- And everyone thought the ginormous game of conference-changing musical chairs that hit major-college athletics earlier this year was over. After Nebraska bolted the Big 12 for the Big Ten and Colorado left the Big 12 for the Pac-10 (ironically enough, leaving the Big 12 with 10 teams, the Big Ten with 12 teams and leading the Pac-10 to change its name to the Pac-12 after also adding Utah from the Mountain West), all of the dominoes appeared to have fallen. Notre Dame, always a target for major conferences in football, elected to remain an independent. Other Big 12 schools that were reportedly considering leaving stayed put, allowing the conference to stay alive. But the game has started up again with news that Big 12 member Texas A&M intends to move from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference, where they hope to begin play in 2012, school officials have said. After just 15 years in the Big 12, Texas A&M is exiting and may be just the first piece in a major expansion effort for the SEC. Sources close to the situation claim the SEC will now pursue Florida State, Clemson and Missouri, which would impact the Atlantic Coast Conference (FSU and Missouri) and Big 12, respectively. The A&M rumors appear to be substantiated by news that the Texas A&M board of regents will convene for a special meeting Monday that includes an agenda item about conference alignment. That listing on the agenda is called: "Authorization for the President to Take All Actions Relating to Texas A&M University's Athletic Conference Alignment, The Texas A&M University System." As with any conference move for any Division I school, A&M’s decision is all about one thing - money - and even those involved in the decision admit it. "There are millions of dollars at stake," Texas Rep. Dan Branch said Friday. "And this could affect students at other schools like Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor." Nice try, Dan-O. No one gives a rat’s ass how the move would affect students; they care how it will affect the bank accounts of the university, as the money made from such a decision won’t be going to any student or athlete. Missouri has denied it is discussing changing conferences, which may be technically true but not account for the SEC’s own plans. "No, no, no," Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said when asked about a possible move. Florida State university president Eric Barron struck a similar tone when pressed about his school leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference for the SEC. "I don't think there is anything to talk about right now," Barron said. "I don't speculate when there's no conversation." Hmm, not really a denial. Still, the Big 12 believes it could withstand the loss of A&M and could seek Houston to fill the void. Losing Missouri as well…..that might be a different story. After all, that might force the conference to actually change its freaking name to more accurately reflect its membership, as rocking the Big 12 moniker doesn’t really fit a conference with eight teams. Ah, the joys of big-time college athletics…………
- The New York City Sanitation Department does not have any forgiveness or compassion for those who dare to transgress against it, even if they happen to be octogenarians dealing with a problem not of their own creation. If the sanitation department were anything other than a bunch of rules-thumping, power-hungry knobs, they would not be hassling poor old Russel Anstett over the problems he’s having keeping his yard clean. Anstett has received multiple summonses for not doing a good enough job cleaning up trash in his yard - even though he’s not the one who put it there. The garbage is routinely thrown into his front yard by motorists and passengers in cars who are stopped at the traffic light at the corner where Anstett’s property is located. Knowing the problem exists, Anstett went so far as to purchase a $500 leaf blower to help keep his yard clean and picks up trash at least three days a week. For an 80-year-old man, that takes a significant chunk of the ol’ energy reserve and so there are times when Anstett’s yard looks less than spectacular. Either sanitation department employees just happen to be past his home at those times or they have it out for the old man, but regardless Anstett has received two summonses for not cleaning, not his own property, but the 18 inches adjacent to the street he's required to take care of. Anstett says he'll appeal the summons and has already written an angry letter to the sanitation commissioner explaining that he's doing the best he can to clean up the trash. In response to a query by a local television news station’s investigative reporter, the sanitation department insisted that Anstett needs to go through the standard appeals process if he has a problem with their summonses. You know, in between spending hours each day cleaning up the crap people dump from their cars into his yard…………
- MTV is one step closer to having its entire lineup composed of mindless reality series featuring the bottom of the social and societal barrel. The network that used to be about music television has canceled The Hard Times of RJ Berger after a two-season run, pulling the plug on the often-edgy series about a dorky high school student (played by Paul Iacono) and his hilarious exploits. The show started off well and developed something of a cult following during its first season. After drawing more than three million viewers in its second-season premiere in March, the forecast was even better for the show’s future. However, ratings steadily declined throughout the short season and May’s season finale drew less than one million people. With R.J. Berger out of the way, MTV can now continue its steady march toward a lineup filled with meatheaded, stereotype-fulfilling losers (Jersey Shore), societal bottom feeders (Teen Mom) and aspiring actors willing to have their staged every move filmed by a camera (Real World). There are (allegedly) some other scripted comedies in the works for MTV, as the network will debut Death Valley on Aug. 29 and the animated Good Vibes in October (along with the return of old standby Beavis and Butt-head) and still has drama/comedy I Just Want My Pants Back and an adaptation of British hit The Inbetweeners are scheduled for 2012 debuts. Of course, no one will be surprised when those shows are canceled after a season or two and MTV replaces them with shows that miraculously find a way to take the reality TV genre to new depths………
- The dream lives. Getting a tattoo is an aspiration of many who are too timid or conservative to take the chance on inking up and less obtrusive medical treatments appeal to one and all. Blending the two together just might be possible thanks to the development of ultrathin electronics that can be placed on the skin as easily as a temporary tattoo. Materials scientist John Rogers of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, believes he and his team have succeeded where others have failed by creating flexible electronics as stretchy and as bendy as human skin, which could eventually pave the way for sensors that monitor heart and brain activity without bulky equipment, or perhaps computers that operate via the subtlest voice commands or body movement. Rogers and his crew are working in concert with other institutions in the United States, Singapore, and China to create a form of electronics that almost precisely matches skin's mechanical properties. These amazing gizmos are known as epidermal electronics and can be applied in a similar way to a temporary tattoo. Placing the device on skin and rubbing it on with water might seem like an odd way to use an electronic device, but that is precisely how epidermal electronics work. They can even be hidden under actual temporary tattoos to keep the electronics concealed. "The skin represents one of the most natural places to integrate electronics," Rogers said. "As the largest organ in our body, and our primary sensory mode of interaction with the world, it plays a special role." Researchers owe the leap forward in epidermal electronics to advances in several areas, including active circuit components - transistors, diodes, and other inherently stiff semiconductors - Rogers and his team have been able to shrink to the size of the tiniest bumps and wrinkles on the skin. Another key aspect of the progress made of late is in the material on which these components are arranged: a sheet of rubbery "elastomer" that mimics the mass, thickness, and elasticity of the skin. The elastomer can stay attached for over 24 hours almost anywhere on the body and when teamed with a computer program capable of predicting all the stresses and strains that arise with different designs of an epidermal electronics device, durability has increased substantially. Experiments have included using a device the size of a postage stamp to a person's chest to pick up the electrical signals produced by the heart. The results were nearly identical to those produced by a hospital electrocardiogram, the researchers say, without utilizing potentially uncomfortable gels or tape. Critics have pointed out the need to test the new epidermal electronics with a range of skin conditions, from dry to sweaty, which will undoubtedly come in time. Until then, let’s all just dream of rocking a bitchin’ dragon tattoo on our right biceps that can also deliver medicine or monitor our body’s vital signs…………
- Oh no, Hamas, anything but that! Don’t make up some asinine rule that foreigners must now obtain visas to enter the Gaza Strip because implementing such harsh measures would surely be too much for the world to bear. But bear it the world must, as Hamas spokesman Ihab Ghussein laid down the new law just one day after the United States warned it would cut $100 million in American aid money if Hamas continues its "unwarranted audits" of local American nonprofit organizations. A cynic might view the back-and-forth as an international pissing match and one that traces its origins to Hamas’ recent decision to shut down a U.S.-financed aide group that refused an audit. Ghussein explained the new law by stating the government must know who is staying in Gaza in order to protect foreigners. Should it be implemented, the visa demand would make it extremely difficult for international aid groups to do their work in Gaza. Both the U.S. and the United Nations consider Hamas a terrorist organization and thus prohibit aid groups having direct contact with Hamas or providing the Islamic group with cash. Gaining a visa to do even the smallest project or conduct minor relief efforts would necessitate both of those activities and in essence, Hamas could be cutting its people off from the aid they so badly need, all in the name of sticking it to the U.S. and other Western nations that refuse to recognize it as a legitimate governing entity. Once again, it warms the world’s heart to see people in power making short-sighted, egotistical decisions that benefit their own selfish agenda while hurting the little guy truly in need of help…………
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