- Voters in Nevada's
Assembly District 17 should be extremely proud right now. They are represented
in their state legislature by a man who will not be bound by the normal
constraints of civilized lawmaking and is willing to kick a little bit of ass
to get the job done if need be. Unfortunately, that is not how the North Las
Vegas police see Democrat Steve Brooks’ actions. Brooks was arrested Saturday
and charged with threatening a fellow state representative. He was arrested during
a traffic stop at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of Carey Avenue and Mt.
Hood Street and was booked on one count of intimidating a public officer by
threat of physical violence. Sure, threatening an officer doesn’t seem like it
has anything to do with being an effective legislator, but do you think other
members of the legislature are messing with Brooks if they know he’s badass
enough to stand toe to toe with an officer and not back down? The Assembly
Democratic Caucus responded to one of its members being arrested less than
three weeks before the 2013 legislative session by issuing a statement on
Sunday saying, "We understand an investigation is currently ongoing and we
have no further comment at this time.” When he’s not acting like a street thug
or choking societal progress in bureaucratic red tape as a member of the state
legislature, Brooks is a management analyst with the City of Las Vegas' Parks,
Recreation and Neighborhood Department. City officials said through a
spokesperson that Brooks' case was being treated as a personal matter and would
be "thoroughly reviewed." It begs the question once more: Why
does everyone seem to have a problem with a man standing up for himself and
being tough? Those are qualities that should be appreciated, not condemned………
- Dammit James Franco, what is your problem? While
recording, producing and posting a parody of Canadian pop hack Justin Bieber's song
"Boyfriend" is never the most dignified moment of anyone’s career,
when one posts such a video, the one thing they cannot do is take it down and
run away with their tail between their legs. That is precisely what Franco did
just a couple of weeks after posting the music video to his WhoSay account. It
was lauded by Franco’s fans and even received support from Bieber's
ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, but according to Franco he was asked through
private channels to take the video down. "I was asked to take it down by
some people," Franco said. "Bieber didn't contact me, but I don't
think he was too happy. I wasn't trying to diss him." If Franco wasn’t
trying to diss the Biebs by rocking a hoodie, flat-brim hat and the singer’s trademark
bangs, he definitely should have been. Whatever his motives, the video was at
least slightly amusing and it managed to make Bieber’s music at least mildly
entertaining for the most fleeting of moments. Whatever pressure Franco was
getting would not have been a problem if he would have reached back to his role
in “Pineapple Express,” smoked a blunt and told whomever was pressuring him to
just chill. Heck, Gomez isn't apologizing for showing up over the weekend at a
UNICEF charity concert and playing a cover of Justin Timberlake's breakup jam
"Cry Me a River" and Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble,”
so Franco should take her lead. Instead, he offered up the mea culpa and headed
off to the Sundance Film Festival to promote three new movies……..
- Great. Now, not only can a lack of sleep make a person
cranky and more likely to treat their significant other like sh*t, but now a
lack of quality nap time may also leave the other person in the relationship
feeling unappreciated. Researchers
from University of California, Berkeley recruited more than 60 couples, ranging
in age from 18 to 56, and asked them to keep a diary of their sleep patterns
and feelings toward their partner. As part of the experiment, couples were
videotaped while performing a problem-solving task. In the task, those who did
not sleep well the previous night showed less appreciation for their partner.
Why? "Poor sleep may make us more selfish as we prioritize our own needs
over our partner's," says Amie Gordon, a UC Berkeley psychologist and lead
researcher for the study. Simply put, Gordon theorized that sleep deprivation
can leave couples "too tired to say thanks" and that can leave a
person feeling unappreciated. She presented her findings at the weekend-long
rager that is the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social
Psychologists in New Orleans. "You may have slept like a baby, but if your
partner didn't, you'll probably both end up grouchy," Gordon added. "Make
sure to say to say 'thanks' when your partner does something nice. "Let
them know you appreciate them." She also cited the problems that can arise
when a person spends the night battling a snoring, sheet-tugging partner and cannot
get enough sleep to wake up rested and ready to start the next day. Sominex is
always an option, right……….
- Like far too many people caught in the crossfire because
Colombia’s Marxist
FARC rebels and the Colombian government, a unilateral ceasefire declared by
the rebels at the start of peace talks with the government is dead. The rebels
declared the ceasefire over Sunday after the government refused to join the
truce, the group said. "With pain in my heart, we have to admit that we
return to the stage of war that nobody in this country (Colombia) wants,"
FARC lead negotiator Ivan Marquez said before entering the latest session of
the talks aimed at ending Colombia's long, bloody conflict. The FARC, or
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, initiated the ceasefire when the talks
began on November 19 in Havana and set a deadline of two months for the
government to also lay down its arms. The demise of the ceasefire was not
surprising because Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos rejected the détente
from the beginning, proclaiming that the government would maintain the military
pressure to keep FARC at the negotiating table. In fact, the regime went one
step further by calling the ceasefire a sham to gain international favor and accusing
the rebels of continuing their attacks. Government forces never even slowed
their attacked and have continued to fight and kill the rebels in their remote
strongholds in the jungles and mountains of Colombia. With the ceasefire dead,
the rebels are now free to officially launch whatever new offensive they have
been planning all along. Marquez refused to comment on any such plans and urged
Santos to reconsider the decision not to lay down arms. Ending a dispute that
has raged on since the formation of the FARC as a communist agrarian movement
in 1964 with a verbally agreed-upon ceasefire was wishful thinking in the first
place, as Latin America's longest-running insurgency would never go away that
quietly. Colombian leaders say the FARC has been weakened by a U.S.-backed,
10-year-long government offensive, but its estimated 9,000 remaining fighters
are still capable of inflicting damage on Colombia's infrastructure and
impeding the government’s efforts to increase foreign investment in mining and
oil operations. Land redistribution deals and other policy matters remain
unresolved at the heart of the peace negotiations and no agreement is believed
to be imminent……….
- Seattle appears to be on the verge of getting its NBA team
back – sort of. The SuperSonics aren’t returning from Oklahoma City, but the
Emerald City is about to rip another city’s team instead. Hedge fund manager
Chris Hansen has reached an agreement with the Maloof family, which owns the
Sacramento Kings, to buy the franchise with the intention of moving it to
Seattle in time for next season. The other 31 teams were reportedly formally notified Sunday night that the
Kings have been valued at $525 million and that the Maloofs and a group led by Hansen have executed a
purchase and sale agreement. To move the franchise to Seattle by next season,
the Seattle group must file for relocation by the league's March 1 deadline.
Formal approval is still needed, but ownership transfers that reach this stage
in the process typically go through without much trouble. The agreement would transfer
the 65 percent majority stake in the Kings to the Seattle group headed by
Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, with 53 percent coming from the Maloofs
and the remaining 12 percent from minority owner Bob Hernreich. "The
proposed transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors
and has been referred to the Board's committee process for review," the
NBA said in an official announcement Monday morning. The announcement did not
address the remaining 35 percent of the franchise, which is held by minority shareholders,
not the Maloofs. “We have always appreciated and treasured our ownership of the
Kings and have had a great admiration for the fans and our team members,"
Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof said in a statement. "We would also like to
thank Chris Hansen for his professionalism during our negotiation. Chris will
be a great steward for the franchise." Sacramento officials, including former
All-Star point guard and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, have vowed to
keep their fight to retain the team and Johnson tweeted Sunday night,
"Sacramento has proven that it is a strong NBA market with a fan base that
year in and year out has demonstrated a commitment to the Kings by selling out
19 of 27 seasons in a top-20 market and owning two of the longest sellout
streaks in NBA history.” Johnson is forging ahead with a plan to present to the
NBA, but at this point it seems like a lost cause. If the franchise does move
to Seattle, Hansen’s group intends to have it play two seasons in the
SuperSonics' old home downtown at KeyArena while construction is completed on a
new, $500 million building for which plans were approved in October………
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