- Not only did the Cleveland Browns get their asses kicked
by their archrivals last Sunday AND suffering the horror that is watching
Brandon Weeden quarterback your NFL team, but the team also came away from the
game simmering mad on account of Pittsburgh
Steelers cornerback William Gay’s massive hit to the head on Jason Campbell.
Gay helped drive Campbell from the game, forcing the Browns to turn to the
oft-benched Weeden. After having a chance to digest the loss and watch the game
film, some members of the Cleveland Browns think the league should go further
than the $15,750 fine it issued to Gay. Several coaches and players said this
week that the NFL should add hits to the head as a reviewable play. "If
you're talking about the emphasis they're making on it," offensive
coordinator Norv Turner said, "and the way people are getting Pro Bowl left Joe Thomas concurred with Turner's
sentiment. "It would be nice to at least have them have the ability from
upstairs to buzz down to take another look at it or tell them they missed it or
tell them it needs to be changed or whatever," Thomas said. On the play in
question, Gay came free on a blitz and crushed Campbell, forcing a fumble that
the Steelers recovered and returned to the four-yard-line to set up a touchdown
that put the Steelers ahead 20-3. Gay struck Campbell in the facemask, which
caused Campbell's head to snap to the side suddenly. It’s unclear whether the hit
or Campbell's head hitting the ground led to the concussion, but Gay was fined because
he "unnecessarily delivered a forcible blow to his opponent's head and
neck area." However, referee Terry McAulay did not penalize Gay for the
hit. Such a flag would have allowed the Browns to retain possession and given
them a first-and-10 at Pittsburgh's 24. "I know there's two officials that
sit in the booth and are watching the game and it would be nice to have them be
able to review those type of plays," Thomas said of the current
prohibition on reviewing such calls……..
- If you thought your Thanksgiving was bad…at least it
didn’t involve anyone wielding a machete….unless uncle Terry decided to break
out his big knife to carve up the turkey this year. The reason (or at least one
of them) that your holiday was machete-free is because 48-year-old Joseph Hoo of Upper Montclair,
N.J. is not a part of your extended family. It seems that Hoo was having some
domestic difficulties on Thanksgiving because New Milford police took him into custody
shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday on weapons and terroristic threat charges. The
cause of the strife seems to be Hoo’s family excluding him from their
celebration – possibly because he’s an insane psychopath who breaks out large,
sharp knives at the slightest hint of trouble – and his decision to handle their
rejection by breaking out his machete and threatening to do some serious damage
to family members. Police responded to a call at the home of one of Hoo’s
family members around 2 p.m. and stopped a van they saw leaving the residence.
They found Hoo Hoo and his 18-year-old son inside and the two were not exactly
traveling lightly. They were packing an 18-inch machete and two baseball bats,
all of which had unfortunately not been used before they were seized. Hoo was
released on his own recognizance, but was ordered to not have contact with the
family he allegedly threatened. One might imagine that neither Hoo nor his son
will be receiving any invitations to any of the family’s upcoming holiday
festivities…….
- Argentina is in a fightin’ mood and its next target is companies
drilling for oil off the disputed Falkland Islands. The Argentine government is
fixing to go after these companies after its Congress passed a law Thursday
threatening "criminal sanctions" on companies and individuals
involved in "the illegal exploration" of hydrocarbons in the area.
The Argentine Embassy in London issued a statement on the decision. "The
law provides for prison sentences for the duration of up to 15 years; fines
equivalent to the value of 1.5 million barrels of oil; the banning of
individuals and companies from operating in Argentina; and the confiscation of
equipment and any hydrocarbons that would have been illegally extracted,"
it said. The proclamation has already sparked a fresh diplomatic row with
Britain, which quickly countered with a statement of its own. "The UK
government unequivocally supports the right of the Falkland Islanders to
develop their natural resources for their own economic benefit,” the statement
snarked. “Argentine domestic law does not apply to the Falkland Islands or
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are UK overseas
territories." The British position is that hydrocarbon activities by
companies operating on the continental shelf of the Falkland Islands are
regulated by legislation of the Falkland Islands government and in accordance
with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. That was news to the
Argentine government, which claimed to have already sent more than 200 letters
to companies directly or indirectly involved in drilling activities, warning
that they are "liable to administrative, civil and criminal actions in
accordance with the laws governing such activities, including environmental
protection laws." The two nations famously went to war over the territory in
1982 after the then-military government in Argentina landed troops on the
islands, which Argentineans call Las Malvinas. There is little hope for such a
showdown this time around……..
- Prepare to be shocked, world. More long-lost music by a
long-deceased recording artist has been discovered and will soon be making its
way to a digital music marketplace near you. This time, it isn't a murdered
rapper who has reams of unreleased material waiting to be exploited, er,
released, but rather iconic Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Guitarist Brian May said late last week that more previously unreleased Freddie Mercury material has been
found, not long after drummer Roger Taylor confirmed that May is finishing work
on a number of tracks Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson duetted on. May’s
just-found Mercury music is in addition to the tracks Taylor spoke of and who
knows, this might even bring in more money from Queen fans desperate to get
their hands on all things Freddie Mercury. "There's more in there than we
thought, in the Queen source archive. I'm a little nervous of saying there's an
album there, but there's certainly a few tracks... We've found some Freddie
vocals, some demos,” May said. The first three tracks featuring Mercury and
Jackson were recorded in 1983 and announced earlier this year. May said in July
that there would be "something for folks to hear" in two months'
time. Those songs have not yet emerged, but Taylor talked about what was ahead.
"Brian especially has been active working on old tracks. A couple of
tracks that Freddie did with Michael Jackson," he said. "They've been
hanging around for years and years and Michael's estate haven't really been
able to make their mind up about what to do with them. So we suggested we
finish them and see. They're pretty good – one of them is great."
Meanwhile, the band is still seeking a leading man for their in-progress biopic
of Mercury, with British actor Ben Whishaw their current thespian of choice………
- Google's latest Nexus smartphones are not as secure as they might
seem. According to a Dutch IT services company, they are vulnerable to an
attack in which someone could force the phones to reboot or lose their network
connection by sending them a large number of a certain type of SMS message. The
findings, presented as an Internet security conference in Bucharest, Romania,
show that the vulnerability can occur when an attacker sends about 30 Flash SMS
messages - messages that appear immediately on the phone's screen on arrival -
to the Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus 4 or Nexus 5. The problem for owners of these phones
have a problem because when such an attack occurs, hey won't be automatically
alerted with an audio tone. Flash SMS message after message could arrive in
rapid-fire fashion before those messages are noticed or dismissed. Such an
overload can lead to multiple issues, including the phone rebooting. If that
happens and a PIN is required to unlock the SIM card, the phone won't connect
to the network after rebooting. Another possible outcome is t the messaging app
crashes, but the system then automatically restarting it. So far, this
vulnerability has only been shown to affect the latest Nexus smartphones
running Android versions Ice Cream Sandwich through KitKat. Google has yet to
issue an official response to reports of the issue, but a canned corporate
response can't be far off…….
No comments:
Post a Comment