- Three months after a devastating tsunami touched off a massive nuclear crisis, the people of Japan still seem fairly on-edge when it comes to the use of nuclear power. Anti-nuclear sentiment is so high that thousands of protesters in Tokyo and other major cities took it to the streets Saturday to make their opposition to nuclear power known. Many demonstrators showed up armed with homemade drums and waving flowers in a scene that channeled some true ‘70s hippie spirit. Anger has built over the past few weeks over the government’s handling of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in the wake of revelations that the damage at the plant, and the release of radioactive material, was far worse than previously thought. Parents have expressed concerns for their children’s health and farmers and fishermen angry about the negative impact on their livelihoods. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has taken an immense amount of heat for his handling of the situation and a national debate has developed about Japan’s heavy reliance on nuclear power. The only move Kan has made thus far that has been universally applauded was ordering the shutdown of a separate nuclear power plant in central Japan until it can bolster its tsunami defenses. That move was not enough to prevent an estimated 20,000 protestors from filling a central square in downtown Tokyo to demand answers and change. “We now know the dangers of relying on nuclear power, and it’s time to make a change,” Hajime Matsumoto, one of the rally’s organizers, proclaimed to the crowd. “And, yes, I believe Japan can change.” Coordinated events took place in other cities around the country and the sight was an inspiring one if for no other reason than the Japanese tend not to be the world’s best or angriest protestors. In fact, many who showed up for Saturday’s rally admitted they were taking part in their first uprising. That inexperience showed when the rally began with organizers reminding those assembled, “Let’s all remember good manners!” Thankfully, some protestors ignored that plea and later clashed with police as they marched through the city. Police insisted protesters had not been given permission to congregate in the square. “Disperse immediately!” officers shouted through megaphones. In a truly inspiring reply, one unidentified man screamed back, “Shut up and go away!” Well done, anonymous Japanese protestor, well done. The protest wound down shortly after 9 p.m., when officers forcibly moved in to break up the crowd and succeeded with only minor pushing and shoving. Here’s hoping it was the start of a new era in Japanese protesting………….
- Smokers, you now have one less excuse not to put down your cancer sticks and stop inhaling the toxic crap wafting out of them. Perhaps you’ve been leaning on the lame, yet remotely plausible explanation that smoking keeps you thin. Sure, you’ll die much younger and in much more pain due to lung cancer, emphysema or other smoking-related illnesses, but at least you won't be flabby and obese when you check out on this planet. That excuse is going thanks to the smart people at Yale, who have finally solved the mystery of why a lot of people who smoke look so skinny and why many people who quit the habit gain weight. That the discovery was accidental is irrelevant because Yale associate research scientist Yann Maneur and his team still deserve an immense amount of credit. "Interestingly, initially we were not looking into feeding behavior but depression," Maneur said. "We were trying to find new drugs to treat depression. And as I was testing these new drugs I realized the animals were not eating as much." The drug that caught the researchers’ attention was nicotine and they were curious about the link between it and eating habits, so they took their research in a different direction. "We found that nicotine, when it enters the brain, activates specific nicotine receptors that are located on specific neurons known to decrease feeding and increase energy expenditure when activated," Maneur declared. In other words, when nicotine enters the body it triggers a brain pathway that tells a person they have eaten enough while signaling the body to start using up some energy. At this point, it’s important to note that anyone who uses this research to suggest that smoking is a great weight-loss tool is a moron, just to be clear. Maneur was quick to point out that there may be "drugs to mimic this effect to help people maybe lose weight. Or even better, when people try to quit smoking they could use drugs that are already available and known to trigger this pathway in order to potentially limit their weight gain." One each example, the smoking cessation drug cytisine, which is sold in Eastern Europe, also caused the same brain effect on eating in this study. Advancing from the results of this study to drugs specifically designed to produce the same results for weight-loss purposes would be difficult because the same receptors that react this way to nicotine help control the way the body deals with stress. To read more about this riveting research, simply pick up your copy of the new edition of the journal Science on your magazine rack…………
- If nothing else, at least former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was consistent. Consistently a dishonest scumbag, but still consistent. Not only was Pryor earning as much as $40,000 signing merchandise for a local memorabilia, selling awards and gear and trading autographs for tattoos at a local tattoo parlor (all significant NCAA rules violations), he was apparently violating NCAA rules before he played a single game for the Buckeyes. According to a report that first appeared Friday, Pryor had a relationship with memorabilia salesman Dennis Talbott dating back to the summer of 2008, before he had taken a single class on campus. Over the course of that summer, Pryor and several other Buckeyes players were spotted at a private golf course near Columbus three to four times a week, according to employees of the club, including the general manager. None of the employees quoted or referenced in the report could say whether any of the players reimbursed Talbott for the $80- to $100-a-round guest fees, but the point is largely irrelevant. Even if they repaid the fees, gaining access to the club through Talbott was an exclusive benefit and a possible NCAA violation because players are prohibited from receiving extra benefits based on their sports notoriety. Sciota Reserve Country Club general manager Regan Koivisto said he initially liked the idea of having the players around because it might generate a good buzz for the club. But when they began appearing there multiple times each week and when he learned that Talbott was a sports memorabilia dealer, he says he became concerned. "I said, 'This does not smell good,' " Koivisto said. "If anything bad was happening, I didn't want it to be happening on my property." Koivisto said he called the Ohio State football office and left a message with head coach Jim Tressel’s secretary, a message that was never returned. He did say that he “never saw Pryor at the club again" after making the call. Pryor’s attorney, Larry James, refused comment on Koivisto’s allegations, saying they were “recycled stories.” One club employee who wished to remain anonymous also identified Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey as one of the other players who played golf with Talbott at the club. Talbott has not been a member of the club since September 2008, when he was kicked out due to unpaid bills in the "thousands of dollars," Koivisto said. Amazingly for a guy who didn’t pay his country club bills, was allegedly behind a lot of illegal behavior and had state and federal tax liens filed against him in 2009 and 2010, Talbott has repeatedly denied he ever paid Pryor or any other active Buckeyes athlete to sign memorabilia. What are the chances he’s lying………..
- “Don’t Tase me, bro!” came first, but now the world has, “Don’t Tase me, MOOOOO!” Thanks to some overly exuberant police officers in Pelham, N.H., an extremely odd scene involving an escaped one-year-old cow and some Tasers unfolded early Saturday. Houdini, an appropriately named cow who had just been brought to her new home on Mammoth Road in Pelham, lived up to her nomenclature by managing to escape through a fence and cross the street. Owner Wendy Bordeleau and nearly a dozen friends and family members attempted to track down the cow and get her back to her corral. When their attempts failed, Bordeleau contacted police and because it was clearly a slow night in Pelham, five officers soon arrived at the scene. The police were no more successful in containing Houdini and became increasingly concerned about having an out-of-control cow roaming around on a busy stretch of road in weekend traffic. Faced with a difficult situation and no ideal solutions, the officers made the brilliant decision to bust out the one tool in their arsenal most often reserved for drunken, belligerent bar patrons and drivers who are too soused to comply with orders from police: the Taser. Sgt. Mike Pickles and his colleagues decided to use a Taser on Houdini in an attempt to subdue the rambunctious beast. "They Tasered the cow," Bordeleau said. "So I think, obviously, it was a Taser that was meant for humans and not livestock, so it didn't have too big of an effect on the cow." The effect was indeed minimal and so the officers blasted the cow with three separate jolts. While the Taser didn’t accomplish much, the combination of police and bystander was eventually able to contain Houdini and lead her back across the road and into her pen. Bordeleau said it did not appear the cow was harmed by the Taser blasts, but she still believes using the device was the wrong choice and has written a letter to the police department listing her complaints. "I feel like they could have employed a more humane method," she stated. "I feel like there were a lot of other options available, and they decided not to use them." Sgt. Pickles would have none of her nonsense and explained that his primary concern was public safety, which the cow was harming by presenting a hazard to motorists. Even without any experience in law enforcement or animal control, siding with Bordeleau seems like the wise choice on this one……….
- MTV may be sad to announce the cancellation of its controversial teen soap "Skin," but the network’s suits are the only ones shedding tears over the decision. Terrible ratings for the U.S. version of the show doomed it as much as the bad publicity it received for its trashy tendencies and there simply weren’t enough viewers tuning in on a weekly basis to justify a second season. The network announced the decision Thursday in a written statement. "'Skins' is a global television phenomenon that, unfortunately, didn't connect with a U.S. audience as much as we had hoped," the network said in its statement. "We admire the work that the series' creator Bryan Elsley did in adapting the show for MTV, and appreciate the core audience that embraced it." Yes, it was quite the phenomenon, all right. Such a phenomenon, in fact, that in spite as major hype and promotion on the part of MTV leading up to its premiere on January 17, the show wasn't able to hold onto a significant amount of viewers who tuned in for the first episode out of sheer curiosity. Because of its racy content, the series was hit with a TV-MA rating, meaning it could not be broadcast before 10 p.m. and was intended for viewers over the age of 17, even though it was set in a high school. Elsley originally created the U.K. version of the series with his son in 2007 and ironically enough, he labeled the show "old-fashioned" in the way that it focused of what it meant to be a teenager and how teens deal with their families, friends and adulthood bearing down on them. He vehemently defended the show against its critics by calling it "a very serious attempt to get to the roots of young people's lives. It tries to tell the truth. Sometimes that truth can be a little painful to adults and parents." That truth may not be nearly as painful as trying to watch most of MTV’s attempts at both scripted and reality programming, but it’s a fair point. As for that original scripted content, the network has six series set to debut this fall, including a revival of the animated, adult-oriented cartoon "Beavis and Butt-head." Keep up the good work, MTV………….
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