- Dear overweight women: In addition to trying to shed a few
pounds, now would be a wonderful time to shed that extra-thin skin some of you
seem to be wearing. In a world where oversensitivity and political correctness
reign, this might be the most laughable instance yet of people taking exception
that shouldn’t have been offensive in the least. Target, the slightly classier
big brother of mass retailing behemoth Wal-Mart, has a small-but-vocal group of
customers on its hands who want apologies, vengeance and God knows what else
from the company merely because its online store labeled a color choice for one
of its plus-size
dresses as “Manatee Gray.” Even though Target spokesman Joshua Thomas correctly
pointed out that Manatee Gray is a common color name for many of Target’s
products and its website does in fact list towels, sheets, rain boots and
T-shirts available in Manatee Grey, angry Twitter users chose to react first
and think later when they began lighting Target up for what they perceived as
mocking the size and appearance of plus-sized women by using the word manatee
in describing the color of a plus-sized item when the standard size of the same
item was called “Dark Heather Gray.” Target explained that two different teams
responsible for the standard and plus-size Mossimo Kimono maxi dress and did
not coordinate on color names, which sounds like a plausible explanation. What
are the odds that a major retailer is going to deliberately offend a massive
chunk of the populace in the world’s fattest country by tongue-in-cheekedly
mocking them with a manatee reference? Nevertheless, Target responded to the
initial tweet about the mix-up and quickly fell on its sword, writing, “We
apologize for this unintentional oversight and never intend to offend our guests.
We've heard you, and we're working to fix it ASAP.” Nothing to apologize for,
Target, nothing to apologize for……….
- Billy Bragg is feeling snarky. The British folk rocker and political activist released his
first new album in five years, “Tooth & Nail,” on March 18 and as he tours
to promote the album, he has a lot on his mind, namely new Sunderland FC
manager Paolo Di Canio. Non-soccer fans may not know much about Sunderland, but
the team has generated some unintended buzz for itself by hiring a man who has previously
admitted he is a "fascist." Di Canio, who was hired on Sunday, does
not believe that being a fascist makes him a racist. Not everyone agrees with
him and his hiring cost politician David Miliband resigned as the club's
vice-chairman over his appointment. Bragg, who just released his first album in
five years, is no fan of the hire either and he took a few minutes to record a
video message before his performance at the Neptune Theatre in Seattle Wednesday
night to address the subject. “Paolo Di Canio says he's not a racist, he's a
fascist as if that somehow makes it respectable,” Bragg says in the video,
which is already inline. “Well I've got a message for you, Mr. Di Canio: All
you fascists are bound to lose.” He then launched into a cover of Woody
Guthrie’s “All You Fascists Born to Lose.” With Bragg, the Dean of Durham and
others ripping Sunderland for the hiring and excoriating him as a human being,
Di Canio releases a statement that saw him in full retreat and denying
virtually everything he has previously said on the topic of fascism. “I am not
a racist and I do not support the ideology of fascism. I respect everyone. I am
a football man and this and my family are my focus. Now I will speak only of
football,” Di Canio said in the statement. Now that he’s tackled that vital
issue, Bragg can get back touring to promote an album that sees him returning
to the rootsy sound of his and Wilco's “Mermaid Avenue” recording sessions……..
- An era in Detoit sports ended Thursday, even if few took time
to notice. Detroit
Lions place-kicker Jason Hanson retired from football after 21 seasons in the
NFL, all with the Lions. At the age of 42, Hanson walks away having played more
games with one team -- 327 -- than any other player in NFL history. However,
spending his entire career in the Motor City also means Hanson walks away
without having won a single playoff game. Although the Lions made the
postseason a whopping five times in his 21 years with them, they never won a
single playoff game and only reached the postseason once in the past decade.
Hanson had previously expressed interest in returning to the Lions in 2013, but
his interest seemed to wane when the team reportedly did not offer him a deal
higher than the NFL's veteran minimum. He explained to the team's website that
a heel injury that first developed during the 2012 season and lingered into the
offseason made his decision easier and he chose to walk away from negotiations
that had stalled out. "It was time to make a decision," Hanson said. "It
was the right time to step away. Each time I'd start to push [the heel], I'd
kind of short-circuit. I realized that at this point of my career, I don't want
to perform in a compromised way. It's not good for the team. I lost a little of
my desire to play injured.” An athlete who loses their will to prepare and to
play through pain is one who needs to walk away, but that isn't always the case
and Hanson wasn’t exactly slipping in his final season. He converted 32-of-36
field goal attempts last season, including three from 50 yards or more. He
clearly has enough left in his leg to keep going, but playing for a team that
won four games last season and will almost certainly be favored to finish last
in its division again next season, combined with the heel injury, finally
pushed him over the edge……….
- Life for Spain’s royal family continues to be
drama-filled and at this point, perhaps no member of the family is safe. Princess
Cristina became the latest casualty of a financial corruption scandal involving
her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, as she has been slapped with preliminary charges
for her alleged involvement in the case. Her indictment marks the first time
since democracy was restored in Spain in 1975 that a direct member of King Juan
Carlos' family has faced preliminary charges of any kind, in any case. Urdangarin,
the king's son-in-law, is at the center of the drama as he remains a suspect in
the fraud scandal that has created serious issues for the embattled royal
family. Urdangarin has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but the judge in the
case clearly believes that Princess Cristina had some role in the process as
her husband allegedly diverted public funds earmarked for a non-profit
foundation for private use. Following the filing of charges against the
princess, the Royal Household issued a statement saying it was surprised that
the judge had changed his mind after ruling last year that there were insufficient
grounds to name the princess as a suspect with preliminary charges in the case.
In an 18-page ruling released this week, the judge explained that further
investigation since last year had led to the decision to bring preliminary
charges. Interestingly, prosecutors then announced that they will appeal the
judge's order to place preliminary charges on the princess and the Royal
Household statement also said that it is in "absolute conformity"
with that decision. According to the judge's order, Princess Cristina will be
questioned on April 27 regarding "the handling and destination of funds
obtained" through her husband's foundation and also a separate company. Urdangarin,
who was granted the title of Duke of Palma when he married Princess Cristina,
the king's youngest daughter, in 1997, was ordered to deposit a joint bond of 8
million euros ($10.8 million) for potential civil damages in the case against
he and a former business associate, Diego Torrres. No indictments have yet been
filed and the preliminary charges could eventually be dropped, but the case
seems likely to move ahead with or without Princess Cristina as one of the
defendants. Judge Jose Castro is leading the investigation at a local court in
Palma de Mallorca, in Spain's Balearic Islands……….
- It isn’t cheap and it isn’t the product of a major gaming
company, but that doesn’t mean Minecraft isn't an unstoppable force at the moment.
As Thursday turned into Friday and the indie gaming phenomenon forged against
in its fifth month of release, it surpassed 10 million downloads and that total
doesn’t even include the units bought and played on Xbox 360. Making its
success all the more impressive is the fact that Minecraft has only been
available as a full-version download since November 2011. In the past five
months, it has flown off digital shelves despite being priced at $26.95 a copy
and turned its creator into a true digital success story. Swedish programmer
Marcus "Notch" Persson created Minecraft and his risen to a status as
one of gaming’s rock stars of the moment. He financed virtually the entire
operation himself, so selling copies of the game at $27 a pop and moving 10
million of them has undoubtedly made him a very rich man and should allow him
to finance his next great idea, whatever it may be. For the non-gamers out
there who don’t know anything about Minecraft, it is a virtual world that allows
players to build and mine in a virtual environment that has the look and feel
of an 8-bit game from the early 80s. Its success has even extended to YouTube,
where videos of players showing off their Minecraft accomplishments and
discussing their love for the game have become common. In a sense, it has
become a sort of cult favorite amongst gamer dorks and has given
aspiring gamers such as Persson hope that they too can come up with a concept
that the masses will embrace some day……
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