- Mick Jagger may be old, be he’s not slowing
down….at least not when it comes to his proficiency in cranking out mainstream
rock music. Jagger may also have slowed down on the quantity of drugs he takes
these days, but that did not prevent him from lending a helping hand to his younger
brother, Chris Jagger, for his new album “Concertina Jack.” It is Chris
Jagger’s ninth studio album and his big brother revealed on Twitter that he
will lend a vocal chord to the effort. Chris Jagger has never attained anything
remotely close to his big brother’s success, but has nonetheless persisted in
releasing a string of wholly ignored and unacclaimed solo albums since 1973,
including 2009's “The Ridge.” Mick Jagger will appear on just two tracks for
the project, the title song and another tune called “Diamonds and Pearls.” In
announcing the album’s release, Chris Jagger made a tongue-in-cheek reference
to his brother’s band celebrating its silver anniversary and doing a crap load
of touring and promoting the occasion in order to add to the hundreds of
millions of dollars it has already made. "I'm not a big one for
anniversaries,” Chris Jagger said in a statement, "but in the brew ha ha
revolving around The Rolling Stones and 50 years I realized it's 40 years since
my first record came out." Chris Jagger recorded his latest effort in
France and its connection to the Stones extends beyond the addition of his
famous brother to the list of guest vocalists. Bobby Kees and Tim Rees, who
play horns for The Rolling Stones, also appear on the album in the hopes that
three direct ties to the Rolling Stones might make people care about a Chris
Jagger album……….
- The NSA isn't the only creepy, lurking entity looking over
your shoulder and watching your every move. No, Apple is about to do the same –
at least when you’re in one of its retail stores. The House That Steve Jobs
Built wants
to know exactly where you are when you enter an Apple Store and to that end,
the company has launched a new feature in its Apple Store app that allows the
company to see a person’s location when they are in one of its stores. It’s
worth noting that folks will have to (theoretically) voluntarily install the
app, so being Apple-stalked will not be imposed upon anyone. Users who install the
latest version of the app and enable the new location features will be sent
alerts based on where they are in the retail spaces. With help from new GPS and
Bluetooth-equipped iBeacon devices inside stores, Apple will be able to tell
whether a person is in one of its stores or not and from there, pinpoint
exactly where they are within the room. Big Brother haters may postulate that
Apple wants to stalk people in stores, but the company claims it is to provide
better, user-tailored information, including (shocker) special offers available
at a given retail outlet. A person who is eligible for an iPhone upgrade would
receive a push notification about where to go in the store to get their
upgrade. Another individual who is one hand to pick up the new iPod Touch they
ordered online may receive directions to the pick-up spot. Those who don’t wish
to be tracked, unlike the NSA’s über-surveillance, can simply opt out. Apple
will roll out the service at 254 retail stores and at its 24-hour Apple Fifth
Avenue store has been equipped with 20 iBeacon devices. Additionally, Apple has
plans to expand uses for the iBeacon feature in conjunction with its new iOS 7
operating system……..
- Hope that was fun, American soccer fans – both of you. After
the excitement of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup by winning their CONCACAF
qualifying group, the U.S. men’s national team got to enjoy its run in the
tournament for a few weeks. That run came to an end – although not officially –
Friday morning when the groups were drawn for the tournament. Although theirs
is not the so-called “group of death” for the event, a group with European
powers Portugal and Germany and longtime nemesis Ghana is nonetheless lethal
for the Americans. To advance out of the group stage, the U.S. will need a win
over Ghana, which defeated it 2-1 in overtime in the round of 16 in the 2010
World Cup, and likely a win over either Portugal or Germany. Given that all
three nations are better at soccer than the U.S. is, that combination of
results seems unlikely. The dark reality awaiting the American team in Brazil
is not lost on team captain Clint Dempsey, part of the 2006 team that was eliminated with a 2-1 loss
to Ghana in its last group match and the 2010 squad that fell 2-1 in extra time
to the Black Stars. "It's one of those situations where you feel hard done
by," Dempsey said. "They're the team that beat us, kind of crushed
our dreams of going further in the World Cup." Dempsey and his mates must
find a way out of a group that includes two teams in the top five of the latest
FIFA rankings in second-ranked Germany and fifth-ranked Portugal. Perhaps the
U.S. can draw inspiration from the 2002 Cup, when it defeated Portugal 3-2 in
group play before losing 1-0 to
Germany in a controversial quarterfinal match that saw an uncalled handball in
the penalty area against Germany's Torsten Frings. "Tough group, a lot of
good teams in the group," defender Matt Besler admitted. "All the
groups are hard.” Sure, but they’re not as hard as Group G and other teams
facing tough groups are largely better than the U.S. But hey, for 10 days or so
in mid-June, American soccer fans will be able to accurately proclaim that they
are part of the World Cup field……..
- With Thursday’s passing of legendary leader and statesman
Nelson Mandela, the world lost a man who did not merely dream or speak of
changing the world, but actually did so. Even people who never met Mandela or
visited the country he changed forever by helping to abolish apartheid has to
respect the legacy of a man who taught us all so many lessons about the power
of love, forgiveness and a refusal to accept that the world cannot be altered
by the power of those who dare to dream…..right? Clearly not, as proven by
ass-hatted ass clown Pickens County
(S.C.) Sheriff Rick Clark, who steadfastly declared that he would not lower his department's flag for Mandela even
though President Barack Obama ordered American flags to be lowered half-staff
until Monday….because Mandela did not bleed red, white and blue.
"Nelson
Mandela did great things for his country and was a brave man but he was not an
AMERICAN!!!" Clark moronically wrote in a Facebook post. Clark said that
the honor of lowering the American flag "should be reserved for people who
have done great service for our country." Clark added that although his
office's flag was at half-staff on Friday, it was for Deputy Joseph Antwine,
who died last week after sustaining injuries in an on-duty crash. "I usually don't post political items,
but today is different. I received this notification today, "As a mark of
respect for the memory of Nelson Mandela, the President orders that the flag of
the United States be flown at half-staff effective immediately until sunset,
December 9, 2013,” Clark added in his Facebook post. “I have ordered that the
flag here at my office back up after tomorrow's mourning of Pearl Harbor
Day!" The best part of that rant is the ignorant way Clark assumes that
because Mandela was South African, he hasn’t done anything to help Americans.
The many people who have been inspired and changed by the dignified and
brilliant way Mandela lived his life would disagree………..
- For the first time in three days, all was (relatively)
quiet in a war-torn region in the Central African Republic thanks to a ceasefire
negotiated between rival Muslim and Christian militias. The truce between the
Muslim Seleka militia and the Christian anti-Balaka in Bossangoa brought a
brief respite to the town and more importantly, allowed aid agencies to begin
assessing the needs of the population caught in the midst of the violence.
After two days of violent clashes, thousands of displaced locals at a makeshift
displaced camp inside the Ecole Liberte school welcomed the ceasefire and the
chance to interact with relief workers. The refugees are in need of almost
everything: food, water and shelter. Another nearby compound run by the
Catholic Church welcomed 35,000 Christians seeking refuge from the Seleka
militias in September and by this point, its water and food supplies are
dwindling and there is very little shelter from the elements. Camp dwellers are
suffering from malaria and malnutrition, problems exacerbated by tense standoff
between the Seleka and the regional peacekeeping force, FOMAC, after the
militia threw grenades into the compound in an attempt to storm it. A reported 19 Muslims were killed in the attack. The
anti-Balaka began targeting Muslims after tens of thousands of Christians were
forced from their homes when Seleka militias stormed through the countryside in
a reign of terror. "We have been fully operational the entire time,"
Doctors Without Borders official Julian Donald said. "A situation where
you have hundreds of thousands of people who through no fault of their own are
living in extremely dire circumstances, I would hope that the international
community would mobilize to provide them assistance.” The world is taking its
sweet time deciding how to help, although the U.N. Security Council did finally
do something when it unanimously approved a resolution on Thursday approving
military intervention in the Central African Republic by an African Union-led
force……….
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