- Exciting news is here, America! No, the presidential
election isn't going to take place one month early so those damn robo-calls
will stop and you can answer your phone or sit through a commerical break
during your favorite TV show without seeing a barrage of natsy campaign spots.
The recession isn't over either, but something even better could be on the
horizon. Some 37 years after his mysterious disappearance, Jimmy Hoffa (or at
least his remains) could be on the verge of being discovered. The former Teamsters
boss disappeared in 1975 and theories on his whereabouts have raged on ever
since. Being buried under the former Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands in New
Jersey was the most common theory, but a new tip given to law enforcement
authorities places Hoffa’s remains a long way from the swamps of the Garden
State. Police in Roseville, Mich. will drill Friday beneath a concrete slab at
a suburban Detroit-area residence after a tipster claimed a body was buried
there at the same time as Hoffa’s disappearance. Police Chief James Berlin said
the tipster's information is "credible" and confirmed that radar has
detected an anomaly beneath the ground at the home. Crews will take a core
sample from the ground and test it for human remains to determine whether further
digging is necessary. If remains are discovered and they are Hoffa’s, there
will be plenty of disappointed conspiracy theorists who will need to find
another famous missing person to fill out the three-man posse formerly
populated by Hoffa, Elvis and John F. Kennedy. Hoffa was once one of the most
powerful union leaders in America, but was sent to prison in 1967 before
President Richard Nixon pardoned him in 1971 on the condition that he not
attempt to get back into the union movement before 1980. There is plenty of
reason for skepticism about whether Hoffa is buried in Roseville. The tipster
didn’t claim Hoffa was buried in Roseville, but he did tell police that the
burial happened around the time Hoffa vanished, Berlin said. The body could be
a random person no one was looking for or as Berlin pointed out, “It could be a
dog.” This isn't the first time the search for Hoffa has moved into Michigan,
but the last time was an unsuccessful 2006 search of a large horse barn in
Milford Township. The barn was torn down, but nothing was found beneath its
foundation. Maybe this time will be different………
- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Orange County Near
The Pacific Ocean made two big splashes last offseason. They gave a nine-figure
deal to free-agent pitched C.J. Wilson and handed future Hall of Fame slugger Albert
Pujols 10-year, $254 million contract. They clearly intended to make a World
Series run with their new pieces and when Pujols and Wilson weren’t enough,
they made the biggest move at the trade deadline in July by acquiring starter
Zach Greinke. Still, they’re on the outside looking in as the postseason looms
just one week away and an unlikely source is calling them out for the deal they
gave to Pujols: the slugger’s former manager, Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa.
LaRussa is an unabashed fan of Pujols, but even he believes giving a player who
is now 32 a 10-year deal worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars is a
foolish move. "I don't think 10 years was a smart move for the
Cardinals," La Russa said, alluding to St. Louis’ decision not to offer
Pujols a matching deal to keep him from leaving for the West Coast. LaRussa
doesn’t fault the Angels for signing Pujols, but believes any deal longer than
six years is unwise. "I think
Albert is perfect -- I call him Albert P. Pujols for Albert Perfect Pujols --
but I don't think that I would ever
endorse a contract beyond six years, tops,” LaRussa explained. He was actually
answering a question about soon-to-be free agent Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, who carries
more baggage and doesn’t have as impressive a track record as Pujols. For
LaRussa, such decisions are a thing of the past. He retired after last season
following a 33-year managerial career in which he won three rings, two with St.
Louis and the other with Oakland. Clearly, even his loyalty has its limits………
- International art intrigue? Let’s dive in because few
stories are more exciting than the world’s most famous work of art being at the
center of a legitimacy dispute. The Mona Lisa currently hangs on its own wall
in a massive, high-ceilinged wall at the Louvre in Paris, but a Zurich-based foundation claims to have proof
that Leonardo Da Vinci painted an earlier version of the famed painting. The
Mona Lisa Foundation, which owns the "Isleworth Mona Lisa," has spent
the past 35 years researching its version of the painting and now feels
confident enough in its experts and their findings to proclaim that the
Isleworth Mona Lisa predates the famed 16th-century masterpiece by about a
decade. The Isleworth version features the familiar portrait of a young woman
with an enigmatic smile, but it is slightly larger, painted on canvas and
features has brighter colors than the famed Louvre Museum masterpiece, which is
painted on wood. The foundation made its case to the media Thursday in Geneva
and to further document the evidence it has accumulated, will release an
accompanying book claiming the Isleworth Mona Lisa received a high amount of
attention and coverage in the early 20th century despite spending decades in
storage. Predicting what effect this revelation will have on either painting’s
value is difficult because art is supremely subjective and the “real” Mona Lisa
isn't going on sale any time soon, but one could easily imagine that if the
Mona Lisa Foundation is correct, the Isleworth version of the painting would
take a leap in worth. Hopefully that means it ends up at the center of a
high-end robbery involving an international art-theft ring, leading to a
terrible movie starring Pierce Brosnan or Catherine Zeta-Jones………
- Gene Simmons has never been shy about whoring out his
band, his career and anything having to do with what KISS has done over the
years. There isn't a more commercialized band in all of rock and roll and
Simmons has done reality shows, proudly displayed KISS figurines, lunchboxes,
clothing and other swag on which his empire has been built. He has now passed
that approach to music on to the next generation and it was on display for the
world Wednesday night on an early-season episode of the crap-tacular Fox
reality series “X-Factor Karaoke.” Simmons rolled up on “X-Factor Karaoke”
auditions in Providence, R.I. in support of his daughter, Sophie, who was there
to audition along with all of the other aspiring karaoke-ers in the hopes of
having a long and un-distinguished run singing terrible versions of other people’s
songs on an unwatchable reality show. “It’s a big shadow. I really want to step out from
being the daughter of the guy from KISS,” Sophie told the judges during her
audition. When she rolled out onto the stage, she was quickly identified for
her famous family connections and seemed genuinely disappointed. “They didn’t
know I was doing this till yesterday and they’re pretty upset with me,” Sophie
said in response to judge Demi Lovato’s observation. She then showed she knows
how to play the bad reality karaoke show game by uncorking her version of Adele’s
“Make You Feel My Love.” A majority of the show’s judges liked her/thought she
could bring in better ratings and after receiving the approval of musical
abortionist and show creator Simon Cowell, Sophie advanced in the audition
process and will get to continue the family tradition of selling out musically………..
- Technology is a wonderful asset. When scientists and
researchers spend years or even decades developing a piece of technology and it
is put to use to make the world a better place, it is truly beautiful. Nestle
understands this and it’s why the candy maker is using GPS inside of its candy bars to track its customers for a
sweepstakes in the United Kingdom. The company recently launched its "We
Will Find You" campaign in the U.K., which sounds very creepy and
stalker-ish, but is actually a giant barrel of fun because it will use tracking
devices placed inside six winning candy bars. When a person unwraps their winning
candy bar, the device will go off and company officials will be able to
determine their exact location. To really hype up the contest and make it seem
more dramatic, the Nestle commercial says that the candy unwrapping "will
alert a secret control room who will scramble a crack team of highly trained
individuals. They will board a helicopter, find the special bar and give the
owner 10,000 pounds ($16,145)." That’s right, a candy bar company SWAT
team will then pile into a helicopter, speed to the prize winner’s location and
interrupt them no matter where they are or what they are doing, hopefully
kicking down the door even if they are at home, nestled safely in bed after a
late-night raid on the kitchen, or at work sifting through a stack of TPS
reports after finishing their lunch break. If having a Nestle SWAT team
speeding at you like a heat-seeking missile sounds extremely appealing, just
head to the U.K., start buying Kit-Kat, Aero and Yorkie bars and wait for the
magic to happen……
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