- On the one hand, two dudes with checkered pasts - one of whom has a criminal record and thus cannot legally own a gun - should probably know better. On the other hand, when those two men are Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and Poison frontman Brett Michaels, can anyone truly expect more from them than rolling up on a shooting range in North Carolina to unwind during some down time on their joint U.S. tour? While crisscrossing the country, Lee and Michaels apparently decided to unwind by hitting a shooting range in Rowan County, N.C. and that would have been fine if Lee didn’t have a rap sheet that includes domestic violence and indecent exposure charges and oh yeah, an entry on that rap sheet for illegal possession of a firearm. Unfortunately, those with criminal records cannot own, possess or carry a gun in the state of North Carolina. State laws make it illegal "for any person who has been convicted of a felony to purchase, own, possess, or have in his custody, care, or control any firearm." Ironically enough, the two men were accompanied to the shooting range by a former police officer who either didn’t know about the legal issues associated with the visit or was simply too star struck to care. The entire incident probably would have gone unnoticed had meddlesome local TV station WSOCTV not brought it to the attention of police. In an official statement, the station rather boastfully proclaimed, “The sheriff and local police chiefs didn't know about it until we brought it to their attention. It could be illegal if any of those men have criminal records that prohibits them from using guns. There were officers from the Rowan County Sheriff's Office, Salisbury and Spencer police departments with the rockers. We found that out when the sheriff and both chiefs called me to say they’re now investigating. The sheriff wants to know if the pictures show bad judgment, a policy problem or a crime.” Hmm……I know who showed bad judgment on this one…..aside from Lee and Michaels. It’s WSOCTV, which should have simply kept its mouth shut. Yes, a story like this might boost your ratings for a day or two, but in the end you’re doing more harm than good and simply kicking a couple of has-been rockers when they’re down. Who was injured by Michaels and Lee shooting some paper targets at the range? No one, that’s who. Still, WSOCTV would not have had this golden chance at a pub grab if Lee and Michaels had simply known and followed the law…………
- There is now an additional reason to get off the couch and work out, world. Not only can lifting weights help you get that cut, chiseled physique all the ladies (or fellas) will enjoy, but pumping iron may reduce your chance of contracting type II diabetes. A new study released Thursday suggests that increasing your muscle mass could do more in decreasing your risk than simply reducing your body fat. Researchers at UCLA state in the report that building muscle mess has a direct link to a person’s likelihood of contracting type II diabetes. "Our findings suggest that beyond focusing on losing weight to improve metabolic health, there may be a role for maintaining fitness and building muscle mass," says assistant professor Preethi Srikanthan, of UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. Medical experts have long known that reducing your body fat will reduce your chances of getting type II diabetes, but the way in which people go about reducing body fat could be the key. Researchers in the school's division of endocinology studied 13,644 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III in search of a connection between higher muscle mass and the bodies' insulin resistance. One warning sign of the onset of diabetes is the body's resistance to absorbing insulin. In their study, scientists found that for every 10-percent increase in a person’s muscle mass, there was an 11-percent decrease in the bodies' resistance to insulin. Additionally, an increase in muscle mass also amounted to a 12-percent decrease in pre-diabetes, a condition associated with people on the edge of contracting diabetes due to their blood's high glucose levels. The findings could offer hope to the 79 million Americans the American Diabetes Association says currently have the pre-diabetes condition. Nearly 26 million Americans presently have type II Diabetes and combined, the two conditions comprise one-third of the country’s population. Decreasing the amount of obese and overweight Americans is a great solution to the problem, but anyone who has been in the immediate vicinity of a fast food restaurant or all-you-can-eat buffet of late can attest to what a difficult endeavor that is. Convincing many Americans to exercise is a war in and of itself, but perhaps doing some biceps curls and dead lifts will be easier than talking them into running, biking, swimming or other activities that require them to venture into the great outdoors……….
- Never has there been a prouder day for someone to call themselves a resident of Sheboygan, Wisc. Contrary to popular belief, having a mayor who is (hopefully sober enough to be) governing by day and brawling in local bars by night is freaking awesome. How many Americans regularly lament the lack of concern and interest on the part of their elected officials, a general disinterest in fighting for anything worthwhile? Mayor Bob Ryan is a man who will fight and while he may have been fighting mostly out of a drunken belligerent-ness, at least he was fighting over the weekend. While out on the town Saturday night, Ryan apparently found himself in the middle of a bar brawl and also passed out at some point in the evening. No one is clear in which order the events happened, but Ryan isn't attempting to deny what went down at a bar near Elkhart Lake. He also readily admits to having a drinking problem, something he has copped to numerous times in the past but has simply never gotten around to addressing. In fact, he addressed the matter in October 2009 and vowed to stay off the sauce from that point on. "Alcohol will never again play a role in my future," Ryan told the Sheboygan City Council at the time. He went on to apologize for his abuse of alcohol after a video surfaced of him apparently drinking and making inappropriate comments at a local bar. In light of breaking those promises and proving himself to be the angry drunk guy everyone is looking to avoid when they go to the bar, many residents are calling for Ryan’s resignation. He has no plans to give those people what they want and went on a local radio station Thursday to state his intentions to remain in office, "I do not blame the council for asking for my resignation. What I did is indefensible....I'm not proud of it," Ryan said. "I'm not proud of that," said Ryan. "I'm humiliated by that. If it happens again, I need to walk away.” Yes, if it happens again for the umpteenth time, then he definitely needs to walk away because then it would just be ridiculous to keep going. This was just one isolated incident - that the mayor characterized as part of "a three-day drinking session." That “drinking session” also included a series of inappropriate remarks to a female bartender before passing out. The city council is moving ahead with efforts to oust Ryan from office regardless of his opinion on the matter and council members have decided to introduce a resolution asking the mayor to step down at a meeting next week. Like any good, “functional” alcoholic, Ryan insists alcohol has not affected the way he does his job. He vows to remain sober for the rest of his term and days the "fishbowl" he lives in helps keep him sober. What fishbowl he’s referring to, no one is sure. After all, dude is the mayor of Sheboygan, Wisc., not New York City………..
- One too many times to the well, Oklahoma University athletic department, one too many times to the well. Asking the NCAA for leniency after committing your first major rules violation might fly depending on the infraction and the NCAA’s mood at the time, but doing so a second time in a five-year span for the same program - men’s basketball - is too much of a reach. But there OU athletic department officials are, pleading with the governing body for collegiate athletics to spare them severe sanctions despite two major rules violations in its men's basketball program. In making the request, OU officials hope to avoid harsh penalties that can be applied to a “repeat offender” under NCAA bylaws, penalties that include a minimum of having the sport dropped for one or two seasons with no scholarships provided for two seasons. The hail Mary for the Sooners is being sent to the NCAA infractions committee, which has the authority to override such a designation. To win over the committee, the school needs to explain how, despite admitting that it does qualify under the description of repeat violator -- having two major infractions cases within five years in the same sport - it should not get a punishment smackdown from the NCAA. "This is an isolated incident involving a single member of the coaching staff, who clearly knew his lack of action to prevent or report the violation was not acceptable," the university said in a summary disposition report put together jointly with NCAA investigators. In the latest case, the school claimed former assistant coach Oronde Taliaferro broke NCAA rules by failing to report that a player had received an impermissible extra benefit and followed that brilliant decision up by lying to Oklahoma and NCAA enforcement staff during the investigation. The name of the player involved was redacted from the report, but former player Keith "Tiny" Gallon said in multiple interviews that he took $3,000 from a Florida financial adviser to pay for his high school transcripts and allow him to attend college. The previous NCAA violations came under the regime of serial rule breaker and liar Kelvin Sampson, who made thousands of illegal phone calls and sent many more illegal text messages to recruits during his time in Norman. Corruption and rule-breaking seems to run in the family at OU, so to speak, as the football, men’s and women’s gymnastics team have also had major rules violations in the past five years. The gymnastics violations are no surprise because anyone who knows college sports knows that the gymnastics recruiting game is as dirty, big-dollar and corrupt as they come. In spite of that rampant rule-breaking both department-wide and within the men’s basketball program, the school believes previous cases show the most severe penalties "are not appropriate in this case." In lieu of those sanctions, OU asked the NCAA to place the program on two more years of probation, vacate its wins from the 2009-10 season and take away one scholarship, two official visits and 10 in-person recruiting days during the upcoming academic year. Lots of success winning that argument……….
- Not that starting an international war is ever a desirable option, but now would be an excellent time to attack for any nations out there that have been eyeing an invasion of Turkey. The country’s entire military command resigned Friday, although the reason for the mass exodus wasn’t immediately clear. Local media began reporting the resignations early in the day and by midday, the head of the armed forces, and the army, naval and air commanders had tendered their resignations to the government. While no explanation was given, the move likely has tied to the recent string of arrests of active and retired officers by the government, which has accused the detainees of organizing an Internet-based plot to undermine the country's leadership. Relations between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government and the military were strained before the arrests and shockingly, dropping dozens of current and former officers into Turkish prisons did nothing to improve the relationship. Regardless of the cause, having the highest-ranking military officials in any country walk out on the job cannot be considered a good thing despite any questions about the military’s loyalty. Oh, and Turkey happens to be in one of the most combustible regions of the world, precariously situated between the Middle East - always on the verge of all-out war - and Africa, where a despotic regime is overthrown every other day or so. Any country with a grudge against Turkey or a score to settle might want to break out those plans for a strike and put things into motion before the conflict between the military and government are resolved. Not saying it’s time to start a war, I’m just saying…………
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