- If it seems like “Bad” Vlad Putin never left as Russia’s
despot/president, it’s because he never really did. He remained in charge even
during the four years he had supposedly ceded power to Dmitri Medvedev and
served as prime minister due to that silly little concept known as term limits.
That’s why the transition back to oppression has been so seamless since he
officially returned
to the Kremlin two months ago. In that time, Russia's parliament has rushed
through a massive amount flurry of legislation giving him new powers to crack
down on the opposition movement that just so happens to stand for everything
Putin is against. Critics have blasted the legislation as Putin's
post-electoral package of repressive bills aimed at harshly clamping
down on internal politics in the country and believe there is no doubt
the amendments will be used actively against the awakening civil society in Russia.
Among the measures are passed laws massively raising fines for misdemeanor
offenses at protests and others giving the government the right to block access
to certain “offensive” websites. During its last pre-holiday session on Friday,
the lower house also approved a bill re-criminalizing slander and libel with
massive fines, along with a second bill ordering non-governmental organizations
to call themselves "foreign agents." Opposition groups labeled the
day Black Friday, but of course the government insists the measures simply measures
reflect international norms and will benefit society as a whole. "These
are laws that are in the interests of civil society. They are not against
anyone. They are for protecting the safety of civil society," said the
head of the lower house's security and anticorruption committee, Irina
Yarovaya. Spoken like a true Communist sycophant, Irina. With the laws, the
government will be able to build a criminal case against any civic-minded
individual and try to strong-arm them out of their activist ways. Anti-corruption
campaigner Alexei Navalny has long railed against Putin and doesn’t seem inclined
to back down now. When people try to use slander to prove crimes by the
authorities, accusing whole large groups of people, then they are criminals.
This is unacceptable," he said. Speak the truth, Alexi…………..
- Ray Allen may not receive such a friendly welcome in
Boston in the future. Despite being part of a veteran group that returned
Boston to championship gold and playing five seasons with the Celtics, Allen
will be persona non grata in the city after bolting for Miami in free agency
this offseason and Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge looks to be
at the front of the bitterness parade. Ainge said Saturday that Allen’s
departure wasn’t a surprise, but he wanted to make it clear that Allen
abandoned his team to chase a title in South Beach. veteran "I don't feel
like we lost Ray, I feel like Ray left us to go to Miami," said Ainge.
"We appreciate all that Ray's done, and all that him and (Allen's wife)
Shannon have done in our community. We tried to get Ray back; he chose to go to
Miami." Allen signed a three-year deal with Heat on Wednesday -- accepting half
the yearly salary that Boston was offering in the process. The soon-to-be
37-year-old was a key part of last season’s Celtics team that had a 3-2
advantage before the Heat rallied to win the Eastern Conference finals. In
Allen’s defense, he did lose his starting job to second-year guard Avery
Bradley late in the season and with bone spur issues in his right ankle, he may
not have a lot of time left to play. Going to Miami gives him a better shot to
win another title, even if Ainge won’t admit it. "You'd have to ask Ray
the decisions why (he signed with Miami)," Ainge said. . "I talked
with Ray a lot over the last five years, I'm a fan of Ray and, like I said, I'm
grateful for what he's done. He'll always be part of that 2008 championship and
the success we've had since then as well. But, I have a feeling that it wasn't
one thing. I think it was an accumulation of lots of things, including the lure
of Miami. I'll just leave it at that." However, he wanted to make it clear
an aging, trying-to-retool-on-the-fly Boston team would be fine with or without
Allen. "No one player makes
the team," Ainge said. "Players chose not to come here all the time.
There's 30 good basketball teams out there and it's a very competitive league.
Ainge loses a lot of credibility on that last statement because he clearly did
not watch the 7-59 Charlotte Bobcats last season or else he would not be
referring to them as a good team………..
- Why the heck not? FAT people have tried most everything
else that doesn’t involve actual exercise or dieting to lose weight, so why not
move on to the idea of keeping a food journal? That, along with not skipping meals and eating
out less often, particularly for lunch, was the core of suggestions made by scientists
at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who completed a study
that looked at the impact of various self-monitoring techniques in older
overweight and obese women. The project showed that simple changes in behavior
can make a difference on the scales for women in their target demographics. In
the year-long study, women who kept journals lost six pounds more than those
who didn’t. However, journaling women who they skipped meals they dropped eight
pounds less than women who ate regularly. By comparison, women who ate lunch lunched in a restaurant at least
weekly lost on average five fewer pounds. "Knowing what you are eating and
knowing how much you are eating seem to be the key," said Anne McTiernan, the director of the Hutchinson Center's Prevention
Center, who conducted the study. "For individuals who are trying to lose
weight, the No. 1 piece of advice based on these study results would be to keep
a food journal to help meet daily calorie goals." Writing in a journal
seemed to help immensely, as the more journals the women completed, the more
weight they lost. McTiernan theorized that recording what they ate helped women
remain aware of the foods and calories they consumed. As has been the case for
years, obesity is a global epidemic and a recent study by the Paris-based
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed obesity
rates of 30 percent or more in the United States and Mexico. If journaling can
help fight FAT, then so be it. Of course, this study involved just 123 women,
aged 50 to 75 years old, who lived in the Seattle area, so its findings may not
apply across society. Still, any research in which participants in in both
groups lost an average of 10 percent of their body weight is a reason for hope………..
- It’s the guys (and ladies) in the “Kiss the Chef” apron
and with tongs in hand versus city hall in Bellevue, Pa. and the grillers in
town are not backing down. The city has enacted a new law forbidding residents
from grilling within five feet of any structure because apparently, people are
idiots who are liable to burn their effing house down unless someone steps in
to stop them. “They
attached a part that says you cannot grill within five feet of any structure, that includes your
deck,
your
house, your fence, anything,” said Bellevue Mayor George Doscher in speaking about the law passed by the city council.
His constituents see the new law a bit differently. “This law is just
a joke,” said resident Clarence Luff. “We are all intelligent people. We know
how to grill.” While grilling and intelligence don’t necessarily go
hand-in-hand, Luff does seem to have a point. Since the new ordinance went into
effect 10 days ago, Bellevue residents have been extremely fired up about it
and even organized a large (and unique) protest. A group of grizzled grillers
blocked off a street at the borough building and fired up their grills in a
cookout of defiance. The local radio station broadcasted live from the event
and during the party, several grillers voiced the opinion that the new law is
nothing more than old-fashioned party politics pitting Democrats who want the
ban against the Republicans who oppose it. Because as everyone knows,
Democrats are after a socialist utopia where all things good and American are
wiped out and noting is more American than grilling………..
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