown with the Orlando Magic. "I will have to see when I get down [to the United Center]," Rose said. "More than likely I am [playing]. [I'm] just a little fatigued, but I should be fine." Having an ulcer seems odd for a guy who is barely old enough to drink, but the pressure of being an NBA star is definitely something that could weigh on a guy. Battling two ulcers, Rose must now keep close tabs on what he eats. He said Thursday that he's been drinking shakes and smoothies and is on medication, which has caused him to lose six pounds. "It still hurts, but this is a game that I love, so I should be able to play," Rose said. "I've been eating portions of things, but I haven't had a whole meal in three or four days. Still very sore, but it's something I've just got to fight through ... I'm just waiting for it to heal a little bit more so I can feel better." The Bulls have to hope he can go because replacing an All-Star who averages 24.6 points, 8.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game is a near-impossible task. Replacing that same player against one of the best teams in the NBA could lead to a beatdown on the scoreboard………
- Typically, passengers can't wait to get off the subway or train in New York City. Not many people enjoy riding public transit even though it’s definitely the way to go in NYC and not nearly as dirty, dangerous or scary as many make it out to be. But for nearly 100 people booted from the N and Q trains at 2 a.m. in a snowstorm Wednesday near the Coney Island station, getting off the train was the last thing they wanted to do. Around midnight, passengers boarded the train at various stops and it inched along, stopped a few times, then at 2 a.m., it reached the Coney Island station. There, passenger Charlie Oliver of Manhattan and his fellow riders were told to get off. "There's no excuse for the lack of communication and there's never any excuse for lack of respect," Oliver stated. "Finally, they say everybody off, get off the train, that's how nice they were too." Railway officials clearly did not want a repeat of the incident that occurred back on Dec. 26, when hundreds of passengers were stuck on a train in between stations for seven hours during a blizzard. When the conductor ordered everyone off the train and into the snow, the angry mob turned on him and refused to go. "Everyone came at him and I said, dude, you're going to kick us out in the snow? He said, take a cab," Oliver recalled. Eventually, passengers were able to reason with the conductor and convince him to allow them to spend the night in the train. And so for four hours, an entire train full of people hung out and waited for the train to start moving again. That finally occurred around 6 a.m. in the aftermath, MTA Chairman Jay Walder defended the response to the situation by saying that MTA officials didn't expect such a large amount of snow. "We worked to be able to move trains into a station where people could leave the train and be able to or get assistance or go to whatever they were doing," Walder offered. Sounds like you fell a bit short on this one………
- The pursuit may be futile, but don’t tell the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its Dutch counterpart BREIN that shutting down 51 torrent sites this month is a waste of time. The two groups formed up for a joint effort that also involved the sites' hosting providers to take them offline, thinking that doing so would stop Internet users from illegally sharing files and scoring pirated copies of movies and television shows. Neither the MPAA nor BREIN was willing to say which sites were shut down, only that 12 of them were in the United States and 39 were in the Netherlands. On the Dutch side, BREIN stated that the torrent sites in question published links to copyrighted movies, leading it and the MPAA to send copyright infringement letters to the sites' hosts. Taking down 51 sites seems impressive on the surface and overall, the organizations claim they have shut down a total of 665. Tech analysts put the number at closer to 1,000, but whatever the number is, it makes no difference. Shutting down torrent sites is like going through your yard in the summer and ripping out dandelions. For every one you cut down, two or three more will spring up in its place. Besides, none of the sites shut down thus far have been major enough to register on the Internet radar. There have been no reports of complaints of major file-sharing sites going down, so the MPAA and BREIN probably shouldn’t celebrate all that vociferously. Google has also joined the battle, announcing Thursday that it has stopped autocompleting searches for certain torrent-related keywords. Sites like BitTorrent, RapidShare, uTorrent. Oh no, not that! Anything but not autocompleting search queries. The lingering question in all of this is why the shuttered sites aren’t being named. BREIN director Tim Kuik explained that it's meant to keep them from being found elsewhere if they pop up under new domains. "New sites are popping up, but we take these down faster and faster so they can’t gain an audience,” Kuik said in a statement posted to BREIN's Dutch-language website. "Our goal is to limit the availability of illegal sites so people rather use legal platforms. BREIN doesn’t publish any names because some sites relocate and start over elsewhere." Hmm…..reading those comments almost makes it sound like you believe that you’re winning this battle. Keep on believing that if it makes you feel better………
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Question Taco Bell's beef, proposing over the phone and Will Ferrell on "The Office"
- There are just certain things in life that you don’t want to do over the phone. Breaking up with someone is one of those things, firing them from a job is another and delivering really bad personal news is one more. Oh, and add proposing to your girlfriend to that list as well. Unfortunately, there are simply times when having important talks over the phone cannot be avoided. For soldiers serving overseas, that reality hits home quickly. So if you want to propose to your special lady friend but are currently deployed in a foreign country, what can you do? You just might have to propose by phone……but even in that case, you probably want to make sure that a) you have the right number and b) that you talk to your girl directly instead of leaving a voicemail. Those words of wisdom would have been very helpful to an unidentified American soldier, evidently deployed in Afghanistan, who called a woman he believed to be his girlfriend on Thursday and proposed to her. What he actually did was call Diane Potts, a 44-year-old mother of three who lives in the northern English city of Gateshead, and ask for her hand in marriage. Thinking Potts was his girlfriend Samantha, the solider laid his heart on the line in a message on Potts’ answering machine. How he didn’t pick up on the fact that he had dialed a British number and could well have heard an outgoing message with a British accent (unless Potts just goes with the factory installed robot voice that comes on the answering machine), I don’t know. But when Potts came home last Thursday and checked her answering machine, she was greeted with this: "I love you so much, I love you with all my heart and I was going to ask you, don’t answer, obviously you can’t answer, but will you marry me?" Potts explained that she ascertained that the man was speaking from a phone booth because the line was static-y. The truly sad note in all of this is that this poor guy likely has no idea of the mistake he’s made. He probably thinks that he’s proposed to the girl he loves and is waiting to get word from her, but she has no idea and unless whoever Samantha is sees the story, realizes what’s going on and responds, it could be a long time before the unfortunate solider is able to call home again. Further tugging on the heart strings, the soldier goes on in his message to speak emotionally about losing a comrade in recent fighting. "One of my guys has just been blown up, so I feel sad, I really feel sad," he explained on the tape. The mystery soldier also hinted that his girlfriend is pregnant, so that might help to narrow the search. "I can’t wait until you give birth to my baby, my little soldier," he says. "I will do everything in my heart and I will try my hardest to fight to protect you. I've got to go back out here now. I love you with all my heart, don't ever forget that, I love you, all right Samantha, I love you, bye, bye." Give credit to Potts for doing everything she can to assist in the search and get the word out so this story has a chance for a happy ending……….
- Did you have a megacity on your Christmas list and see that wish go unfulfilled? If so, you’re not alone. Several cities in southern China, that dream is still out there and may soon become reality. A plan is in place for combining nine cities to create an urban area the size of New Jersey and Vermont combined. Local leaders announced the plan through state media and laid out a plan that would unite several existing cities in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region, including Guangzhou (12 million), Shenzhen (8.6 million), Dongguan (6.9 million) and six smaller cities. Together, those cities account for 10 percent of China’s economy, so put together they could definitely be a dynamic force. Rolling all of that economic might into a city the size of Switzerland could have a great impact or it could cause a lot of problems trying to run and police a municipality of that size. After all, New York City is a city of six million people and keeping it policed and running smoothly is no small task. The populations of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan alone would have more than quadruple the population of Manhattan if they were combined. Considering that China is currently pummeling the United States in most every statistic and measure that matters and that they own a massive chunk of our national debt, maybe it’s time we start taking their cue and steal their ideas. In other words, let’s roll L.A., San Diego and a few of the smaller cities in southern California into one giant city and see how that works for us……….
- It’s been too long since our last egotistical boast from the agent of an NFL player and in these times of need, who can we call upon to fill that void in our sporting lives? Agent Drew Rosenhaus, that’s who! Leave it to the game’s ultimate blowhard to spew all sorts of sunshine up our butts when it comes to one of the players he represents, even if that player is a former elite wide receiver who has spent the past two years behind bars on a gun conviction for blasting a hole in his own leg at a Manhattan nightclub. Of course, the receiver in question is Plaxico Burress, the former New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers receiver who was sentenced to two years in prison on a gun charge and is scheduled to be released on June 6 if he receives credited time for good behavior. According to Rosenhaus, Burress has received interest from multiple teams and claimed back in November that those teams have stayed in contact with him about the availability of Burress while the receiver finishes his prison sentence. Rosenhaus predicted Wednesday that his client will be playing in the NFL next season…..assuming that there is no lockout by the owners and a season actually takes place. "I am not a big advocate of making predictions on teams because so much can change, but I am not afraid to make the following prediction: Plaxico Burress will be playing in 2011," Rosenhaus said. "And he will play very well. And it will be a very happy ending to a very tough, tough story for him." Geez, way to make it sound like the guy is a victim who has been horribly wronged instead of an idiot who showed up at a club, tucked a loaded gun (with the safety off) into the waistband of his sweatpants and shot himself in the leg, then had a teammate drive him to the emergency room for medical care and lied to the doctor about who he was in an attempt to keep the shooting quiet. It seems like much longer than three years since Burress caught the winning touchdown for the Giants over the New England Patriots in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl, but it really has been just 36 months. Rosenhaus is extremely optimistic about the prospects for a player who will be 34 when next season begins and hasn't played since the 2008 season, especially with the multiple examples we have of how players struggle to regain their past form in their first year post-incarceration. Even Michael Vick, who had an amazing season this year - his second post-prison - struggled in his first year out of the clink. Working in Burress’ favor is that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has ruled that Burress would be reinstated and eligible to sign with a team upon completing his sentence for attempted criminal possession of a weapon. His time in prison has been mostly mundane and he has had a satisfactory record, with one "misbehavior report" that cost him a week of phone privileges and 30 days of recreation privileges. He applied for work release twice and was turned down, but come June he will be a free man and we’ll see if Rosenhaus’ ridiculous predictions come true………
- For months now, speculation has been building to a fever pitch over who will replace Steve Carrell on NBC’s hit comedy “The Office.” Carrell made his plans to leave the show known last year and fans went into this season know it would be his last. Show officials have since explain that Carell's Michael Scott character will be gradually phased out in the latter stages of the season and that by the season finale, he will be gone so that the focus of the finale is not solely on his departure and other characters can shine. Still, Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch needs a manager and someone has to fill that void. Thus far, NBC and the show’s producers have been tight-lipped about who that person will be and have suggested that Michael Scott’s replacement could come from within Dunder Mifflin or from outside. Getting a comedy heavyweight seems like a long shot, or at least it did before NBC announced that none other than Will Ferrell will play a visiting branch manager for several episodes this season. That comes on the heels of last week’s revelation that comic Ricky Gervais -- the creator and star of the original, British version of "The Office" -- would make a cameo on tonight's episode. While Gervais is definitely not in the running to replace Carrell, landing Ferrell would be a huge boost for the show. That’s precisely why landing him is such a long shot. Carrell is leaving so he can devote more time to his movie career and it seems highly unlikely that an A-lister like Ferrell (even though many of his films bomb out at the box office) would tie himself down to a regular television gig for any length of time. Doing a few episodes every now and then is one thing, but becoming an integral cast member is something else entirely. As for his character this season, reports claim that Ferrell's character will be "just as inappropriate" as Michael Scott, which should make for some funny television………
- I freaking knew it! For years now, I have refused to dine at Taco Bell because of the quasi-meat product they jam into their tacos, burritos, enchiladas, Mexican pizzas, etc. Big ups to Amanda Obney, a California woman who has filed a lawsuit in a California federal court claiming that the fast food chain’s meat is only 36 percent beef. In the suit, filed by the Montgomery (Ala.) law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles , Obney claimswhat Taco Bell calls “beef” doesn’t meet the minimum requirements set by the USDA to be called “beef," “seasoned ground beef” or anything similar. Coincidentally, Obney is a former Taco Bell manager and she might have a bit of insight into what the quasi-Mexican food eatery serves. Her claims drew an angry response from Taco Bell president Greg Creed, who called the class-action "bogus and filled with completely inaccurate facts." His response came in an official Taco Bell statement that also says the company’s beef contains 88 percent USDA-inspected quality beef. The class-action lawsuit against the company is technically for false advertising in the promotion of its beef items. “The lawyers got their facts wrong. We take this attack on our quality very seriously and plan to take legal action against them for making false statements about our products," Creed fumed. If the facts are wrong, it’s because the lab that Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles had test the samples Obney provided to them either made a mistake in its testing or deliberately falsified results. Obney’s attorneys stated that rather than beef, Taco Bell’s “beef” items are actually made with a substance known as “taco meat filling.” Worth noting in all of this is what Obney is seeking in the lawsuit. She is not asking for monetary damages, but simply that Taco Bell be honest in its advertising to consumers. What is taco meat filling? According to an ingredient list for the substance, it contains: Beef, water, isolated oat product, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats (wheat), soy lecithin, sugar, spices, maltodextrin (a polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose), soybean oil (anti-dusting agent), garlic powder, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, caramel color, cocoa powder, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), natural flavors, yeast, modified corn starch, natural smoke flavor, salt, sodium phosphate, less than 2% of beef broth, potassium phosphate, and potassium lactate. Wow….that is a long list. As someone who has long questioned the meat merits of the supposed beef Taco Bell uses, I have to admit that I’m not surprised over allegations that Taco Bell saves money by adding fillers because beef is the most expensive ingredient in their products. Even if the company follows through on its vows to take legal action against the “false statements” being made about its food, I’m going to need some hardcore evidence if I’m to believe that they are telling the truth. Creed cannot simply expect us to accept at face value his assertion that Taco Bell simmers 100 percent U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected beef in a “proprietary blend of seasonings and spices” to give it a signature taste and texture. Either way, I think I’ll keep on avoiding the Bell just to be safe………..
- Did you have a megacity on your Christmas list and see that wish go unfulfilled? If so, you’re not alone. Several cities in southern China, that dream is still out there and may soon become reality. A plan is in place for combining nine cities to create an urban area the size of New Jersey and Vermont combined. Local leaders announced the plan through state media and laid out a plan that would unite several existing cities in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region, including Guangzhou (12 million), Shenzhen (8.6 million), Dongguan (6.9 million) and six smaller cities. Together, those cities account for 10 percent of China’s economy, so put together they could definitely be a dynamic force. Rolling all of that economic might into a city the size of Switzerland could have a great impact or it could cause a lot of problems trying to run and police a municipality of that size. After all, New York City is a city of six million people and keeping it policed and running smoothly is no small task. The populations of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan alone would have more than quadruple the population of Manhattan if they were combined. Considering that China is currently pummeling the United States in most every statistic and measure that matters and that they own a massive chunk of our national debt, maybe it’s time we start taking their cue and steal their ideas. In other words, let’s roll L.A., San Diego and a few of the smaller cities in southern California into one giant city and see how that works for us……….
- It’s been too long since our last egotistical boast from the agent of an NFL player and in these times of need, who can we call upon to fill that void in our sporting lives? Agent Drew Rosenhaus, that’s who! Leave it to the game’s ultimate blowhard to spew all sorts of sunshine up our butts when it comes to one of the players he represents, even if that player is a former elite wide receiver who has spent the past two years behind bars on a gun conviction for blasting a hole in his own leg at a Manhattan nightclub. Of course, the receiver in question is Plaxico Burress, the former New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers receiver who was sentenced to two years in prison on a gun charge and is scheduled to be released on June 6 if he receives credited time for good behavior. According to Rosenhaus, Burress has received interest from multiple teams and claimed back in November that those teams have stayed in contact with him about the availability of Burress while the receiver finishes his prison sentence. Rosenhaus predicted Wednesday that his client will be playing in the NFL next season…..assuming that there is no lockout by the owners and a season actually takes place. "I am not a big advocate of making predictions on teams because so much can change, but I am not afraid to make the following prediction: Plaxico Burress will be playing in 2011," Rosenhaus said. "And he will play very well. And it will be a very happy ending to a very tough, tough story for him." Geez, way to make it sound like the guy is a victim who has been horribly wronged instead of an idiot who showed up at a club, tucked a loaded gun (with the safety off) into the waistband of his sweatpants and shot himself in the leg, then had a teammate drive him to the emergency room for medical care and lied to the doctor about who he was in an attempt to keep the shooting quiet. It seems like much longer than three years since Burress caught the winning touchdown for the Giants over the New England Patriots in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl, but it really has been just 36 months. Rosenhaus is extremely optimistic about the prospects for a player who will be 34 when next season begins and hasn't played since the 2008 season, especially with the multiple examples we have of how players struggle to regain their past form in their first year post-incarceration. Even Michael Vick, who had an amazing season this year - his second post-prison - struggled in his first year out of the clink. Working in Burress’ favor is that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has ruled that Burress would be reinstated and eligible to sign with a team upon completing his sentence for attempted criminal possession of a weapon. His time in prison has been mostly mundane and he has had a satisfactory record, with one "misbehavior report" that cost him a week of phone privileges and 30 days of recreation privileges. He applied for work release twice and was turned down, but come June he will be a free man and we’ll see if Rosenhaus’ ridiculous predictions come true………
- For months now, speculation has been building to a fever pitch over who will replace Steve Carrell on NBC’s hit comedy “The Office.” Carrell made his plans to leave the show known last year and fans went into this season know it would be his last. Show officials have since explain that Carell's Michael Scott character will be gradually phased out in the latter stages of the season and that by the season finale, he will be gone so that the focus of the finale is not solely on his departure and other characters can shine. Still, Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch needs a manager and someone has to fill that void. Thus far, NBC and the show’s producers have been tight-lipped about who that person will be and have suggested that Michael Scott’s replacement could come from within Dunder Mifflin or from outside. Getting a comedy heavyweight seems like a long shot, or at least it did before NBC announced that none other than Will Ferrell will play a visiting branch manager for several episodes this season. That comes on the heels of last week’s revelation that comic Ricky Gervais -- the creator and star of the original, British version of "The Office" -- would make a cameo on tonight's episode. While Gervais is definitely not in the running to replace Carrell, landing Ferrell would be a huge boost for the show. That’s precisely why landing him is such a long shot. Carrell is leaving so he can devote more time to his movie career and it seems highly unlikely that an A-lister like Ferrell (even though many of his films bomb out at the box office) would tie himself down to a regular television gig for any length of time. Doing a few episodes every now and then is one thing, but becoming an integral cast member is something else entirely. As for his character this season, reports claim that Ferrell's character will be "just as inappropriate" as Michael Scott, which should make for some funny television………
- I freaking knew it! For years now, I have refused to dine at Taco Bell because of the quasi-meat product they jam into their tacos, burritos, enchiladas, Mexican pizzas, etc. Big ups to Amanda Obney, a California woman who has filed a lawsuit in a California federal court claiming that the fast food chain’s meat is only 36 percent beef. In the suit, filed by the Montgomery (Ala.) law firm Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles , Obney claimswhat Taco Bell calls “beef” doesn’t meet the minimum requirements set by the USDA to be called “beef," “seasoned ground beef” or anything similar. Coincidentally, Obney is a former Taco Bell manager and she might have a bit of insight into what the quasi-Mexican food eatery serves. Her claims drew an angry response from Taco Bell president Greg Creed, who called the class-action "bogus and filled with completely inaccurate facts." His response came in an official Taco Bell statement that also says the company’s beef contains 88 percent USDA-inspected quality beef. The class-action lawsuit against the company is technically for false advertising in the promotion of its beef items. “The lawyers got their facts wrong. We take this attack on our quality very seriously and plan to take legal action against them for making false statements about our products," Creed fumed. If the facts are wrong, it’s because the lab that Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles had test the samples Obney provided to them either made a mistake in its testing or deliberately falsified results. Obney’s attorneys stated that rather than beef, Taco Bell’s “beef” items are actually made with a substance known as “taco meat filling.” Worth noting in all of this is what Obney is seeking in the lawsuit. She is not asking for monetary damages, but simply that Taco Bell be honest in its advertising to consumers. What is taco meat filling? According to an ingredient list for the substance, it contains: Beef, water, isolated oat product, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, tomato powder, oats (wheat), soy lecithin, sugar, spices, maltodextrin (a polysaccharide that is absorbed as glucose), soybean oil (anti-dusting agent), garlic powder, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, caramel color, cocoa powder, silicon dioxide (anti-caking agent), natural flavors, yeast, modified corn starch, natural smoke flavor, salt, sodium phosphate, less than 2% of beef broth, potassium phosphate, and potassium lactate. Wow….that is a long list. As someone who has long questioned the meat merits of the supposed beef Taco Bell uses, I have to admit that I’m not surprised over allegations that Taco Bell saves money by adding fillers because beef is the most expensive ingredient in their products. Even if the company follows through on its vows to take legal action against the “false statements” being made about its food, I’m going to need some hardcore evidence if I’m to believe that they are telling the truth. Creed cannot simply expect us to accept at face value his assertion that Taco Bell simmers 100 percent U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected beef in a “proprietary blend of seasonings and spices” to give it a signature taste and texture. Either way, I think I’ll keep on avoiding the Bell just to be safe………..
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Bastardizing good movies for profit, hating on cell phones in NYC and the world piling on America for being FAT
- It may not have determined a true national champion and it may have completely screwed one undefeated team out of a title shot, but just don’t try to tell college football’s powers that be that the bowl system doesn’t work. The system works for them because it does what it’s designed to do - get them paid. This year, college football conferences rake in a record take of about $170 million from bowl games. Bowl Championship Series honks would have us all believe that their system is improving because of the new high of $24.7 million for the five conferences that don't get automatic bids to the BCS, but that would be a perfect case of manipulating the numbers to tell whatever story you want to tell. Mark Twain spoke well when he said that there are lies, there are damn lies and then there are statistics. Never have stats told a bigger lie than appearing to prop up the case that the BCS works. BCS officials claim the figures were driven by their new television contract with ESPN. That’s fine because in all honesty, the intelligent college football fans who want the playoff system the sport badly needs could not care less about where the money comes from because it is flowing through a corrupt and badly flawed system that needs to be fixed. A playoff could bring in even more money than the busted BCS, but the good ol’ boy network of the bowl system won't allow it to happen and too many university presidents are getting their schools’ pockets filled by the system as is for them to accept a change. Oh, and the record take of the five conferences that don't get automatic bids was boosted by TCU’s Rose Bowl appearance, an appearance that wouldn’t have happened at all if not for the demand that non-BCS schools be offered some sort of way into the system if they played a schedule much tougher than a BCS school and went undefeated. So do us all a favor, BCS honks, and don’t try to use these figures as proof that your horrible excuse for a system works because it’s insulting to our intelligence and we all know much better…………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Once again, it’s time to salute fearless citizens defying their government’s orders and taking to the streets to make their voices heard. Last week, it was Algeria. This week, it’s Egypt, where protestors again took to the streets on Wednesday and clashed with security forces a day after an inspiring display of public rage at the government and angry cries for the ouster of the longtime president. In turn, police battled back with water cannons and tear gas in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a futile attempt to shut down anti-government demonstrations as the Interior Ministry warned it "will not allow any provocative movement or a protest or rallies or demonstrations." Those, simply put, are fightin’ words. You may as well issue an open invitation to riot if you’re going to say stupid sh*t like that. Any good dissident hears those comments and is already out the door before they finish echoing off the walls. The rage was very apparent in Cairo, where people were being beaten with sticks and fists and demonstrators were being dragged away as tear gas wafted through the air. Riots raged on even as darkness descended and the oppression wasn’t just limited to rioters. Witnesses saw security forces harassing journalists and photographers as well, so this was equal-opportunity abuse of power. But hey, I’m sure the Interior Ministry will have lots of success with its plea for "citizens to renounce attempts to bid and trade their problems and not lose sight of the consequences of provocation for those who attempt to try to open the door to a state of chaos or portray the situation in the country this way." I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean, but I know how it sounds. Like a bunch of bureaucrat-speak, garbled government propaganda from a regime that sees its grip on power slipping away. For some odd reason, I just can't imagine a scenario in when thousands of protesters spill into the streets of Egypt on Tuesday and within a few days, they decide to just stay home because the government told them to. Protestors have died and security forces have been injured, but the riots must go on. The uprising in Cairo's Tahrir Square had a crowd of 20,000 at its peak, but I think that number can definitely go higher. Ironically, the protest took place on a holiday known as Police Day. Because the issues sparking the riots are such core issues in the everyday life of the average Egyptian - the rising cost of living, failed economic policies and corruption - their outrage isn’t going away. They will keep on rioting until they get what they want, namely the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, who's been in power for three decades. The organizing will continue via Facebook and other social networking sites and there is talk among protesters about staging a big demonstration on Friday, after Muslim prayers. Blocking Twitter, as the Egyptian government has reportedly done, won't help either. For the rest of us, there is nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the riots. In Egypt, the rage rolls on………
- This idea is going to go over about as well in New York City as a 500-percent increase in single-game Yankees tickets. State Sen. Carl Kruger thinks he has a solution for a problem that ails NYC and that problem is idiots talking on their cell phones or using any portable electronic device that may take their attention away from the perilous endeavor of walking down a busy city street. The Brooklyn lawmaker is proposing a one hundred dollar fine and a mandatory appearance before a judge for those who use their phones on busy city streets. "It's no different from jay walking," Kruger ass-hattedly asserted. "This is not only a hazard to the person who's using the device; it's a safety threat to the person driving the car." He’s referring to the fact that scores of accidents have happened around New York City over the past few years, including two pedestrians struck and killed in the city since 2007. Unfortuantely, Kruger is making the mistake of lumping accidents and deaths involving any and all electronic devices as an excuse to target cell phones. For example last month on the Upper East Side, a dump truck backed into and killed a college student while he was using his iPod. It was a tragic incident, but to run around recklessly banning cell phones from busy city streets is going to open so many cans of worms and cause so many more problems than it solves that the idea doesn’t have any merit. For example, how on Earth do you expect busy, overworked police officers to go down the street and arrest anyone they see talking on a cell phone? There won't be time for them to do anything else. Secondly, you cannot restrict a person’s right to talk on their phone when they’re not operating a motor vehicle of any kind. Third, how do you define “busy city street” for purposes of enforcing the law? How will people know if a street is deemed busy? The same street might have two people on one of its blocks at one point in time and 100 people on that same stretch of road an hour later. This sort of asinine idea is why you’re a state senator and will probably never reach any higher politically, Kruger. The backlash against this law if it passes would be swift, severe and über-angry. Part of me wants to see it go through just so the real drama can start……….
- Bull-freaking-sh*t. That’s the only acceptable response to the possibility of the Weinstein Company gutting and self-censoring its mega-successful film The King’s Speech just to cash in for a few extra bucks now that it has garnered 12 Oscar nominations. TWC is considering changes to the coarse language that earned the film its R rating in order to knock that rating down to PG-13 for a bastardized version of the film that would hit theaters in late February. While I understand that TWC was irate with the MPAA’s decision to drop an R rating on the film, the reality is that the movie has soared and been a huge financial and critical success with that R rating. Sure, kids can’t go see it, but how many kids or even teenagers are going to see a period piece about King George VI of England? In nine weeks of limited release, the film has grossed $58 million and as with any movie that gets multiple Oscar nominations, there will be brainless sheep who will flock to see it for that reason alone even though they’ve seen promos and commercials for it for months and never had any interest in it before it was up for some pointless, tacky golden statues. Before making the decision to re-cut the film, TWC should probably consult director Tom Hooper, who has not yet publicly commented on the proposal to edit the film. All in all, it just seems like an incredibly commercial an un-artistic thing to do, hacking up a movie merely so you can sell more tickets after moviegoers have made it perfectly clear that they enjoy the movie as is. But as always, Hollywood is not about putting out the best possible movies; it is about turning as big a profit as possible and cashing in on hot commodities while they are still hot……….
- WE GET IT, WORLD! ALL RIGHT! STOP PILING ON AMERICA! WE’RE FAT! Sorry for that outrage, and coming from a skinny guy it might seem odd, but I get the sneaking suspicion that scientists from other countries are just taking easy drive-by shots at America, knowing full well that most of us are orca FAT and not doing anything about it. The latest punch to the junk comes from researchers at University College London, who piled on by claiming that staying indoors longer during the winter and turning up the thermostat could make humans fatter. They concluded that our demand for "thermal comfort" might be related to weight gain. And while the study wasn’t specifically examining subjects from the United States, the underlying message is clear: You’re morbidly obese, America, and the rest of the world is laughing at you. Specifically, the study indicated that by staying indoors and avoiding shivering we may be tinkering with our bodies' natural balance between white and brown fat, which may alter the body's ability to generate heat. This brilliant reasoning comes to us from Dr. Fiona Johnson and her team, who reviewed the link between our reduced exposure to cold and the growing obesity rates in the United States and the United Kingdom. Their findings were published Monday in the journal Obesity Reviews. "Increased time spent indoors, widespread access to central heating and air conditioning, and increased expectations of thermal comfort all contribute to restricting the range of temperatures we experience in daily life and reduce the time our bodies spend under mild thermal stress — meaning we're burning less energy," Johnson wrote in a prepared statement. "This could have an impact on energy balance and ultimately have an impact on body weight and obesity." Hmm, you think? Shorter, colder days with inhospitable weather outside could lead to people gaining weight because they stay inside and cram tons of food down their pie hole to lift their spirits over the aforementioned crappy weather and darkness descending early in the day? Whether that has led to "greater expectation of thermal comfort" and a subsequent biological change when your body isn't exposed to mild cold, what does it matter? If spending more time indoors and less time spent shivering leads to losing brown fat — the good fat that helps your body generate its own heat, do you really expect Americans to do something about it? They would rather stay indoors, warm and cozy, building up the white fat that stores energy. Lord knows they won't exercise to get rid of that FAT, whether it’s on a treadmill in their living room or - Lord forbid - outside in the snow and cold. So just back off, world, because you’re only making us angry and you won't like us when we’re angry………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Once again, it’s time to salute fearless citizens defying their government’s orders and taking to the streets to make their voices heard. Last week, it was Algeria. This week, it’s Egypt, where protestors again took to the streets on Wednesday and clashed with security forces a day after an inspiring display of public rage at the government and angry cries for the ouster of the longtime president. In turn, police battled back with water cannons and tear gas in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a futile attempt to shut down anti-government demonstrations as the Interior Ministry warned it "will not allow any provocative movement or a protest or rallies or demonstrations." Those, simply put, are fightin’ words. You may as well issue an open invitation to riot if you’re going to say stupid sh*t like that. Any good dissident hears those comments and is already out the door before they finish echoing off the walls. The rage was very apparent in Cairo, where people were being beaten with sticks and fists and demonstrators were being dragged away as tear gas wafted through the air. Riots raged on even as darkness descended and the oppression wasn’t just limited to rioters. Witnesses saw security forces harassing journalists and photographers as well, so this was equal-opportunity abuse of power. But hey, I’m sure the Interior Ministry will have lots of success with its plea for "citizens to renounce attempts to bid and trade their problems and not lose sight of the consequences of provocation for those who attempt to try to open the door to a state of chaos or portray the situation in the country this way." I’m not sure what that is supposed to mean, but I know how it sounds. Like a bunch of bureaucrat-speak, garbled government propaganda from a regime that sees its grip on power slipping away. For some odd reason, I just can't imagine a scenario in when thousands of protesters spill into the streets of Egypt on Tuesday and within a few days, they decide to just stay home because the government told them to. Protestors have died and security forces have been injured, but the riots must go on. The uprising in Cairo's Tahrir Square had a crowd of 20,000 at its peak, but I think that number can definitely go higher. Ironically, the protest took place on a holiday known as Police Day. Because the issues sparking the riots are such core issues in the everyday life of the average Egyptian - the rising cost of living, failed economic policies and corruption - their outrage isn’t going away. They will keep on rioting until they get what they want, namely the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, who's been in power for three decades. The organizing will continue via Facebook and other social networking sites and there is talk among protesters about staging a big demonstration on Friday, after Muslim prayers. Blocking Twitter, as the Egyptian government has reportedly done, won't help either. For the rest of us, there is nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the riots. In Egypt, the rage rolls on………
- This idea is going to go over about as well in New York City as a 500-percent increase in single-game Yankees tickets. State Sen. Carl Kruger thinks he has a solution for a problem that ails NYC and that problem is idiots talking on their cell phones or using any portable electronic device that may take their attention away from the perilous endeavor of walking down a busy city street. The Brooklyn lawmaker is proposing a one hundred dollar fine and a mandatory appearance before a judge for those who use their phones on busy city streets. "It's no different from jay walking," Kruger ass-hattedly asserted. "This is not only a hazard to the person who's using the device; it's a safety threat to the person driving the car." He’s referring to the fact that scores of accidents have happened around New York City over the past few years, including two pedestrians struck and killed in the city since 2007. Unfortuantely, Kruger is making the mistake of lumping accidents and deaths involving any and all electronic devices as an excuse to target cell phones. For example last month on the Upper East Side, a dump truck backed into and killed a college student while he was using his iPod. It was a tragic incident, but to run around recklessly banning cell phones from busy city streets is going to open so many cans of worms and cause so many more problems than it solves that the idea doesn’t have any merit. For example, how on Earth do you expect busy, overworked police officers to go down the street and arrest anyone they see talking on a cell phone? There won't be time for them to do anything else. Secondly, you cannot restrict a person’s right to talk on their phone when they’re not operating a motor vehicle of any kind. Third, how do you define “busy city street” for purposes of enforcing the law? How will people know if a street is deemed busy? The same street might have two people on one of its blocks at one point in time and 100 people on that same stretch of road an hour later. This sort of asinine idea is why you’re a state senator and will probably never reach any higher politically, Kruger. The backlash against this law if it passes would be swift, severe and über-angry. Part of me wants to see it go through just so the real drama can start……….
- Bull-freaking-sh*t. That’s the only acceptable response to the possibility of the Weinstein Company gutting and self-censoring its mega-successful film The King’s Speech just to cash in for a few extra bucks now that it has garnered 12 Oscar nominations. TWC is considering changes to the coarse language that earned the film its R rating in order to knock that rating down to PG-13 for a bastardized version of the film that would hit theaters in late February. While I understand that TWC was irate with the MPAA’s decision to drop an R rating on the film, the reality is that the movie has soared and been a huge financial and critical success with that R rating. Sure, kids can’t go see it, but how many kids or even teenagers are going to see a period piece about King George VI of England? In nine weeks of limited release, the film has grossed $58 million and as with any movie that gets multiple Oscar nominations, there will be brainless sheep who will flock to see it for that reason alone even though they’ve seen promos and commercials for it for months and never had any interest in it before it was up for some pointless, tacky golden statues. Before making the decision to re-cut the film, TWC should probably consult director Tom Hooper, who has not yet publicly commented on the proposal to edit the film. All in all, it just seems like an incredibly commercial an un-artistic thing to do, hacking up a movie merely so you can sell more tickets after moviegoers have made it perfectly clear that they enjoy the movie as is. But as always, Hollywood is not about putting out the best possible movies; it is about turning as big a profit as possible and cashing in on hot commodities while they are still hot……….
- WE GET IT, WORLD! ALL RIGHT! STOP PILING ON AMERICA! WE’RE FAT! Sorry for that outrage, and coming from a skinny guy it might seem odd, but I get the sneaking suspicion that scientists from other countries are just taking easy drive-by shots at America, knowing full well that most of us are orca FAT and not doing anything about it. The latest punch to the junk comes from researchers at University College London, who piled on by claiming that staying indoors longer during the winter and turning up the thermostat could make humans fatter. They concluded that our demand for "thermal comfort" might be related to weight gain. And while the study wasn’t specifically examining subjects from the United States, the underlying message is clear: You’re morbidly obese, America, and the rest of the world is laughing at you. Specifically, the study indicated that by staying indoors and avoiding shivering we may be tinkering with our bodies' natural balance between white and brown fat, which may alter the body's ability to generate heat. This brilliant reasoning comes to us from Dr. Fiona Johnson and her team, who reviewed the link between our reduced exposure to cold and the growing obesity rates in the United States and the United Kingdom. Their findings were published Monday in the journal Obesity Reviews. "Increased time spent indoors, widespread access to central heating and air conditioning, and increased expectations of thermal comfort all contribute to restricting the range of temperatures we experience in daily life and reduce the time our bodies spend under mild thermal stress — meaning we're burning less energy," Johnson wrote in a prepared statement. "This could have an impact on energy balance and ultimately have an impact on body weight and obesity." Hmm, you think? Shorter, colder days with inhospitable weather outside could lead to people gaining weight because they stay inside and cram tons of food down their pie hole to lift their spirits over the aforementioned crappy weather and darkness descending early in the day? Whether that has led to "greater expectation of thermal comfort" and a subsequent biological change when your body isn't exposed to mild cold, what does it matter? If spending more time indoors and less time spent shivering leads to losing brown fat — the good fat that helps your body generate its own heat, do you really expect Americans to do something about it? They would rather stay indoors, warm and cozy, building up the white fat that stores energy. Lord knows they won't exercise to get rid of that FAT, whether it’s on a treadmill in their living room or - Lord forbid - outside in the snow and cold. So just back off, world, because you’re only making us angry and you won't like us when we’re angry………
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Emanuel out in Chicago, Ochocinco goes away and B.Y.O.H in South Korea
- Uh-oh. I’ve never run for mayor of a major American city before, but I’m guessing that being told one month before the election that you do not qualify to run for mayor after quitting your job as the President of the United States chief of staff, moving back to said city and pouring millions of dollars into your campaign for mayor sucks more than a little bit. That uplifting bit of news was just handed to Rahm Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, who according to an Illinois appeals court, does not qualify to run for mayor of Chicago. Emanuel, who has been a front-runner both in polls and in fundraising in the race to replace Richard M. Daley, will undoubtedly press the issue to the state Supreme Court, but for now he’s out of the race. It is a significant and unexpected setback for Emanuel, who was widely considered the frontrunner to succeed Daley, the city’s longest serving mayor, who will retire this spring. Emanuel’s removal from the race comes on account of his residency, i.e. whether he had lived in Chicago long enough to appear on the city’s ballot. The issue was front and center ever since Emanuel departed the White House last fall to run for mayor. He argued that he had always maintained a home in Chicago, the city where he was born, and was only at the White House as a matter of national service. That argument did little to sway his opponents, who protested that Emanuel did not meet the state’s residency requirements to run for a mayoralty. One of those requirements states that a candidate must have lived in the city for a year before the day of the election. Because Emmanuel did not return to the city until the fall, his critics argued that he was too late to qualify for a Feb. 22 ballot. Those haters found an no support from he Chicago Board of Elections, which sided with Emanuel, as had a Cook County trial judge. But keep pressing any issue long enough in the American judicial system and you’re likely to encounter a) a jury of morons dumb enough to be fooled by your arguments or b) a court that will take your side in an issue. Emanuel’s opponents found the latter when a three-judge panel of the Illinois Appellate Court ruled against him, 2 to 1. The decision comes late in the game, with ballot arrangements already being finalized. Emanuel could well be permanently sidelined in an election for which he has raised more than $10 million — significantly more than any of the other candidates. Polls put him well ahead of all other candidates, so pulling him from the ballot would have a colossal impact. Emanuel’s only hope is the Illinois Supreme Court, which may choose to hear — or not to hear — the case. Either way, the drama should be worth watching………
- Do we even care? Whether Chad Ochocinco changes his name again or not, does it even merit a blip on the NFL radar? For a player who recorded just 67 catches for 831 yards and four touchdowns on a 4-12 team this season, my vote is for no. With everything he does, Ochocinco is a publicity grab in motion, so this is certainly not surprising. Nor was it surprising when he changed his legal surname from Johnson to Ochocinco before the 2008 season in order to wear his nickname on his jersey when the league wouldn’t allow it without the legal change. He originally gave himself the Ocho moniker in 2006 as an allusion to his No. 85 even though Ochocinco is not the correct was to say or write the number 85 in Spanish. Ochocinco/Johnson even vowed to change his name back to Johnson if Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis shut him down in a regular season game in Jan. 2010 but predictably backed off after tweaking his knee in pregame warmups and being held to zero catches for zero yards in the game. Even after he chased that stellar effort with two catches for 28 yards when the teams met again a week later in the playoffs, Ochocinco refused to be a man of his word. Now, he’s making noise about changing his name again. This time, he's going back to Chad Johnson, according to remarks he made on ESPN's "NFL Live" on Tuesday. He called the name change fun, but said it's time for a change. "I don't have a choice right now," Ochocinco said. "I've done enough with the Ocho thing." You’ve done enough? Like having one of the worst seasons of your career and not win a single playoff game during that same career? If so, then I agree, you’ve done enough with the “Ocho thing.” Whatever name Chad goes by, he’d be best off spending this offseason busting his ass in the gym and on the practice field, making sure that he does everything possibly to turn in a season markedly better than the clunker he offered up this past season………
- B.Y.O.H., public servants in South Korea. Not that I need to tell any of South Korea’s government employees this by now, but that stands for bring your own heat, as in make sure that you are geared up to stay warm when you head to work this week. That advice comes directly from the South Korean government, which has instructed civil servants to come to the office in their long johns this week as the it tries to fend off blackouts during a cold snap that has led to record energy usage. Temperatures have been sold cold and energy use so high that public agencies are prohibited from using central heating for two hours during peak periods. Thermostats must be set no higher than 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a statement from the South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy's Energy Cooperation Division. "The government has rolled up its sleeves and called for nationwide efforts to conserve energy," the statement said. Hmm, nice to know that other governments around the world can use bad clichés in their official statements too. Rolled up its sleeves? Is that really the best you can do? Rolling up sleeves is apparently a euphemism for banning personal heaters and advising employees to put on extra clothing. "Officials working at (public organizations) are not allowed to use individual heaters during working hours, but instead are advised to wear long johns," the ministry statement said. How cold is it in Seoul right now? Well, temperatures were forecast with highs of only 22 degrees Farenheit through Friday and lows of 8 F during that time. The ban on personal heaters and high thermostat settings are the first step to combat energy usage and if those measures don’t work, level two bans decorative lighting; level three bans the use of elevators below the fifth floor of buildings, limits the use of indoor lighting and allows employees to drive to work only every other day; level four bans all driving to work and mandates early closure of public buildings. Sounds like a party to me………
- Comic book dorks, your world is about to be shattered. For 586 installments of the Fantastic Four comic books, you’ve been able to bank on the presence of Johnny "The Human Torch" Storm. The narcissistic member of the band of superheroes can turn into a giant flame at any time, but in the 587th edition of the comic, he’s going to turn into something else: a dead man. Marvel Comics has revealed that Storm will die "amid a massive battle that writer Jonathan Hickman has been scripting for a year-and-half." Not only will Storm die in issue 587, but the entire comic will take some cryptic and bizarre one issue later. A Marvel executive who wouldn’t go on the record stated that "588 is the final issue of the Fantastic Four. Beyond that, we're not ready to say exactly what we're doing. There won't be an issue 589." Maybe because you can't call something the Fantastic Four if there are only three of them? Hickman did give a slight hint about the comic’s future, saying it "will converge in a new thing that will be exciting and different and yet, very familiar and very much the same." Nice, telling us nothing at all with some fancy and eloquent words. Love that. The Human Torch won't be the first superhero to bite the big one and many of those heroes - Superman, Captain America, Phoenix etc. - have come back to life. Comic book dorks are undoubtedly hoping that the same will hold true for the Torch, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Johnny Storm doesn’t have a resurrection in him……….
- Prepare to be stunned, America. The primary reasons we, on average, do not live as long as the French or Japanese, are smoking and being FAT. According to a truly stunning report from the National Research Council, smoking and obesity among Americans leads to shorter life span than residents of many other world powers. Despite the fact that just 20 percent of Americans smoke now, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults smoked in 1960 and those cancer stick lovers are still dragging the rest of us down - at least those who are still alive. But smoking doesn’t bear all of the burden. "Other factors, such as obesity, diet, exercise, and economic inequality, also have likely played a role in the current gap and divergence between the United States and other countries," the panel of experts appointed by the council wrote. In other words, too many of us eat crappy diets and don’t exercise. Look……there’s no bigger fan of studies to unearth blatantly obvious truths that no one is actually doubting, but this one is too obvious even for me. Trying to explain why the United States, which spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country and which has a relatively wealthy and well-nourished population, ranks so poorly against other countries in terms of lifespan, seems like a noble endeavor, but the world can look at our guts hanging over our belts and the cancer sticks dangling from our lips. So very little credit is due to gerontologist Eileen Crimmins of the University of Southern California and her colleagues for their efforts on this one. "Smoking appears to be responsible for a good deal of the divergence in female life expectancy," they wrote. "Fifty years ago, smoking was much more widespread in the United States than in Europe or Japan: a greater proportion of Americans smoked and smoked more intensively than was the case in other countries." Now….not so much. Anyone who has spent even a little time in Europe knows that a much higher percentage of Europeans smoke than Americans nowadays. The impetus for the study was the world rankings for life expectancy, in which Japan ranks No. 1 and the United States ranks 36th. The difference in life expectancy isn’t that steep - 83 years for a child born today in Japan versus 78.3 years in the U.S. However, 78.3 years does rank the United States below most of Europe, South Korea, Chile and right below Cuba. Our only hope for moving up (because you know we’re not getting in better shape, that’s too much to ask)? "Smoking also has caused significant reductions in life expectancy in the Netherlands and Denmark, which ... are two other countries with relatively poor life expectancy trends," the report offers. Here’s hoping……….
- Do we even care? Whether Chad Ochocinco changes his name again or not, does it even merit a blip on the NFL radar? For a player who recorded just 67 catches for 831 yards and four touchdowns on a 4-12 team this season, my vote is for no. With everything he does, Ochocinco is a publicity grab in motion, so this is certainly not surprising. Nor was it surprising when he changed his legal surname from Johnson to Ochocinco before the 2008 season in order to wear his nickname on his jersey when the league wouldn’t allow it without the legal change. He originally gave himself the Ocho moniker in 2006 as an allusion to his No. 85 even though Ochocinco is not the correct was to say or write the number 85 in Spanish. Ochocinco/Johnson even vowed to change his name back to Johnson if Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis shut him down in a regular season game in Jan. 2010 but predictably backed off after tweaking his knee in pregame warmups and being held to zero catches for zero yards in the game. Even after he chased that stellar effort with two catches for 28 yards when the teams met again a week later in the playoffs, Ochocinco refused to be a man of his word. Now, he’s making noise about changing his name again. This time, he's going back to Chad Johnson, according to remarks he made on ESPN's "NFL Live" on Tuesday. He called the name change fun, but said it's time for a change. "I don't have a choice right now," Ochocinco said. "I've done enough with the Ocho thing." You’ve done enough? Like having one of the worst seasons of your career and not win a single playoff game during that same career? If so, then I agree, you’ve done enough with the “Ocho thing.” Whatever name Chad goes by, he’d be best off spending this offseason busting his ass in the gym and on the practice field, making sure that he does everything possibly to turn in a season markedly better than the clunker he offered up this past season………
- B.Y.O.H., public servants in South Korea. Not that I need to tell any of South Korea’s government employees this by now, but that stands for bring your own heat, as in make sure that you are geared up to stay warm when you head to work this week. That advice comes directly from the South Korean government, which has instructed civil servants to come to the office in their long johns this week as the it tries to fend off blackouts during a cold snap that has led to record energy usage. Temperatures have been sold cold and energy use so high that public agencies are prohibited from using central heating for two hours during peak periods. Thermostats must be set no higher than 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a statement from the South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy's Energy Cooperation Division. "The government has rolled up its sleeves and called for nationwide efforts to conserve energy," the statement said. Hmm, nice to know that other governments around the world can use bad clichés in their official statements too. Rolled up its sleeves? Is that really the best you can do? Rolling up sleeves is apparently a euphemism for banning personal heaters and advising employees to put on extra clothing. "Officials working at (public organizations) are not allowed to use individual heaters during working hours, but instead are advised to wear long johns," the ministry statement said. How cold is it in Seoul right now? Well, temperatures were forecast with highs of only 22 degrees Farenheit through Friday and lows of 8 F during that time. The ban on personal heaters and high thermostat settings are the first step to combat energy usage and if those measures don’t work, level two bans decorative lighting; level three bans the use of elevators below the fifth floor of buildings, limits the use of indoor lighting and allows employees to drive to work only every other day; level four bans all driving to work and mandates early closure of public buildings. Sounds like a party to me………
- Comic book dorks, your world is about to be shattered. For 586 installments of the Fantastic Four comic books, you’ve been able to bank on the presence of Johnny "The Human Torch" Storm. The narcissistic member of the band of superheroes can turn into a giant flame at any time, but in the 587th edition of the comic, he’s going to turn into something else: a dead man. Marvel Comics has revealed that Storm will die "amid a massive battle that writer Jonathan Hickman has been scripting for a year-and-half." Not only will Storm die in issue 587, but the entire comic will take some cryptic and bizarre one issue later. A Marvel executive who wouldn’t go on the record stated that "588 is the final issue of the Fantastic Four. Beyond that, we're not ready to say exactly what we're doing. There won't be an issue 589." Maybe because you can't call something the Fantastic Four if there are only three of them? Hickman did give a slight hint about the comic’s future, saying it "will converge in a new thing that will be exciting and different and yet, very familiar and very much the same." Nice, telling us nothing at all with some fancy and eloquent words. Love that. The Human Torch won't be the first superhero to bite the big one and many of those heroes - Superman, Captain America, Phoenix etc. - have come back to life. Comic book dorks are undoubtedly hoping that the same will hold true for the Torch, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Johnny Storm doesn’t have a resurrection in him……….
- Prepare to be stunned, America. The primary reasons we, on average, do not live as long as the French or Japanese, are smoking and being FAT. According to a truly stunning report from the National Research Council, smoking and obesity among Americans leads to shorter life span than residents of many other world powers. Despite the fact that just 20 percent of Americans smoke now, more than 40 percent of U.S. adults smoked in 1960 and those cancer stick lovers are still dragging the rest of us down - at least those who are still alive. But smoking doesn’t bear all of the burden. "Other factors, such as obesity, diet, exercise, and economic inequality, also have likely played a role in the current gap and divergence between the United States and other countries," the panel of experts appointed by the council wrote. In other words, too many of us eat crappy diets and don’t exercise. Look……there’s no bigger fan of studies to unearth blatantly obvious truths that no one is actually doubting, but this one is too obvious even for me. Trying to explain why the United States, which spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country and which has a relatively wealthy and well-nourished population, ranks so poorly against other countries in terms of lifespan, seems like a noble endeavor, but the world can look at our guts hanging over our belts and the cancer sticks dangling from our lips. So very little credit is due to gerontologist Eileen Crimmins of the University of Southern California and her colleagues for their efforts on this one. "Smoking appears to be responsible for a good deal of the divergence in female life expectancy," they wrote. "Fifty years ago, smoking was much more widespread in the United States than in Europe or Japan: a greater proportion of Americans smoked and smoked more intensively than was the case in other countries." Now….not so much. Anyone who has spent even a little time in Europe knows that a much higher percentage of Europeans smoke than Americans nowadays. The impetus for the study was the world rankings for life expectancy, in which Japan ranks No. 1 and the United States ranks 36th. The difference in life expectancy isn’t that steep - 83 years for a child born today in Japan versus 78.3 years in the U.S. However, 78.3 years does rank the United States below most of Europe, South Korea, Chile and right below Cuba. Our only hope for moving up (because you know we’re not getting in better shape, that’s too much to ask)? "Smoking also has caused significant reductions in life expectancy in the Netherlands and Denmark, which ... are two other countries with relatively poor life expectancy trends," the report offers. Here’s hoping……….
Monday, January 24, 2011
Cocoa crisis on the horizon, Tiger Woods' rankings freefall continues and words of wisdom from Kim Kardashian
- And the hits just keep on coming for Tiger Woods as a new year brings more of the same for the man formerly known as the world’s most dominant golfer and in the eyes of some, its most dominant athlete. Woods, who has lost sponsors and business partners this year just as he did last year, is still slip-sliding down the world golf rankings as well, continuing a trend he began late last year when England’s Lee Westwood bumped him from the No. 1 spot. Five years in the top spot came to an end with Woods still struggling to rebuild his personal life and regain his stroke on the course. He settled into the No. 2 spot and managed to stay there for all of three months. That reign as golf’s second-best player ended this weekend when German Martin Kaymer, the 2010 PGA Championship winner who also won last year's European money title, curb-stomped the field at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship to win by 8 shots Sunday and in the process, ripped the second slot in the rankings from Woods. Kaymer needed only to finish seventh to displace Woods and he accomplished that and then some. He finished off his victory in style, shooting a 6-under-par 66 in the final to finish at 24-under 264 and win his third Abu Dhabi title in four years. "It's quite nice to overtake somebody who is probably the best player in the world, perhaps the best player that ever lived," Kaymer said. "To be in front of him for a little bit -- we'll see how long it takes him to overtake me again -- but you know, it makes me very proud to be better in the world rankings than the best player in the world." Well played, Martin, well played. Humility, respect…..I almost believe that you expect Tiger to morph back into his old self and start obliterating entire tournament fields again. Anyone who watched Woods hack his way around a course last year knows those days are long gone and almost certainly not coming back, but there are still some of his peers who treat him with more respect and trepidation than he’s due at this point. As for Woods, he comes out of hiding to make his 2011 debut Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. Perhaps there is no more telling sign of his recent decline than the fact that what was once an important moment on any PGA Tour calendar year is now a ho-hum news bit barely worth mentioning. It seems safe to assume that Woods’ focus won't (or shouldn’t) be on regaining the top spot in the world rankings, but on simply putting together four consistent rounds and being in contention when Sunday rolls around………
- She may or may not have a point (for once), but Kim Kardashian will have to forgive me if I can’t take a damn thing she says seriously. After all, she’s famous for…….well, why is she famous again? That’s right, she’s the daughter of a plastic surgery-addicted former Olympian who has managed to gravy train her old man’s fame into reality shows and who has dated enough professional athletes to make anyone outside of Alyssa Milano jealous. She’s made futile attempts at a music career and gained the, um, admiration of dudes around the world because she’s hot and has a nice backside. However, I just don’t feel like any of those things qualify her to comment on social issues of minimal, average or major significance. Yet there she was, lashing out at MTV following reports that 90 girls at a Memphis high school became teen moms over the past year. "I find it so sad and disturbing," she lamented on her blog. "It seems that shows like 'Teen Mom' are all of a sudden making teen pregnancy seem cool in the eyes of young girls. The kids from these shows are all over the news, even on the covers of magazines, and have become almost like celebrities, but girls, these are not people you should idolize!" Exactly! Just like some vapid, camera-whore reality star whose family has made a lot of money and garnered much more fame than they deserve from reality TV……umm, never mind. But rather than trample on the river of wisdom flowing from Ms. Kardashian, I’ll get out of her way and just enjoy along with the rest of you. "When I think back to when I was 16, there is no way I would even have considered having a baby. That thought wouldn’t even have entered my head," she continued. "Having a baby is one of the biggest and most life-changing decisions a person can make, and while I’m not saying that no teen is in the position to raise a child, having a baby so young shouldn’t be seen as the trendy thing to do." Her wisdom wasn’t received favorably by at least one of the train wrecks MTV has exploited for its shows about knocked-up teens, "Teen Mom" cast member Amber Portwood. "Last time I checked, Kim Kardashian had a sex tape floating around on the internet and I'm pretty sure she made a lot of money off of it," Portwood fumed. "She made a sex tape when she was younger and she wants to bash the girls on 'Teen Mom'?" Geez…..this is a tough one. On the one hand, anyone who has been on “Teen Mom” is as low on the societal and reality television food chains as can be. On the other hand, no one is less qualified to criticize anyone on life choices and judgment issues than Kardashian. Even if she has a valid point, it’s discounted significantly because of who she is. I’m just going to declare both sides to be losers in this fight and tell everyone out there than the safest thing to do is ignore everything that comes flying out of these fools’ mouths. Flipping a coin probably gives you a better chance of success in life……….
- Wow. Will the stunners in this life never cease? There are far too many developments that come out of left field and blindside us all to continually have unpredictable, totally bizarre occurrences taking place on a near-daily basis. For example, who ever could have imagined that a drunk dude heading home from a bar would do something asinine like trying to jump a metal fence topped by pointed spikes to reach his apartment building, or that said drunk dude would be unsuccessful in trying to Javier Sotomayor his way over the fence and end up impaling himself on one of the spikes? The scene of this completely unforeseeable incident was Sacramento, Calif., where officers headed to 1818 P Street at 1:23 a.m. Monday after a report that man was stuck on a fence and screaming. They quickly determined that the man misjudged the leap and instead of clearing the fence, landed on a spike instead. He was found hanging upside-down when officers arrived and after they (presumably) stopped laughing several minutes later, they got to work. Rather than trying to extract the man from the fence and risk doing serious damage to his leg by tearing an artery or something else, they called the local fire department, which came, removed a 2-square-foot piece of the fence and took the man to a local hospital for treatment. Why he couldn’t just go through the front door of the building like a normal person, I don’t know. Maybe his rent was late because he blows all of his money on alcohol and entering through the back of the building was his way of avoiding the landlord. Either that or I’m just wasting time trying to understand the actions of someone whose blood-alcohol content was probably somewhere north of .14, but one or the other……….
- Tired of leaving an easy trail of cookies for others to follow your online actions? The makers of your favorite (and least favorite) browsers have heard those concerns and are taking actions. On Sunday, Mozilla announced it was exploring a "Do Not Track" feature for Firefox. One day later, Google introduced a Chrome add-on that lets users opt out of tracking cookies that monitor their movement and behavior online. The change is not a major one, but it at least signals that Google has heard the public’s concerns about Internet privacy and security and is making an effort to address them. Google issued a wordy statement about its "Keep My Opt-Outs" add-on, which plays along with the self-regulation efforts by the online advertising industry to let users permanently opt out of ad tracking from the companies that participate in various programs, including the Network Advertising Initiative. Any time self-regulation is involved, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical, something Google basically admitted in its blog post about the add-on. "This new feature gives you significant control without compromising the revenue that fuels the Web content that we all consume every day," said Sean Harvey and Rajas Moonka, a pair of Chrome product managers. They seem to be hailing “Do Not Track” as walking the line between privacy and keeping the advertising-driven online world functioning as it always has. Many critics have been quick to hail it as a case of much ado about nothing, which seems more accurate. Google also plans to build similar add-ons for other browsers, and has released the code for the Chrome extension as open-source so developers can spot bugs or make modifications. Building add-ons for other browsers is a solid idea because Chrome is a third-rate piece of garbage that doesn’t merit using in the first place. Mozilla’s approach is different, according to…..Mozilla. You’ll have to take the company’s word on that because other than announcing that a new technology to address the issue is in the works, Mozilla hasn’t said much else. Microsoft is following suit and keeping details of its "Tracking Protection" for Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) close to the vest because it ships this Friday. As always, the Internet is constantly evolving and changing, often just not fast enough to keep up with threats and problems………..
- Not to spark a worldwide panic that leads to frantic, bug-eyed people bum-rushing their local grocery or convenience store and buying up every last candy bar from the shelves, but now seems like a solid time to warn you all that the trading future of cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate, is extremely uncertain after some of the world’s biggest trading houses halted their operations in Ivory Coast, the west African country which accounts for 40 percent of global supplies. The suspension went into effect today and within a few hours, prices had spiked by as much as 7 percent. The price increase came after the internationally recognized president-elect of Ivory Coast imposed a one-month export ban in an attempt to oust Laurent Gbagbo, who the international community has said lost the election. So yes, chocolate is a caught up in a political war for the future of a nation. Rather than fight the ban (and The Man), several trading houses were slowing down or shutting their operations to fall in line with it. Cargill, the world’s largest cocoa trader, “temporarily suspended” purchases. The order came down from the UN-backed government of Alassane Ouattara and other cocoa traders quietly copped to following Cargill’s lead by either stopping buying fresh beans or shutting completely their businesses in Ivory Coast. The ban is for one month at this point, but if extended, it could have far-reaching consequences for prices and the way cocoa is traded. Don’t underestimate the potential impact from the ban, as companies in Ivory Coast move cocoa worth $4.5 billion a year from villages around the country to the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro and then to processing plants back in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Not only does the ban affect those places, but it also impacts all of the middlemen who work in harvesting, transporting and processing the coca in Ivory Coast. Officials at some of the bigger cocoa houses have openly worried that the ban will last much longer than one month and only worsen problems the cocoa industry in Ivory Coast was suffering due to European Union sanctions. The EU has blacklisted Ivorian economic entities and individuals, including the head of the coffee and cocoa trade management committee, Gilbert Anoh N’Guessan, because of their ties to Gbagbo. Included in the ban are the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro. The ban also bars EU-registered vessels from docking at Ivory Coast ports. All of this drama could not come at a worse time, as the majority of the Ivorian cocoa crop is harvested October until February. Estimates place the amount of cocoa already harvested at 840,000 metric tons, up 10.5 percent from last season’s 760,000 tons. In the lull, neighboring cocoa producers like Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Togo are expected to seize the opportunity to grab a larger share of the market. Already, Ghana’s cocoa production has been better than expected after a spell of favorable rains in the middle of last year, boosting supplies. Prices for cocoa are high following four years of shortages, but many analysts believe that the cocoa market is set to move into a surplus in the 2010-11 marketing year. Oh, and the ban will also spur smugglers to find a way to get cocoa beans out of the country, creating something of a black market situation and adding a nice layer of intrigue to the situation. As for what this means to that Snickers bar you’re about to snag from the local Costco……probably not much, at least not yet………
- She may or may not have a point (for once), but Kim Kardashian will have to forgive me if I can’t take a damn thing she says seriously. After all, she’s famous for…….well, why is she famous again? That’s right, she’s the daughter of a plastic surgery-addicted former Olympian who has managed to gravy train her old man’s fame into reality shows and who has dated enough professional athletes to make anyone outside of Alyssa Milano jealous. She’s made futile attempts at a music career and gained the, um, admiration of dudes around the world because she’s hot and has a nice backside. However, I just don’t feel like any of those things qualify her to comment on social issues of minimal, average or major significance. Yet there she was, lashing out at MTV following reports that 90 girls at a Memphis high school became teen moms over the past year. "I find it so sad and disturbing," she lamented on her blog. "It seems that shows like 'Teen Mom' are all of a sudden making teen pregnancy seem cool in the eyes of young girls. The kids from these shows are all over the news, even on the covers of magazines, and have become almost like celebrities, but girls, these are not people you should idolize!" Exactly! Just like some vapid, camera-whore reality star whose family has made a lot of money and garnered much more fame than they deserve from reality TV……umm, never mind. But rather than trample on the river of wisdom flowing from Ms. Kardashian, I’ll get out of her way and just enjoy along with the rest of you. "When I think back to when I was 16, there is no way I would even have considered having a baby. That thought wouldn’t even have entered my head," she continued. "Having a baby is one of the biggest and most life-changing decisions a person can make, and while I’m not saying that no teen is in the position to raise a child, having a baby so young shouldn’t be seen as the trendy thing to do." Her wisdom wasn’t received favorably by at least one of the train wrecks MTV has exploited for its shows about knocked-up teens, "Teen Mom" cast member Amber Portwood. "Last time I checked, Kim Kardashian had a sex tape floating around on the internet and I'm pretty sure she made a lot of money off of it," Portwood fumed. "She made a sex tape when she was younger and she wants to bash the girls on 'Teen Mom'?" Geez…..this is a tough one. On the one hand, anyone who has been on “Teen Mom” is as low on the societal and reality television food chains as can be. On the other hand, no one is less qualified to criticize anyone on life choices and judgment issues than Kardashian. Even if she has a valid point, it’s discounted significantly because of who she is. I’m just going to declare both sides to be losers in this fight and tell everyone out there than the safest thing to do is ignore everything that comes flying out of these fools’ mouths. Flipping a coin probably gives you a better chance of success in life……….
- Wow. Will the stunners in this life never cease? There are far too many developments that come out of left field and blindside us all to continually have unpredictable, totally bizarre occurrences taking place on a near-daily basis. For example, who ever could have imagined that a drunk dude heading home from a bar would do something asinine like trying to jump a metal fence topped by pointed spikes to reach his apartment building, or that said drunk dude would be unsuccessful in trying to Javier Sotomayor his way over the fence and end up impaling himself on one of the spikes? The scene of this completely unforeseeable incident was Sacramento, Calif., where officers headed to 1818 P Street at 1:23 a.m. Monday after a report that man was stuck on a fence and screaming. They quickly determined that the man misjudged the leap and instead of clearing the fence, landed on a spike instead. He was found hanging upside-down when officers arrived and after they (presumably) stopped laughing several minutes later, they got to work. Rather than trying to extract the man from the fence and risk doing serious damage to his leg by tearing an artery or something else, they called the local fire department, which came, removed a 2-square-foot piece of the fence and took the man to a local hospital for treatment. Why he couldn’t just go through the front door of the building like a normal person, I don’t know. Maybe his rent was late because he blows all of his money on alcohol and entering through the back of the building was his way of avoiding the landlord. Either that or I’m just wasting time trying to understand the actions of someone whose blood-alcohol content was probably somewhere north of .14, but one or the other……….
- Tired of leaving an easy trail of cookies for others to follow your online actions? The makers of your favorite (and least favorite) browsers have heard those concerns and are taking actions. On Sunday, Mozilla announced it was exploring a "Do Not Track" feature for Firefox. One day later, Google introduced a Chrome add-on that lets users opt out of tracking cookies that monitor their movement and behavior online. The change is not a major one, but it at least signals that Google has heard the public’s concerns about Internet privacy and security and is making an effort to address them. Google issued a wordy statement about its "Keep My Opt-Outs" add-on, which plays along with the self-regulation efforts by the online advertising industry to let users permanently opt out of ad tracking from the companies that participate in various programs, including the Network Advertising Initiative. Any time self-regulation is involved, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical, something Google basically admitted in its blog post about the add-on. "This new feature gives you significant control without compromising the revenue that fuels the Web content that we all consume every day," said Sean Harvey and Rajas Moonka, a pair of Chrome product managers. They seem to be hailing “Do Not Track” as walking the line between privacy and keeping the advertising-driven online world functioning as it always has. Many critics have been quick to hail it as a case of much ado about nothing, which seems more accurate. Google also plans to build similar add-ons for other browsers, and has released the code for the Chrome extension as open-source so developers can spot bugs or make modifications. Building add-ons for other browsers is a solid idea because Chrome is a third-rate piece of garbage that doesn’t merit using in the first place. Mozilla’s approach is different, according to…..Mozilla. You’ll have to take the company’s word on that because other than announcing that a new technology to address the issue is in the works, Mozilla hasn’t said much else. Microsoft is following suit and keeping details of its "Tracking Protection" for Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) close to the vest because it ships this Friday. As always, the Internet is constantly evolving and changing, often just not fast enough to keep up with threats and problems………..
- Not to spark a worldwide panic that leads to frantic, bug-eyed people bum-rushing their local grocery or convenience store and buying up every last candy bar from the shelves, but now seems like a solid time to warn you all that the trading future of cocoa, the key ingredient in chocolate, is extremely uncertain after some of the world’s biggest trading houses halted their operations in Ivory Coast, the west African country which accounts for 40 percent of global supplies. The suspension went into effect today and within a few hours, prices had spiked by as much as 7 percent. The price increase came after the internationally recognized president-elect of Ivory Coast imposed a one-month export ban in an attempt to oust Laurent Gbagbo, who the international community has said lost the election. So yes, chocolate is a caught up in a political war for the future of a nation. Rather than fight the ban (and The Man), several trading houses were slowing down or shutting their operations to fall in line with it. Cargill, the world’s largest cocoa trader, “temporarily suspended” purchases. The order came down from the UN-backed government of Alassane Ouattara and other cocoa traders quietly copped to following Cargill’s lead by either stopping buying fresh beans or shutting completely their businesses in Ivory Coast. The ban is for one month at this point, but if extended, it could have far-reaching consequences for prices and the way cocoa is traded. Don’t underestimate the potential impact from the ban, as companies in Ivory Coast move cocoa worth $4.5 billion a year from villages around the country to the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro and then to processing plants back in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Not only does the ban affect those places, but it also impacts all of the middlemen who work in harvesting, transporting and processing the coca in Ivory Coast. Officials at some of the bigger cocoa houses have openly worried that the ban will last much longer than one month and only worsen problems the cocoa industry in Ivory Coast was suffering due to European Union sanctions. The EU has blacklisted Ivorian economic entities and individuals, including the head of the coffee and cocoa trade management committee, Gilbert Anoh N’Guessan, because of their ties to Gbagbo. Included in the ban are the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro. The ban also bars EU-registered vessels from docking at Ivory Coast ports. All of this drama could not come at a worse time, as the majority of the Ivorian cocoa crop is harvested October until February. Estimates place the amount of cocoa already harvested at 840,000 metric tons, up 10.5 percent from last season’s 760,000 tons. In the lull, neighboring cocoa producers like Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Togo are expected to seize the opportunity to grab a larger share of the market. Already, Ghana’s cocoa production has been better than expected after a spell of favorable rains in the middle of last year, boosting supplies. Prices for cocoa are high following four years of shortages, but many analysts believe that the cocoa market is set to move into a surplus in the 2010-11 marketing year. Oh, and the ban will also spur smugglers to find a way to get cocoa beans out of the country, creating something of a black market situation and adding a nice layer of intrigue to the situation. As for what this means to that Snickers bar you’re about to snag from the local Costco……probably not much, at least not yet………
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)