- For the reigning NBA MVP, the average day tends to go a little better than Tuesday and Wednesday unfolded for Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose. Rose, who blasted the officiating after a 104-99 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday, saying "I've gotta be the only superstar in the league that's going through what I'm going through right now," saw his life go from irritating to downright painful Tuesday when the league hit him with a $25,000 fine for his remarks AND he was involved in a minor car accident in Chicago. According to Illinois State police, Rose was headed south on the Kennedy Expressway at Ogden Avenue late Tuesday afternoon when his 2011 Bentley was struck from behind by a 2002 Saturn. He was not injured and his brother, Reggie, confirmed Rose suffered no injuries in the accident. Police cited the driver of the Saturn, Charles Tratwein, for failing to reduce speed to avoid a crash, while Rose was not cited. Still sore from the crash and lighter in the wallet from his fine, he then had to sit idly with a groin injury (unrelated to the accident) by as the Bulls took on their biggest rival in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat, in a nationally televised game Wednesday night. Sans Rose, the Bulls unexpectedly defeated the Heat 106-102 to solidify their status as the conference’s best team. The team is not sure when Rose will return to the court, but John Lucas III replaced him and torched the Heat for 24 points, so maybe the Bulls don’t need their MVP that much after all. Having him back probably wouldn’t hurt, though………..
- Sometimes science comes up with groundbreaking discoveries that revolutionize the way mankind lives. These inventions make the world better instantaneously and offer hope for a better tomorrow, today. This is not one of those occasions. Sure, researchers at the University of Rochester deserve credit for communicating a message through 780 feet of solid stone using a beam of neutrinos, but the tangible benefits to the world are tough to grasp. For the non-dork-speaking, neutrinos are nearly massless and travel very close to the speed of light, so they can pass through substances, including entire planets, with little disruption. Scientists have long hailed them as a messaging alternative to cables or satellites, sending messages to the other side of the earth by going through the earth, rather than taking the long route or sending messages into space and back again via satellites. The unimaginative message sent by the Rochester team read simply, "Neutrino." Sending neutrino messages is not cost-effective because the equipment required for the process is massively expensive. In the Rochester project, researchers used a particle accelerator at Fermilab with a 2.5-mile-circumference track and the 5-ton particle detector named MINERvA. To send their message, they used binary code, with a group of neutrinos fired corresponding to a 1 and no neutrinos fired corresponding to a 0. As sophisticated as it is, even MINERvA can only detect about one in 10 billion neutrinos, so the particles had to be fired in very large numbers to register. While the results of the project have no immediate relevance to mankind, researchers did note that the particles are barely affected by gravity and not affected at all by magnetism, meaning they could eventually provide a stable alternative to the electromagnetic waves used now……………
- Somewhere, Dr. Evil is smiling. Fans of the “Austin Powers” franchise will undoubtedly remember that the film’s eponymous star had his nemesis arrested and tried by a vaguely structured international criminal court. The real world has its own such court and for the first time in its 10-year history, the International Criminal Court has actually reached a verdict. Nearly 10 years after opening its doors as a bold attempt at a global justice system, the court finally served an actual purpose by finding Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga guilty Wednesday of using child soldiers in violation of international law. Lubanga, a rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was arrested in 2005 by the Congolese government and handed over to the international court for action. It was a monumental day for the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, who scored his first conviction just months before his 10-year term ends later this year. Observers hailed the verdict as a milestone for a court that was supposed to serve as the anchor of an international justice system but has evolved into more of a legal punchline. "The verdict against Lubanga is a victory for the thousands of children forced to fight in Congo's brutal wars," said Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner, international justice advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. The court’s creation stemmed from a slew of atrocities in the Balkans and Rwanda in the 1990s and was established as a way to punish those responsible for the world's gravest mass crimes. Its effectiveness has been limited by numerous political limitations, as nations can choose whether to sign up with the court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and the court has no police force to make arrests. One chief absence from the list of 120 nations that have signed the treaty joining the court is the United States, ironically enough based on fear that American soldiers could be prosecuted for actions abroad. Following this week’s atrocity in Afghanistan, maybe the good ol’ U.S. of A knew what it was doing. Lubanga can appeal his verdict and his sentence will be decided at a later date……….
- Are three dead horses on the set of a TV series about horse racing a problem? Apparently it is, because HBO has canceled its racetrack drama “Luck” after a third horse died during production. Unlucky death no. 3 came when the horse apparently reared up during filming, fell over and fatally struck its head. The American Humane Association, which has been monitoring the show, confirmed the fatality Wednesday. Following the announcement, HBO confirmed it was terminating production on the series, which stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte. “It is with heartbreak that executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann together with HBO have decided to cease all future production on the series ‘Luck,’” HBO said in a statement. The incident came just moments after thoroughbred was inspected by an on-set veterinarian, the AHA said. It occurred while the show was shooting the second episode in its second season at Santa Anita Park in California. Canceling the series may not have been that difficult a decision for the network, which poured copious amounts of promotional dollars into the show and was pulling only 500,000 viewers per episode. In spite of the low numbers, executives publicly expressed confidence in the series and gambled on it by ordering a second season after the first episode of the first season aired. “While we maintained the highest safety standards possible, accidents unfortunately happen, and it is impossible to guarantee they won't in the future. Accordingly, we have reached this difficult decision,” the official statement read. Two episodes remain in the second season and the now-series finale is scheduled for March 25……….
- This is a complete load of crap. Actually, loads of crap are apparently what put the city of Trenton, N.J. in its current predicament. The city’s heath department is poised to shut down some city buildings if a toilet paper shortage isn’t resolved soon. Toilet paper and paper towel supplies for at least 11 buildings, including City Hall, are dangerously low. “We have one box with about 15 rolls of toilet paper and that’s it,” acting Public Works Director Harold Hall confirmed. A savvy shopper might ask why no one has undertaken the simple step of ordering more of the necessary paper products in question. Oddly enough, Hall claims he did. However, a city council resolution to order more paper supplies, including paper cups, was voted down. Why? Because some council members didn’t think the cash-strapped city needed to buy the cups. “I told them I would take the cups out and re-submit the request,” Hall said. Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson threw a wrench into that idea with some true bureaucratic red-tape bullsh*t. “Once you bid and give in a contract, you can’t remove something from a bid. You have to pull it back, you have to cancel it and then you have to re-bid it,” Caldwell-Wilson said. The city’s helpful legal department reviewed her theory before Tuesday night’s meeting and will research the issue. Mayor Tony Mack didn’t sound overly impressed with the councils’ performance. “I think some council members are so full of blank. They can’t even pass a resolution to purchase toiletries. By putting their agenda before the public’s agenda, they are jeopardizing the city’s ability to keep open senior and rec centers and city buildings,” Mack said. The biggest point of trouble in the great TP shortage of 2012 seems to be the Trenton Police Department, where officials say they have filed a complaint with the State and Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration because employees are forced to bring their own rolls if they wish to wipe…………
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