- So….maybe not every soldier who comes back from a stint in Iraq is in possession of heroic qualities through and through. Yes, putting one’s life on the line even when the war is unjustified and just plain unnecessary for a nation that feels rightfully infringed upon by your presence is courageous and admirable, but evidence would suggest that at least a few of those who so proudly served in the United States Army during its interminable stint in Iraq didn’t come home with a better sense of what “Honor, Duty, Country” really means. In fact, as many as 100 soldiers in the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division unit seem oblivious to the meaning of that phrase because they are currently confined to a Washington state base following a report of missing sensitive military equipment, including scopes and night lasers. A spokesman at Joint Base Lewis-McChord confirmed the soldiers’ detention and said that they can have day visits but must sleep at the base at night. Maj. Chris Ophardt also explained that the missing items came to light last month when authorities conducted an inventory, but no one knows how long they have been gone. The missing materials were discovered and a $10,000 reward has been offered, but so far none of the AWOL scopes, night lasers and other gear have been found. The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division unit has been home from Iraq since September 2010 and a cynic might suspect that someone in the unit siphoned off a few valuable items they thought would not be missed and pawned them for some quick cash. Doesn’t really sound very heroic………..
- Demonic possession and other evil matters were a big hit at the movies this weekend, leaving newcomer “The Devil Inside” as the top film with a $34.5 million effort in its debut to best a top 10 field comprised almost entirely of returning films. Paramount scored a significant success with the exorcism-centric flick, which knocked fellow Paramount movie “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” from the top spot. “Ghost Protocol” finished second in its third weekend of release by adding another $20.5 million to its bank account. That gives Tom Cruise’s latest project a domestic total of $170.2 million thus far. That left third place to “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” which managed a modest $14.1 million in its own third weekend and has garneted $157.5 million in U.S. earnings. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” lingered in fourth place and cranked out $11.4 million to raise its three-week earnings tally to $76.9 million, still well below expectations. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” was the final film in the top five despite dropping off 42 percent from last weekend. The animated flick made $9.5 million and has scored $111.5 million and counting in domestic earnings. Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” ranked sixth on the earnings list for the weekend. The family film made $8.6 million and for two weeks of work it has scored $56.8 million in U.S. earnings. It was another disappointing outing for Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson’s “We Bought a Zoo,” with $8.5 million made and a seventh place finish all the movie could muster in its third weekend. “The Adventures of Tintin” secured the eighth spot with $6.6 million and has brought in a respectable $61.8 million in its three-week run. “Tinker Tailor Soldier” has been incessantly promoted over the past week and showing in just 809 theaters, it was ninth on the earnings list with $5.7 million. “New Year's Eve” capped the top 10 with $3.3 million, while “The Darkest Hour” (No. 11) and the dogmatic “The Descendents” (No. 12) both dropped out of the top 10……….
- Win with class, lose with class. At least half of that mantra was fulfilled Saturday night (and into Sunday morning) after the New Orleans Saints’ 45-28 shellacking (sorry for all Lions players infuriated by that word choice), the Saints went about their business and said all the right things about a win that saw them blow by the Lions (again, apologies to offended Lions players) with 35 second-half points. The Saints scored on all five of their drives in the final two quarters and went from four points down at halftime to a 17-point win. The Lions had not played a playoff game since 1999 and their inexperience in a postseason setting showed. Several players lashed out at those who criticized their poor performance and one of them sounded eerily LeBron James-like in telling the haters reveling in his team’s failure what they could do. “Y’all can go back to being Broke & Miserable…now back to regular scheduled programming,” tweeted defensive back Aaron Berry, who showed Crisco-coated hands by failing to hold onto a would-have-been interception with the Saints trailing by only three points in the fourth quarter. His words sounded reminiscent of James telling his critics they had to go back to their same miserable lives once they finished gloating over his team’s loss to Dallas in last year’s NBA Finals. Berry sounded just as bitter and misguided, even if he later apologized to his “loyal fans.” Safety Chris Harris followed his secondary mate into social networking stupidity, reacting via Twitter to the headline on an Internet story proclaiming that the Lions were “torched” by the Saints. Harris blasted the reporter for being unable to “think of a better adjective” even though torched is technically a verb. Only Lions cornerback Alphonso Smith handled his Twitter feed with any sort of responsibility after the game. “Before you say anything crazy or ignorant please know your ‘coverages’ first just a friendly reminder!!! now fire away!!!” he tweeted. Ah, the clever ploy of reminding fans they don’t know much about football but encouraging them to “fire away” anyhow. Stay classy, Lions, stay classy………..
- Train rides through Europe are typically a solid experience. Even for a foreigner who doesn’t speak the language well, riding through picturesque scenery aboard a fast train is a great way to spend a few hours. That was not the case for passengers aboard a train from Gothenburg to Orebro, Sweden in late November. These Scandinavian travelers were chugging along in second class when their day took an interesting turn courtesy if a disoriented stoner. Stoners are usually some of the most chill, mellow people in the world and not at all problematic to share a train with. If anything, they’re likely to sit quietly in their stoned state listening to Phish or the Grateful Dead on their iPod while chowing down on some Cheetohs. That was not the case on this particular train, as a stoned Swede finished smoking his fattie and then began to “behave strangely,” according to police. He started off his sojourn through the train by threatening to assault a train conductor, then took his clothes off and roamed through the train asking passengers if they would like to have sex with him. Oddly enough, none of the ladies aboard the train took him up on his offer for stoner sex. When offering nicely didn’t work, the man attempted to force a woman to perform a sex act on him. Another passenger testified during the man’s trial that he claimed to be "a warrior who was going to rape and kill everyone." Police arrested him at the next stop and he was held on remand for assault, attempted rape, threatening behavior, resisting arrest and drugs offenses. Now, he’ll get to spend the next 20 months in prison and will have to wait quite a while for his next bong rip………..
- America is scaling down its efforts in outer space, so the door is wide open for other nations to step up and seize control of the great beyond…….or so it would seem. China has vowed to send astronauts to the moon, private companies from various countries have stepped up efforts to shoot people into space and Russia has vaulted to the front of the race as well. But Russia will likely be taking a huge step back in the near future as its Phobos-Grunt mission aimed for a first landing of a probe on the Martian moon, Phobos is about to crash and burn in literal and spectacular fashion. The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft was launched Nov. 8 from Kazakhstan, carrying a piggybacked Chinese Mars orbiter added late to the mission and a Planetary Society microbe experiment. Costing a whopping $163 million, the spacecraft reached orbit around Earth but failed to fire the rocket that would send it on an eight-month interplanetary trip. Russian space officials are investigating the cause of the failure, but independent scientists have criticized the project as overly ambitious and insufficiently funded. European Space Agency and NASA transmitters have attempted to re-establish radio communications for several weeks without success, leaving Russian space agency officials with no option but to declare the craft a loss. No one knows for certain its exact location, but U.S. Strategic Command officials estimate that the satellite’s declining orbit from a low point of 130 miles high to 114 miles means the 29,100-pound spacecraft, stuffed with 8.3 tons of hydrazine fuel, should come crashing back to Earth around Jan. 15. When it lands with a thud, the Phobos-Grunt craft will become the latest Mars-focused project to fail in über-disappointing fashion. NASA's Mars Polar Lander, a $120 million spacecraft, suffered a debilitating crash in 1999 most likely caused by landing rockets failing to fire. "The Phobos-(Grunt) science team would like to repeat the mission using (the) experience that we got working on this mission," said mission scientist Alexander Zakharov of the Space Research Institute in Moscow. With the impending admission of failure for the Phobos-Grunt mission, Russia is now batting a solid .050 (1-for-20) in successful Mars missions. The only mystery left for the mission is guessing where the craft will land. Its crash point could be anywhere from 51.4 degrees north latitude, about as far north as London, to 51.4 degrees south latitude, nearly as far south as the tip of South America. Enjoy the suspense, world…………
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