- Pakistan has kept its mission but found a new friend to help accomplish it. Instead of partnering with the United States to beef up its arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles, the Pakistani government is instead turning to China as its new strategic arms partner. After successfully test-firing a nuclear-capable missile earlier this month test-fired from an undisclosed location – the second in a month of try-outs for its short-range surface-to-surface Hataf 2 class rocket, co-developed with the Chinese - it became clear where the U.S. stood in the equation. Pakistan and China have partnered together on an increasing number of projects over the past decade as they seek to balance out the growth of über-confident neighbor India, which has American support. The U.S. was once Pakistan’s chief weapons supplier, but began to back away from that role after years of difficult and unpredictable relations following the 9/11 attacks. Being in business with the world’s eighth most-powerful nuclear nation just wasn’t as appealing to the U.S. as it once was. The American government does not fully support the military ambitions of a Pakistani regime that is being destabilized by an insurgency running amok, rising radicalism and anti-Westernism and internal corruption. Where the United States saw an unpalatable relationship, China saw an opportunity. The Chinese quickly stepped in to supply the weapons, development and training that Pakistan needed. Even when the U.S. delivered some of the 18 F-16s it had pledged to Pakistan in November, the Pakistani government announced it had ordered an arsenal of SD10 mid-range homing missiles and radar systems to equip its JF-17 Thunder jet fighters from China. China will also send Pakistan 250 JF-17s over the next five to ten years and the two nations also have a $1.3 billion deal to buy J-10 fighters and an order for six submarines with an air independent propulsion system. A Pakistani government official recently said it was imperative for the navy to acquire more submarines to combat "the pressure we will definitely come under" due to the rapid expansion of India's naval capability. "Our Chinese brothers have always come to our help and we are asking them for assistance once again," the official stated. With China constructing state-of-the-art fast attack missile crafts for the Pakistan Navy as you read this, many are asking how Pakistan can afford to spend so lavishly on its military with its current economic problems. From an American point of view, it’s time to find a new friend to pimp our military wares to…………
- Remember back when Kimbo Slice was a YouTube sensation who had parlayed lighting up suckers in parks or on playgrounds after paying them $20 to take a devastating hit on camera and not some exposed fraud whose 15 minutes of fame had come and gone? It was nearly three years ago when Slice, a.k.a. Kevin Ferguson, turned his YouTube following into a contract with third-rate mixed-martial arts outfit EliteXC. EliteXC pinned all of its hopes on Slice’s rising star even though those in the sport were adamant that he had neither the skills nor the experience to be a legitimate MMA star. But before the rest of the world found that out when Slice began losing to one also-ran after another, EliteXC set up a contract with CBS to televise its events on a semi-regular basis. Slice was scheduled to fight MMA icon Ken Shamrock in the main event of EliteXC-CBS on Oct. 4, 2008 before Shamrock was forced out of the fight due to a cut. At that point, Ken Shamrock, an assigned commentator for the show, offered to take the fight on late notice. However, EliteXC matchmaker Jared Shaw claimed recently that Ken Shamrock offered to do much more than take the fight. "Frank Shamrock pulled me in the back of a room, turned the music up and offered to work the fight against Kimbo Slice," Shaw said before adding that Shamrock also offered to take a dive against Slice. Frank Shamrock quickly responded to those claims with a resounding denial issued during an appearance on The MMA Hour. "No, absolutely not," Shamrock said. "That's some movie BS right there." When asked why Shaw would make such a statement if it were not true, Shamrock didn’t have a great theory, other than Shaw’s MMA career being over and him possibly needing to make money by selling his story. "It sounds like he's trying to sell a book or something, or write a movie script," Shamrock postulated. "Where would I get the music at? What are you talking about here? Do I just carry a beatbox with me?" So who is to be believed? The former MMAer alleging that a current fighter offered to take a dive or the fighter in question who insists that he would have never "fiddled with the truth" and disrespected his sport? Shaw’s story does seem hard to believe, but either way, it’s generating attention that MMA could very much lose, so I suppose the rest of the sport should thank both men for putting on a show. And hey, Shaw and Frank Shamrock could always settle their differences in the octagon…………
- Reason No. 474 that you want to step forward and claim your nine-figure lottery prize before you engage in the requisite “I just won a nine-figure lottery prize” bender: If you party first, you might be so hung over or otherwise incapacitated that you can't actually gather yourself to step forward and claim said nine-figure lottery prize. Now, that may be just one possible explanation as to why no one has stepped forward to claim the $319 million prize in the Mega Millions jackpot, but don’t pretend like you’re going to come up with anything better. Rumors have been circulating that seven state government workers are in possession of the winning ticket, but as of Sunday no one had come forward to claim the prize, a New York Lottery spokeswoman confirmed. The jackpot was $312 million, but last-minute sales from people desperate enough to believe that they had a good chance of winning and changing their life by throwing away $5 they could have spent on gas or food raised the amount to $319 million. Although the winner or winners have not stepped up to claim their prize, lottery officials know that the winning ticket was bought at Coulson's News Central in Albany, New York. The winners were seven IT specialists from New York's Housing and Community Renewal, if you believe Emanuel Biondi, public employees federation council leader for the agency. No one has confirmed that report, so it is not known whether the supposed winners chose a one-time, lump-sum payment or to have their winnings paid out over a span of years. If they picked the cash option when buying the ticket, they will receive a one-time payment of $202.9 million. It is the sixth-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history and the single largest sole jackpot-winning ticket ever for Mega Millions sold in New York. The winning numbers drawn Friday night were 22, 24, 31, 52 and 54 and he Mega Ball number was 4. If the winner(s) are waiting to step forward until they can officially claim their winnings, they will be able to do so Monday morning in the lottery’s Schenectady, N.Y., office, Hapeman said. For the millions of disappointed Mega Millions players who missed out this time, keep playing and keep hoping against hope……….
- How much better do you feel about the United States losing out on its bid for the 2022 World Cup to Qatar now, American soccer fans? At the time, the idea that a Middle East nation with no real soccer history or tradition whatsoever and with no real existing infrastructure to host the event, a place where summertime temperatures can soar well over 100 degrees……it was a slap in the face to every other nation bidding for the Cup. Joint bids from the Netherlands and Belgium and the combination of Portugal and Spain seemed to be the odds-on favorites, but American fans held out hope that FIFA would forget that the United States as a whole could not care less about their sport and award the bid to the U.S. But like any international sports governing body, FIFA is wholly corrupt and can be bought. Qatar bribed them enough, er, um, mounted a convincing enough case to secure the votes needed to win. Now that Qatar has the games……it is probably a good idea to figure out how games will be played in 110-degree heat without players passing out and/or dying on the field. Soccer players are known for ending up on the turf after flopping and faking injuries after an opponent passes within 10 feet of them, but playing in sweltering heat could actually send them to the turf legitimately. Realizing this threat, tournament officials have gone to work on a way to solve this problem and instead of the obvious - building dome stadiums - they have instead elected to channel their inner George Orwell and think sci-fi. Instead a dome, the idea they have chosen is……man-made clouds. Thanks to researchers at Qatar University's engineering school, artificial clouds that look like giant flying saucers will be the method of choice for preventing World Cup stadiums from turning into giant outdoor ovens. The faux clouds will be remotely controlled and be made up of high-tech materials that will be positioned between the sun and the stadiums in the Gulf emirate. “Artificial clouds will move by remote control, made of 100 percent light carbonic materials, fueled by four solar-powered engines and will fly high to protect direct and indirect sun rays to control temperatures at the open playgrounds,” said Saud Abdul Ghani, the university’s department head, in a statement. Ghani believes the artificial robotic cloud could potentially drop the temperatures on the pitch by 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The project has passed the initial engineering phase Ghani’s team plans to make a 4-by-3 meter prototype by the end of this year to test the concept. The finished product, which would obviously be much larger, would be a rectangle made up of carbon fiber and solar panels the size of a jumbo jet. Never mind the potential dangers of flying a giant UFO cloud over a stadium full over people - i.e. it falling from the sky and crashing down on the stadium, killing thousands - because this baby will use sophisticated monitoring gear to track the transit of the sun and four electric-powered engines to maneuver to the right position to cast a cool shade across the stadiums. Moving a fake cloud back and forth above a stadium may seem ridiculous in theory, but anyone thinking that way is obviously focusing too much on that part of the equation and not on the really awesome bribes the selection committee scored for itself by awarding the Cup to Qatar…………
- In a truly rare occurrence, a family-friendly film has emerged victorious at the weekend box office and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is that film. In its first weekend of release, Diary made $24.4 million to outpace fellow newcomer Sucker Punch for the top spot. Made on a modest $21 million budget, Diary is already playing with house money after a solid opening weekend. The same can't be said for Sucker Punch, an action film that didn’t generate nearly enough action at the box office to justify the $82 million Warner Bros. spent to make it. With a haul of $19.1 million, Sucker Punch has a long way to go before it can turn a profit. Last week’s top movie, Limitless, dropped to third in its second weekend and added $15.2 million to its total for a cumulative tally of $41.3 million and counting. That was enough to keep it ahead of The Lincoln Lawyer, which held its spot in fourth place while proving once again that Matthew McConaughey movies featuring him with his shirt off most of the movie are more profitable than those in which he is fully clothed for the majority of his screen time. Lincoln Lawyer earned $11 million, a scant 16-percent drop and yet has made just $28.9 million after two weeks. The last member of the top five was Rango, which declined 35 percent from the previous weekend but still raked in $9.8 million to finally push itself over the $100 million barrier at $106.3 million. The rest of the top 10 consisted of: Battle: Los Angeles (continuing its freefall by sliding to No. 6 with $7.6 million and a three-week total of $72.6 million), Paul (No. 7 and still proving that hybrid live action/animated movies about bird-eating aliens are a tough sell with a $7.5 million weekend and just $24.6 million for its first two weeks in theaters), Red Riding Hood (No. 8 after another so-so weekend of $4.4 million and a cumulative haul of $32.4 million after three weeks), The Adjustment Bureau (No. 9 with $4.2 million and $54.9 million after one month in theaters) and Mars Needs Moms (No. 10 with $2.1 and $19.2 in its first three weeks of release). Dropping out of the top 10 from last weekend were Beastly and Hall Pass, down to Nos. 11 and 12, respectively………….
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