- Ready to learn how to carry on a covert affair with your
biographer while possibly compromising national security in the process? Then Macaulay Honors
College at City University of New York just might be the place for you. That’s
where David Petraeus, the former four-star general who was forced out as head
of the Central Intelligence Agency because he had an affair with his
biographer, has accepted a post as a visiting professor. The university released
a statement Tuesday saying the former commander of coalition forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan has been named a visiting professor for public policy, beginning
Aug. 1. In his defense, Petraeus earned his bachelor of science degree at West
Point and has a doctorate from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of
Public and International Affairs and he has written extensively on
international relations, military strategy and national security. In the column
against Petraeus, he did plow his biographer and lie about it, ending his
political career in a giant ball of scandalous flame. Still, CUNY is fired up
to have him come on board – it even said so in an official statement. “CUNY is
profoundly honored to welcome Dr. Petraeus to our academic community,’’ Matthew
Goldstein, chancellor of The City University of New York, said in a statement.
“With his appointment, our students will have a unique opportunity to learn
about public policy firsthand from a distinguished leader with extraordinary
experience and expertise in international security issues, intelligence matters
and nation-building.” Petraeus is likewise fired up to have something to do
other than receive withering stares from his wife or stare aimlessly at the
wall, wondering what the f*ck he did to his life. “Sixty percent of Macaulay
students are the children of immigrants or immigrants themselves, and as the
son of an immigrant who settled north of New York City, I identify with them
and applaud their achievements in earning a place in CUNY’s honors college,” Petraeus said. At least when he’s caught getting after it with one of his
students or a graduate assistant, the FBI won't need to investigate this
time…….
- Zach Braff needs your help. He wants to
maintain his creative and indie credibility, but he also wants to make a new
movie. If he works with a studio on the project, his creative vision will
undoubtedly be tweaked and manipulated by executives looking for the most
marketable movie instead of the most artistically awesome one and Braff can’t
have that. He’s decided that in order to solve this little dilemma, he’s going
to follow the example of Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas, who used a Kickstarter
campaign to raise money for a movie version of the defunct TV show “Veronica
Mars” in which Bell starred under Thomas’ direction. Braff, who wrote and starred
in 2004's indie hit “Garden State,” is hopeful that the
Kickstarter funding approach will work for him and provide the $2 million
necessary to finance his next directorial effort, "Wish I Was Here." “I am often
asked by my fans or by the press when I am promoting films in which I've acted,
'Why haven't you directed another film since Garden State?' The truth is, it's very hard to get small,
personal films made without sacrificing some aspect of your artistic integrity,”
Braff explained. “Crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter could be a game-changer
for independent films. Already 10 percent of the films at the most recent
Sundance Film Festival had some Kickstarter money and that's growing
exponentially. Social media has begun to give content creators a chance to
appeal directly to their fan base and say, 'I wanna make something for you, but
I'm gonna need your help.'” In breaking down why people with a fraction of the
disposable income a Hollywood actor typically has would pony up the cash to
make this movie happen, Braff suggested those people “will not only get to see
something that wouldn't have been made otherwise, but they'll get to do so
knowing they made it happen.” So what are fans and supporters buying into? The
movie is based on the story of struggling actor, father and husband Aidan Bloom
(Braff) who's "trying to find his identity" and "purpose in
life." That may sound generic and unoriginal, but it could be a generic
and unoriginal movie that you made possible……..
- The new Xbox is on the way, but gamers will have to be
patient for a while longer. Microsoft will unveil the next incarnation of its
popular gaming system at a press event at its Redmond, Wash., campus on May 21, giving the
world a first look at the console just weeks before the June Electronic
Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. For those who didn’t score an invitation to
the unveiling, the event will be live-streamed. “On that day,” Microsoft executive
and Xbox programming director Larry Hryb wrote in a company blog post, “we’ll
share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Then, 19
days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we’ll
continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games.”
Microsoft is lagging behind its home console competitors in this area, as all
of them have already introduced their next generation of gaming systems. Nintendo’s
Wii U was released in late 2012 and Sony had its PS4 bash in February, although
it did not show the system in action at the event. Both the new Xbox and the
PS4 are scheduled to be released by the end of 2013 and if either console lives
up to the hype, gaming will never be the same….allegedly. Sony describes the
PS4 as a “supercharged PC” with an overhauled, touchpad-enabled controller.
Details on the new Xbox are sparse, with Hyrb cryptically promising it would
usher in a “new generation of games, TV and entertainment.” Those words suggest
it will be for more than just games and indeed, reports have speculated that the
new Xbox will communicate directly with home cable boxes via an HDMI
connection, potentially allowing the system to more easily become an
entertainment hub for the living room. Whatever the future looks like for the
Xbox, it will be shown to the world live at 10 a.m. on May 21 for anyone
watching on Xbox.com, Xbox LIVE and, for television viewers in North
America, Spike TV………
- This time will be different. Mike Shanahan promises it
will be. After playing a leading role in wrecking his franchise quarterback’s
right knee by continuing to play Robert
Griffin III in a playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks even after Griffin was
limping noticeably after a throwing a touchdown pass in the first quarter,
Shanahan wants everyone to know that he's going to be more cautious in the
future with the most important player on his team. Sure, he should have thought
that way after Griffin missed games late in the season with a sore knee and
came back when he shouldn’t have for the first round of the playoffs, only to tweak
his knee and go tumbling to the ground in the first quarter of his first game
back. His coach – any coach really – should have known to pull him out then and
there, but Shanahan didn’t and as a result, Griffin went under the knife for reconstructive
surgery on torn ligaments in his right knee. He’s on the road to recovery and
everyone from Shanahan himself to Griffin’s orthopedic surgeon has marveled at
the speed of his rehabilitation progress, but Shanahan says that from now on,
the policy on Griffin will be that he "never plays if he's not 100 percent." After the
playoff game, Shanahan didn’t exactly own the decision not to remove Griffin
from the game and said he relied on Griffin's word and that of team physician
Dr. James Andrews, who was on the sideline, in keeping Griffin in the game. The
veteran coach said Wednesday he learns about his players as time goes along and
that if "it's your gut to take somebody out, sometimes it changes from
year to year. I know mine does with different players." That doesn’t sound
too confidence-inspiring, but if the head coach can abide by the policy that “one
thing we're going to make sure of is that Robert never plays if he's not 100
percent,” then the Redskins (and Griffin’s knees) will be much better off
moving forward………
- Bad news, stoners of the world. Colombia, typically known
for keeping cokeheads nose-deep in piles of the sticky icky and the stomachs of
hookers covered in the Colombian nose candy, has dealt a stiff blow to the
pothead community by seizing nearly 6 tons of marijuana and cocaine allegedly owned by major
rebel and drug trafficking groups. The massive supply of illegal narcotics was seized
in raids by Colombian police in the southwestern departments of Cauca and Valle
del Cauca. Police claimed the operations represented major blows to the FARC
rebel group and drug cartels, but that can’t possibly be true because FARC has
denied involvement in the drug trade. The rebel group is engaged in a
decades-long battle with the Colombian government, which views it as a
terrorist organization. That much pot would come in handy for chilling out
after a long, difficult day of battling the army and police, or to sell to drug
dealers the whold world ‘round. Still, if FARC says it doesn’t do drugs
(sales), then it must be telling the truth and police must be lying when they
allege that the 2 tons of
marijuana they confiscated believed belonged to the Sixth Front of FARC, which
operates in the area. Likewise, the 3 tons of additional ganja found in the
town of Buga in Valle del Cauca were either planted to frame FARC or they just
happened to be holding the drugs for a friend. Defense Minister Juan Carlos
Pinzon can throw around all the nasty allegations he wants, but those two
seizures and the taking of 1,490
pounds of cocaine in the port city of Buenaventura are going to do plenty of
damage by driving up prices and delaying deliveries for all of the
hard-working, drug-purveying entrepreneurs out there who depend on Colombia to
be their narcotic hookup. Oh, and just think of all of the cokeheads and
stoners who won't get the hippie lettuce or Bolivian marching powder they
crave, all because the Colombian police had to get all law-abiding with it……….
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