- CBS and Mark Burnett know a ratings draw when they see it and notorious "Survivor" villain Russell Hantz is it. Hantz, a three-time cast member who has done battle with foes on the show as well as the show itself for allegedly revealing inside information about results to bloggers, won’t be on the show’s 23rd season when it debuts this fall because Burnett has run out of ways to work him back into the show (all-star editions, heroes vs. villains, etc.), but a member of his family will be. Hantz’s nephew, Brandon Hantz, is now competing for the million-dollar prize on "Survivor: South Pacific." Like his uncle, Brandon Hantz works in the oil business and odds are Uncle Russell taught him a few dirty secrets to deceive, manipulate and connive his way through the game. Casting Hantz was a no-brainer for Burnett because his uncle is inarguably the most controversial character in the history of the show even if his whole act is completely contrived and artificial. On this season’s “Survivor,” Brandon Hantz will compete against the usual assortment of beautiful people, including two beauty pageant queens (Miss Washington and Miss Eritrea). Other wannabe actors, er, um, cast members are country music singer-songwriter Whitney Duncan, who made headlines this spring when her cousin Holly Bobo was abducted (and is still missing). In repeating a twist from last season, each of the show’s two tribes will eventually be joined by a surprise "Survivor" veteran (to be announced next Monday). The core cast will include 16 aspiring survivors, divided into the Upolu and Savaii tribes. Not to spoil the season, but chances are good that there will be alliances formed, lies told, immunity idols hidden around the island, people who whine about living conditions, bossy tribe members everyone grows to hate, challenges involved puzzles and mazes and bitter final tribal council speeches in which eliminated players comprising the show’s jury will stand up and berate the three remaining players for a) coasting through the game, b) riding someone else’s coattails, c) lying and breaking alliances or d) all of the above…………
- Want all the benefits of prayer without the time-consuming hassle of stopping your day, bowing your head and devoting a few minutes to the Almighty? Memorial United Methodist Church in High Point is the place for you, time-strapped religious follower. Realizing that many of the faithful need to stay close to God but cannot find time to shoehorn Him into their jam-packed daily schedule, the church now provides an outreach that offers drivers prayers while on the run. From 4 to 6 p.m. every Tuesday, drivers can pull up to a designated window and receive their needed prayer without having to get out of their vehicle. How did this time-saving idea come about? Church leaders say they were inspired, oddly enough, by their food pantry, which provides physical sustenance to needy members of the community. "It's not just about feeding the belly, but feeding the soul," said organizer Velva Mock. "And just like the conventional drive-through you're used to, you don't even have to step out of the vehicle." Because after all, there are just some things in life you don’t want to carve out specific time for and using five or 10 minutes to pray to the Lord is one of them. The logical next step, of course, is video conferencing the prayer time and allowing churchgoers to commune with the Creator via Face Time or Skype. For now, Memorial United Methodist Church members will have to make do with either the conventional approach to prayer or the new, drive-thru variety. The fact that the prayers are only available on Tuesdays does raise an interesting question, namely what worshippers are supposed to do the other six days of the week. After all, it isn't as if they can be expected to do all of the spiritual heavy lifting on their own……….
- Don’t forget Pakistan, world. While Libya’s dictatorial regime crumbles and Syria appears on the brink of a similar collapse, Pakistan has its own troubles and things are becoming chaotic enough that the call for the government to send in the army to impose a curfew in Karachi has become deafeningly loud. As the death toll from political-ethnic violence rose to 100 in the past three days, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the city’s main political party spoke out to demand the army be sent in to quell the unrest. At the same time, the MQM also observed a day of mourning for those killed in the clashes that began last month. Thus far, Pakistan’s main political parties, the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the opposition PML-N party have unanimously rejected pleas to call the army into Karachi. “This is the worst signal a democratic government can give to its people,” said PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif. The PPP went a step further, implying that the MQM might be behind the violence. “I am not taking any names, but the killings point to certain political parties,” information minister Shrajeel Memon said on Monday. Wait a sec……they want to call in the army to stop violence they are creating for the purpose of……dang it, this is too much, my head is starting to hurt. Critics abound in this ongoing drama and they all seem to have a different point of view. The province’s former prime minister, Zulfikar Mirza, told interior minister Rehman Malik to “keep out of Karachi” after Malik came to hold talks with the MQM. The MQM, in addition to asking for the army’s help, has joined other parties in demanding that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani resign if he cannot bring the situation under control. The situation is still regional at this point and a long way from escalating to the point of being a national firestarter of the sort that caused the current turmoil in other Middle East, African and Asian nations, but every revolution must start somewhere…………
- During the NFL’s four-month lockout, players spent their time in a variety of ways. Many used their extra free time to organize workouts with current NFL teammates or former college teammates. Some worked out on their own, other traveled, a few did extra charitable work……and then there’s Tennessee Titans receiver Kenny Britt, who spent an inordinate amount of time meeting with various local law enforcement agencies. For that, he now must meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his conduct during the lockout. The meeting, which took place Tuesday, focused on Britt’s arrests and possible discipline from the league under its player conduct policy. “I guess they finally found me,” Britt said Monday of the meeting. “But yeah, I heard from coach (Mike) Munchak, and we’ll meet tomorrow and see what happens.” Joking about the meeting probably wasn’t the best move, not after Britt was arrested not once, but twice in New Jersey during the lockout and also surrendered himself on two arrest warrants in Tennessee for giving inaccurate information on driver’s license applications. All together, the 2009 first-round draft pick out of Rutgers has had seven incidents with police since being drafted. Those are the sorts of numbers that get Goodell to sit up and take notice and sure enough, he summoned Britt for a meeting in New York. Prior to the end of the lockout, players spoke about their feeling that any incidents that took place during the lockout should not be covered under the league’s player conduct policy because at the time, they were technically not employees of the NFL due to the work stoppage. Goodell may disagree and will make that determination after meeting with Britt. On the agenda will be discussions of Britt’s arrests, including an April 12 arrest in his hometown of Bayonne, N.J., on charges of eluding an officer and hindering apprehension when police accused him of driving his Porsche 71 mph in a 50-mph zone before leaving the officer. Just one day later, wo plainclothes officers at a Hoboken car wash smelled marijuana and accused Britt of holding a rolled cigar they thought was the source. By the time police apprehended him, the cigar was gone and officer suspect a man with Britt may have disposed of it. He was charged with several offenses, including resisting arrest. In fact, trying to get away from the cops seems to be a huge issue for Britt. Bro, just stay put next time the police come looking for you and you’ll avoid half your problems. As for a possible suspension, Titans coach Mike Munchak doesn’t believe the commissioner will sit Britt down for any games. “They’ve never met,” Munchak said. “They don’t know each other, and I think it’s more of just kind of like I did. I know Kenny when he came back in just kind of wanted to hear what’s going on, let him know what’s expected of him and that there’ll be consequences if things go further. Hopefully, they’ll just have a good talk.” Riiiiiight. Because that’s what the commissioner of a league making $9 billion annually in revenues does, he invites troubled players to his office for bonding sessions. Probably not, but maybe Britt will get off light with a one- or two-game suspension. When he does return to the field, Britt is expected to be the No. 1 receiver for the Titans for as long as he can stay productive on the field and out of the back of squad cars off it……….
- If a certain lifestyle or relationship both causes and helps one recover from a major open-heart procedure, is it considered beneficial or detrimental? New research by researchers at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) may not definitively answer that question, but co-author Harry T. Reis and his team have concluded that married people are more than twice as likely as single people to be alive 15 years after coronary bypass surgery, although the findings can't prove that having a spouse has a protective effect. Because of ethical constraints on research, it may never be possible to ever prove that marriage is good for your health, but the study does provide more evidence that having a long-term mate is good for you, said Reis. Other recent studies have suggested apparent health benefits of marriage, including an increase in the odds of survival from colon cancer and the possible reduction of pain in rheumatoid arthritis patients. However, the cause-and-effect relationship between marriage and health benefits is difficult to determine because of existing variables, for example, the possibility that people who are naturally healthier are more likely to get married in the first place, maybe because they're happier than sicker folks. For their study, Reis and his team tracked what happened to the health of 225 people who underwent coronary bypass surgery from 1987 to 1990. Of those 225 people, 124 of them (55 percent) survived for at least the next 15 years: 61 percent of the married patients and 30 percent of the unmarried. Unmarried women fared most poorly in post-surgery survival odds, with just 26 percent of them still alive at the end of the period, while unmarried men did not fare much better (only 36 percent were still alive). Conversely, 83 percent of happily married women and men were still alive and (reasonably) well. The one caveat in the results was the omnipresent unhappy marriage -- defined as those in which patients said they weren't very satisfied – in which just 29 percent of post-bypass women survived for the monitored time period as opposed to 60 percent of the men in similar relationships. After adjusting their findings for age differences between married women and unmarried women, researchers found that the percentages of difference shrank substantially. Also, fewer women were in the sample of patients, possibly affecting the results for them. So what to make of all of these numbers and variables? "Marriage gives you purpose in life, and feeling like you have a reason to live is an important part of doing the things you need to do to stay alive," Reis said. "Married people also help each other, remind each other it's time to take their pills. And they probably eat healthier." Conversely, Reis said, "when people are not married and living alone, that's when they really let themselves go, especially when they're in their 60s or 70s and living alone." Much more about this riveting research can be found by perusing your copy of the most recent issue of the journal Health Psychology or tracking it down online……….
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