- Professional athletes will often go to ridiculous lengths
to keep their uniform number when they move to a new team. Either they’re
extremely superstitious, they believe their number is a vital part of their
brand and identity or they just like a particular integer, but jumping to a new
team where someone already wears your number causes issues. It can cause an
issue on both sides, as former Chicago White Sox infielder Willie Harris found
out after getting his number (12) tattooed on his arm only to be forced to
surrender his jersey when the team acquired future Hall of Famer Roberto
Alomar. Newly acquired New England Patriots
safety Adrian Wilson has no such issues, but in moving from the perennially
hapless Arizona Cardinals to the perennially contending Patriots, Wilson has
his eyes set on making sure he has the No. 24 jersey on his back. The man who
currently holds that number is newly re-signed cornerback Kyle Arrington. Wilson
could have gone the typical route of throwing a large wad of cash Arrington’s
way and hoping for the best, but he elected to get creative with it and instead
of a stack of Benjamins, dangled a bottomless supply of Huggies in Arrington’s
face. Arrington, a first-time father, has a newborn son at home and Wilson
figured that any new parent is likely exasperated by the number of diapers
their son or daughter plows through on a daily basis. Wilson made what seemed
to be a joking offer on Twitter, saying he would trade Arrington a year's worth
of diapers in exchange for the No. 24. However, he later made it clear the
offer was no joke and intends to do everything possible to keep the number he
has donned throughout his 12-year career. He may have drawn inspiration from Arrington’s
previous jokes on Twitter that his son has left him and his wife "worn
out" from all the attention a newborn needs…….
- The wizard is dead…at the box office, anyhow. “Oz the
Great and Powerful” has been dethroned as the reigning earnings champion as a
pair of new films wrested away the top spot in their first weekend. The
animated family flick “The Croods” snagged the top spot with a $44.7 million
debut, enough to outlast fellow newcomer “Olympus Has Fallen” for the title
belt. “Olympus” managed a respectable $30.5 million in its first weekend, while
“Oz”” tumbled to third as its earnings fell off 46 percent to $22 million. That
boosted its cumulative domestic earnings to $177.6 million in three weeks of
release. “The Call” ranked fourth for the frame, adding $8.7 million to its
coffers for a two-week total of $30.9 million that has already more than
doubled its budget and made it a profitable film in a short amount of time. Tina
Fey’s new movie “Admission” performed in predictably mediocre fashion, ranking
fifth in its debut after earning a mere $6.4 million. That was just enough to
hold off the surging “Spring Breakers,” which beer-bonged its way to sixth
place, up 21 spots from last weekend, as it added more than 1,100 theaters and
banked $5 million for the weekend. “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”
continued to be anything but as it dropped four spots to seventh, earning a
paltry $4.2 million to elevate its two-week domestic total to $17.3 million. Eighth
place belonged to “Jack the Giant Slayer,” down four spots with a $2.9 million
weekend that leaves the film with $59 million in overall earnings through four
weeks – against a whopping $195 million budget. “Identity Thief” somehow clung
to a spot in the top 10 in its seventh weekend, bringing in $2.5 million to up
its domestic haul to $127.7 million and counting. “Snitch” rounded out the top
10 with $1.9 million and has made $40.4 million thus far. “Silver Linings
Playbook,” (No. 11), “Safe Haven” (No. 12) and “21 and Over” (No. 13) all fell
out of the top 10 from last weekend……….
- How many times over the past three decades has someone
commented how the world would be better off if the world's most decidedly bizarre species of
frog weren't extinct? It’s a pressing problem for a hurting world and it’s the
reason the Lazarus Project exists. It exists to bring the gastric-brooding frog
back to life even though the frog is known for swallowing its own eggs.
Researchers at the Lazarus Porject, which takes its name from a man in the
Bible brought back to life by Jesus, were able to “revive” the gastric-brooding
frog using a small piece of the frog was kept in hopes that one day technology
might progress to the point that science could recreate it. LP researchers
believe they are moving toward reviving the animal using a technique called
somatic cell nuclear transfer. They have successfully inactivated the egg
nuclei in each one and replaced it with dead nuclei from the gastric-brooding
frog using fresh donor eggs from the distantly related great barred frog.
During this process, several of the eggs spontaneously began to divide and grow
to an early embryonic stage. None of the eggs made it past that point in the
developmental process, but tests showed that the dividing cells contained the
genetic material of the extinct frog. Even though the experiment wasn’t successful
in creating a living gastric-brooding frog, it did show that scientists were
able to revive the frog's genome in the process of transforming dead cells into
living ones. That means they now have fresh cryo-preserved cells necessary for
future experiments. Lead researcher Mike Archer, a professor at the University
of New South Wales in Sydney, expressed excitement about the future of his team’s
efforts. "We are watching Lazarus arise from the dead, step by exciting
step,” he said with a definite dose of hyperbole……
- Mystery and intrigue are high in London and it’s all
over a Russian. Exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, 67, was found dead on
Saturday, and a Thames Valley police cordon remains in place as police
investigate his unexplained death. His body was left at the Berkshire house
while the search of the property took place and investigators with expertise in environments contaminated
with chemical, biological and nuclear material scoured the house. Although
police described the search as a precaution and insisted the public was
not at risk. An ambulance was called to Berezovsky’s Ascot house at 3:18 p.m. on
Saturday. "Specially trained officers are currently at the scene,
including CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear] trained
officers, who are conducting a number of searches as a precaution,” Thames
Valley police said in a statement. “This is to enable officers to carry out an
investigation into the man's death." Berezovsky was a wanted man in Russia,
where he was an outspoken critic of Communist despot Vladimir Putin’s regime and
therefore an enemy of the state. He was also a former Kremlin power-broker
whose influence and profile waned under Putin’s iron-fisted rule. As his
position in Russian politics faded, Berezovsky emigrated to the United Kingdom
in 2000. His fortunes weren't markedly better in England, where he lost a claim
of $4.7 billion in damages claim against Chelsea Football Club owner Roman
Abramovich last year. Numerous reports of depression and financial woes swirled
around Berezovsky and with massive debts and hefty legal fees hanging over his
head, he became increasingly reclusive. None of this indicates that a top-secret
Russian hit squad infiltrated his estate and took him out, but Thamas Valley
police aren’t taking any chances. "We are aware the cordon is causing
disruption to local residents and we apologize for any inconvenience, but it is
important we take all necessary measures to ensure a full and thorough investigation
can be carried out,” Supt. Stuart Greenfield said. "I would like to
reassure residents that we are confident there is no risk to the wider
community." Because the house is part of a much larger estate, completing
the search could take some time……….
- Detroit and the state of Michigan as a whole have not
been especially well governed in recent years. Having your state’s largest city
perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy and a possible takeover by the state
suggests as much, but U.S. Reps. John Conyers and Gary Peters are looking to kick things up
a notch. The two legislators have asked the federal government to investigate
emergency managers in Michigan because they question the effectiveness of state
takeovers. Both men represent parts of Detroit and sent a joint letter to the
Government Accountability Office requesting a probe. Their request comes one
week after Gov. Rick Snyder k named
attorney Kevyn Orr to take over Detroit government. The takeover puts
Detroit in the same category as Flint, Benton Harbor, Ecorse and Allen Park,
along with the Highland Park, Muskegon Heights and Detroit school districts,
all of which are under the control of state-appointed emergency managers. “It
is difficult to identify a single instance where an emergency manager has
succeeded in turning around the financial fortunes of a city or
jurisdiction," said Conyers in a statement. "The history of the
emergency manager law in Michigan is replete with fiscal mismanagement and
conflicts of interest." Conyers specifically asked the GOA to scrutinize the
impact of emergency management on federal funding for local municipalities, a
development he and Peters claim
could sacrifice long-term gain for short-term sustainability. “By focusing only
on short-term budgetary patches, emergency managers have failed to address the
long-term systemic issues confronting older urban areas," Peters said.
"The consistent record of poor results we’ve seen from emergency managers
is why I’m joining with Congressman John Conyers in calling for a GAO review.”
Doubters or not, Orr is expected to begin on Monday and has the unenviable task
of addressing Detroit's $327 million budget deficit and $14 billion long-term
debt……….
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