Tuesday, January 14, 2014

OutKast returns, government overspending on penis pumps and Cristiano Ronaldo wins...something

- Sunday was a big day for people who enjoy using public transportation sans pants. Yes, Sunday was that magical day known worldwide as No Pants Subway Ride Day. The annual event challenges public transportation riders ‘round the globe to board a bus, train or subway of their choosing sans pantaloons. The event is organized by a collection of local groups and while each has its own recommendations, most advise participants to wear something that is tasteful rather than an über-revealing pair of underwear that could lead to an indecent exposure charge. No Pants Subway Ride Day began in New York 12 years ago and has spread globally since. Commuters in cities large and small took part this year and pants-free travelers were spotted in Berlin, Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong and Sydney, to name a few. The celebration of trouser-free travel is the brainchild of the American performance outfit Improv Everywhere. It began humbly, as so many great events do, with seven weird dudes going pants-less in the Big Apple. Their brilliant vision has spread to dozens of cities around the world. Rules for the events are relatively simple: Riders agree on a meeting point using social media and show up at the designated location with their pants on. The split into smaller groups, drop trou and board a metro car at separate stops behaving the usual way – talking on their phone, reading a book, etc. All that sets the No Pants riders apart from their fellow passengers is their lack of low body garments, which is part of the event’s humor. On the Facebook page for the Sydney version, organizers warned, “Don’t wear a thong or anything else that might offend people. Our aim is to make people laugh, not piss them off.” The final rule is that participants should pretend that they do not know each other and not speak to one another. If they are asked by someone who does have pants on what they’re doing, they are to reply that they forgot to wear pants. Yes, the world is a wonderfully weird place………


- This is government at its finest. Wasting money and doing it behind the iron curtain of bureaucratic immunity is an art form to be sure, but blowing nine figures to ensure that every American who has a penis has the right to a vacuum erection systems (VES) is a beautiful and ridiculous thing. Give creditor for this amazing feat to the federal government, which used taxpayer funds to purchase $175 million worth of penis pumps…that it could have gotten for half of that amount. Yes, the government not only blew copious amount of cash, but it paid twice the market price for those Johnson juicers. An inspector general report released on Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General’s office revealed that the federal government paid more than double the retail price for VES. According to the report, Medicare prices for the systems “remain grossly excessive compared with the amounts that non-Medicare payers pay.” Yet over the course of five-plus years, Medicare paid 473,620 VES claims. Health care analysts were quick to decry the revelations in the IG report as the definition of what they describe as wasteful spending in federal health programs. It’s easy to agree with them…provided you’re a fool who doesn’t appreciate the government’s absurd attempts to make a technology so ridiculous that it was lampooned in the first “Austin Powers” movie (in 1997). If a man wants to use a vacuum pump to plump up his crank, then it is clearly his government’s responsibility to fund that quest. At a minimum, penis pumps are less annoying than those nonstop commercials from crank enhancer medicine that run during every break in every televised sporting event……..


- The world cares and America is indifferent…yes, the topic must be soccer. In an announcement that much of the world watched with rapt attention, Portuguese soccer star won the Ballon d'Or award as the top player as determined by FIFA, the sport’s governing body. He wrested the award from the control of Argentinean standout Lionel Messi by netting an impressive 69 goals in 59 games. The Real Madrid striker surpassed Hugo Sanchez in his club's scoring charts and equal Portugal legend Pauleta at the top of his country's list with 47 in 109 games and that was enough to push him past his two Ballon d'Or rivals, Messi and Franck Ribery. Ronaldo netted 14 of his goals in the Champions League as Madrid reached the semifinals before being beaten by Borussia Dortmun, eclipsing the record of 13 achieved in the season before by Messi. He ended 2013 as the top scorer in all of Europe's biggest leagues and to accept the award in Zurich, Ronaldo flew with an impressive posse that included current and former stars such as Florentino Perez, Zinedine Zidane, Emilio Butragueno and Sergio Ramos. "Thank you to everyone, my teammates, the national team and my family, to everyone here,” Ronaldo said before turning his attention briefly to the late African leader Nelson Mandela, who passed away last month. “Eusebio and Mandela were very important for me, I can't speak.” Sadly, Messi did not celebrate his honor in the way a soccer diva should, namely by running in circles around the stage with his teammates trailing him, his arms outstretched like an airplane and his shirt removed, twirling behind him as he ran and dove across the stage Maybe next year, eh Cristiano………


- Hey ya. The musical curiosity that is the pop-R&B duo OutKast is back, back again and the tandem of Andre 3000 and Big Boi are going big now that they have reunited. After announcing last week that they would be making their live comeback headlining Coachella Festival in California alongside Muse and Arcade Fire in April, OutKast has revealed that they will play some 40 festivals around the world this summer. Their busy slate will include a headlining slot at New York's Governors Ball festival, which takes place June 6-8 on Randall's Island. This 40-show festival tour is “to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their unique and influential sound,” according to a statement from the group. Beyond their two headlining spots, OutKast have not revealed the remaining stops on their global jaunt. "It's truly an honor to celebrate 20 years and still be free to do music the way we choose," Big Boi said in a statement. "Don't just think outside the box, know that there is no box. I'm looking forward to rocking the stage with my Bro Ski and to all the fans — stank you smelly much, this is for y'all!" The duo (mercifully) went on hiatus in 2007 and have not performed together since 2004. Both members have achieved limited success as solo acts in the interim, but the chance to come together to mark the 20th anniversary of their 1994 debut album “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” and make a lot of money touring without actually writing or releasing any new music was simply too tempting. "And imagine, all we wanted to do was rap! I am thankful to have been a part of a group that allowed me to explore anything that came to mind and have fun doing it,” Andre 3000 added in the same written statement………


- This is a new low, even for a low-end commercial airline known for its no-frills approach to flying the friendly skies. Airlines have lost all manner of luggage over the years, they have misplace pets and they even mistakenly sell seats on flights when there are no seats available. Still, their pilots typically do not lose track of where they are and misplace their destination. Sadly, this reality changed late Sunday when a Southwest Airlines passenger jet scheduled to land at Branson Airport on Sunday instead landed at M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport, or Taney County Airport, which has a shorter runway. The incident remains under investigation, but the flight’s pilots have been removed from active duty and their flight – with new and almost certainly more competent pilots at the controls – took off Monday to complete its journey to Missouri from Chicago Midway. Flight 4013 was not the best place even before its misplaced landing, as passenger Jodell Fitzwater said the plane filled with the smell of burning rubber and no one on board realized they had landed at the wrong airport until they were on the ground. Thankfully, no one was injured and multiple agencies responded to the scene and worked to get passengers off the plane and boarded on a shuttle to take them to Branson Airport. Southwest did its best to publicly downplay the incident in a B.S. business-speak statement that read: "The Southwest Airlines Pilot in command of flight #4013 safely landed at (PLK) Taney County airport this evening.  The Boeing 737-700 carried 124 Customers and a crew of five and was operating as a scheduled flight from Chicago Midway to Branson. Our ground crew from the Branson airport has arrived at the airport to take care of our Customers and their baggage.  The landing was uneventful, and all Customers and Crew are safe." Yes, if only something had tipped off the pilots to their error, perhaps that the runway at the Taney County Airport stretches only 3,738 feet and the Branson Airport runway is nearly twice as long at 7,140 feet………..

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