- DeAngelo Hall is known as one of the most arrogant players in a league full of them. A guy doesn’t earn the nickanme “MeAngelo” with having a whole lot of love for himself and as one might expect from someone so pompous, Hall likes to talk - a lot. So it wasn’t a surprise to hear him ranting after his Washington Redskins' loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. After the game - in which he was repeatedly torched for long gains by Cowboys receivers - Hall said: "The way I'm playing right now, they need to go and cut me, because I'm definitely not worth what I'm getting." Hall took a run at himself like he’s taken runs at so many others during the course of his long career and said Wednesday that he has received plenty of calls of support from peers around the league because of his rant. He joked that he's had to tell those players that he's not on "suicide watch" because of his harsh self-analysis in the aftermath of the bitter loss. "I had so many calls from other guys in the league telling me how great I was as a corner," Hall said. "And I'm, like, 'Dude, I'm not on suicide watch.' It was amazing, just the reaction that I didn't think it was going to get." Is he doing better now and does he still believe the Redskins should cut him? "I'm perfectly fine," Hall added. "Still swagged out. Still feel like I'm one of the best in the game." Among the players he claims to have received from are Larry Fitzgerald, Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Ochocinco and Ray Lewis, all bonafide stars. He says he also had to assure his mother that he was all right after giving up the completion to Dez Bryant that set up the game-winning field goal in overtime in the 27-24 defeat. "My mom's calling me. She's like, 'Are you OK?' " Hall said. "And I'm, like, 'Mom, I'm good.' If they're going to point a finger, I'd rather them point it at me than anybody else. We don't need anybody else going in the tank, or feeling bad about themselves. We need the best performance out of everybody. I'm the kind of guy, I can take it "I wear this 'C' on my chest for a reason. I hold myself to a higher standard than a lot of other people." In Hall’s defense, he did make the Pro Bowl last year, but even he readily admits that four of his six interceptions in 2010 came in one game. He has just one pick this year and will have a difficult time intercepting passes in future games if receivers are sprinting 10 yards behind him down the field en route to the end zone……………
- The tuna fish sandwich of a lifetime came and went for a Massachusetts commercial fisherman and his crew this week. Captain Carlos Rafael and his crew were out trolling the waters off the Bay State coast when the New Bedford native happened into what should have been the catch of a lifetime. Rafael’s boat, the Apollo, unwittingly caught an 881-pound bluefin tuna in its nets while heading back toward port. Rafael was understandably enthused about the catch and seeing as he as tuna permits for his boats, he should be in the clear………right? Or not. He called a bluefin tuna hotline maintained by fishery regulators to report the catch, then went ashore ahead of his boat and drove his truck to meet it when it arrived so he could sell the fish before it aged. Unfortunately for him, the narcs at the bluefin tuna hotline had notified the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Law Enforcement and agents were waiting at the dock in Provincetown to confiscate the fish because it was caught in a net. "They never brought up you could only catch with a rod and reel, not with a net. Just they tell me this is the size, and time to get it in by and so forth," Rafael said. "So we come in, and Uncle Sam gets the fish." Not cool, NOAA, not cool at all. Instead of Rafael selling the fish for a massive price probably dwarfing the nearly $396,000 paid for a 754-pound bluefin tuna at an auction in Tokyo earlier this year, the fish will be sold on consignment overseas and proceeds will be held pending final resolution of the case. Buying a possibly illegal 881-pound bluefin tuna isn't as glamorous as it seems and the purchase price will likely be less than what Rafael would get had he been able to keep and sell the fish. Just another example of The Man holding the little guy down…………
- Human missions to Mars are still a dream for the distant future and NASA’s budget is shrinking by the day, but the space agency is still working hard to learn more about the worlds beyond our own. Admitting that a manned mission to Mars is still 20 to 30 years in the future, NASA is nonetheless using robotics to collect data from Mars to determine what the effects of longterm space flight will be on astronauts. To that end, it will launch the Curiousity rover next month to help determine if there are resources on Mars that can be used in support of a human crew while they're on the surface. "There are two primary areas that we might utilize local resources. The first is in life support, where we will use resources to extract oxygen, water and even perhaps produce food on Mars for the crew. The second is to develop a propellant for our propulsion systems to send the spacecraft off the surface and back to earth," said Doug Ming, NASA's Manager of Human Exploration. In addition to possible challenges once on Mars, another major difficulty for manned missions to the Red Planet would be the length of time required for the mission. Factoring in six months’ worth of travel to on each leg of the journey and a possible 500-day mission on the planet, anyone wishing to go on such a mission would essentially be conceding a more than two years away from Earth, their family and everything else they love. Dr. John Charles of NASA's Human Research Program said the agency has identified 31 risks that need to be examined for safe travel to Mars. "The unacceptable risks include the radiation issue, especially radiation carcinogenesis — the effects of radiation in causing cander. We have psychiatric and behavior disorders that are possible in a small group of people confined in a small volume for an extended period of time. We have the problem of understanding how to treat illnesses and injuries that occur in space flight and the remote reaches of the solar system," Charles pointed out. Some of those questions should be answered when Curiousity brings back all sorts of information about the surface of Mars. Mission officials say the robotics used in the MSL rover will be vital to both collect data ahead of time and provide assistance to humans if and when they arrive. The Rover is scheduled to set down on Mars in August and will be the largest vehicle ever sent to Mars. It will meander around the surface of the planet for nearly two years and NASA will proceed from there based on what it unearths……………
- Pakistan is clearly not the only country where sending a text message can be hazardous to your health, financial well-being or right to remain free. Pakistan’s government announced this week a list of banned words cell phone users would be prohibited from using in text messages, but compared to the fate of a retired truck driver in Thailand, being forbidden to use certain terms in a text seems lenient. Ampon Tangnoppakul, 61, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for sending text messages that a court deemed insulting to Thailand’s monarchy. Tangnoppakul was sentenced to five years in prison for each message even though he denied sending any messages. “He insists that he does not know how to send text messages. He insists that he loves His Majesty the King,” attorney Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen said of his client. It’s a fair point because if there is one group that isn't adept at texting, it’s the over-60 crowd. Well, them and über-FAT people with super-chubby fingers who can't push the correct keys because their digits are simply too large. The case represents the very real threat of a widely criticized Taiwanese law imposing harsh penalties for making insults or threats directed at King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his family, even in private communications. The law has resulted in a growing number of cases in Thailand and critics worry the measure is reaching far beyond its supposed purpose. The judge in Tangnoppakul’s case ruled that the text messages, which were sent to a senior government official, defamed, insulted and threatened the king and his wife, Queen Sirikit. In typical cloak-and-dagger government bullsh*t, the actual contents of the messages were not revealed in court. Tangnoppakul’s attorneys argued that his phone was being repaired around the time the messages were sent last May, but the judge would have none of it. May was right in the middle of a wave of political tumult in the streets of Bangkok, when criticism of the monarchy was skyrocketing. Government officials hastily set up a “war room” to shut down Web sites carrying material deemed insulting to the royal family. Prosecutors have quickly developed a fondness for abusing and exploiting the country’s lèse-majesté law and people like Tangnoppakul are the ones who are suffering. He, coincidentally, was not in the courtroom on Wednesday because the prison where he is being held is surrounded by floodwaters and had to watch the judge deliver his sentence over a video link, his lawyer said. Not exactly must-see TV……………
- Have you ever wondered how to bag a musically awful, cross-dressing, attention-starved pop hack who loves meat dresses, bizarre modes of transportation and whoring herself and her career out for any chance to be in the spotlight? If so, pay attention because the walking publicity stunt that is Lady Gaga reveals that and more in her new book, “LADY GAGA x TERRY RICHARDSON,” shot by the well-known photographer over the last year. “Talent and perseverance and pushing the boundaries of love and acceptance,” the “singer” said when asked about the message of her book. She was then asked about qualities she looks for in men and didn’t seem to have an answer locked and loaded. “I don’t know. I can’t really say. It ranges from a really big [expletive] to a degree at Harvard,” she continued. “Just about anything.” Whoever does land her must do so with the realization that she - who routinely dresses up in her finest freakery and writes lyrics with the sophistication of a dull butter knife - is not ready to settle down and live anything resembling a normal life. “I’m not ready to buy a house. It feels like marriage or something. It’s like such a commitment. I don’t like it,” she explained. Or maybe she just has a fear of signing deals to acquire any sort of land, but one or the other. She has spent most of the last two years crossing the globe, torturing the world with the gawd-awful crap she so wrongly calls music. When she is home, she says her favorite place to be is at her best friend’s place. “I do love being with my parents, but I also just really fear domestication. I just don’t have a home,” she added. “I actually sleep [at] my best friend Bo’s, in her apartment a lot. She kicks her boyfriend onto the couch and it’s really funny. We stay up and watch movies.” The book hits stores this week and will reveal plenty of (likely disturbing) things that the world at large did not know about Lady Gaga or need to know for any reason. Y’know, things like whether she’s as disheveled-looking as everyone else in the world when she wakes up or how she dresses when she makes a run to the grocery store. “For those of you that ask me, ‘What do you look like in the morning?’ ‘What do you do when you get milk?’ ‘What do you look like at the grocery store?’ You’re going to get all of those answers in this book, because he doesn’t believe in farce,” she declared, referring to Richardson. So he’s doing a book with the walking definition of a farce and he doesn’t believe in them? How ironic. Oh, and Lady Gaga will look to further promote her book with a television special called “A Very Gaga Thanksgiving,” which airs Thursday at 9:30 p.m. on ABC……………
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