- Memo to all celebrities: Stop using references to the following things in your analogies for any situation, problem or beef - Adolf Hitler, World War I, World War II, slavery, 9/11 and rape. Hank Williams Jr. is learning that lesson the hard way following anachronistic and ill-advised words likening President Barack Obama to Hitler and Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp is a member of the club too after becoming the latest celebrity to describe the invasiveness of cameras and picture-taking to sexual assault. Joining Twilight vampire-lover Kristen Stewart in the group of famous faces who have compared having photographers take their picture (Stewart was quoted as saying, "I feel like I'm looking at someone being raped. A lot of the time I can't handle it," when asked about the rush of paparazzi following her around) to forced sexual activity. Depp’s complaints were not with the paparazzi, but with photo shoots. Showing up, having some makeup artist and wardrobe consultant dress and prepare you and striking poses for a professional photographer whose magazine is about to put you on its cover must be very taxing, because Depp dug deep and used his best rape metaphor to describe the process. "Well, you just feel like you're being raped somehow," Depp said in a Vanity Fair interview excerpted online prior to the issue’s publication. "Raped ... It feels like a kind of weird — just weird, man." So not only did Depp use the rape metaphor, but he reached for it twice. Even if it comes flying out of your mouth once because you just can't think of anything better to express yourself, how do you double back and use it again? After his comments created the requisite amount of buzz, Depp released a canned, written apology that read, "I am truly sorry for offending anyone in any way. I never meant to. It was a poor choice of words on my part in an effort to explain a feeling." Creating a bit of chaos might be appropriate given that Depp is currently promoting "The Rum Diary," his long-delayed adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson novel, and Thompson was a drug-addled, borderline-insane “gonzo” journalist who thrived living on the edge. Depp will likely get more than a few questions about his rape remarks when the U.S. press tour for the film kicks off next week………
- Prosecute ‘em before they die, Germany. With the last living Nazi war criminals reaching their twilight years and preparing to shuffle off this mortal coil, the German government is revving up efforts to prosecute these scumbags before they pass away. After former Nazi concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk, 91, was convicted this spring as an accessory to murder at the Sobibor death camp in occupied Poland, German officials have reopened hundreds of other cases at the urging of many Jewish activist groups. Efraim Zuroff, Jerusalem-based chief Nazi hunter for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, met in August with German investigator Kurt Schrimm, head of the Ludwigsburg-based Central Office of the State Justice Administrations for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes, to press for the reopening of the cases. Ludwigsburg agreed to the request and promised to cooperate with German government offices in the endeavor. "My understanding was that in the wake of the [Demjanjuk] verdict, there was enormous potential for the prosecution of individuals who had served in the four 'pure' death camps -- Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor and Chelmno -- as well as in the Einsatzgruppen," the mobile killing squads, Zuroff stated. "Previously the German prosecutors only brought cases in which they could find evidence of a specific crime with a specific victim, but in the wake of the Demjanjuk conviction, that no longer had to be the case." To assist German prosecutors pursuing these last surviving mass murder participants, Zuroff is restarting "Operation Last Chance." The project offers cash rewards for information on suspects and he believes the partnership with Ludwigsburg has "paved the way for the launching of our new project in Berlin within the next two months." Demjanjuk is currently appealing his conviction, but German officials are already seizing upon the verdict as a basis for prosecuting as many as several dozen Holocaust perpetrators who served in the most lethal Nazi installations and units. Putting these men on trial and sending them to prison in their 90s with death not far off may seem pointless, but it would clearly have significant meaning for people of Jewish heritage…………
- Life in Miami can’t be all that bad for anyone living there, right? After all, it is Miami and the sun shines 364 days a year with temperatures perpetually in the 80s and 90, with plenty of beaches and beautiful people to enjoy. For the city’s NFL team, however, there are plenty of reasons to be less than joyful. First, the Miami Dolphins are 0-4 and head coach Tony Sparano’s job is in jeopardy enough that owner Stephen Ross felt compelled to get his coach the dreaded vote of confidence at the team headed into its bye week with a loss at San Diego. Of course, Ross also chased coaching free agent Jim Harbaugh after last season and whiffed when Harbaugh picked the 49ers for his jump to the NFL, leading to the awkward scenario in which Ross had to convince those within and outside his organization that Sparano was still his guy. Then there was the matter of the team trying to trade for Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton and whiffing on that deal too, leading to the awkward scenario of Dolphins fans chanting for Orton as incumbent starter Chad Henne missed receiver after receiver in the team’s first scrimmage. As if all of that weren't bad enough, the Dolphins are now spending their bye week trying to find a replacement for Henne as he gets second opinions on a potentially serious left shoulder injury suffered against San Diego. Henne suffered what is believed to be a separated left shoulder against the Chargers in Week 4 and the team is reportedly concerned he may miss the rest of the season. While the injury could vault them into the lead for the worst record in the NFL and thus the right to draft Stanford’s Andrew Luck in April, the Dolphins still need to run someone out to line up under center for the remaining 12 games in the season. Backup Matt Moore replaced Henne in Sunday's game at San Diego and finished 17 for 26 for 167 yards and one touchdown, but the Dolphins must not view him as a real long-term solution because a) he’s lousy and b) they worked out two quarterbacks Tuesday -- Trent Edwards and Brodie Croyle. Additionally, they were turned down by veteran journeyman Jake Delhomme and David Garrard, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars. "David was not interested in what was presented to him by Miami," Garrard’s agent explained. Oh, and if all of that isn't enough, the first game for the Dolphins after the bye is a New York Jets team that could well be smarting 2-3 and from a second straight loss if they can’t beat the archrival New England Patriots on Sunday. Time to hit the beach and the club, Miami residents…………
- Dammit, I want my own island in New York City. Unfortunately, a man I have never heard of before now beat me to the punch and because of that, Alex Schibli and I now have major issues. Schibli swooped in and purchased the property known as Rat Island at auction on Sunday for $160,000. The island, which is largely a pile of rocks and once housed typhoid patients under quarantine, is in fact a private island inside the city limits, but not desirable to most would-be buyers. It consists of 2.5 acres during low tide and could be a bit difficult to access, especially during the winter when all of the water around it has a propensity to freeze, but the enterprising buyer could figure something out. Schibli hasn’t said what he has planned for the island, but its previous owner bought it when he was in the barge-salvaging business. Personally, my plan would have been finding a way to build some sort of inhabitable structure on the island and if nothing else, spending all non-winter months there while boasting to everyone who would listen (and those who wouldn’t) that I am the proud owner of a private island in New York City. Its location just off the coast near the Bronx would make it perfect for a New York Yankees fan as well, but this hidden gem of a real estate find is off the market for now. For the time being, overpriced mansions in the Hamptons will have to do for anyone looking for New York real estate with some cache and reputation-building credibility, at least until someone (me) goes Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan on Schibli and “convinces” him to sell Rat Island for a discounted price………
- Insert all jokes about tech support for most technology already being in India here, because the Indian tech world is that much closer to producing its goal of a $35 tablet computer. India is working closely with DataWind, a wireless Web access products maker in Montreal, designing and making a device that it will sell to the government for $50. India’s Minister of Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal, debuted the tablet, called Aakash, on Wednesday. It will initially be distributed at a subsidy to students in higher education in the country. DataWind has established a price of $38 for the tablet, which has a 7-inch display with 800-by-480 pixel resolution, 256MB of RAM, 2GB flash storage, and a 366MHz processor from Connexant. It runs the Android 2.2 operating system and if it has any durability at all, could be a solid buy. The $12 difference between DataWind’s price the cost to the government is from local sales taxes, performance guarantees and an exacting replacement warranty. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of DataWind, said the ultimate goal is still to reduce the price to $35 per unit, inclusive of warranty, once sales pick up. The Indian government is doing its part to make that happen, as it is s expected to buy 8 million to 10 million devices by March 31, 2012, the end of the Indian fiscal year. The first order of Aakashes will be shipped from a factory in Hyderabad over the next six weeks, Tuli said. DataWind designed, developed and manufactured the Aaksh at its centers in Montreal and India. Once the tablet launches in India, DataWind plans to market the product in a number of emerging markets. In India, it will be available to the public with a price of about $60 with added GPRS (general packet radio service) capability, which will allow it to double as a phone. High-end versions of the Aakash will also be offered in the United Kingdom and United States. After last year’s disappoint effort to make and market a $10 laptop for students of colleges and universities, the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development has to hope that the Aakash has a more successful debut…………
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