- The pendulum is swinging both directions on the issue of
gun control in the United States. Some states and lawmakers are on the warpath
against firearms, seeking to get guns off the streets and enact bans on assault
weapons. Others, it seems, are making sure that toting a gun is not just a
right, but a mandate. Enter the small northern Georgia city of Nelson, where
packing heat is no longer an option. The community's five-member council voted
unanimously Monday night to require the head of virtually every household to
own a firearm. Council members mirrored a similar law in nearby Kennesaw, which
had had its law on the books since 1982. Nelson’s über-tiny population of 1,300
will now be well-armed should any criminals looking to hone their skills before
moving up to the big leagues in Atlanta or thieves who can’t read a map and end
up in the middle of nowhere with nothing better to do than rob a bunch of
small-town dwellers of their Garth Brooks album collection, every house in town
will be prepared to deal with the threat. "In order to provide for the
emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and
protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its
inhabitants, every head of household residing in the city limits is required to
maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore," the ordinance
said. The only exceptions to the new law are those with physical or mental
disabilities, "paupers," felons, and those who oppose gun ownership
based on belief or religious doctrine. In other words, be legally barred from
owning a gun or find a god who says you can’t have one because otherwise, it’s
time to strap up. Councilman Duane Cronic said the law would give residents the
ability to protect themselves and their property "without worrying about
prosecution for protecting themselves." Yosemite Sam would be so proud…….
- See, “Glee” IS enough to drive someone to drink or get
high. Sorry, Ryan Murphy, but the joke was there and it would have been a crime
not to make it. With the popular high school singing/dancing drama filming the
final few episodes of its fourth season, cast member Cory Monteith has checked into a rehab
facility to deal with unspecified substance abuse issues. Monteith, who plays
Finn Hudson on the hit Fox series, has battled addiction issues before. In
2011, he admitted to first entering rehab in 2002 at the age of 19. He also
claimed that he began skipping school at 13 to drink and smoke pot and to
bouncing between 12 different schools growing up, including alternative
programs for troubled teens. "I burned a lot of bridges," he said.
"I was out of control." During that 2011 interview, Monteith said he
had a "serious problem" and was using "anything and everything,
as much as possible." He relayed the story of his mother and friends
staging an intervention when he was 19, after which he claims to have remained
sober for a while before he returned to using drugs. He then hit rock bottom
with what he called his "crystallizing event," which included him
stealing a significant amount of money from a family member. After his
addiction issues became public in 2011, he sought to use his troubled past as a
way to help children who might be heading down the same path. Now that he’s in rehab,
he won't appear in the final two episodes of the current season and his
character’s absence will be explained in the plotlines. "Cory is a beloved
member of the 'Glee' family and we fully support his decision to seek
treatment," the show's network said in a statement. "Everyone at the
show wishes him well and looks forward to his return." His co-star and
girlfriend Lea Michele also expressed support for Monteith’s decision, saying, "I
love and support Cory and will stand by him through this. I am grateful and
proud he made this decision." Ironically, this is the very sort of
drama-drenched story line that would play very well on the show………
- China White has taken on a whole new meaning in the Dongchuan district of Kunming, Yunnan province. There’s no heroin
involved here; only a heavily polluted stream that has turned white on account
of all the garbage that has been dumped or washed into it over the years. Reports
from the region has placed blame for the water’s unnatural color chance on wastewater
discharged by nearby mining industries. Locals noticed the water beginning to
change color and began calling the small river the “milk river” because runoff from a
nearby mine turned the water white. Having a polluted and possibly dangerous
river is a problem for these folks because the river is their only source of
drinking water and farmers use it to irrigate their fields. In other words,
everything they eat or drink is going to be polluted in some way and there is
very little they can do about it. Pollution problems are commonplace in China
and images of über-polluted air clogging the skies over Beijing and other major
cities have become commonplace. Measuring the smog in the air in such
industrial cities on any given day is a true test of the limits of science, but
water pollution poses an entirely different kind of threat. It may not be the
fourth leading risk factor for deaths in the country the way air pollution is,
but it’s a growing problem. In March thousands of dead pigs were found floating
in a Shanghai river, tainting the main source of water for the city’s
residents. Rivers around the country of more than 1 billion are routinely filled
with algae, trash or water turned unnatural colors by factory runoff and
chemical spills. Fishermen, farmers and villagers have no choice but to
continue using the water and do whatever they can – perhaps boiling all water
before using it – to purify the swill in their cup. State media have claimed
that the government will spend 100 billion yuan ($16 billion dollars) over
three years to deal with Beijing’s pollution, but pouring money into cleaning
up the water is another obvious need for the Communist nation……..
- Before the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics could
begin their respective seasons with an opening day matchup, Mariners ace Felix Hernandez and A’s catcher John Jaso
had some unfinished business to take care of. Jaso was a member of the Mariners
last season and he was behind the plate for Hernandez’s perfect game last
August against the Rays. As athletes often do when a teammate helps them reach
a milestone, Hernandez wanted to do something special for his former battery
mate and he made good on that plan on Monday when he presented Jaso with a
shiny new Rolex. About 90 minutes before first pitch of the Mariners' 2-0
season-opening win in which Hernandez pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings, he had a
clubhouse attendant deliver the gold watch from Seattle's side to the Oakland
clubhouse. "Getting to be a part of it is way bigger than this, but this
is definitely a really nice gesture," Jaso said. "He really didn't
have to. I was really just happy with being behind the plate. He came
through." Buying the watch definitely didn’t put a strain on Hernandez’s
budget, as he signed a $175 million, seven-year contract in February. "He
was pretty excited," Hernandez said after the game. "He's a great
guy. I had to do something for him." Ironically, Jaso also had the first
hit of the game for the A’s, doubling to center with one out in the fourth
after Hernandez retired the first 10 batters of the game. After the watch was
delivered, Jaso showed it off for media members and teammates. "It is
pretty heavy. It's got to be real," he said. "The watch I own, I
think it's a Timex, so this is a bit of an upgrade. I think there's a bit of
tradition with the Rolex. I knew he was going to come through." The words
"perfect game" and the date -- "8/15/12" are engraved on
the back of the watch and Jaso said he planned to thank Hernandez in person as
soon as he has a chance……….
- The images on the screen of new notebook computers will be
getting a definite upgrade in the near future. Chip maker Nvidia has
announced the addition of five graphics processing units (GPUs) for notebook
computers, focused on conserving battery life using a trio of technologies that
run in the background and increase performance. The new GT 720M and 735M models
were the primary focus from the standpoint of budget and mid-range notebooks,
while the 740M, 745M, and 750M models are geared more toward the
high-performance market and toward users who demand more power. According to
Nvidia, all five of the new GPUs will come with its GPU Boost 2.0 technology
that adjusts the chips' clock speed to maximize graphics performance. "GPU
Boost is dynamic and requires no end-user input or settings,"
Nvidia's product manager, Brian Choi wrote in a blog post. "You just
use your notebook as you normally would and it silently works to give you
performance bumps of up to 15%. It does it safely, on the fly and behind the
scenes." All five of the new devices contain power-enhancing features to
extend battery life. Those features include Nvidia's Optimus technology that
enables longer battery life by switching the GPU on and off so it runs only
when needed and its Geforce Experience software, which adjusts in-game settings
for the best possible performance and visual quality specific to a user's
notebook specifications. The Geforce Experience software also has the added
benefit of automatically keeping chip drivers up to date. The new GPUs are
already on the market and as part of its announcement, Nvidia said all leading
notebook manufacturers, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung,
Sony and Toshiba, will soon begin using them………
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