- Don’t get confused, soccer fans. Your sport still doesn’t
matter in the United States, not even after the announced return of American
star Clint
Dempsey to Major League Soccer after seven seasons in the English Premier
League. Dempsey will play for the Seattle Sounders, who will pay Tottenham Hotspur
an MLS-record $9 million transfer fee to acquire Dempsey’s rights. Tottenham announced
Saturday they have reached a deal to send Dempsey to the MLS, where he will
receive a reported base salary of $32 million over four years - the largest sum
in MLS history. "We have reached agreement with Major League Soccer for
the transfer of Clint Dempsey," Tottenham's statement said. "We wish
Clint every success for the future." The Sounders initially remained
silent on the transfer, but the team did issue a thinly veiled promotional
statement by telling fans on Twitter to get to Saturday night's game against FC
Dallas early for a "special presentation." Dempsey attended Seattle's
match against FC Dallas on Saturday night and is expected to be formally
presented Monday. In order to pave the way for Dempsey’s arrival, the Sounders signed
veteran midfielder Shalrie Joseph to a new contract, a move that opened up a
designated player spot by restructuring Joseph's existing deal. Dempsey will
join current designated players Obafemi Martins and Mauro Rosales and his
acquisition comes as a surprise because the 2014 World Cup is less than a year
away and Dempsey has consistently spoken of his desire to play at the highest
level possible. MLS is not that level and he has shown little motivation to
return to MLS, where he played with the New England Revolution from 2004-06
before being sold to Fulham in January of 2007. Suiting up in front of an MLS-high
40,000-plus fans who attend each Sounders home game isn't exactly the same as
playing in front of thousands more in a rabid (and riot-prone) soccer nation
such as England………
- When Robert Frost wrote about taking the road less
traveled, this probably is not what he meant. An unidentified Russian man
faces up to two years in prison for stealing an entire road, communist nation’s
Interior Ministry said this week. The road thief in question is a 40-year-old
resident of Syktyvkar, the capital of Komi Republic in the Northwestern Federal
District. He admitted having stolen 82 reinforced concrete slabs that make up
the roughly 1-mile road linking the village of Parcheg with the Vychegda River
in a very literal case of highway robbery. Police discovered the theft when
they pulled over a convoy of three heavy trucks carrying the slabs, which they
said had been removed with a manipulator, an industrial machine that combines a
bulldozer and a forklift. Road theft isn't common in Russia or anywhere else in
the world, but the country’s recent history is filled with thefts of other
infrastructure, especially bridges, which are valued for their metal. A bridge
over the Nozma River in the village of Frolovo, northeast of Vologda, was
stolen in June and the culprit was dumb enough to leave a trail of tractor
tracks that led directly to his home. Police tracked him down with little
difficulty and they were able to determine that he slowly and painstakingly
dismantled the bridge with a welding torch. He has not yet been sentenced, but could
also face up to two years in prison. The road thief in Syktyvkar temporarily
made off with the road slabs, valued at 200,000 rubles, or about $6,095, but
his joy was short-lived. Before being too tough on either man, just imagine the
choice between standing in bread lines for days on end or being able to buy
bread for years by stealing and fencing concrete road slabs or the remains of a
bridge……..
- The heat is rising around the globe. Science believes that
trend may be linked to the boiling blood that is fueling violence around the world. A new study by
researchers at the University of California, Berkeley suggests that even
small changes in temperature or rainfall correlated with a rise in assaults,
rapes and murders, as well as group conflicts and war. Lead researcher Marshall
Burke and his team postulated that given the current projected levels of
climate change, the world is likely to become a more violent place. "This
is a relationship we observe across time and across all major continents around
the world. The relationship we find between these climate variables and
conflict outcomes are often very large,” Burke said. He and his fellow
researchers examined 60 studies from around the world covering data from
hundreds of years and found a "substantial" correlation between
climate and conflict. Their prime examples of the aforementioned correlation are
an increase in domestic violence in India during recent droughts, and a spike
in assaults, rapes and murders during heat waves in the United States. They
also linked rising temperatures correlated with larger conflicts, including
ethnic clashes in Europe and civil wars in Africa. Identifying the relationship
is one thing, but explaining why it exists is a challenge Burke’s crew hasn’t conquered
yet. "One of the main mechanisms that seems to be at play is changes in
economic conditions. We know that climate affects economic conditions around
the world, particularly agrarian parts of the world,” Burke continued. "There
is lots of evidence that changes in economic conditions affect people's
decisions about whether or not to join a rebellion, for example." In their
findings, the research team estimated that a 3.6-degree rise in global
temperature could see personal crimes increase by about 15 percent and group
conflicts rise by more than 50 percent in some regions. Proving that theory
will be much more difficult than formulating it………
- Muse is about to take over…..the town council in their hometown
of Teignmouth, that is. The British
rockers could make a temporary foray into politics by taking over the
local council in for one day. Matt Bellamy and his bandmates are kicking the
idea around as a way to engage younger voters in the region and help them take
a greater interest in politics. Jeremy Christophers, the leader of Teignbridge
District Council, said discussions for the band to run the council for 24 hours
are ongoing, but sounded determined to reach an accord. "We're still in
talks to get things sorted. It's vital for the council to engage with the
younger generation,” Christophers said, noting that Muse has been on the road a
lot lately promoting their latest album, which has plenty of messages about social
and political issues. “Muse have been busy on tour promoting their album 'The
2nd Law,’" Christophers said. "The album has songs about global
warming and sustainable living, which are important issues." The council
leader first invited Muse to take over the running of the council for a day in
July 2012, the same day that all three members of the band were chosen to carry
the Olympic torch their hometown. "We had Muse here today. They're the biggest
rock band on the planet. I've invited Matt Bellamy and the band to come in and
run the council for the day,” Christophers said at the time. Since then, Muse
have spent much of their time on the road in support of “The 2nd Law.” They are
also set to celebrate their 20th anniversary next year and Bellamy has
previously hinted that they will play a series of special gigs in 2014 to
celebrate the occasion. What better way to commemorate that special day than to
take over the local council in a wholly ceremonial and temporary manner………
- Dangers lurk everywhere in Central Park. Although one of
Manhattan’s top destinations to visit for tourists and a popular spot for
runners, walkers and bikers looking to escape the busyness of the city, the
park is fraught with hazards, especially late at night. Wandering into the core
of the park, far from the surrounding streets, is asking to be jumped, mugged
or worse. Oh, and there is also the chance that a gang of badass raccoons will
try to take you out. That is what (allegedly) happened to a street musician from
Brooklyn who said she was attacked Wednesday night by a pair of raccoons in
Central Park. The furry duo went for Taraka Larson’s leg, apparently trying to
cut her down to size so they could finish their assault. "It was my first
encounter with a raccoon where there was contact," Larson said. She was
strolling around a pond near 59th Street, at the south end of the par, when the
animals approached her and attacked. "He takes his little claws and was
just gnawing on my leg, and I was like kicking my leg and he goes flying into
the bushes," Larson recalled. Her leg bleeding, she ran to the nearby
Plaza Hotel for help and the concierge shockingly did not order her non-upper
class self to leave immediately, instead suggesting she might need a rabies
shot. Larson was taken to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, where staff wondered
if her story was accurate. "I'm like, I'm sure it wasn't a squirrel, I
think I know what a raccoon looks like. They said it could have been a small
dog, and I'm like, it was a raccoon," Larson said. She had taken a photo
just before the attack showing the raccoons and showed it to nurses to prove
she was telling the truth. Larson received 15 shots to her ankle to head off a possible rabies infection,
but officials from the city’s parks department said there were “no indications
that the raccoons were rabid.” They may not have been rabid, but they certainly
have anger issues……..
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