- That bucket list trip to Guatemala just became much more
interesting. But if having a long-simmering volcano explode into a series of powerful eruptions
outside one of Guatemala's most famous tourist attractions sounds like fun,
then keep those travel plans intact and head directly toward the Volcan del
Fuego, which sits about six miles southwest from the colonial city of Antigua. Let’s
face it, going to some touristy city or country and seeing the same museums and
taking the same pictures of the same attractions as everyone else is boring.
Going to a place where lava is being spewed down the side of a volcano, now
that’s interesting. The eruptions began on Thursday, hurling thick clouds of
ash nearly two miles high and spewing rivers of lava down the mountain’s flanks.
Authorities issued evacuation orders for more than 33,000 people from
surrounding communities and Guatemala's head of emergency evacuations, Sergio
Cabanas, said the evacuees were ordered to leave some 17 villages around
Antigua. Some of the ash blew south-southeast and although authorities insisted
the tourist center of the country was not currently in danger, one can always
hope. The agency of emergency evacuations reported that the volcano spewed lava
nearly 2,000 feet down slopes billowing with ash around Acatenango, a
12,346-foot-high volcano whose name translates as "Volcano of Fire."
Reports from surrounding areas had the cinders spewing from the volcano a
half-inch thick in some places. There were also extremely hot gases rolling
down the sides of the volcano, which was almost entirely cloaked in ash and
smoke. Taking all of those factors into account, there was a red
alert, the highest level, south and southeast of the mountain. Ash laded as far
as 50 miles south of the volcano and to ensure that every precaution was taken,
the Guatemalan Red Cross set up 10 emergency shelters and was sending hygiene
kits and water. "There are lots of respiratory problems and eye
problems," she said Teresa Marroquin, disaster coordinator for the agency……….
- Try to remember this, smokers, because odds are you’re
going to have a difficult time remembering this very important news once you’re
finished reading it. In England, which just happens to be part of a continent
where smoking is unfortunately more common than it is in the United States and
therefore provides plenty of research fodder, scientists at Northumbria University have found that non-smokers who are
regularly exposed to second-hand smoke are at risk of damaging their memory. If
this is true, just imagine what the impact must be on the morons dumb enough to
inhale that smoke firsthand. This study is the first to explore the
relationship between second-hand smoke and memory problems, with researchers
comparing a group of current smokers with two groups of non-smokers - those
regularly exposed to second-hand smoke and those who were not. Non-smokers who
were exposed to second-hand smoke forgot almost 20 percent more than the
non-smokers who were not exposed. Subjects who were exposed to second-hand
smoke either lived with smokers or spent time with smokers, i.e. hanging out
with the loser smokers in the small alcove outside the office building where
they are banished so those inside don’t have to breathe the toxic crap wafting
from their cancer sticks. The amazing part of the study was that anyone taking
part reported being exposed to second-hand smoke for an average of 25 hours a
week for an average of four and a half years. Do smokers even spend 25 hours a
week choking down their Marlboro Reds? How is anyone exposed to that much
smoking in a week? After they were surveyed, participants were tested on types
of memory. The first test asked them to carry out an activity after some time,
known as time-based memory. Their second test was event-based memory, which
refers to memory for future intentions and activities. Non-smokers exposed to
second-hand smoke forgot almost 20 percent more than the non-smokers who were
not exposed, but both groups outperformed smokers, who forgot 30 percent more
than those who were not exposed to second-hand smoking. Dr. Tom Heffernan, the
study’s lead researcher and a staff member at the Collaboration for Drug and
Alcohol Research Group at the university in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, stated
the obvious when asked about his team’s findings: “Our findings suggest the
deficits associated with second-hand smoke exposure extend to everyday
cognitive function. We hope our work will
stimulate further research.” Or that it will stimulate people to further
ostracize and persecute tools who smoke……….
- This may not be news to anyone paying attention to the
National Hockey League’s labor drama, but there is not going to be NHL
competition any time soon. The league’s owners and players have been locked in
a contractual pissing match since the end of last season. Their current labor
agreement is about to expire and with a midnight
ET deadline on Saturday looming, there is no sign of progress in negotiations.
If anything, the momentum is pushing steadfastly toward a lockout and NHL owners
took the next step in that direction Thursday when they voted unanimously to
authorize commissioner Gary Bettman to lock out their players once the deadline
passes. Bettman met with the board of governors and although he already had the
authority to implement a work stoppage, having the owners vote unanimously to
support the plan bolsters his case. As all of this transpired in New York City,
the NHL and NHL Players' Association traded proposals but did not make any
discernable progress toward a deal. Bettman insisted he feels terrible about
quite possibly presiding over a second lockout in the past nine years and maybe
even having a second season wiped out entirely during that same time frame. The
league forfeited an entire season in 2004-05 during the last lockout. "Nobody
wants to make a deal and play hockey more than I do," Bettman said.
"This is very hard, and I feel terrible about it." A lockout this
time would be the third work stoppage during Bettman's tenure as commissioner,
making him a truly accomplished commissioner in a dubious manner. The NHLPA is
no happier with a potential work stoppage and 283 players attended Thursday's
meeting, including superstars such as Sidney Crosby, Henrik Lundqvist and Zdeno
Chara. "Of course they're frustrated," NHLPA executive director
Donald Fehr said. "Of course they'd like this done. Of course they'd like
it to be over so they can get back on the ice. That's what they want to do. No
athlete likes to lose games. If they are willing to, there must be some
powerful reasons." The primary issues continue to center on money and the
league is insistent on reducing the share of hockey-related revenue the players
currently receive. "We believe 57 percent of HRR is too much,"
Bettman said. Oddly enough, the players are not down with a deal that would
reduce their from 57 to 47 percent. Factoring in that sports fans would pay
attention to the NFL and college football for the next two months anyhow, don’t
look for the NHL to rush back onto the ice any time before Thanksgiving………
- In a moment that would have made the sitcom version of
Jerry Seinfeld proud, patrons returned more than 100,000 books and other items to the
Chicago Public Library during a three-week period where the library granted
amnesty from fees. Spokesman Leland Elder confirmed that Chicago libraries
received 101,301 items during the Once in a Blue Moon amnesty period, which
began Aug. 20 and ended Tuesday. The full-fledged amnesty applied to overdue
books, CDs, DVDs and all other materials, which would have worked well for
Seinfeld’s character on his iconic ‘90s sitcom when he had a book he checked
out during high school and still hadn’t returned as an adult, prompting a visit
from a library “cop” who made him pay up. Some of the items were only a few
weeks overdue and had only minimal fines attached, but many were between 3-5
years overdue and would have cost patrons several tanks of gas in fines. Elder
admitted that a few of the items were due back at the library in the 1970s and
80s and considering that the library stocked LP records rather than CDs at that
time, the right Doors, Beatles or Who album could fetch a fair price on the
open market, the people who still had them checked out would have been better
off selling them on eBay. The most grossly overdue item was a copy of The
Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde’s only published novel, which had been
due back at the library in 1934. All together, the estimated value of the
returned items is $2,035,473 and most of the albums were returned to circulation
within a few days. The vaue of the returned items is comparable to the
library’s unpaid fees on overdue materials, valued at more than $2 million. As
a nice fringe benefit, 37,509 people applied for and received new or updated
library cards, or had their old ones replaced during the amnesty period. “This
means 37,509 Chicagoans are now once again able to use the free resources at
their Chicago Public Library,” said. “We heard from some patrons who hadn’t
been able to visit us for years and were thrilled to once again be able to use
their library card.” Sounds like everyone wins this time……….
- Has Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong looked in the mirror
lately? If so, he would have found a much simpler and closer answer when asked
the identity of the worst band he and his bandmates have ever toured with.
Posed with a question that many artists would deflect by insisting they’ve
never toured with a bad act, Armstrong elected to answer the query about the
best and worst bands Green Day has ever taken to the road with. For his reply,
he selected one somewhat well-known Swedish rock band known for their
monochromatic outfits and their frontman’s spasmodic mannerisms and a
world-famous act from New Jersey whose frontman is wealthy enough to own an
Arena Football League team. “The best [band we've shared a stage with] is
probably The Hives, they're a great live band,” Armstrong said, giving credit
to Pelle Almqvist and his crew of Swedish puck rockers. He then lined up a
better-known act in his crosshairs and hesitated only slightly before pulling
the trigger. “[As for the worst] Oh boy, I have to go with Bon Jovi,” he
continued. The criticism isn't so ridiculous as to be laughable, but it is
funny that Armstrong would pick one of the few bands that has become bigger commercially
and reputation-wise than his own group of mainstream sellouts, a group that
began as a great SoCal punk rock outfit but has since become the prototypical
example of a band that has become all about image, merchandise and reputation
instead of making the same great punk rock that made them famous in the first
place. All of Armstrong’s comments should create more buzze ahead of Green
Day’s probably mediocre new album “¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré!,” which will be released
in three stages beginning Sept. 24, with the second and third installments due
out Nov. 12 and Jan. 14, 2013,
respectively……….
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