- Memo you Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh: Take a hint, realize no one wants you around and beat it. So far, Saleh has refused to take that hint and done his best to ignore a growing outcry from opposition groups to resign. Instead, he described his opponents as "outlaws" and told a large gathering Friday that he will resist calls to leave office. At the same time, tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators gathered nearby in the capital, Sana'a. Tens of thousands of protestors gathered in the streets following Muslim prayers after a Gulf Arab plan to end Yemen's political standoff fell through in recent days. That plan would have had Saleh handing over power to a deputy and resigning within a month of signing the initiative. After Saleh left office, a unity government including opposition members would have been put in place. Both sides confirmed last week that they agreed to the deal, but Saleh found a loophole by insisting he would sign the deal only as leader of the ruling General People's Congress party, but not in his capacity as president - as required by the plan. In other words, he would love to agree to the previously agreed-upon agreements, but President Saleh won't be signing as per the deal’s stipulations. In his place will be General People's Congress party leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, who technically doesn’t have the juice to sign the agreement. Even after officials with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council attempted to revive the pact, Saleh turned them away and instead declared on Friday he would "strongly defend the constitution." Saleh definitely does not seem concerned in the least about the 140 people who have died in anti-government unrest since January, nor does he seem worried about the very real possibility that many more people will die in the weeks and months ahead if he continues to dig in and refuse to leave office……….
- For those with an unnatural fear of suffering any type of aneurysm or stroke, now would be a good time to stop drinking coffee, blowing your nose or having sex. Those routine activities can cause sudden spikes in blood pressure, new research has shown. The study, conducted by the American Heart Association, suggested those spikes in blood pressure could, in turn, lead to broken blood vessels in the brain -- or even a stroke. Researchers examined 250 participants who had suffered a ruptured aneurysm for a period of three years. They found certain activities, such as drinking coffee, exercising vigorously, blowing your nose and having sex, were associated with a sudden increase in blood pressure and an increased risk of rupture. On the question of whether coffee is dangerous because of the caffeine content, the study found that coffee in general and the caffeine contained it in are equally to blame. A person learning of this study might also wonder if the AHA is suggesting they stop blowing their nose, exercising and having sex. No, researchers insist. They don’t want people to avoid these positive or beneficial behaviors across the board. After all, the risk in overall population of getting an aneurysm is low - about 2 percent. Still, of the six million people who suffer aneurysms each year, 40 percent of which are fatal. Controlling blood pressure by other means, i.e. eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight, also help with the problem. The findings do pose an interesting quandary for someone who might be at higher risk for an aneurysm or stroke because of the inherent Catch-22: Staying healthy and avoiding excess body weight are good for avoiding aneurysms and yet behaviors typically used to achieve those ends could lead to the very thing you’re trying to avoid. Asking people to avoid sex if they are at risk for an aneurysm seems even more unlikely because if there’s one thing most people enjoy more than their morning coffee, their daily workout or getting congestion out of their stuffed-up head by blowing their nose, quality love-making would be it…………
- Overreaction is, in many senses, the name of the game in every single major American professional sport these days. The issue may be steroids, it may be game-specific things like instant replay or concussions, but reactions to these concerns are expected to be swift, immediate and decisive. That approach is fine, but perhaps Major League Baseball is taking it too far by insisting on a stipulation that would enable commissioner Bud Selig to discipline players who are involved in alcohol-related incidents as part of a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union. "This certainly has been something that we've been discussing in our ongoing collective bargaining talks," league spokesman Pat Courtney said. Those talks are aimed at avoiding the sort of labor turmoil currently entangling the NFL and once its playoffs end in June, the NBA. Both leagues’ collective bargaining agreements are ending and so far, the NFL and its players have come nowhere close to a new agreement. So why is MLB so intent on making its negotiations even more difficult by insisting on a clause allowing the commissioner to further disciple players who are in alcohol-related incidents such as DUI arrest? Could it be because six active players have been cited already this year for driving under the influence? Maybe. But Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, Atlanta's Derek Lowe, Cleveland's Shin-Soo Choo and Austin Kearns, Oakland's Coco Crisp and Seattle's Adam Kennedy all earning a DUI in the first two months of the season isn't embarrassing to the sport, right? Fans don’t care that a player on their favorite team is out on the road so beered up that their blood-alcohol content is twice the legal limit, thus rendering them a significant threat to everyone else on the road……right? Selig currently has no power to suspend players for alcohol-related offenses even though baseball's drug policy does include a provision for discipline for players linked to "drugs of abuse." The six DUI arrests recorded this season have featured players of varying degrees of prominence, with Cabrera's easily the highest-profile incident. He was charged during spring training in February on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting an officer without violence. Choo came close almost entirely on the epic blood-alcohol level of .201 he scored during his arrest early Monday. Lowe’s arrest was impressive because he showed immense stupidity by racing another car down an Atlanta street while drunk. Taken all together, it may be possible to see why Major League Baseball is a bit concerned about the issue…………
- Why not, “Terminator 5” director Justin Lin, why not? You’re trotting out the blatant cash grab of a fifth installment in a series that has been dead for years, so why not recycle the entire cast of the original? Your leading man is a 63-year-old, one-dimensional actor who has spent the better part of the past decade in politics, so how high can your standards possibly be? After securing Schwarzenegger’s services, however, Lin went out of his way to deny rumors that Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn would return in their roles as Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese for the film. "No. I don't know where that came from. Everything has just been between me and Arnold, you know? Just us going out and trying to find the right partners. I have certain elements, but it's never been about, 'Hey, let's bring everybody back!' I just don't process that way," Lin explained. He went a step further by suggesting the movie may in fact ignore everything that happened in the past two “Terminator” films, “Terminator 3” and “Terminator Salvation,” both of which were sans Schwarzenegger. "To me, thematically, there are certain things that I want to see in a Terminator movie. A lot of that does draw back to creating this timeline that is an extension, closer tonally to the first and second movies. But to me, it's not as mathematical as, 'Hey, let's get everybody back together and we'll shoot the movie,'" the director stated. Sure thing, J. Just know that everything you’ve said in this space makes up the single worst idea you could have. What is a fifth installment of a movie franchise if not an obvious attempt to cash in on everything that has come before it in the series? You make multiple sequels because the franchise has name value and you can wring more cash out of it without having to expend the time and energy necessary to write and produce a top-notch movie. Say what you will about it being just you and the Gover-nator in this mess, but refusing to play to your strengths when you’ve so clearly sold out already and to do so over pride, that’s foolish…………
- College students actually like books? Wow. That is truly stunning news. Most of those enrolled at the fine colleges and universities around the United States are interested in the opposite sex, beer, bongs, parties, sleep and doing just enough to pass their classes, in that order. Yet there are the students and faculty at the University of Denver, throwing an adult temper tantrum because ongoing renovations at the university’s Denver Penrose Library is not only creating excess dust and noise, but also leading to a restructuring and reorganization of the library itself. As part of that renovation, more than 80 percent of the library’s books will be taken off the shelves and moved to storage. Why move the books if it’s a library, you ask? For more computers to do research or more study carrels? Nope. The reason the library is shoving its books into some dank, dark storage room is so it can open up more space for gathering spots. According to library staff members, the books are being moved in part because just 20 percent of the books see 80 percent of the usage. The books being stored are those rarely used, but that hasn’t stopped students and faculty from loudly bemoaning the decision. Graduate students have been especially vocal on the subject because many of the books being archived are ones they (allegedly) need for their studies. So far, the primary response from the library staff has been to tell any complainer that the stored books can be quickly retrieved by request. “We are not getting rid of any of the books. The books are obviously not being destroyed. They’re going to be stored and I should point out this is not new,” DU dean Nacy Allen stated. However, the school has heard the outcry and its provost recently stated that the 80-20 ratio is open to discussion and could change. Here’s hoping that happens so the students can get what they want and go right back to ignoring those books……….
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