- Why, oh why are you so preoccupied with persecuting stoners, America? Most other civilized, forward-thinking nations around the world aren’t so close-minded about those whose existence is highlighted by bong rips, fatties, games of hackey-sack and lots of time spent with their best pal Chester Cheetah. Aside from only a select number of states allowing marijuana for even medical purposes, there is also the long list of ugly stereotypes levied against potheads. Go ahead and add some idiot in northern California thinking he or she is going to be really funny and post a sign further mocking stoners just for daring to take a toke off of their favorite product grown from Mother Earth. Whoever this clown is, they have posted a sign warning motorists to be aware of a very specific type of pedestrian near the American River access close to the Salmon Falls Bridge. From afar, the sign looks like a normal black-and-yellow crosswalk sign. A closer review shows a sign warning “Beware of stoner.” There are also alterations to several other crosswalk signs long Salmon Falls Road heading to Pilot Hill that show a bong silhouette added to the pedestrian’s hand. These imbecilic displays have been popping up over the past few months and the anti-stoner graffiti is well-done enough to escape notice for most motorist. Videos of the signs have been posted on YouTube and sadly, local officials say they have not received any complaints about the displays. No complaints? First, this is northern California and if no one is going to stick up for stoners there, who will? Secondly, do you need complaints to fix signs that have clearly been doctored to defame a certain group of people? And make no mistake about it, this is not some do-gooder looking out for the general well-being of stoners because we all know that no stoners are out going for long, arduous walks through the hill country. They’re either on their couch, in their bed or in a friend’s basement hitting the peace pipe and watching Beavis and Butthead episodes while they wait for their buddy to eject more Pop Tarts from the toaster and bring them down. Stop clowning stoners, whoever defaced these signs, because you’re the one who is worthy of derision……….
- Where the average person might see a two-way communication device designed to help stranded or otherwise troubled motorists, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) sees a sinister plot to invade the privacy of those same people. Schumer is in a rampage against the OnStar automobile communication service used by 6 million Americans because he believes the device’s setting to maintain its two-way connection with a customer even after the service is discontinued and reserving OnStar’s right to sell data from that connection is highly illegal. "OnStar is attempting one of the most brazen invasions of privacy in recent memory," Schumer fumed. "I urge OnStar to abandon it.” Schumer is also calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. In response to Sen. Schumer’s criticisms, OnStar stated that former customers can stop the two-way transmission, and that no driving data of customers has been shared or sold. The company also insisted that customers are thoroughly informed of the new practice. Thoroughly informed is a relative term, of course, and it probably is not a huge risk to assume that many OnStar customers are not aware that they have a chance to not have data collected after service is ended. Oh, and why would OnStar go to the effort to reserve the right to share or sell data on customers' speed, location, use of seat belts and other practices (and it does) if it had no plans to sell the data? Why bother collecting something with supposedly no value to you and which you do not plan to use? "We apologize for creating any confusion about our terms and conditions," said Joanne Finnor, vice president of subscriber services. "We want to make sure we are as clear with our customers as possible, but it's apparent that we have failed to do this. ... We will continue to be open to their suggestions and concerns." Suggestions? How about simply stopping the practice all together because it doesn’t seem to serve any purpose for the customer? Finnor attempted to make the case that keeping the two-communication active for former customers could someday allow for emergency messages to be sent even to ex-customers about severe weather or evacuations, but counting on a company to expend effort on things that don’t impact its bottom line in a positive way seems to be a massive stretch……….
- The Lion King (in 3D) was king of the box office once more as it ruled with a take of $22.1 million in its second weekend of three-dimensional release. In those two frames, the film has scored $61.7 million and rewarded Disney handsomely for its shameless cash grab. Four new films occupied the next four spots on the list, led by the baseball-centric Moneyball as Brad Pitt led the movie to $20.6 million and showed Sony that it made the right call in adapting the book of the same name to the big screen. The cheesy, corny and sappy Dolphin Tale opened in third place with $20.2 million and showed that people will see just about anything if it gives them a chance to hear Morgan Freeman use his golden pipes. Taylor Lautner proved not to be as much of a draw when not playing a hunky teen vampire and his new film Abduction stumbled to a fourth-place finish with $11.2 million in its first weekend. Sadly, a solid movie going by the name Killer Elite was fifth in its own debut thanks to $9.5 million in domestic earnings. That total portends disappointment for a movie with a $70 million budget, even if it does star Jason Statham and Robert DeNiro. There were no new films in the bottom half of the top 10, but there were the following entries: Contagion (No. 6 in its third week of release by virtue of an $8.6 million take and $57.1 million overall in domestic earnings), Drive (No. 7 thanks to $5.8 million for a two-week total of $21.4 million), former top earner The Help (No. 8 with $4.4 million and $154.4 million in cumulative earnings domestically), Straw Dogs (No. 9 after earning $2.1 million in its second weekend of release and with $8.9 million overall in those two weekends) and I Don't Know How She Does It (No. 10 and leaking oil severely in plummeting four spots in its second weekend with a mere $2 million and just $8 million overall). The bottom four films from last week’s top 10 all fell out this time around, with The Debt (No. 11), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (No. 13), Warrior (No. 14) and Colombiana (No. 15) unable to crack the list…………
- Sunday marked the end of a controversial era in one corner of Spain. The Catalonia region of northeast Spain already considers itself separate from the rest of the country and that division took on a new dimension last year when government officials decided to ban bullfighting, a popular sport across Spain for much of its tumultuous history. Many cities across the country have bullfighting rings and arenas, but those in Catalonia can now be converted for other uses. The ban goes into effect on Jan. 1 and was approved by lawmakers in Catalonia in July of last year. The ban was enacted due in large part to the efforts of animal rights group Iniciativa Legal Popular, which collected 180,000 signatures from people against the sport. Critics argue bullfighting is cruel to the animals and barbaric and those critics were able to generate enough public pressure to get the ban passed. The final bullfight in Catalonia took place Sunday and thousands of fans packed Barcelona's bullring to witness the spectacle before the ban on the centuries-old sport comes into force next year. A sold-out La Monumental, Barcelona's bullring, played host to the event and more than 20,000 spectators gathered inside to see the final fights by top matadors Juan Mora, Jose Tomas and Serafin Marin. Seeing his livelihood threatened, Marin has become an outspoken advocate for bullfighting and vowed to fight to keep the sport alive other parts of Spain and France. "I feel bad about it, sad. They take away all your past and part of your future," he said. "They stop you from exercising your profession and you have to emigrate elsewhere. You feel bad." It is truly a shame any time the world gives in to animal rights kooks, but bullfighting might be one habit the world can do without, or at least Catalonia………
- Even if the threat is total horse crap, the idea that Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig would actually terminate one of his sport’s most iconic franchises if current deadbeat owner Frank McCourt doesn’t sell the team is hilarious. For more than a year, McCourt and ex-wife Jamie have been haggling over the terms of their divorce settlement and the Dodgers have been caught in the middle like a child in a bitter custody battle because Frank has attempted to make the case that he is sole owner of the franchise and Jamie has maintained that she has a right to part of the baseball pie. Offers for the team have come in and McCourt has rejected them while scurrying around furiously borrowing and bartering with team sponsors for money because he has been on the verge of missing payroll multiple times. He has also tried several end-around financing deals to see the Dodgers’ TV rights and those too have been truncated by MLB. At this point, a high-dollar and stable new television contract is the only thing that can save Frank McCourt and pull his troubled franchise from the grips of bankruptcy court. Selig badly wants an ownership change but has supposedly become so frustrated with the situation as is that he is allegedly threatening to terminate the Dodgers from the league if McCourt does not sell the team. The threat is great even if it is so absurd as to border on comical. Pulling the plug on a franchise with a cherished 128-year history and in the nation’s second-largest media market would be asinine and it could also frighten off potential investors who might have helped McCourt, including television networks. If the threat has the effect of cutting off McCourt’s last-ditch option for saving his ownership of the Dodgers, it could serve Selig’s intended purpose, but at what cost……….
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