- Punk rock, at its core and at its best, is all about
raging against the machine, being anti-establishment and clashing with
authority figures. While too many so-called punk bands have veered toward the
mainstream, toward pop-punk, bubble-hum albums with no edge whatsoever, at
least one punk band and its fans still understand the true punk spirit that
originated in New York City in the 1970s. Trash Talk, a relatively minor band
on the punk scene, played a free show in Los Angeles Wednesday night that descended
into chaos as fans of the band were pepper sprayed and allegedly Tasered by
riot police. As good as it would have been for the band to be involved in the
skirmishes as well, any riot at a punk show is a good one. The show was free
because it was a launch event for a new skateboarding collection by Nike. The
show took place in the city's Downtown district and because of the combination
of a small venue and the event being free, a number of fans were turned away at
the gates after the venue reached capacity. Oddly enough, a group of punk rock
fans with probably a few in their number who were more than a little liquored
up didn’t react well and allegedly bum-rushed the gates, causing riot police to
use pepper spray on the crowds and hit a few fans with Taser blasts. Trash
Talk's publicist insisted the band had no contact with the police, but the
band’s official Twitter feed retweeted a number of fan comments on the
situation, including: “RT @curtiswallen: Kids getting tazed and maced outside
the @TRASH_TALK show. Wilding. Very punk 2 me” and “RT @Thiss_Fooo: Got f*cken
pepper sprayed for jumping over the fence to attempt to see @TRASH_TALK. f*ck
that security guard.” Good to know punk rock is alive and well somewhere……….
- When science wastes thousands or millions of dollars
re-proving the blatantly obvious, it truly is a prime example of something
fulfilling its true purpose and destiny. But because no one ever could have
imagined that having positive social relationships in childhood
and adolescence are key to adult well-being, a new study was hatched to uncover
this sociological gem. Craig Olsson, a professor at Deakin University
and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia, and a group of
colleagues analyzed data for 804 people followed up for 32 years, who
participated in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study
(DMHDS) in New Zealand. Amazingly, they found that while academic achievement
appears to have little effect on adult well-being, having friends at the
pivotal time of adolescence is important. How anyone could have known that
being a book-smart dork who gets good grades isn’t important to becoming a
well-adjusted adult but not being a nerdy loner with no friends is key is
unclear, so it’s very fortunate for the world that Olsson did this study. He
and his team measured the relationship between level of family disadvantage in
childhood, social connectedness in childhood, language development in
childhood, social connectedness in adolescence, academic achievement in
adolescence and well-being in adulthood. They defined social connectedness in
childhood by the parent and teacher ratings of the child being liked, not being
alone and the child's level of confidence. This connectedness is demonstrated
by social attachments and participation in youth groups and sports. In analyzing
their data, Olsson and his colleagues found a strong connection between child
and adolescent social connectedness and adult well-being. C onversely,
the pathway from early language development, through adolescent academic
achievement, to adult well-being was virtually non-existent. Their findings
were published online in Springer's Journal of Happiness Studies, a truly happy publication………..
- Scoring an NBA team to play in your new, $1 billion
arena on a chunk of suddenly prime real estate in Brooklyn is a reason to
celebrate. Finding an NHL team to become to arena’s second tenant would be even
better and developer Bruce Ratner knows it. Ratner, who acquired the land and
set up the entire deal for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets to move from New Jersey to
the Barclays
Center in Brooklyn, could be content to have the Nets and their overhauled
roster coming to Brooklyn to jump-start a legitimate New York City basketball
rivalry with the Knicks, but he’s not. Ratner wants to woo the New York
Islanders to Brooklyn as well. He believes adding a once proud NHL franchise to
his list of tenants would be perfect. “And I am trying like hell to get the
Islanders to make Barclays Center their new hockey home,” Ratner said. “They will
play a preseason game here against the Devils.” The arena is still under
construction, with ceiling panels and seats being installed as the interior of
the facility begins to take shape. Assuming a potential NHL lockout doesn’t
sniper the aforementioned preseason game, it could serve as a good test run for
the Islanders in Brookyln and show they what they would be missing if they
reject Ratner’s overtures to move there. Oh, and much like the Nets, they could
step into an instant rivalry with a team that calls Madison Square Garden home,
in this case the New York Rangers. However, convincing the Islanders to move to
Brooklyn could be difficult because the Barclays Center only holds roughly
14,500 for hockey and sightlines for its hockey seating arrangement have been
criticized. Islanders owner Charles Wang will make the final call on moving or
not, but Ratner is clearly going to make a concerted push to ensure that his
new sports palace has a second tenant……….
- There is already a site for lonely farmers looking for
Internet love (really), so why not add a cow-sharing site to the wacky, Wild
West world of the Internet? Yes, a cow-sharing site. There are time shares,
there are sites like GroupOn and now, there is PhillyCowShare.com. Obviously, when one thinks
of livestock, they think of the agricultural hotbed that is Philadelphia and so
it’s fitting that the City of Brotherly Love is the launching point for PhillyCowShare.com.
What is PhillyCowShare.com? Simply put, it’s a way to esnure that your beef is locally
grown, grass-fed and delivered to your home. “‘Hey honey, let’s buy a cow’
(laugh) I know. It’s kind of a funny concept when you live in an urban area,”
owner Jessica Moore said. For those who can't sneak a cow up the back stairwell
at their downtown apartment building and keep their bovine leashed on their
small apartment porch, PhillyCowShare.com offers an answer: share a cow with
others and divvy up the cost. “Some people are very interested in the humane
aspect of grass-fed beef. Some people want to support the local economy and
really invest in our local farmers. And some people just buy for pure
economics,” Moore continued. Her company brings together those who want to buy
cow-related products and allows them to share a single cow whenever they need
beef or milk. “You don’t have to organize a bunch of people together to buy a
whole cow you can just say, you know what twice a year I am going to buy my
eighth of a cow. We basically as a business find the other seven people that you’re
sharing that animal with,” Moore explained. The company handles and cares for
the cow, deals with the butcher and once the meat is processed, they put it on a truck and deliver it to the
customer’s door. From the time an order is placed, it typically takes about 4–5
weeks to process a cow and deliver it to your home, including 14 days to
dry-age the beef to intensify the flavor and tenderize the meat. With a
delivery range of up to 25 miles from the center of the city, Philly’s
cheesesteaks can now have a much more organic main ingredient………
- What the f*ck, Belarus? Sweden is one of the coolest, most
chill countries in the world and you’re expelling their ambassador to your
backwater, former Soviet republic of a country "for being too supportive of human rights" and meeting with
the opposition in your authoritarian state? The decision was confirmed by
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who called the move "outrageous"
and said Sweden in turn won't allow in the incoming Belarusian ambassador.
Additionally, two Belarusian diplomats also have been asked to leave the
Scandinavian country, the foreign minister said. "This is a serious
violation against the norms for relations between states," Bildt said. He
deemed the accusations against Ambassador Stefan Eriksson "ridiculous."
The expulsion could have been even more awkward and confrontational had
Eriksson not been back home in Sweden when it was announced Friday. His big
offense was apparently meeting with opposition activists in the Belarusian
capital, Minsk. That didn’t sit well with the regime of Belarus's longtime
leader, President Alexander Lukashenko, who rules the country with an iron fist.
Bild was having none of the allegations that Eriksson was looking to undermine
Lukashenko’s government. "The accusations lack substance," Bildt told
reporters. "Basically this is about Sweden being active in advocating
democracy and human rights in Belarus." In addition to Eriksson’s ballsy
support of the Belarusian opposition, one week ago a pair of Swedish activists
used a light plane to drop hundreds of teddy bears bearing messages supportive
of human rights into Belarusian territory. Yes, teddy bears. The horror. Lukashenko
fired two generals over the incident, marking the first time teddy bears ever
sparked a major international incident with a dictator who is more insecure
than a 14-year-old girl heading into bathing suit season………..
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