- The future is now for the Washington Nationals. They enter
the weekend 14-5, star pitcher Stephen Strasburg is back from Tommy John
surgery and carving batters and now, precocious 19-year-old outfielder Bryce Harper is about to make his Major League
Baseball debut. Harper, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 amateur
draft, was recalled by the Nationals from Triple-A Syracuse. He joins the
Nationals in Los Angeles for their series against the Dodgers and takes the
roster spot of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who is going on the 15-day
disabled list with inflammation in his right shoulder. Widely considered the
top prospect in all of baseball and known for his bombastic,
opponent-irritating ways, Harper isn't assured of a long run with the Nationals
this time around. "Suffice it to say, this isn't the coming-out party for
Bryce that we had in mind," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said
Friday. "This isn't the optimal situation developmentally." Then
again, Harper has done nearly everything ahead of schedule in his baseball
career. He skipped his final year of high school, earned his GED and played one
season of junior college baseball at the College of Southern Nevada before
entering the draft to get a head-start on his professional career. He signed a
five-year, $9.9 million contract in August 2010 and has been on the fast track
to the majors ever since. Calling him up now wasn’t part of the plan, but a
need is a need and right now, the Nats need Harper. “We had a need here for a
left-handed bat. We're trying to get more of a left-handed presence in our
lineup, and he is the guy who fit that role,” Nats manager Davey Johnson
explained. Harper has toned down his act some as he has progressed, ditching
the face paint he wore early in his career and stopping his bad habit of
blowing kisses to opposing pitchers after homering off of them. He has also
adjusted well after playing primarily catcher in college and being shifted to
the outfield after being drafted. Rizzo has confidence he will continue to succeed
even with his career trajectory altered. "This is a very confident person,
and we expect him to do well in the major leagues," Rizzo said. "He's
the type of guy who will handle anything that is thrown at him and will be the
better for it." Should be interesting………..
- Life is hard for reef sharks. Doubt that fact? Then
explain how and why as much as 90
percent of reef sharks have disappeared from reefs near populated islands, as
discovered in a study led by Marc Nadon, a doctoral candidate at the University
of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. Nadon
and his team are the first to conduct a
large-scale estimate of reef sharks in the Pacific, a group of species that
includes the gray reef shark, the whitetip reef shark and the tawny nurse
shark. Explaining why the numbers for these species are down isn't difficult,
according to Nadon. "We estimate that reef shark numbers have dropped
substantially around populated islands, generally by more than 90 percent
compared to those at the most untouched reefs," he said. "In short,
people and sharks don't mix." To prove that shocking claim, researchers
collected shark-sighting data from more than 1,607 dives at 46 reefs in the
central-western Pacific, which included reefs near the Hawaiian islands and
American Samoa, along with remote reefs almost entirely devoid of human
influence. To hone their study, they excluded sharks that aren't dependent on
reefs. That left out three of the eight species they saw on their dives,
including hammerheads. The remaining species to be counted were gray reef
sharks, blacktip reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks and tawny
nurse sharks. Their numbers were small and humans, apparently we are the
reason why………
- Nicki Minaj is all about the kids. Yes, a singer (note:
Minaj is NOT a rapper, no matter how much she wants to think she is) who
regularly works "p*ssy," "d*ck" and b*tch" in her lyrics is
concerned about children mimicking her foul speech. She explained in a recent
interview that she would be "very upset" if she heard children
singing along to the "dirty" versions of songs like “Dirty Hoe.” And
yes, there is apparently a “clean” verison of a song titled “Dirty Hoe.” Minaj
laid out her point of view very logically and not at all hypocritically.
"I don't want children cursing," she said. "I'm very strict on
my nieces and my little brother. They have to listen to clean versions of
music." In her flawed mind, there is a magical wall that can divide the
music an artist releases into versions heard only by adults and versions
suitable for everyone. "If you asked any adult, 'Would you like your
children knowing every part of your life and speaking exactly the way you speak
when you talk to adults?' they'd say no, so I'm a firm believer in children
remaining children," Minaj said. Of course, she immediately contradicted
herself by lashing out at those who suggest she should tone down her lyrics for
her young audience on the grounds that their request is sexist. "Why do
people ask me to lose swear words? Do people ask Eminem to lose swear words? Do
they ask Lil Wayne to lose swear words? Nobody stops them and says 'Would you
stop swearing... for the children, please?'" she lamented. Actually, N.,
Eminem has regularly gotten such criticism and the lyrics for his hit “The Real
Slim Shady” specifically address the frequent criticisms he receives because, “Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell his records;
well I do, so f**k him and f**k you too!” But Minaj can’t be expected to have a
clue what she’s talking about before she opens her mouth. Her remarks came
while promoting her suck-tacular new album, “Roman Reloaded.” Oh, and the
"explicit" version of the music video for the album’s lead single features
her dancing in a pink bikini on a tropical beach. A clean version of the video
hasn’t surfaced yet, for some odd reason……….
- A good name is half the battle for a new restaurant. Sure,
a great location and tasty food also help, but a good name evokes certain
connotations in the mind of potential customers and just might be enough to
entice a would-be patron to dig for more information about a new eatery. For Paul Ardaji,
owner of a new West Palm Beach (Fla.) restaurant called Fuku, the right name
came during a trip to Memphis with his business partner. "We were walking
down the street and I said fuku he looked at me strange but he got where I was
going," said Ardaji. Fuku means good fortune, wealth and prosperity in
Japanese and given the restaurant’s theme, it made perfect sense. Unfortunately
for Ardaji, not every is able to rise above their inner 8-year-old and get past
the sophomoric, juvenile pronunciation of the name that the moniker so easily
lends itself to. And while no one can stop Ardaji from using the name, state
officials can some him from trademarking it. When Ardaji sent a letter to the
state to trademark the name, he was summarily turned down. "I believe
they're culturally unaware of what the word means," his attorney, James
D'Loughy said. "I think there is some puritanical viewpoint based on the
letter we received." Uh-oh, not a puritanical blast. That means (legal)
war. But D’Loughy isn't just reaching for the most controversial point to draw
attention to the issue. In its explanation of the denial, the Florida
Department of State Division of Corporations sounded extremely puritanical. "The
mark consists of, compromises or includes immoral, deceptive or scandalous
matter,” an official statement explained. Ardaji doesn’t believe the name fits
any of those three descriptions and he worries that if the restaurant opens
without the trademark, it's vulnerable to the name being used by other
businesses. "The state looks at things from a very narrow scope. I think
they'll realize it's not our intention to be scandalous or deceptive," he
said. Sadly, Ardaji and his business partner may not have the resources to
fight a drawn-out legal battle to obtain the trademark……….
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! The Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur was the scene on
Saturday as thousands of angry Malaysians calling for fair elections converged
on the city center for a massive protest that powerfully challenged the
government’s reformist credentials and could alter the timing of national
polls. With an estimated 25,000-plus protestors on hand, the demonstration
remained boringly peaceful at the outset, with demonstrators waving banners, chanting slogans and singing the
national anthem. However, police did their part to escalate the situation by
bringing in tear gas grenades and chemical-laced water to break up what they
say was an unlawful assembly. Protesters dressed in yellow T-shirts had to know
a violent end was ahead when they showed up at Merdeka Square and were met by
riot police and barbed wire. They made repeated attempts to cross the square
and were warned to disperse. The heavy police presence was there to enforce a court order that the protesters should not
enter the symbolically important site. Thankfully, the Bersih (Clean) group
responsible for the protest ignored the ban and made sure protestors marched as
close as possible to the square. By marching toward the square, they all but
ensured a repeat of violent clashes that marked Bersih’s last major protest in
July 2011. The exact number of protestors wasn’t immediately know, but the
number appeared to be less than the 100,000 organizers hoped to draw. Still,
the message to the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak is clear: Fair
elections or else, asshole. If obtaining those fair elections means ignoring a
bogus rule that a historic square is reserved for military parades and
national celebrations, so be it. In truth, the day may have ended without
significant violence had one bold, inspirational group not made a sudden
attempt to break through police ranks. Props to those maniacs, because they
made a good protest a great one. Tear gas, water cannons and chemical water
resulted and it was freaking on. Police and protestors battled for half an hour
and baton-wielding cops chased demonstrators to neighboring streets. Still,
only 20 protestors were detained. The government continues to insist that
opposition groups’ demands are excessive, which is code for “might threaten our 55-year hold on power.” Sounds like
more angry uprisings are needed…………
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