- Who doesn’t go to a bar to spend time with a higher power? So why is there such an uproar over a collection of old Catholic relics on display at Ale Mary’s Tavern in Baltimore? In fact, there’s such an uproar that the bar’s owners are receiving death threats. For those unfamiliar with the dive bar scene in Baltimore, Ale Mary’s in the Fells Point neighborhood is a place where customers can enjoy Resurrection Beer in a chalice, eat a Sinners & Saints Sandwich and enjoy some relics of the Catholic Church right beside them on the bar. The relics aren't leftovers from the building’s previous owners and current owner Tom Rivers readily concedes that he placed them on the bar intentionally. However, he insists the items are all in jest. “We got a little tongue and cheek thing going on but we’re not doing exorcisms. We’re not doing anything crazy,” Rivers said. Crazy, as anyone who has ever dated Britney Spears can affirm, is in the eye of the person brave enough to get close to it. A few weeks ago, Rivers began receiving negative feedback over the items and the drama morphed into a full-fledged controversy when some of the offended parties did what everyone who has a beef does these days, namely create a Facebook page to b*tch and complain. On the Facebook page, these complainers have blasted the bar and demanded that Rivers return the relics to the church. The only problem is that the items didn’t come from a church. “These aren’t holy items. I didn’t run down to St. Sebastian’s and steal a chalice off of the altar,” he said. Instead, the chalice, the crucifixes and the nun statues were all given to him by customers. That explanation has done nothing to placate outraged loudmouths who have gone Biblical in their threats against Rivers and his business: “Stay awake. You know not the time or day,” one email read. Some of the messages have come from as far away as Minnesota and Florida, so Rivers isn't especially concerned. A pro-Ale Mary’s Facebook page has also sprung up and those against the bar are planning a rally in front of the business on Saturday and Rivers says he doesn’t mind. Good to know at least one party can handle this situation responsibly………….
- A likely story, Chechnya, a likely story. Announcing you’ve discovered an unprecedented stash of giant fossilized dinosaur eggs is a dubious claim. To further examine this questionable story, let’s venture to a remote mountainous area of the North Caucasus region and ask some tough questions of the Chechen state university. University researchers uploaded photos of the egg-shaped protrusions on a rock face discovered in the region's south on its website and quickly hailed them as a "sensational find." Russia’s main news channels showed the remote site Tuesday and acted like it was the end of the Cold War all over again. "The discovery is sensational not only for our republic, but because of the size of the eggs some of which measure as long as 40 inches,” the university said. "There have never been such large (eggs) in the world." Russian state television aired footage scientists climbing on a rocky mountainside chipping samples off the rock formations in a scene that seemed oddly contrived and possibly staged. In defense of Chechnya, luring tourists to a war-torn republic plagued by rampant corruption isn't easy. Just saying you’re a destination site for lavish sports and entertainment events and announcing plans for a large ski resort will only go so far. You need giant dinosaur eggs to finish the sell job, even if a paleontologist in Moscow immediately questions the authenticity of the reported discovery. "Unfortunately, it's not true. Dinosaurs laid small eggs," said Valentina Nazarova of the Moscow State University. Buzzkill Nazarova piled on by speculating that dinosaurs probably never lived in the mountainous North Caucasus. "Dinosaurs didn't lay eggs while jumping about like mountain goats," she said. "If they want to create a legend for tourists, they should have said the eggs were laid by a mythical Roc bird," she said, alluding to a giant bird featured in the Arabian Nights tales……….
- The first round of the NHL playoffs has been especially violent this year. Yes, hockey is violent by its very nature, but the playoffs so far have been filled with cheap shots, dirty hits and fights involving guys who normally don’t drop gloves and go at it. Perhaps no single incident embodies this trend more than the über-violent hit by Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres on Chicago Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa in Game 3 of their series Tuesday night. No penalty was called on the play, which took place at 11:51 in the first period of Tuesday's Game 3 in their opening-playoff series, but Torres has been suspended indefinitely by the league for leaving his feet and delivering a massive shot to Hossa’s head after the puck was long past the two of them. Hossa was immobilized and taken off the ice on a stretcher and although he was released from the hospital late Tuesday night, the reaction to the hit has been very pointed and divided. Coyotes broadcaster Tyson Nash knows full well how angry fans are, as the former NHL player says he's received death threats after saying the shot was "as clean of a hit as you're going to get." The league clearly disagrees and so do Blackhawks fans, who would seem the most likely suspects for issuing death threats to an opposing team’s broadcaster whose call of the play they probably didn’t even hear when it happened. "You have to love the Twitter world," Nash said. "I had a few people mentioning they'll be meeting me for breakfast, so we'll see how that goes." Unfortunately for Blackhawks fans, not only did Torres obliterate Hosa, but the Coyotes won 3-2 in overtime and lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Thursday night in Chicago. Torres will not return to the ice until after his hearing with league officials and even then, will undoubtedly miss several more games if not the rest of the postseason. Nash admitted that he didn’t see a good angle on the play until well after it happened and admitted after Blackhawks announcer Eddie Olczyk brought him into the home television booth and showed him a replay, he changed his point of view. "I wish I didn't say what I said," Nash said. "You have to pick more of a middle ground. When you see Hossa lying there longer and longer, you say, 'Oh jeez, let's really take a closer look at this.' I thought he was going to get right back up. Obviously that wasn't the case." Inaccurate analysis or not, Blackhawks fans need to get some perspective on life and stop threatening the lives of anyone because of a hockey game…………
- The weather is warming up and with the return of flowers, greenery and nicer weather comes the return of the kooky, unwashed masses who comprise the Occupy movement. Last time we heard from most of these kooks, they were dressing like zombies, holding signs and clashing with cops who tried to clear them out of the parks where they were squatting. But with a new year comes a need for a new approach and in a huge credit to the movement, Occupy members seem to have settled on a tactic much better suited to their collective skill set. In short, demonstrators are using sleep to get their points across and in an oh, so clever wordplay, they are calling it "sleepful protest." Sleeping bags started appearing on the corner of Wall and Broad streets across from the New York Stock Exchange on April 9 and a court ruling from 2000 in which a federal district court judge said people can sleep on sidewalks as a form of political expression as long as they take up no more than half of the sidewalk and don't block any doors. Armed with rulers and sleeping bags, Occupiers have made good on promises by organizers that the movement would make a comeback in the spring. City and state governments have vowed to be ready and prevent demonstrations with new ordinances aimed at the Occupy movements. However, New York has always been the epicenter of the movement and for the past few nights, dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters have slept on a patch of concrete a long Derek Jeter relay throw from the stock exchange. "The goal here is to not violate the law and not give the police a reason to move the group," said Occupier Ted Schulman. Schulman and his fellow unshaven, unshowered sidewalk dwellers spend their mornings talking about income inequality and the role of big money in politics as commuters pass by on their way to jobs in the Financial District. Those white-collar workers treat the protestors with indifference and don’t give them a second look. "They just don't understand how things work," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial. "They have fantasy ideas." Police have intervened only to force the protesters to move so the sidewalk could be cleaned and to arrest a few who caused problems. So-called sleepful protests also occurred in Washington, Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles……………
- It’s Argentina v. the world and President Cristina Fernandez’s administration is not backing down. A government takeover Argentina's top energy company from Spain's Repsol has put the Argentine government opposite Spain and its allies in a battle sure to get uglier because of how much money is on the line. Supporters have argued that the move will solve the country's short-term energy needs and these individuals still blame privatizations for their economy's collapse a decade ago. Lining up beside Spain on the issue are potential investors who will now think twice before pouring money into Argentina. Fernandez decreed that her government will recover YPF by expropriating Repsol's majority stake in the company. Having already nationalized Argentina's flagship airline and private pension funds, she explained that the moves are a concerted effort to recover her country's sovereignty. To further justify her case, Fernandez argued that Repsol attempted to spark an energy crisis by exporting too much of Argentina's oil and failing to invest locally even as it paid huge dividends abroad. Re-nationalizing YPF could be a shameless ploy to boost the president’s popularity ratings, which dropped from 70 percent in January to 50 percent in April. That will happen when your vice president is at the heart of a scandal, inflation skyrockets and utility and transportation subsidies plummet. Analysts warned of serious repercussions, but Fernandez remained staunch. The Argentine government has been pressuring YPF for months to increase its Argentine oil and gas production, to no avail. Allegations of broken contracts have been made, although YPF has denied them. Government officials insisted the move was short-term and claimed that many energy companies had expressed interest in replacing Repsol. Repsol President Antonio Brufau retaliated by accusing Fernandez of trying to cover up Argentina's economic and social ills with the "unlawful" expropriation. Repsol plans to seek damages in the amount of $10.5 billion over the takeover, Brufau insisted. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned that the move "greatly affects the international reputation of Argentina" during a speech at a World Economic Forum meeting in Mexico.………….
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