- Pre-fight press conferences in boxing are just about the most tired thing in sports. Two fighters who will be paid a massive sum of money strip down to their shorts and hop on the scale for a weigh-in, then stride up to the podium and say all manner of insulting and demeaning things about their opponent before guaranteeing a win. The capper for the whole charade is a nose-to-nose stare down while camera flashes go off all over the room and the “drama” builds. There is typically a fake skirmish in which members of each fighter’s camp have to step in and pull the two opponents apart. All of that happened as challenger Dereck Chisora and WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko held their presser for their upcoming fight in Munich, but there was a little something extra going on. "Everybody's tired of you and your brother," Chisora said to Klitschko. "There's no excitement in the ring. It's time for the new king. People want a new relief in boxing. Him and his brother have killed the sport I love." That comment was a reference to the dominance of Vitali and his younger brother, Wladimir, who holds the other significant belts in the heavyweight division. Despite the lack of sizzle in the division, both Klitschko brothers remain huge drawing cards in Germany, where their fights have become like rock concerts, complete with live music in the ring, laser shows and champagne. Sure enough, the 12,500-seat Olympic Hall is sold out for this fight. None of that impresses Chisora, a relatively unknown British fighter, who stepped up to face Klitschko with his grill partially concealed by a Union Jack handkerchief and hit the champion with an open-handed b*tch slap across the face. Klitschko did not retaliate and insisted he would take care of business in the ring. "I am going to hit back on Saturday," he declared. "He will get his beating." Even though the 40-year-old Klitschko is 12 years older than Chisora, few give the challenger any real chance at winning even though he has boldly predicted he will knock out the Ukrainian in the eighth round and claims he can "smell fear" in Klitschko's camp. That fear just might be the fear that Klitschko will knock Chisora out in the fourth round instead of the third and cut into the time he and his crew have for the post-fight party……….
- In the quest for world domination, one sometimes must break laws and step on toes. Google is right in the middle of such an effort and may have violated a previous privacy agreement with the Federal Trade Commission by tracking Web browser cookies in a way that circumvents default privacy settings in Apple's Safari browser. Cookies are information about Web pages recorded every time a user visits a site. They can be easily monitored by third parties and are stored on a person’s hard drive unless that person is tech-savvy enough to clean them out regularly. The Consumer Watchdog advocacy group took notice of Google’s possible violation and on Friday asked the FTC to investigate the case. Stanford grad student Jonathan Mayer brought the issue to light with a study he conducted detailing Google's method of getting around Safari's default blockage of third-party cookies. While some have tied the practice exclusively to the iPhone, the method ctually works across iPhones, iPads, iPod touches, laptop and desktop computers. The Wall Street Journal contacted Google to inquire about the technique and Google responded by disabling the code that had allowed it to install tracking cookies on Safari, even though the browser is designed to block such cookies by default. Believe it or not, Google claims the tracking was completely unintentional. Intentional or not, he advertising cookies spread without Google even realizing it. Part of the allure of being an Apple devotee is that unlike other browser providers, Apple enables cookie blocking by default. Every one of its devices ships with the privacy feature turned on. Google used its code to place the “+1” button tied to its Google+ service in advertisements. That provided a work-around for Google because one of the exceptions to Safari’s cookie blocking is interaction with an advertisement or form that allows that entity to set a cookie even if you aren’t technically visiting the site. Google capitalized on this loophole and exploited it, along with three advertising companies -Vibrant Media, Media Innovation Group, and PointRoll – accused of doing the same thing. Google Senior VP of Communications and Public Policy Rachel Whetstone maintained that that the advertising cookies did not collect any personal information and were an unintentional byproduct of Google adding new functionality for signed-in Google users on Safari. An update to Webkit that closes the loophole was created by two Google engineers and could be incorporated into future versions of Safari…………
- Even if you aren’t Belgian and have no stake in Belgian politics, how can anyone not root for Filip Dewinter, leader of the far-right Vlaams Belang party? Dewinter has launched a ‘Women Against Islamization’ campaign, but the reason to root for him is not his opposition to Islam. He could be fighting for an environmental cause, education reform or a complete overhaul of the Belgian health care system (A waffle a day keeps the doctor away!) and the situation would not change. Why? Because with Dewinter, it’s not the cause, it’s the means being used to further the cause. Like any politician, Dewinter knows what assets he posseses and he’s deploying them in the most effective fashion possible. Dewinter’s best asset, simply put, is his smoking-hot, 19-year-old daughter An-Sofie. An-Sofie Dewinter claimed that she had been threatened by Muslim groups and to aid her father’s crusade against them, she posed for an ad in which she sports a revealing dark blue bikini inside a burqa. Simply put, she’s drop-dead gorgeous and the image is bound to rally plenty of dudes to Filip Dewinter’s side of the issue. Sure, it is also likely to inflame tensions among Islamic groups and nationalists in racially-divided Belgium, but sometimes upsetting the status quo is necessary to do something important. The ad displays the words ‘Vrijheid of Islam?’ (Freedom or Islam?) written on a red bar and at the bottom, across the crotch, is written ‘Durven Kiezen!’ (You choose).
The extremist Vlaams Belang party argued the poster is to convince women to take a stand against Islam and An-Sofie Dewinter made it clear she was not being used by some political machine. “I’ve suggested (the poster) myself, I have learned to live with it but I have had everything up to death threats made at me,”
she said. ‘What is the greatest contrast with a niqab? Nude. The campaign fits in perfectly with how I feel about the whole issue . As women, we must choose: freedom or Islam.” What did her old man have to say about pimping his daughter out for eye candy, er, um, political gain? “Women are always the first victims of Islam. We want to make clear that they have a choice,” Filip Dewinter said. Any guy taking a look at that poster will probably agree with that…..or anything else Dewinter advocates………….
- Simon Cowell is on the prowl. He’s like the desperate cougar of the reality karaoke show scene, scouring the music world for someone to fill Paula Abdul's judging seat on “X-Factor Karaoke.” Abdul, who is leaving for more insane pastures, followed Cowell from “American Karaoke.” Now that she’s gone, Cowell needs to find another attention-loving, musical-integrity-free artist willing to bastardize any remaining credibility they have to sit in judgment of a bunch of hack karaoke-ers. His top target might just be the wardrobe-malfunctioning popster Abdul was once a video choreographer for, Janet Jackson. Jackson is reportedly in preliminary negotiations to join “X-Factor Karaoke” as a judge after last month’s show purge that saw Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones given the heave-ho. Abdul worked with Jackson for several videos in the 1980s and with the untimely passing of Whitney Houston, who was reportedly in the running for a judging spot on the show, Jackson has apparently vaulted to the forefront of Cowell’s ever-expanding wish list. Jackson was asked about it earlier this week during an interview on CNN. Plenty of other names have been thrown into the mix as well, with hack-tacular pop tart Katy Perry another possible option. Cowell himself said recently that Perry was high on his list as well. “I worked with Katy once. I think she would be fun because she is hard — in a good way — and she’s feisty,” he said. “She would be great.” As much of a joke as “X-Factor Karaoke” and other similar shows are, Cowell might be correct about Perry. Why have someone who has actual musical chops and credibility lower themselves to judge these aspiring karaoke-ers when Perry is already on their level? She has no musical credibility left to lose and who better to judge these knobs that someone they are just like? Sign her up, drop Jackson into the mix as well and let the freak show roll on…………
- Angry, anti-national government stances are not something the South has a monopoly on. Revolution in America has its roots in the Northeast, after all, so it makes sense that the town of Northampton, Mass. is taking a bold stance against a controversial federal law. At the city council’s meeting Thursday night, members voted to pass a resolution rejecting the National Defense Authorization Act. Northampton becomes the first city in New England to pass such a measure since President Obama signed the NDAA back in December. Two parts of the act precipitated a sh*t storm of controversy: Sections 1021 and 1022, which allow for the indefinite military detention of any person, including a U.S. citizen, without a trial. The law applies to any person "who was part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners," or anyone who commits a "belligerent act" against the United States or its allies. At Thursday night’s meeting, city leaders and advocacy groups united to demand a "restoration of due process and the right to trial." They have the always-welcome support of the kooks at the American Civil Liberties Union, who maintain that the NDAA flies in the face of Constitutional rights. “While President Obama issued a signing statement saying he had 'serious reservations' about the provisions, the statement only applies to how his administration would use it and would not affect how the law is interpreted by subsequent administrations," the ACLU wrote in an official statement. "The statute is particularly dangerous because it has no temporal or geographic limitations, and can be used by this and future presidents to militarily detain people captured far from any battlefield." Western Massachusetts ACLU director William Newman attended the meeting and spoke about the law afterward. "We have a country based on laws and process and fairness. This law is an absolute affront to those principles that make America a free nation,” he proclaimed. With all of the opposition to the law, the council unanimously approved a non-binding resolution to reject the NDAA law and called on federal leaders to do the same. The resolution wont override any existing laws and is more of a symbolic statement similar to the one the same council passed 10 years ago against the Patriot Act. Other cities followed suit and Northampton is hoping the same thing happens again………….
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