- Gun-toting kooks are generally some of the last people anyone should risk antagonizing. That message is lost on Missouri state Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, who is seizing upon the arrival of the National Rifle Association Convention in St. Louis to antagonize the Ted Nugent-loving crowd by pushing her anti-gun agenda. While local business owners are fired up over the convention’s time in their city with 60,000 people expected to attend and provide a boost to business, Nasheed is not nearly as fired up. Even though the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission estimates the NRA Convention will boost the local economy by more than $36 million, she is more concerned about the event’s social impact. To protest that impact, Nasheed is planning to attend a protest rally against the NRA Saturday afternoon at one o’clock on the grounds of the famed St. Louis Arch. “We’re having it because of the reckless policies the NRA pushes throughout this country. When you have mothers crying and youth dying in the streets because of their reckless policies we feel there’s a need to speak out,” Nasheed said. While guns are far too prevalent in America, getting in the face of those who own lots of them and know how to use them isn’t the wisest move. Still, the NRA encounters protests in just about every city that hosts its convention and NRA representative Adam Arulanandam sees it as business as usual. “That’s just the majesty of freedom and first amendment and democracy. People have the right to voice their opinion,” he said. Uh-huh, easy to say when you’re the ones holding the guns. Inside the convention hall, acres and acres of guns will be on display and pandering politicians like GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrinch and front runner, Mitt Romney are scheduled to attend. U.S. Senator Roy Blunt will also be in the house to deliver a speech about the constitutional protections of the second amendment. The fun is already underway, so head in the direction of St. Louis this weekend if you love your killing machines……….
- Mel Gibson has a new target for his rage. His current punching bag is "Basic Instinct" screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, with whom Gibson is collaborating on a historical drama about Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee. Their collaboration is on hold after Warner Bros. decided it was not ready to film the current script and it’s clear whom Gibson blames for the delay. While Eszterhas has alleged anti-Semitism on Gibson’s part, Gibson says the real issue is that Eszterhas’ script is terrible. He responded to a letter by Eszterhas in which the screenwriter laid out his charges of anti-Semitism and Gibson’s trademark rage was on display from the start. "I will say that the great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in your letter are utter fabrications.” From there, he lays out Eszterhas for turning in his script later than promised and turning in a subpar effort when the script did arrive. “In 25 years of script development I have never seen a more substandard first draft or a more significant waste of time,” Gibson fumed. What Gibson fails to address is Eszterhas’ charges that he hates Jews or has ever made anti-Semitic remarks. As for the claim that was trying to curry favor with Jews by doing the movie, Gibson wrote, Contrary to your assertion that I was only developing Maccabees to burnish my tarnished reputation, I have been working on this project for over 10 years and it was publicly announced 8 years ago." His final shot across Eszterhas’ bow is to suggest that, "I think that we can agree that this should be our last communication." Sounds like a true cinematic classic in the making………..
- So……..relations between the Philippines and China seem to be a bit touchy at the moment. The two nations are currently locked in a tense standoff as a Philippine warship and two Chinese surveillance vessels stare each other down in a conflict over fishing rights in the South China Sea. The long-brewing tensions in the contested waters may finally be at a crisis point and the Philippines announced Wednesday it is trying to find a diplomatic solution to the problem. Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario confirmed a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing and both backed their governments' positions that the Scarborough Shoal, where the ships are facing off, belongs to their country and that the other side needs to back down. For his part, del Rosario warned that that the Philippines would defend itself if attacked, but insisted that "we resolved to seek a diplomatic solution to the issue" while reminding everyone how uncooperative the Chinese were being. "The ambassador of China took the view that they have full sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal," Mr. del Rosario complained. "So, in a sense, we had reached an impasse in terms of our positions. And so there's a real challenge for us in terms of our agreement to keep on talking today." Philippine President Benigno Aquino III attempted to appeal for calm in the showdown over the heavily fished and potentially energy-rich sea. "Nobody will benefit if violence breaks out there," Aquino said. The standoff began after a Philippine vessel—a former Coast Guard cutter provided by the U.S. Navy—attempted to arrest the crew of several Chinese fishing boats who were anchored at Scarborough Shoal, off the Philippines' northwest coast. China also claims the area and the Philippine government said Chinese surveillance vessels both stepped in to prevent any arrests. Further heightening tensions, Filipino sailors the Chinese vessels on Tuesday and found illegally collected corals and live sharks in one of the fishing boats. China is currently locked in a series of overlapping territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, so the Communist Party is clearly just looking for fights at this point. Both Vietnam and the Philippines have accused Chinese navy craft of harassing oil-exploration vessels operating in their United Nations-defined maritime economic zones in the past year and China continues to do whatever the hell is wants and dare anyone to stop it. In its defense, the Chinese Embassy in Manila released a statement saying that 12 fishing boats had sought shelter from a storm in a lagoon. A likely story, commies, a likely story………..
- It’s all good, New York Jets fans. Remember last season, when your team’s year ended with three straight losses to miss out on a playoff birth? At the heart of that collapse was a total meltdown by receiver Santonio Holmes, a team captain who made publicly critical remarks about the offense and quarterback Mark Sanchez. Sanchez called a team meeting to urge teammates to keep their complaints in the locker room, but Holmes blew the meeting off. He continued his childish act during the final week of the season by refusing to attend after-hours meetings that Sanchez organized for quarterbacks and receivers. All of the drama came to a boiling point in the final minutes of the regular-season finale, when Holmes began arguing with teammates in the huddle and nearly threw hands with tackle Wayne Hunter before being sent to the bench. He pouted on the pine and became a symbol for all that was wrong with the 2011 New York Jets. Holmes finished with only 51 receptions for 654 yards, his worst statistical season as a starter. The Jets likely would have released him if not for a clause in his five-year, $45 million contract, signed last offseason, that guaranteed him $7.75 million, his salary for 2012, and most of his 2013 salary ($7.5 million), with a cost-prohibitive salary cap hit if the team acted in a one-day window to release him. But all of that tension is behind the Jets because Sanchez and Holmes have spent this week at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla., along with teammates Dustin Keller and Patrick Turner, working out and trying to build chemistry. According to Tom Shaw, Holmes' longtime trainer, the tempestuous receiver invited Sanchez to join him in Florida. "I know for a fact Santonio Holmes and Mark Sanchez are close," Shaw insisted. Close? No. Close to beating the crap out of each other last season? Maybe. But hey, throwing a few go routes on some Disney practice field makes everything better. The fact that them working out together is even a story lets everyone know exactly how jacked up their relationship has become. But hey, maybe newly acquired backup quarterback Tim Tebow will rip Sanchez’s starting job once the season begins and Holmes can have someone new to feud with………….
- Are some people genetically wired to be nicer than others? Anyone who’s had to tolerate the presence of an imbecilic “Jersey Shore” member in the same room for more than two minutes without punching said imbecile in the face may say yes, but psychologists from the University at Buffalo and the University of California, Irvine may have actual proof that genes that influence certain hormones contribute to niceness and generosity in people, depending on how they perceive and feel about the world around them. While previous studies have linked the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin to displays of niceness or "prosocial behavior,” this project takes the connection a step further. In their findings, the researchers theorize that the genes that control the receptors that bind to these two hormones affect how nice a person is. However, that attitude also depends on whether people's perception of the world is that it is generally a good place where people are basically good, or whether it is a bad place, where people are generally bad. The hormones oxytocin and vasopressin interact with cells by binding with receptors on their surface and once the hormone is attached, it can send signals into the cell that influence the cell's function. Principal study author Dr. Michel Poulin, an assistant professor of psychology at University at Buffalo, made it clear his team did not find some magic “niceness” gene. "We aren't saying we've found the niceness gene. But we have found a gene that makes a contribution. What I find so interesting is the fact that it only makes a contribution in the presence of certain feelings people have about the world around them," he explained. In the study, Poulin and his colleagues examined the results of a nationally representative survey that asked people about their attitudes toward civic duty, the goodness of other people and the world in general and about their charitable activities. Of the participants, 711 also gave a sample of saliva for DNA analysis. Using the samples, researchers were able to determine which variants of the oxytocin and vasopressin receptor genes they had. The results showed that the genes "combined with people's perceptions of the world as a more or less threatening place to predict generosity.” Those who found the world threatening were less likely to help others unless they had versions of the receptor genes that are generally associated with niceness. Those who didn’t have the receptor genes….not quite as nice……..
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