- There are going to be a couple of very disappointed women’s golf fans out there. Specifically, the two fans who were planning on attending the LPGA Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico, which was scheduled to be played April 21-24. That tournament will no longer happen because LPGA officials have canceled this year’s event over concerns of violence from drug wars. "It won't be held this year," LPGA spokesman David Higdon said in an e-mail. "Our security firm determined the safety issues were too severe. We hope to return next year, though things will have to improve dramatically." Great, just great. The was LPGA Tour already facing a limited schedule due to financial constraints. So now, both of the fans who planned on attending the Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico are going to have to find something else to do with their weekend. Oh, and the three sponsors who were going to chip off $100 or so to drop their name and logos on even materials are going to miss out on all of that exposure to dozens. Besides, what’s a little potential drug violence as a backdrop for a golf tournament? It might just add a nice layer of intrigue that the LPGA is lacking. If a golfer and her caddie might have to duck a few bullets or make a run for the clubhouse to escape an armed cartel hitman, how is that a bad thing? I’m not tuning in to see Michelle Wie or Christie Kerr try to go low in the final round and steal a tournament away from their biggest rival, but I am tuning in if either of those ladies escapes an AK-47-toting maniac on the 18th green and squeeze in a tournament-winning putt while that cartel assassin stops to reload, then the LPGA has my attention. I guarantee none of you can tell me without searching for it who won the Tres Marias Championship in Mexico last year (Ai Miyazato), but every last one of us would remember an attempted hit in the event’s final round………
- To quote Seinfeld underachiever George Costanza, is that wrong? Of course, George was asking that about having sex with the office cleaning lady on his desk after hours, but the question still applies here. It applies to the WINGS adolescent treatment center in Litchfield, Minn., where an employee at the facility allegedly provided two residents with marijuana and alcohol. Considering that the center is a place where teens battling addiction come for help, I can see how it could be a problem. Having your residential treatment program is being investigated by the Department of Human Services and Litchfield police isn’t going to brighten anyone’s day. At this point, Litchfield police aren’t giving up many details about what went down. “We don't know the extent of the behavior yet," Litchfield police chief Patrick Fank said. "One of my investigators took a complaint on Friday afternoon of possible misconduct of an employee at the WINGS facility." The alleged inappropriate behavior came to light when the father of the WINGS resident said he found a letter his daughter wrote to the employee. That musta been some strong vodkaaa. And yeah I think that last night probably coulda been a pretty good girls gone wild treatment episode (sic)," the letter reads. "Thx for the goodies! The reefer you got me is sitting at home in a jar." So you have a male staffer providing drugs and alcohol to a female patient…..I’m guessing that some other sort of wrongful behavior was going on and sure enough, the father said he believes the male employee may have video taped his daughter and roommate drinking and while drunk. To ask Costanza’s question again…..is it wrong for an adult male staffer to provide alcohol and drugs to minors, film them and (reportedly) give them hickies? When a local television station asked the center’s administrators about the incident, they refused to appear on camera but confirmed the employee involved in the allegations was fired. To top this fine mess off, a letter of license revocation was sent to WINGS on Jan. 22. May I ask why? What has this fine institution done in its five years of operation to deserve such harsh treatment? I really think this is a bit of a rush to judgment…………
- And the race to tackle Apple’s app store rages on. Google, as per its ongoing quest for world domination, on Wednesday unveiled a new Android Market web store that lets consumers download applications through their Internet browser. That places Google in direct competition Apple Inc.'s popular app store. It’s primary attraction is making the more than 100,000 apps at Google's Android Market available beyond their mobile devices, which had previously been the one and only source. The new Android Market web store debuted at an event to showcase the company's Android 3.0, the first tablet-friendly version of its mobile operating system, codenamed Honeycomb. To instill a sense of ownership in the process, Google is making Honeycomb available to hardware makers for free. As for the Android 3.0, it is generally viewed as the first credible challenger to Apple's iPad, which seized a definitive lead in the worldwide tablet market since its release last year. No legitimate challenger has emerged yet, rumors abound that Motorola will release its Honeycomb-based Xoom tablet later this month, making it the first to test itself against the iPad. Since launching the beta version of Honeycomb, Google has also completely redesigned the user interface, giving it more interactive notifications and widgets, improved multi-tasking, and mobile services optimized for tablets. It seems like a solid idea, but plenty of solid ideas fail in the tech world and it will be interesting to see what Honeycomb’s fate is…………
- Bad news for you, garage rock fans. The band that has helped redefine the genre and thrust it into mainstream consciousness is no more. The White Stripe have announced their dissolution, effective immediately. In a statement on the band’s Web site, Jack and Meg White explained that the band “has official ended and will make no further records or perform live.” The announcement doesn’t come as a surprise, as the band’s last album, Icky Thump, came out in 2007, and the duo’s last major appearance was on Conan O’Brien’s final Late Night episode in 2009. In the meantime, Jack White has taken up multiple side projects, the Dead Weather and the Raconteurs. The obvious question if a band breaks up is whether there are chemistry issues or health issues, but the statement on the Web site refutes those rumors, saying that t, both Jack and Meg are “feeling fine and in good health,” and the decision comes instead from a desire to “preserve what is beautiful and special about the band.” The remainder of the statement is predictably cryptic for a band that has always been shrouded in mystery about everything, including the nature of their relationship. They pretended to be brother and sister, but in truth legal documents show that they were married and divorced. The statement itself reads: The White Stripes would like to announce that today, February 2nd, 2011, their band has officially ended and will make no further new recordings or perform live. The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as both Meg an Jack are feeling fine and in good health. It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way. Meg and Jack want to thank every one of their fans and admirers for the incredible support they have given throughout the 13 plus years of The White Stripes’ intense and incredible career. Third Man Records will continue to put out unreleased live and studio recordings from The White Stripes in their Vault subscription record club, as well as through regular channels. Both Meg and Jack hope this decision isn’t met with sorrow by their fans but that it is seen as a positive move done out of respect for the art and music that the band has created. It is also done with the utmost respect to those fans who’ve shared in those creations, with their feelings considered greatly. It concludes that the White Stripes no longer belong to Jack and Meg White, but to the fans to “do with it whatever you want.” A fittingly bizarre ending for a band that has been bizarre since its inception………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Believe it or not, uprisings are occurring other places than Egypt right now, even though the looting, rioting, violent clashes with police and flames rising to the sky in Cairo and other Egyptian cities are seizing the headlines. Riots are also going on in Yemen, where protests against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh are kicking into high gear. The cynic would have you believe that the protests could well undermine a U.S.-supported crackdown against al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia’s impoverished neighbor, but I personally believe in just enjoying a good riot. President Saleh, like Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, Saleh caved in into street protests and promised not to seek re-election. More demonstrations are scheduled for Thursday, meaning Yemen will soon be under new management. The haters would have you believe that Saleh’s loosening grip on power will make it harder to fight the terrorist group that is hated worldwide. It took Saleh three weeks after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a forum in Yemen that terrorists based in the country were an “urgent concern.” But slow on the pickup or not, the fact is that Saleh’s continued presence in a position of power inspired opposition parties to stage a “Day of Rage.” Anyone staging a day of rage is A-OK in my book and the very thought of such a day brings a tear to my eye. So big ups to the Socialist Party and its leader Aidarous al-Nakeeb, for coming up with such an awesome event. Thus far, the protests in Yemen have been far too peaceful and it’s time for that to change. Yemenis are angry about living in a country the Fund for Peace ranked 15th of 60 countries on their 2010 Failed States Index, and who can blame then? According to the index, only Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan are in worse shape among nations in Asia and the Middle East. The Yemeni government is doing a terrible job of battling a secessionist movement in the south and a Shiite uprising in the north and Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni-based wing has launched cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia. “Your government’s efforts to disrupt al-Qaeda’s operational planning and to deny it safe haven are profoundly in Yemen’s own interests,” Clinton told the public forum in Sanaa on Jan. 11. “They have sought, more than once, to attack our country. Stopping such threats would be a priority for any nation, and it is a priority for us.” Much like Mubarak, Saleh has been in power for three decades and refuses to give up and go away. He informed parliament today that he also won’t hand over power to his son and called for the formation of a national unity government that he will help facilitate. That government will have to deal with the massive water shortages, declining oil output and a society plaguing a nation where the average person lives on less than $2 a day…………
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