- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Everyone’s favorite overview of
social dissidence ‘round the globe is journeying to Saudi Arabia today after Saudi authorities detained a number of
protesters in the country's eastern Shiite region after they set tires ablaze
during an overnight rally. Overnight protests are always fun and while there is
an off chance the protestors merely set fire to the tires so they could have
light to see, here’s hoping their intent was edgier. The uprising took place in
the city of Qatif, where members of the Shiite minority have been clashing with
police over the past year. They are battling for greater rights and an end to
what they say is discrimination by the Sunni rulers, which is as good a reason
to riot as any. Friday’s clash turned violent in a hurry as police exercised a
typical show of excessive force, firing live ammunition and tear gas to disperse
the crowd, wounding several of the protesters. With several hundred protestors
on hand, the protest wasn’t overwhelming in its size, but those on hand had
been demonstrating since late on Thursday. The government refused to say how
many people were arrested but described those detained as "instigators of
riots," according to an unidentified spokesman of the Interior Ministry.
One of those detained was a wanted fugitive, Mohammed al-Shakhouri, according
to the ministry. As is the custom of embattled Middle East regimes these days,
the Saudi government attempted to paint the protests as the result of
"foreign efforts" to destabilize the kingdom. After a protest earlier
this year, it released the names of 23 people it said were taking part in
confrontations with security forces for the purpose of serving "foreign
agendas.” How about owning your own incompetence and admitting your people are
pissed at you and you alone, embattled Middle East governments………..
- Team USA needs to stop. As the latest edition of the Not
Dream Team prepares to tip off its gold medal run at the Summer Olympics with a
game against France on Sunday, a second member of the squad has stated his
belief that this year's Team USA
Olympic basketball team could beat the 1992 Dream Team. Kobe Bryant was the
first to do it at a news conference when he expressed surety that this year’s
squad could win a one-time matchup with the group that spawned the era of NBA
players representing the U.S. at the Olympics. "It would be a tough one
but I think we would pull it out," Bryant said. "People who think we
can't beat that team for one game, they are crazy. To sit there and say we
can't, it's ludicrous. We can beat them one time." Now, reigning NBA MVP LeBron
James has joined Bryant in his delusion. "As a competitor you never want
to say that you will lose no matter who you are going against," James said
in a recent interview. "The '92 Dream Team paved the way for all of us ...
We understand what they did for our game, but we also are big-time competitors
as well, so if we got the opportunity to play them in a game we feel like we
would win too.” Bryant’s remarks were met with a mixture of amusement and
aggravation by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, who played on
the 1992 team that won the gold and annihilated every opponent it faced. "For
him to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could
have done," Jordan said. Jordan is right, as a team that included 11
future Hall of Famers, including himself as the greatest player ever, could
beat any team ever assembled. No less than President Barack Obama has weighed
in on the debate, during a TV interview during an exhibition game between the
U.S. and Brazil earlier this month. "This is a generational thing,"
Obama said. "I was around in '92, I was a Bulls fan, so I've got to go
with the original Dream Team." Republican or Democrat, hopefully no one is
stupid enough to argue with the president on that one……….
- Drake is
arrogant, overrated and apparently, really clueless. He also doesn’t seem to
know the definition of a simple word like successful. In short, he’s a
marginally talented hack who tries to rap and isn’t that great, and also tries
to sing and is even worse. He churns out the sort of cookie-cutter pop/hip-hop
songs that the musically oblivious masses eat up and so he sells a lot of
albums, but he’s not going to be remembered as one of the great artists of his
era, but don’t try to tell him that. This egotistical ass hat considers himself
as the first person to be able successfully rap and sing. In Drake’s deluded
world, while people had used melody on rap songs before him, he is the first
one to truly excel at it. “There were people who incorporated melody before me,
but I would deem myself the first person to successfully rap and sing," he
said. If that’s what you need to tell yourself, D., then go right ahead as long
as you know it isn’t true. He went on to brag about how real he was and how he
is a cut above the rest of the rap world. "I'm one of the few artists who
gets to be himself every day," he said. "It doesn't take me six hours
to get ready and I don't have to wake up in the morning and remember to act
like this or talk like this. I just have to be me. That's one of the favorite
parts of my life - I've done this purely by being myself." Hmm, insisting
you’re real and everyone else is a poseur, that’s a novel idea. Other gems from
his little monologue included how he isn't ready to settle down in his personal
life just yet and is enjoying his current "wild" lifestyle. In his
asinine world view, he’s “not supposed to care about deeper things right now.”
That statement encapsulates in nine words why his music sucks donkey balls. He’s
shallow, superficial and knows it. Thanks for the most worthless musical import
this side of Bieber, Canada. Drake’s forthcoming third album, the follow-up to
2011’s “Take Care,” will likely suck as much, if not more, than its predecessor
because Drake seems to have grown not at all as a person in the interim. He’s
still the tool whose posse got into an altercation with fellow poseur rapper
Chris Brown at a Manhattan club earlier this month and sparked a brawl that
nearly blinded NBA star Tony Parker, who was hanging out at the same club. Telling
Drake to get some depth and intelligence would be great advice, but probably
well beyond his reach……….
- Part of the
reason the United States is still a great country is our high quotient of
insane, yet different from one another, individuals willing to attempt insane
feats like eating a 6-pound hamburger with 2 pounds of toppings or walk across
the entire country to raise money for a charity. Sometimes, our nuttiness
inspires visitors from other countries to crash our borders to attempt their
crazy feats, like Austrian "Fearless Felix" Baumgartner.
Baumgartner, considered marginally insane even in the crazy world of skydiving,
set a new personal record Wednesday when he took a massive leap, jumping from
an altitude of more than 18 miles — an estimated 96,640 feet, nearly three
times higher than cruising jetliners. Appropriately enough, his colossal jump
landed near the alien-centric city of Roswell, N.M. He landed safely after
reaching an estimated top speed of 536 mph during his fall. It was the second jump
for Baumgartner from such extreme heights and a personal best as he seeks to
build up to a record-breaking jump from 125,000 feet, or 23 miles, set
tentatively for next month. "It has always been a dream of mine,"
Baumgartner said in a statement. “Only one more step to go." Current record-holder
Joe Kittinger jumped from 102,800 feet in 1960 for the Air Force, while Baumgartner
hopes to make his jump for his own enjoyment. In his second test leap, he ascended
alone in an enclosed capsule lifted by a giant helium balloon that took off
from Roswell and wore a full-pressure suit equipped with parachutes and an oxygen
supply. After 1.5 hours he reached his target altitude and from there he was in
free fall for an estimated three minutes and 48 seconds before opening his
parachutes. "It felt completely different at 90,000 feet,"
Baumgartner recalled. "There is no control when you exit the capsule.
There is no way to get stable." His efforts are being bankrolled by Red
Bull, which leans heavily on over-the-top feats of daredevil activity to
promote its sugar-laced energy drinks. NASA is monitoring Baumgartner’s effort
in the hopes of learning about potential escape systems for future rocket ships.
His attempt to break the record is slated for late August and the former
military parachutist and extreme athlete will add to his impressive total of more
than 2,500 jumps when he takes that plunge………
- If a
scientist argues about an environmental phenomenon that almost no one gives a
damn about and claims it is ruining the world, does it make a sound? Bill Laurance, a
professor at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia, is testing that
hypothesis with his assertion that deforestation of protected areas and illegal
hunting of endangered species that live there has a greater impact on
biodiversity than climate change, overfishing and the degradation of coral
reefs. Laurance cited the “rapid disruption” of protected tropical forests is
the greatest threat to wildlife after studying 60 protected areas in tropical
regions around the world. While tropical forests are the most diverse
ecosystems on Earth, Laurance argued that failing to maintain them may drive
more species to extinction. In order to fulfill their role as a sanctuary for
wildlife, the areas must also be protected from nearby development and other
activities in adjacent lands that will have impact on designated preserves, he
explained. “We can’t just draw lines on the map to designate a protected area,”
Laurance said. “We also have to protect reserves against encroachment, illegal
hunting and other pressures that can infiltrate from outside.” Wait…..lines on
a map aren’t effective? Then how the hell do the powers that be convince
everyone that their country has borders or that they life in a specific time
zone? In his research, Laurance found that about half of the areas he studied “are
doing reasonably well,” while he classified the others as “suffering.” The
areas in the worst condition receive little, if any, on-the-ground support, he
said. Still, he is unwilling to write off these chunks of real estate. “It’s a
mistake to preach despair,” he said. “We have to make protected areas work in
the tropics -- we just don’t have a choice.” His findings are in the new
edition of the journal Nature……….
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