- While her viral “hit” known as "Friday” may have recorded thousands of YouTube hits and garnered her a lot of undeserved attention, 13-year-old Rebecca Black should probably be informed that her “music” sucks exponentially. While that might seem like a harsh message to deliver to a 13-year-old, if no one clues her in to how awful her attempt at song is, Black will go through life with the misguided impression that her hackneyed slant on the already unlistenable genre of pop music is good. She’s going to get that message because of kooks like The X Factor creator Simon Cowell, who took time out of his busy schedule of creating worthless reality karaoke shows for various TV networks to comment on both Black’s song and the cyberbullying that led to its creation. "Love it!" Cowell said. "I've never seen anything cause so much controversy. I think it's genius. The fact that everyone's getting upset about it is hysterical. Any song to do with the weekend annoys you. It reminds me of 'Saturday Night.' Do you remember that song by Whigfield? It's what we call a 'hair-dryer song,' a song girls sing into their hair dryers as they're getting ready to go out. But the fact that it's making people so angry is brilliant." Wrong-o, Simon. That piece of musical crap isn't making everyone angry; it’s making most of us sad. We’re sad that anyone out there likes or listens to music drivel like this on YouTube or anywhere else. Oh, and given Cowell’s association with X-Factor and American Karaoke, his musical credibility - if it ever existed - is shot anyhow. He definitely has a knack for saying stupid sh*t that makes people angry, but supporting Black isn't one of those things. Instead, it’s another sad reminder that the state of music is awful and getting worse by the day because so many out there are willing to perpetuate problem-causers like Black. Thanks for nothing, Simon, but no one really would have expected anything else from you…………
- The financial sky is falling in Queens right now and the New York Mets are frantically working to keep themselves afloat while they fight a $1 billion lawsuit by bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard, who is charged with reimbursing the victims of Ponzi scheme operator Bernie Madoff’s victims. The Wilpon family, which owns the Mets, has sought buyers for a minority share in the team but thus far has not found any takers - unless they are willing to sell a controlling stake in the franchise. With their financial fate already in jeopardy and the new season fast approaching, the Mets are now scrambling to make over a roster that was responsible for a 79-83 record and fourth-place finish in the NL East. In the past three days alone, the Mets have released two high-priced veterans whose contracts they owe a combined $18 million on. On Friday, second baseman Luis Castillo was released and his release meant the team would have to absorb a $6 million salary hit simply to get rid of him. The purging continued Monday was team officials informed left-hander Oliver Perez he was being let go despite being owed $12 million in the final year of his contract. Perez’s release was yet another maneuver to erase the bad memories of Omar Minaya's tumultuous era as general manager. Perez handled the news with class and was adamant that he received a fair shot from the Mets' new regime. "When they told me, I almost knew what they were going to tell me," Perez said inside the clubhouse at the team's spring training complex. "It's one of those times you don't feel great, but I don't want to quit. I think they gave me an opportunity. They were fair with me when I came here.” Giving a player a three-year, $36 million contract definitely does seem fair and when he responds with a 3-9 with a 6.81 ERA in 31 appearances (21 starts) during the first two seasons of the contract, the team will probably be disappointed. Eating the $12 million left on his deal ranks near the top of the unofficial list of largest contracts eaten in organization history, which is saying a lot for an organization with a history of regrettable signings it later came to regret and pay dearly for…………
- On the rare occasion that science accomplishes something worthwhile that makes the world a better place, it’s a good idea to stop and salute the achievement on the off chance that the positive reinforcement might just register with the scientific community and inspire it to similar feats in the future. This is one of those occasions and the feat is actually quite remarkable. Surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston performed the first full face transplant in the country, a spokesman for the hospital confirmed Monday. The procedure was the second face transplant procedure performed at the hospital, but the first full-face transplant. The recipient, Dallas Wiens, of Dallas, Tex., was severely injured in 2008 when his head touched a high-voltage power line while he was making repairs at a church. The lectricity burned off his facial skin and features and left him blind and severely disfigured. The procedure occurred last week and took more than 15 hours. Surgeons replaced Wiens’ nose, lips, facial skin, muscles of facial animation and the nerves that power them and provide sensation. "He is doing great. He has been on the cell phone with his family and talking," said Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, head of the transplant team. "He should regain sensation in much of his face, but not all. However, recovery of nerves will take months." Unfortunately, the transplant team was not able to restore Wiens’ sight, but it seems fair to assume that having his face transformed - even if he can’t see it - would do wonders for his confidence and spirits. The donor, whose identity was not revealed, will remain anonymous. Wiens follows in the footsteps of James Maki, who received a partial face transplant during a 17-hour operation at the hospital on April 8-9, 2009, and Connie Culp, who received a partial face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic in 2008. So for once, kudos to science for accomplishing something other than completing a study telling the world something we already knew…………
- Behold the power of Libya’s ongoing civil war that has now morphed into a small-scale world war. Not only is it polarizing nations and turning world powers against other nations angry about the U.S.-led coalition battling Moammar Gadhafi his is loyalists, but the conflict is even turning members of national governments against one another. Take Russia, for example. As the Western-led military action in Libya stepped up a notch Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are locked in a battle of words over the conflict. Medvedev took Putin to task Monday for publicly criticizing the effort. The president, decked out in the fur-trimmed leather bomber jacket of the commander in chief, defended his decision not to veto the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the action and warned Putin and other critics to be wary of what they say about the situation. "It's absolutely unacceptable to use phrases that in effect lead to conflict between civilizations, such as 'crusades,' and the like," Medvedev said. His comments came just hours after Putin, speaking to workers at a missile factory in central Russia, blasted the U.N. resolution, saying, "the whole thing reminds me of some kind of medieval call to the crusades." As the two leaders traded verbal barbs, other Russian officials were quick to downplay any tensions. “He was expressing his personal opinion," said a spokesman for Putin. "The only point of view that matters for foreign policy is the president's." That sentiment was backed by a Kremlin official who insisted that "the tandem is still solid." To further sweep the conflict under the rug, Russia's main state television channels carried only Medvedev's comments in their evening newscasts and ignored Putin’s remarks. Public disagreements between the two men are rare, although they have had brief rhetorical clashes in the past. This particular verbal pissing match took place as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Russia for meetings with top Russian officials. What is not disputed in Russia is potential involvement in the Libya campaign, as it has been officially ruled out. However, that doesn’t mean that the issue isn't combustible enough to drive a wedge between the two most powerful men in Russia…………
- Maybe my relative lack of business training and education is hurting my ability to analyze this situation, but I still suspect that giving money away is a bad way to conduct business. That expertise is directed at Marley Drug, a drug store in Winston-Salem, N.C., that is giving away 1,000 $2 bills to customers as part of a local business effort. The store, located at 5008 Peters Creek Parkway, will simply hand one $2 bill to the first 1,000 people who enter the store and request one. "We are simply trying to create some awareness within our local community of the benefits of shopping locally as compared to using large chains or the internet," CEO Dave Marley said. “Economic studies have shown that for every $100 spent locally, $30 more dollars stays in the local economy compared to shopping at a large chain store. We hope this educational effort will cause people to shift their buying habits in favor of our wonderful locally businesses." It pains me to inform a solid citizen like Dave Marley of this fact because, well, this is a really nice gesture that deserves to be repaid with exactly the sort of patronization of local business that he is trying to stimulate. Unfortunately, what will happen is approximately 997 people walking into Marley Drug, receiving their $2 bill and using it to download two songs from iTunes, pay part of their credit card bill or buy an item off eBay. Times are tough and if someone is handing you free money, even if it’s a mere $2, you’re taking it and running. No questions asked and no compulsion to spend it at a local business simply because a local business gave you that money…………
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