- Boxing definitely isn't what it used to be, but it can
still bring in the big money. Mixed-martial arts has surpassed it in the combat
sports world, but there is definitely still value in a big fight. If there
weren't, then Russian promoter
Vladimir Hryunov wouldn’t have bid an exorbitant $23,333,330 for the rights to
the title bout between heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and secondary
titlist Alexander Povetkin. Hryunov’s purse bid for their mandatory bout is the
third-biggest winning bid ever and far exceeded expectations to the point that
even those involved were taken aback. K2 Promotions, Klitschko's company, bid
$7.13 million and Sauerland Event, which promotes Povetkin, bid $6,014,444 in
an event held at WBA headquarters in Panama City. With a minimum bid of $1
million, no one seems to have expected the price tag to reach eight figures and
then some. “We all were totally surprised,” Klitschko manager Bernd Boente said.
"We only have to make sure that the money goes into escrow and that it's real.
We are definitely willing to go through with it, but we have to make sure this
is not one of those fake Don King purse bids [where he has defaulted multiple
times after high bids].” Klitschko stands to profit immensely from the bid
because as champion, is entitled to 75 percent of the winning offer
($17,499,997) with Povetkin due the remaining 25 percent ($5,833,333). Boente
admitted that the purse is the biggest in Klitschko's career "by
far." As would be expected of a man who just put in a $23 million bid for
a fight, Hryunov has a plan. He announced after winning the bidding that the
fight, assuming Klitschko (59-3, 51 KOs) and Povetkin (25-0, 17 KOs) both win
their interim bouts, will take place Aug. 31 in Moscow, Berlin or Las Vegas.
Both men are former Olympic gold medalists, Klitschko in 1996 for Ukraine and
Povetkin in 2004 for Russia. Povetkin has been the mandatory challenger for
Klitschko twice before, but the bout never happened because Povetkin pulled
out. In order to make the megafight happen, Klitschko must defeat Francesco
Pianeta of Italy at SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany on May 4 and Povetkin must
beat Andrzej Wawrzyk on May 17 at Croscus City Hall in Moscow. The only fights
to draw bigger bids were a potential Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight
championship fight that never happened and a Buster Douglas-Holyfield
heavyweight championship fight in 1990……….
- Everyone needs a place to belong and a community to rely
on, even whales. A new study of humpback whales shows that these massive sea
dwellers learn from their peers in the same way humans do for tasks such as
searching for food, learning local customs and even learning new songs. Luke Rendell, a marine biologist at the
University of St. Andrews in Scotland, co-authored the study and found strong
evidence that a group of humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine functions by
sharing a newly observed behavior via their social networks. The behavior,
known as lobtail feeding, was first recorded in one whale in the Gulf of Maine
in 1980. In the 33 year since, 278 humpback whales—out of about 700 observed
individuals that frequent the Stellwagen Bank area—have begun using the
strategy, according to the study. "I've been arguing for over a decade now
that cultural transmission is important in cetacean societies," Rendell said.
He and his team found that the whales learn the new feeding strategy socially,
rather than a more traditional method such as a genetic predisposition to the
behavior. Lobtail feeding is a new spin on a common technique called bubble-net
feeding, in which a whale blows bubbles into a kind of net surrounding the
prey, corralling them into dense schools and lunging upward with jaws open to
swallow as much food as possible. Lobtail feeding differs in that the humpback
slaps the surface of the water one to four times with the underside of its tail
before diving down and blowing the bubble net. "The origin of this
behavior was strongly associated with the collapse of herring stocks and a boom
in sand lance stock," Rendell added. Wait…stock booms? Is this Wall Street
or Whale Street…..(insert rim shot here)? For
the study, researchers combined data on fisheries stocks with a sampling of a
long-term dataset (1980-2007) on humpback whale observations. The spread of the
new feeding behavior closely mirrored the loose social connections among the
whales. This study is expected to spur further analysis of this kind of network
analysis in relation to traditions and social learning among whales and other
intelligent animals………
- In a world full of bombs, missiles, riots and general rage
run amok, a single kind gesture can go a long way. Israel's army made just such a gesture
Thursday when it announced that it would magnanimously halt its use of white
phosphorus shells after years of international criticism for using the
incendiary munitions in crowded Palestinian areas. Israel clearly could have
gone right on ignoring those pleas, but instead its leaders said in a statement
that they would replace white phosphorus shells with ones based entirely on
gas. The rest of the plot was left vague, so there is no specific date for
retiring the shells and not specifics on what will replace them. White phosphorus is a material made from a common allotrope of the chemical element
phosphorus and has been a target for haters who decry it as a relic of a bygone
era and lament the fact that it burns fiercely and can set cloth, fuel,
ammunition and other combustibles on fire, and cause serious burns or death.
The heat on Israel to stop using the shells, which were popular during the
World War II era, intensified after the three-week winter war in Gaza in 2008
and 2009 against the territory's Hamas. White phosphorus shells were used
during the three-week conflict to assault a U.N. warehouse where more than 700
Palestinians were sheltering. There are a limited number of battlefield
situations where white phosphorus can still be used legally, but Israel's use
of it in Gaza drew war crimes allegations by the U.N. and rather than
risk further wrath from the international community, the Israelis have decided
to dial it down and play nice-ish……..
- They are old, they are past their prime and they likely
have little to no short-term memory from their years of abusing every
conceivable drug known to man (and some non-drugs), but Black Sabbath still has
fuel left in the tank. The veteran British rockers are currently on tour in
Australia, performing new tracks from "13," their new album – and
19th overall - due out June 11 on Vertigo/Republic. With the Australian leg of
their tour just firing up, the band have already announced plans to expand the
upcoming U.S. leg of their tour with four new gigs. Tickets for the late-summer
run will go on sale on various dates between May 3 and May 11 and the American
leg of the tour will now launch on July 25 in Houston. All together, the
reunited rockers have added 16 more shows to their North American itinerary,
including performances in Toronto, Seattle, Los Angeles and Holmdel, N.J. Their
new album was produced by Rick Rubin and it is the first Ozzy Osbourne-fronted
Sabbath album in 35 years "God Is Dead?," the eight-minute first single
from "13," dropped last week and the album is already available for
pre-order through various online music markets for the fools who spend money
securing a copy of a product that can never run out and will still be fully
available in two months when they can actually buy it and obtain it
immediately. In between legs of the tour, Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer
Butler will head to Tokyo for the inaugural Ozzfest in Japan on May 12 and
Black Sabbath will get some additional promotion for their new project when one
of their songs appears during the May 15 episode of "CSI." The band
will also make a cameo in the episode……..
- The past week has been a total bummer for Colorado
stoners. First, Denver’s first Stoner Christmas party, a.k.a. the first 4/20 rally
since the state legalized the hippie lettuce, turned into a massive clusterf*ck
when one kook brought a gun and shot two people. Mass panic ensued and critics
immediately touted the incident as proof that legalizing ganja was the wrong
move. Now, the state’s legal system is piling on as well and sucking all the
joy out of lighting up the ol’ bong for some recreational drug use. It is still
legal to smoke pot, but the Colorado Court of Appeals has determined that lighting up a
joint even off the clock is a justifiable reason to fire an employee. Despite
the fact that Centennial State voters approved a measure last fall to legalize
marijuana use, a divided court ruled that employees can still be fired for
testing positive for chron even if they never show up for work while baked. The
ruling came in the case of Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical-marijuana
patient who was fired in 2010 from his job as a telephone operator for Dish
Network after testing positive for pot. Coats’ attorneys argued he
was protected under a Colorado law that makes it illegal for workers to be
terminated for participating in lawful activities off the clock, but a trial
court dismissed the claim in 2011 and the appeals court concurred that
medical marijuana use isn't a "lawful activity" covered by the
termination law. Even though Colorado’s laws have changed, justices concluded
that in order for something to be lawful it "must be permitted by, and not
contrary to, both state and federal law." Defense attorney Michael
Evans decried the ruling as a major blow to Coloradans who use marijuana
for medicinal purposes. "This case not only impacts Mr.
Coats, but also some 127,816 medical-marijuana patient-employees in Colorado
who could be summarily terminated even if they are in legal compliance with
Colorado state law," Evans said. He speculated that the three-judge panel
ultimately reached its decision out of a reluctance to issue a groundbreaking
reversal that could shape the future of marijuana-related legislation in
the state. Here’s hoping that the case winds it way to the Supreme Court so the
noted pot lovers of the high court can weigh in on this one…..
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