- So….about the NFL ditching its plans to extend its
regular season and massively piss off players who believe such a move would cut
years off their careers…..not so fast. As it turns out, that blatant cash grab
of a concept is still alive and well. Commissioner
Roger Goodell confirmed it Tuesday at the NFL's spring owners meetings in
Boston. The commish admitted that cutting two games off the preseason -- either
by expanding the playoffs or moving to an 18-game schedule -- is still being
discussed and that all "[options] are on the table." In other words,
we can make a lot of mone off of it, so of course we’re still considering it. "As
I have said before, I think the structure of the season is something that we
consistently reevaluate," he said. "I have been quite open about
[indicating that] we have to address the quality of the preseason. I hear from
fans consistently that they want to make every NFL event more valuable. They
see the preseason as being less valuable to them because they don't see the
best players and the games do not count.” Using the cheap ploy of pretending
this is about getting rid of two preseason games fans don’t want to pay
regular-season prices for as a reason to grab for an extended regular season
and the resulting revenues is a bold play, but easily seen through. As part of
the paradigm shift, the leauge will also consider expanding the playoffs. .
"We have to address that, whether we are looking at 18 [regular-season
games] and two [preseason games] or 16-and-two and expanded playoffs,” Goodell
added. "We are going to continue to have more dialogue with the players'
association, which is a big part of that discussion, and the second is with
broadcast partners.” Should the playoffs be expanded, the date of the Super
Bowl might have to be shifted back. But as long as NFL owners make more money,
they’re happy to do just about anything………
- It took a while, it took a few people getting hacked and
publicly embarrassed, but Twitter is finally stepping up by stepping its
security up. Following a series of high-profile hacking incidents, the über-popular
microblogging site has finally introduced a two-factor authentication system as
a way for members to keep their accounts more secure. The news could cause some
trouble for athletes and celebrities who tweet offensive and just plain stupid
things and then claim their account was hacked or accessed without authorization
by a member of their entourage. As of Wednesday, Twitter accounts are now
protected by a new login verification feature, which people can select to
require entry of a six-digit code, in addition to their standard password, to
gain access to their account. "When you sign in to twitter.com, there's a
second check to make sure it's really you," the company said in a blog
post announcing the optional security feature. Both features mirror those used
by Facebook and they require members to provide a phone number to which Twitter
can send a unique code with each login attempt. Twitter users can now turn on
two-factor authentication from their Account Settings page, where they can tick
the box to "Require a verification code when I sign in." From there,
they need only enter their phone number and Twitter will subsequently text the
number for verification purposes. "With login verification enabled, your
existing applications will continue to work without disruption," Twitter added.
"If you need to sign in to your Twitter account on other devices or apps,
visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to log in and
authorize that application." While the new measures do complicate the
login process, users have complained enough about security that laments should
be kept to a miniumum. Just last month, the Twitter accounts of CBS News'
programs "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" were compromised by
hackers and the Associated Press was victimized when hackers hijacked its
account and sent out a false tweet that claimed the White House had been bombed,
causing an immediate dive in the stock market……..
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Believe it or not, everyone’s
favorite overview of social dissidence ‘round the world is in Stockholm, where hundreds of
youths set fire to cars and attacked police and rescue services in suburbs of
Stockholm Tuesday night in Sweden's worst (or best) disorder in years. These
bold youths clearly are big fans of rap icons NWA, who once proclaimed “F*ck
the police.” That explains why a police station in the Jakobsberg area in the
northwest of the city was attacked. Some anti-educational rage also showed up
as two schools were damaged and an arts and crafts center was set ablaze,
despite a call for calm from Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. This was a
fist-pumping third straight night of riots and although they have occurred mainly
in suburbs where many immigrants live, all of Sweden should proudly claim them
as their own. Stockholm is actually a natural place for these uprisings, as it
is one of Europe's richest capitals and those rising up are mostly poor. Sure,
Sweden is a country that prides itself on a reputation for social justice, but
that doesn’t mean its government always gets it right. In a nice twist, the
riots have fueled a debate about how Sweden is coping with both youth
unemployment and an influx of immigrants. "We've had around 30 cars set on
fire last night, fires that we connect to youth gangs and criminals," said
Kjell Lindgren, a spokesman for Stockholm police. So far, eight people have
been arrested but no injuries have been reported, according to Lindgren. The
flash point for the riots seems to be the police killing of a 69-year-old man
wielding a machete in the suburb of Husby this month, which prompted
accusations of police brutality. Reinfeldt tried to calm the tensions on
Tuesday, pleading with the public to simmer down. "Everyone must pitch in
to restore calm - parents, adults," he said. Poor immigrants
definitely have a beef in Sweden, which has cycled off the "Swedish model" of generous
welfare benefits and reduced the role of the state since the 1990s, spurring
the fastest growth in inequality of any advanced OECD economy. Its average
living standards remain high, but clearly not high enough for immigrants. Unemployment
among those born outside Sweden stands at 16 percent, compared with 6 percent
for native Swedes, according to government data. Those are numbers capable of
inspiring a riot……..
- Metallica may be turning into Guns N’ Roses. No, James
Hetfield isn't ballooning to 400 pounds a la Axl Rose and the band isn't
fracturing under the weight of the lead singer’s ginormous ego. But just as GNR
took more than a decade to release its latest album, the ill-received “Chinese
Democracy,” Metallica is dragging its feet on its first new release in more
than five years. The band have provided an update on the progress of their new album and
forthcoming 3D movie and the news isn't exactly rosy. In fact, bassist Robert
Trujillo explained that the process is taking longer than usual because he and
his bandmates are scrutinizing their new songs carefully. "The work ethic
is super, super strong, and that's what takes us longer than other bands,
because we're sitting there and sometimes we're really analyzing things,” Trujillo
said. “I mean, for every one lyric, [James] Hetfield has, like three lyric
possibilities. But I can tell you this; the grooves and the riffs that are
already on the radar are really, really awesome. We've still got more riffs to
go through and jam out and throw into the process, but we're getting there, and
we'll have something great, hopefully, in the next year." Hetfield
concurred, but teased fans with the revelation that the band have enough songs
for a new album but still are not close to a release. “We got out into the room
and jammed and we've come up with enough material for a record, for sure,” he
added. “We've gone through maybe one-tenth of the material that's on our riffs
CDs. We've got enough for an album, we just haven't had enough time to really
focus on it and dial in and start whittling it into these masterpieces,
hopefully. I want it done yesterday." Along with work on the new album,
Metallia are also plugging away on their forthcoming 3-D movie “Metallica -
Through The Never.” Hetfield claimed the film is “extremely close” to being
done and whenever it is finished, it should be an interesting watch.
Functioning as a sort of hybrid between a concert movie and a fictional feature
film, it stars actor Dane DeHaan, best known for “Chronicle,” who plays
a crew member who gets given an urgent mission during a gig…….
- Oklahoma is hurting and across America – and even the
world – folks are seeking ways to help out and support suffering Sooners. Many
are donating to the Red Cross and tweeting out thoughts and prayers for the
state in the aftermath of an EF-5 tornado tore through the state, killing
dozens and injuring hundreds. Kenner, La. residents and tattoo shop owners Kayce
and Henri Montegut are taking a different approach to lending a hand. The
couple owns the Electric Expressions tattoo shop on Veterans Blvd. in tiny
Kenner and living in an area impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, they want
to serve as a support for those in need by inking people up with some sweet new
body art. They spent part of their post-Katrina evacuation in Oklahoma, where
they say people could not have been more supportive and helpful. For the next
two weeks, they plan to donate at least 10 percent of their profits to help the
victims of the Oklahoma tornado. It doesn’t matter what sort of ink a person
gets and there is no requirement that a person must get a map of the state of
Oklahoma on their calf in order for the money to be donated. “We would go
anywhere and people would just give us things. They wanted to help out,
especially the kids. They would just give the kids toys,” Kayce Montegut said. “It
was just awesome.” The couple say they are waiting to see how many relief
groups and assistance funds make appeals for donations before deciding where to
make their contribution…….
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