- Don’t tell Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba that playing winter league baseball is just a way to stay in shape and polish his skills for the coming Major League Baseball season. Torrealba, back in his native Venezuela to play for he Leones del Caracas squad in the Venezuelan League, had something of a bad night Friday and it wasn’t just a bad plate appearance that ruined his evening. Swinging at strike three and having to head back to the bench with an empty at-bat is the worst outcome for any batter, but Torrealba kicked it up a notch after swinging and missing at a well-placed fastball. Rather than take his anger out by slamming his bat on the ground or snapping it over his knee, he instead began a heated argument with Dario Rivera Jr. over a previous strike call during the at-bat. Torrealba and Rivera argued for about 15 seconds before Torrealba went from really angry to nuclear, delivering an open-handed strike to the umpire’s mask. Rivera was smart enough to keep his mask on during the argument, while Torrealba wasn’t intelligent enough to realize that smacking an umpire was a poor choice that will likely lead to a fine and possible suspension from the league. Then again, when you’re an accomplished MLB star who hit .273 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs last season, you clearly expect preferential treatment from umpires no matter where in the world you’re playing at any given time. Stay classy, Y……………
- Caffeine is available in many different forms. Old-school types chug cup after cup of coffee to get themselves up and going for the day, while others bolt down energy drinks or Five Hour Energy shots. The makers of something known as AeroShot Pure Energy want to put another option on the menu for those who don’t like the taste or calories of coffee and don’t want to drink their daily infusion of caffeine. The plan is to deliver caffeine and a mix of B vitamins into the consumer’s mouth while allowing them to embrace their inner asthmatic. That’s right, the caffeine inhaler is finally here - for now. The makers of AeroShot Pure Energy claim their product complies with FDA dietary supplement guidelines, but some lawmakers aren't so sure about the product. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) believe the Food and Drug Administration should evaluate AeroShot Pure Energy to determine if it is safe to use. "They should check it out, see if it has negative consequences, and don't let it go on the shelves until it is thoroughly checked out," Schumer said. His warnings were dismissed by the company, which insists the product is safe as long as it's used as intended. "AeroShot Pure Energy contains the same amount of caffeine as a cup of premium coffee and has less caffeine than the leading energy shot," said CEO Tom Hadfield. “AeroShot is not intended for use by children, and it is not marketed to children." Fair enough because we all know that products not designed or intended for children never make their way into children’s hands, so that shouldn’t be a problem. As for adults, AeroShot Pure Energy can’t be any worse than downing three or four Red Bulls or six cups of coffee during the course of the day, so what the hey…………
- Fruitcakes: Christmas time’s unwanted quasi-food staple for decades. No one wants them now and apparently no one wanted them back in World War II times either. That would explain how an anonymous Ohio man was able to put a 1941 fruitcake made by The Kroger Co. up for auction through Ohio-based Elite Estate Group and flip the cake for a nice chunk of change he then donated to a local charity helping the homeless. The fruitcake sold for $525 to an Arizona man and the money was immediately donated to help homeless individuals in southwest Ohio, Elite Estate Group CEO Larry Chaney said. Chaney theorized that the anonymous do-gooders probably purchased the fruitcake as an investment. There is an interesting story attached to the cake, as it was produced in 1941 and returned unopened to a Kroger store in 1971. No one is sure why a person would return a three-decade-old fruitcake to the store, but equally inexplicable is why the store’s manager took the cake home and kept it until recently when he and his son were doing some cleaning and came across it. They took the fruitcake to Chaney to put up for auction and from there, it was a matter of finding someone who wanted to throw away a few hundred dollars on a 71-year-old semi-food product they would never actually eat. In actuality, the fruitcake may still be edible given that it was vacuum-sealed and made with a healthy dose of rum that helped to preserve it. With the value of the U.S. dollar in a nonstop freefall, perhaps this could be the start of the fruitcake as the preferred method of long-term investment……….
- Quite a few artists in various genres of the music industry seem unhappy with the current state of their chosen profession. Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof blasted rock as having nothing substantial to say about the world during his speech as last year’s South By Southwest festival, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie called most of today’s rock stars sellouts in a recent interview and Kaiser Chiefs drummer Nick Hodgson joined the party this week by proclaiming that guitar music "is at an all-time low.” Hodgson claimed that indie music had declined in popularity since the band released their debut album, “Employment,” in 2005. “It's a strange time to be in a band. We all know guitar music is at an all-time low,” Hodgson lamented. "You look at the line-up at V Festival and there were only four or five bands. Very few bands which started when we did have stood the test of time." Hodgson elected not to blame the demise of guitar-based rock on the obvious lack of talent, artistry and originality present in music in the current era, instead identifying the lack of festival spots for guitar groups as evidence of the genre’s decline. His comments echoed the thoughts of Wilson who admitted back in October he was worried for the future of guitar bands. "Necessity is the mother of invention and there will always be music," Wilson said. "Whether it will be a viable career for five guys with guitars I'm not sure at the moment but you know, they'll be there in a garage somewhere." Kaiser Chiefs did what they could to further the cause of guitar bands earlier this year when they took a unique approach to releasing fourth album, “The Future Is Medieval.” The band wrote 25 songs and allowed fans to choose their own track listing, with the album only available online. They also plan to release a new single that did not appear on the album called 'On The Run' in January, which takes aim at "rude, cruel people" who use Twitter…………
- Rage is a great Christmas present, especially if you live in Russia and are chafing under the oppressive rule of Bad Vlad Putin and his United Russia Party. Protests have been a hallmark of this holiday season behind the soon-to-rise-again Iron Curtain, where opposition supporters have lashed out over what they believe to be rigged election results earlier this month that returned Vladimir Putin's party to power. Cries for new elections haven’t subsided and bitterly cold temperatures have done nothing to cool the fires of dissent. That was evident Saturday as thousands of people filled the streets of Moscow to renew calls for fair elections. Using social media and word of mouth, organizers were able to create a massive wave of anti-Putin sentiment for the gathering. Current dictator/President Dmitry Medvedev provided more fuel for the fire when he issued what most critics viewed as a hollow promise of sweeping political reforms in a supposed effort to address discontent following the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections. Police estimated crowds for Saturday’s protest at 25,000, while organizers said at least twice as many participated. A crowd of more than 40,000 was expected based on the always shaky measuring stick of participation in a Facebook forum discussion moderated by protest organizers. On the heels of a massive protest across the country earlier this month, Saturday’s demonstration was the strongest condemnation yet of election results that kept Putin's ruling United Russia party in power. Medvedev’s suggestion that Russia return to direct elections of regional governors, simplify the registration of political parties and presidential candidates and establish a new editorially-independent national public TV channel have done little to abate the outrage thus far. Even the announcement of new anti-corruption measures had little impact and that may have had something to do with his dismissive rejection of public criticism of the parliamentary elections. Labeling the campaign to overturn the results as "attempts to manipulate the people and foment social discord" was a poor choice. "We will not allow instigators and extremists to involve society in their reckless schemes, nor will we tolerate interference in our internal affairs from the outside," Medvedev said. “Russia needs democracy, not chaos.” Yes, democracy would be super. Rights-trampling communist dictatorship doesn’t seem to be working too well………
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