Sunday, December 15, 2013

Belfast bombs, Utah polygamy jokes to be made and NFLers sleep themselves out of a job


- With $20 million on the line, most people would be able to deal with a simple issue like showing up for work on time. Now-former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jeremy Mincey is not most people and that’s why one of the worst teams in the NFL cut him on Friday. The Jaguars released Mincey after he was late for another team meeting, busting a cap into a troubled season that has been littered with accountability for the veteran defensive end. The missed meeting that broke the camel’s back comes nearly three weeks after he did not make the trip to Houston for a game because he overslept and was late for a team meeting. Coach Gus Bradley and general manager Dave Caldwell met with Mincey to break the news and Bradley didn’t exactly soft-shoe the situation afterward. "Jeremy and I had a talk this morning and it just felt like it was time to move forward," Bradley said. "It wasn't one particular thing that caused the reaction. I think it was just a combination of things. Jeremy's a good football player, good person, and I enjoyed my conversation with him today and I can't think him enough for what he's done for this organization and his contribution, but we just felt like it was time to make this decision." In other words, this guy either doesn’t care enough to buy a good alarm clock or set the alarm on his iPhone or he’s the most irresponsible moron ever, but he’s not nearly good enough of a player to justify us putting up with this sh*t. After oversleeping and being left behind for the team’s trip to Houston last month, Mincey also was inactive for the Jaguars' Dec. 1 game at Cleveland, although he did make the trip. Mincey’s story is that he has a 3-month old daughter and also owns a recording studio in Jacksonville has allowed those things to get in the way of his football career. It’s a good thing that $9 million of the $20 million contract he signed in March 2012 was guaranteed because he won't be seeing any more of that money……….


- Good for you, NASA. The space agency no longer has the budget to shoot human beings into space and its launch pads have fallen eerily silent of late. So why not let someone who does have the spare cash for manned missions to space use the land? It could give NASA some extra scratch to buy donuts for the break room or a new motivational poster or two for the break room. In a burst of good news, a tenant has emerged for Kennedy Space Center's historic Launch Complex (LC) 39. SpaceX, the latest vanity project of eccentric billionaire Elon Musk, is negotiating with NASA to use the complex for its launches. "The reuse of LC-39A is part of NASA's work to transform the Kennedy Space Center into a 21st century launch complex capable of supporting both government and commercial users," NASA officials said in a statement, adding "Kennedy is having success attracting significant private sector interest in its unique facilities." NASA has used the two launch pads located at LC 39 as launching points for the nation's greatest human spaceflight missions, including Apollo 11. Its first and last space shuttle missions took off from LC 39 and  "will ensure its continued viability and allow for its continued use in support of US space activities," NASA officials said. Preparations are already underway for SpaceX’s Space Launch System rocket, designed to transport astronauts into deep space, including to asteroids and Mars. The final hurdle for the agreement was cleared this week when the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) turned away a protest filed by Blue Origin, a privately funded aerospace company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. Back to your drone delivery plans, Bezos………


- Attention all funny black ladies out there: “Saturday Night Live” would like to end its unofficial embargo on African-American female cast members and add one of these chicas to its cast as soon as January. Yes, “SNL” is nowhere near as funny or culturally relevant as it once was, but it’s still a solid gig. The NBC sketch comedy show recently held two showcases — one in Los Angeles and one in New York — to find African-American women to add to its stable of folks looking to use its one-hour showcase as a launching pad for a better job. “SNL” has taken extreme heat in recent months for its lack of diversity and even made fun of itself in its Nov. 2 episode hosted by actress Kerry Washington. Washington lampooned the show’s lack of diversity in a skit that featured her being forced to play several African-American celebrities, including Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce, all in the same skit. Another cast member, Kenan Thompson, previously spoke publicly about the lack of women of color on “SNL.” Thompson blamed the show's diversity issue on a lack of quality black female comedians, electing to ignore the role show runner Lorne Michaels and his creative staff have in choosing cast members. "It's just a tough part of the business," Thompson said. "Like in auditions, they just never find ones that are ready." Three black actors are currently on the show, but all of them - Thompson, Jay Pharaoh and Nasim Pedrad – are dudes. Even if one expands the scope of the search to the show’s 38-year history, there have only been four African-American female Yvonne Hudson (1980-81), Danitra Vance (1985-86), Ellen Cleghorne (1991-95) and Maya Rudolph (2000-2007). Cleghorne and Rudolph were the only ones with extended runs on the show, which helps explain why this is just one of many long gaps in which “SNL” has been African-American female-free………..


- Rev up the polygamy smack, world, because Utah is begging for it. Thanks to the supersized former Utah family of Cody Brown and his four wives, the state that hates caffeine is once again the prime target for multi-wife jokes after the U.S. District Court, District of Utah, Central Division ruled that plural marriages do not constitute a crime. True, this may not open the door immediately to plural marriage licenses or other rights, it pushes the situation in that direction because it ensures families that practice polygamy may not be persecuted by the state as criminals. Brown and his quartet of wives fled Utah to escape state prosecution and were represented by attorney Jonathan Turley. Turley wrote on his blog that U.S. District Court Judge Clarke Waddoups had struck down key portions of the Utah polygamy law as unconstitutional, writing, “With this decision, families like the Browns can now be both plural and legal in the state of Utah. The Court struck down the provision as violating both the free exercise clause of the First Amendment as well as the due process clause. The court specifically struck down language criminalizing cohabitation – the provision that is used to prosecute polygamists.” Turley went on to suck up to the court, er, praise its decision by citing the “singular courage” it took to become the first court in American history to strike down the criminalization of polygamy. Specifically, the court struck down the part of the statute that criminalizes co-habitation between consenting adults. The result is a limitation of future prosecutions of traditional bigamy in cases where individuals have multiple marriage licenses. On a positive note, the door is now open to all sorts of complicated issues and yes, there are jokes aplenty to make…....


- Belfast is at it again. The city that has been home to an inordinately high number of domestic terrorist attacks over the years thanks to the constant struggle between loyalists and those wanting to break away from Britain has been hit again, this time by a bomb attack in its Cathedral Quarter on Friday evening. Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers decried the attack as "despicable and appalling. " Dissident republican group Óglaigh na hÉireann quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred at Exchange Street West at about 6:45 p.m. local time. No one was injured or killed in the attack, but police said the bomb could have killed or seriously wounded anyone who was standing in its immediate vicinity. Carnage was avoided because the area was evacuated after a warning call to the Irish News newspaper office. According to police, the bomb was fully functional and consisted of explosives and flammable liquid. It was left in a duffel bag about 500 feet from the location identified in the call to the newspaper and the paper said the caller claimed to represent Óglaigh na hÉireann. The Cathedral Quarter is one of the main entertainment venues in Belfast and home to a number of bars and restaurants and the evacuation affected nearly 1,000 people. First Minister Peter Robinson called the incident “an attack on democracy.” "We are witnessing the work of a mindless minority who are intent on taking the heart out of the city and wreaking havoc on the lives and businesses of the people of Belfast and Northern Ireland," Robinson said. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness denounced the bombers for showing "a complete disregard for life.” It’s reassuring to know that in a world of change, some lunatics remain delightfully and homicidally unchanged…..

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