- If diamonds truly are a girl’s best friend, then what is an entire planet made of diamond? Not that a ginormous diamond floating around in space is going to do anyone any good at all, but astronomers recently discovered the massive ball of carbon they believe it probably the remnant of a massive star that has lost its outer layers to the pulsar it orbits. For the space lingo-challenged, a pulsar is a tiny, dead neutron start perhaps 20 km in diameter. Pulsars spin hundreds of times a second, emitting beams of radiation. The pulsar around which this particular planet orbits is Pulsar J1719-1438, which has been tracked by telescopes in Hawaii, Australia and Britain. Will it inspire ladies around the globe to suddenly take up astronomy or start saving their cash to get on one of Sir Richard Branson’s forthcoming flights to outer space in hopes of getting a better look at this giant ball ‘o diamond? No, but girls can still dream. The planet itself is far denser than others and consists largely of carbon, which makes it a diamond for all intents and purposes. Astronomers believe it also contains oxygen, with greater amounts near its surface. Its high density is said to indicate the absence of lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium. Of course, with the United States government now out of the business of sending humans into space, finding cool outer space oddities with high-powered telescopes or hitching rides to the cosmos with the Russians will have to provide our astronomical thrills…………
- Sting is a busy man these days. In addition to singing crappy ‘80s pop that appeals only to those over the age of 45 and living off the few past “hits” he’s managed to pen, he’s also making social statements and preparing to venture into the world of musicals. After making headlines by canceling a concert in Kazakhstan because he didn't want to promote the country's "repression" of its oil and gas workers, the British popster is now starting work on a musical based around the lives of people in his home city of Newcastle. He will co-write the musical, which is set to be titled 'The Last Ship.' It will combine music and lyrics from Sting with a book by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning writer Brian Yorkey. It already has a basic storyline and a plot, set in the 1980s in Newcastle, with characters set to include a priest, a industrial titan and a former shipyard worker. Hopefully it will be able to fully recreate the guttural, gravelly, mediocre music of Sting with the stuck-in-the-‘80s vibe woven through his career and mix in the usual hard-rocking elements of musical theater to tell a compelling story that, like Sting’s music, no one born after 1970 has any interest in experiencing. Then again, Sting clearly isn't reinventing himself musically at this point and the only way he’s going to have a shot at even a minimal expansion of his audience is to go in a completely different direction, even if it is the theater…………
- Do you enjoy your state parks as you know them, Californians? If so, you should definitely enjoy the heck out of them as much as possible in the near future because they may not be around much longer. State officials have surveyed the current condition of their parks system and decided that the best answer for the level of disrepair and decay is : closing 70 state parks to save $22 million over the next couple of years. With many of the Golden State's parks poor condition and need $1.3 billion dollars of deferred maintenance, newly elected Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking to address two problems in one step by cutting the state’s budget while also removing the headache of poorly maintained parks. Brown targeted the parks with the highest repair bills and the least significance - both historically and culturally - and placed them on the list to be closed. Included on that list are the old Governor's Mansion in Sacramento, author Jack London's ranch in Sonoma County and the second-largest state park in California, Henry Coe in Santa Clara County. "We've reached a point where we've had the last straw to break the camel's back, but there's no other choice but to close," says Roy Stearns, deputy director of communications for the California State Parks Department. The major caveat in closing the parks is that state law prohibits the government from selling any of them. Instead, Brown’s administration must choose from a list of options that includes working with volunteer caretakers or getting financing through corporate sponsorships. However, a company sponsoring a park won't receive naming rights like they would in slapping their gaudy corporate moniker on something like Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium or Lincoln Financial Field. "The public should know we're not going to name a park after a company. We're not going to put up advertising in our park because that's prohibited by our own guidelines and law," Stearns promised. Some parks have already received offers of support from locals passionate about keeping them open. A local businessman in Marin County wants to finance an effort that would allow volunteers and hired teens to operate the popular Samuel P. Taylor campground on a minimal budget. One other option would be partnering with the National Park Service to co-manage parks located near or adjacent to existing federal parks. A silver lining for California residents in potential park closings is that they still have access to forests, deserts and beaches no matter what happens to their favorite park. Of course, that fact raises important concerns about public safety, fire danger and the preservation of cultural and historic resources inside the parks. More than 200 state parks remain open and unaffected at this point, but that is subject to change…………
- Turkey v. Israel - it’s on. Not only is this rumble in the Middle East heating up, it is now headed to the highest of heights - international justice-wise anyhow - as Turkey prepares to challenge Israel's blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice. Once close allies, Israel and Turkey are now on opposing sides of a bitter debate over last year's deadly raid by Israeli forces on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists. Turkey pressured Israel to apologize and those overtures were rejected. Angry words were then exchanged and Turkey ratcheted the hostility up a notch this week by expelling the Israeli ambassador and severing military ties with Israel. Not content with those measures, Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced plans during an interview with Turkey's state-run TRT television to appeal the case to the International Court of Justice. In the interview, Davutoglu rejected a United Nations report into the raid that said Israel's naval blockade of Gaza was a legal security measure. "What is binding is the International Court of Justice," Davutoglu said. "This is what we are saying: let the International Court of Justice decide." The report - prepared by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon - did not receive an official endorsement by the UN and was therefore not binding. “We are starting the necessary legal procedures this coming week," Davutoglu vowed. His proclamation came less than 24 hours after the report was released. Davutoglu cited another report on the incident, prepared in September by three human rights experts appointed by the UN's top human rights body, which characterized the incident as a violation of international law. Later in the same interview, Davutoglu issued an ominous warning of what the Arab world will do to Israel if it maintains its current position and does not apologize. All in all, good times…………
- U.S.A.! U.S.A.! The United States sucks at soccer and anyone who doubts it should look no further than Carson, Calif., site of the latest letdown for the U.S. men’s national team. A 1-0 loss to mighty Costa Rica in an international friendly illustrates that no matter who is coaching the team and who is on the roster, soccer is not America’s sport. At the beginning of August, heralded coach Jurgen Klinsmann was selected to replace Bob Bradley and try to reverse the team’s dubious history in international play. Soccer analysts were quick to hype the move and even call Klinsmann a “soccer rock star” who could change the fortunes of a team that has never won anything of note in the soccer world. If changing the fortunes means a tie and a loss on American soil to Mexico and Costa Rica, two teams not known as soccer powers, and one goal scored in those two games then Klinsmann can be considered a resounding success. Following a 1-1 tie against Mexico in Klinsmann's first game as coach, the U.S. team dropped a 1-0 decision to Costa Rica on Friday night, with Klinsmann and his players both doing their best to paint a terrible performance in a positive light. "Bad result," Klinsmann said. "Never like to lose a game, but very good performance. I was pleased with the performance. I was pleased with the way all the players tried to implement all the work that we did on the training field throughout the week. ... What I told the guys in the locker room was that from a performance point of view, it was very, very positive, what we saw." Umm…..really? Having Costa Rican sensation Rodney “Soccer Icon” Wallace score the game’s only goal and mounting no consistent offense of your own typically doesn’t qualify as success, even if you really, really suck. "I want them to go through those kind of down periods in games," Klinsmann said. "We saw here and there players getting tired or a couple minutes where they were struggling. But they need to learn to go through those minutes. They need to fight their way through it.” So the coach is selling this psychological bullsh*t, but what about the players? "I think there's no question tonight is going to benefit us," U.S. star Landon Donovan said. "There's a lot to learn from tonight. A lot of our young players will now see you can dominate a team, dominate possession and have the majority of the ball and still lose." Yes, they will see that America can always find a way to fail on the soccer field, er, pitch………
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