- For any music fan under the age of 37 or so, today marks the start of a truly bizarre phenomenon. As long as those individuals have been alive, Atlanta-based rockers R.E.M. have been making music (mostly good music). R.E.M. defined the concept of a college band, beginning in the ATL and becoming a mainstay at college bars and campuses around the Unites States as they rose to prominence and became one of rock’s most famous and successful acts. As of Wednesday, R.E.M. is no more. The band announced that it would "call it a day" after more than 30 years of making music together, issuing the bummer of a proclamation via its official website. "To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening," the statement said. The numbers are indeed staggering when taken in totality, as R.E.M. released 15 albums since forming in 1980 and existed for its entire run with the same lineup - singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bass player Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry - with a minimum of drama and diva tendencies that have punctuated the careers of so many other hugely successful bands over the years (no names named, Aerosmith and Rolling Stones). Although critics will claim that R.E.M. had lost some of their mojo in recent years as they aged and that they would never be as big or as relevant as they were in the ‘80s and ‘90s, such criticism is a relatively small blight on what was otherwise a successful run that produced no shortage of hits that became pop culture staples (“Everybody Hurts” and “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” as two prime examples) and a last album - "Collapse into Now" - released earlier this year that was still a very good listen. Even if Stipe has attracted a fair amount of haters over the years for his distinct vocals and odd sense of style and musicianship, no one can deny that R.E.M.’s impact on the music industry for more than three decades was substantial…………
- If an airline passenger was going to receive a TSA patdown of his or her hair, the scene was destined to unfold somewhere in the Dirty South. If there is one place in the United States where big hair still reigns for people of all races and ethnic backgrounds, it’s the south. Whether it’s ‘80s big hair, a fro or some other take on the fad, the south rules when it comes to exaggerated ‘dos. Isis Brantley, a hairdresser flying through Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport en route to Dallas, had already passed through a security checkpoint when she was tracked down by TSA agents for a closer screening - of her lettuce. Two TSA agents rushed down an escalator to stop Brantley as she approached the platform for the airport tram to the concourse from which her flight would depart. "Some random lady came up and said 'Did they check your hair?' and I said, 'What no,' and then I just kept going," Brantley recalled. That random lady was an agent who then informed Brantley, "I have to pat your hair down to make sure you don't have any explosives." The search must not have been deemed invasive enough to warrant a patdown in a private room because Brantley said the agents patted her hair down right there in front of the train doors. "She took her hand and she started digging around in my hair several times and I said, 'Find the explosives? Please don't do this to me. This is humiliating and embarrassing'," Brantley said. The agents shockingly found no bombs or other incendiary devices in Brantley’s oversized ‘do and let her go. She rocks a large afro and has for some time, but claimed this was the first time in more than 20 years that she had been stopped. The TSA told a different version of the story, claiming Brantley left the checkpoint prior to the completion of the screening process and refused a private screening when offered one. An irate Brantley complained to a TSA manager at Hartsfield-Jackson, who assured her the TSA would investigate the incident. Let this be a warning to everyone else bold and awesome enough to rock a fro because any of them could be next………..
- Southern California is a toxic place for human beings when it comes to their lungs and the air those lungs are forced to consume each day, but the hazards may not end there. According to some intrepid British researchers, exposure to high levels of traffic-related air pollution appears to temporarily boost the risk for experiencing a heart attack. Hear that, Los Angeles residents? Heart attacks, earthquakes and wildfires! Thankfully, the apparent elevation in risk is short-lived, according to this study. It lasts for only one to six hours following exposure and dissipating entirely thereafter. The study, done by team led by Krishnan Bhaskaran, a lecturer in statistical epidemiology in the department of non-communicable diseases epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, concluded that air pollution exposure may not bump up overall cardiac risk significantly but rather expedite the chances that an individual already facing a probable heart attack threat will experience it slightly sooner than otherwise. Bhaskaran and his team analyzed the cases of more than 79,000 patients in England and Wales who experienced a heart attack between 2003 and 2006 in one of 15 different relatively large (London) and small (Cardiff) urban settings. They recorded the hour of each patient's heart attack and then analyzed relevant time-sensitive regional air pollution data regarding pollutant particles (PM10), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone and nitrogen dioxide levels as measured by the U.K. National Air Quality Archive. Nitrogen dioxide and PM10 are mostly produced by motor vehicles in urban settings. After adjusting for extraneous factors, the team found that higher ambient levels of both PM10 and nitrogen dioxide did appear to be linked to a short-term rise in the risk of experiencing a heart attack. Furthermore, when they looked at heart attack risk for up to 72 hours following air pollution exposure, there appeared to be no increase in risk outside of the one- to six-hour range. Outside of fast-tracking the heart attack chances of a person already headed towards one, perhaps air pollution isn't such a huge villain. Either way, read more about this riveting research in the Sept. 20 issue of the British Medical Journal……………
- Soccer has no place in professional football and the NFL is going to make sure of that……somehow. After a Monday Night Football debacle in which the New York Giants had multiple players (allegedly) fake injuries on defense to slow the pace of the St. Louis Rams’ offense, the league sent a memo Wednesday to all 32 teams warning of fines, suspensions and loss of draft picks if it determines players faked injuries during a game. How commissioner Roger Goodell and his crew are going to know for sure whether a play was truly injured or was faking it is unclear, but in the memo the NFL reminded teams of league policy that calls on coaches to discourage the practice. The most glaring example during Monday night’s game came when the Giants' Deon Grant faked an injury after a play and went down only after making it back to the defensive huddle. The Giants have since claimed that Grant was cramping up and that another defender who went down merely tripped. Those explanations have done nothing to placate the Rams, who filed a complaint with the league over the incidents. Rams quarterback Sam Bradford minced no words when evaluating exactly what happened. "They couldn't get subbed, they couldn't line up," Bradford said. "Someone said, 'Someone go down, someone go down,' so someone just went down and grabbed a cramp." As for the memo from the league, it read: "Going forward, be advised that should the league office determine that there is reasonable cause, all those suspected of being involved in faking injuries will be summoned promptly to this office ... to discuss the matter. Those found to be violators will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action for conduct detrimental to the game." So maybe Goodell will be hiring some current and former international soccer stars - the undisputed experts on flopping - in to consult on who is faking it and who’s not? Credit to Giants coach Tom Coughlin for keeping up the charade when asked about Grant’s specific “injury” on Tuesday. Coughlin said he thought Grant went down with cramps and refused to elaborate. Grant was sticking to his story too, selling his cramps tale for all it was worth. "I went out one play," Grant said. "I got banged up, and went right back in and finished the game -- (just like I have) every game for my career. My whole thing is when (do) you know (if) somebody (is) faking an injury? ... I'm not no duck or no dummy. I'm not about to be going out there banging myself up like they do in the movies. You look at my knees now, do you see this knee (my right one), this knee is smaller than that one (my left one)? You see the bang-up, right?" Yes, but the most salient point you made is when you asked how it’s possible to know when someone is faking an injury. That very fact is what’s saving your butt right now and saving you and your team from league discipline. The NFL’s competition committee has discussed this issue in the past but shown great reluctance to propose a rule that could force game officials to make judgments on injuries. "We have been fortunate that teams and players have consistently complied with the spirit of the rule over the years and this has not been an issue for the NFL," the memo said. "We are determined to take all necessary steps to ensure that it does not become an issue." Now that it seems the “spirit of the rule” has been replaced by the spirit of soccer, this is the time to change the rule itself………..
- Energy and its procurement are solid conflict-starters anywhere in the world. As evidenced by the brawl between Daryl Hannah, along with her activist friends, as they attempt to stop the construction of a massive new oil pipeline spanning the United States and Canada, oil, natural gas and other energy sources can spark all manner of massive brawls. Turkey could soon learn the same lesson after signing a deal with the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state on Wednesday to pave the way for offshore gas exploration. Tensions were already high in the region over Mediterranean energy reserves and they are not likely to abate with this deal. The Greek Cypriot government sparked more drama Tuesday when it announced drilling had begun in a southeastern offshore block, adjoining a gas field in Israeli waters reputed to be the world's largest find of the past decade. The government, which has remained at odds with Turkey since its military invasion of north Cyprus in 1974, didn’t seem bothered that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described the offshore gas drilling by Cyprus and Israel as "madness." Of course, Erdogan still signed the deal with the Turkish Cypriots to clear the path for Turkish exploration off northern Cyprus. Cyprus has remained divided since the 1974 invasion in the aftermath of a brief Greek-inspired coup in Nicosia, with Turkey maintaining a military presence in the Turkish Cypriot state. The Turks argued that the Greek Cypriot government should not have started deciding maritime borders before reaching a settlement in reunification talks with the Turkish Cypriots because whatever they may discover by drilling belongs to both sides. "The Greek Cypriot administration and Israel are engaging in oil exploration madness in the Mediterranean," Erdogan stated on Wednesday. The drilling decision isn't likely to facilitate any success in peace talks between the two sides, which have dragged on without much progress since 2008. At this point, Turkey is the only country to recognize the Turkish Cypriot state. It is the Greek Cypriot government which is internationally recognized and represents the island in the European Union. After this little offshore drilling deal, that island should be an even more interesting place to live…………
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