- New Jersey is nothing if not a tourist Mecca. Who doesn’t sit
down to plan out their family’s vacation itinerary for the year and immediately
pencil in the Garden State as their top choice for their destination,
regardless of the season? The New Jersey Legislature understands this and the
fine elected officials who run this elite legislative body are taking steps to
ensure that their state garners as much money as possible from the many, many
attractive destinations within its borders. Specifically, lawmakers have a
vision to create more shopping opportunities in places where people tend to
spend a lot of time anyway — the state's toll roads. A new bill making its
way through the legislature would target rest stops and service plazas for
additional retail development. These plans are part of a move to squeeze more
revenue out of the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike and Atlantic City
Expressway without raising tolls or taxes. Hiking up the exorbitant food
prices - $5 for a slice of Sbarro pizza and $4.50 for a small soda? – must not
be an option, but gouging travelers for overpriced tourist-trap merchandise
obviously is. The $35 million generated annually by the 12 rest stops on the
Turnpike and nine on the Parkway simply aren't enough for a state in financial
turmoil, so the legislature’s assembly, transportation and independent
authorities committee approved the bill unanimously last week. A companion
bill failed in the state Senate during the last legislative session, but
elected officials are nothing if not dogmatic when it comes to prying more
money out of the wallets of consumers for their pet projects………
- This has the potential to end badly. Very badly. Taking an
NBA star with addiction issues who just got out of a dysfunctional celebrity
marriage and whose motivation to play basketball is questionable at best and
shooting him across the Atlantic Ocean to hoop it up in a nation know for its
ability to party and live it up has a definite chance to end in a flaming ball
of carnage. Yet there goes former Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers forward Lamar
Odom, launching his basketball
comeback in Spain after inking a two-month contract with Laboral Kutxa. The
club announced that Odom’s deal includes an option to extend the deal for the
remainder of the season. Odom was signed to fill a roster spot that opened up
because of injury and while such deals typically include an out clause if a
player has a chance to return to the NBA, Odom reportedly intends to play out
the rest of this season in Spain before determining whether to attempt an NBA
comeback. He could make his Spanish debut as soon as Saturday against
Valladolid and begin his effort to help Laboral Kutxa elevate itself from ninth
place in the 18-team Spanish league and last in its Euroleague group. That’s
right, a last-place Spanish league team is Odom’s best option at this point.
Then again, he has been a free agent since completing the 2012-13 season with
the Clippers, so NBA teams aren't knocking down his door. His closest pass to
returning to the NBA was in November, when new Clippers coach Doc Rivers
invited Odom to the team's practice facility for a workout. Odom posted a career-low
4.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season and the Clippers elected to
move on and ink multiple other veterans rather than bring back a guy with
possible drug issues, a known addiction to candy and a fresh celebrity divorce
on his hands. Anything other than a kick-ass performance for a second-rate
Spanish league isn't likely to rekindle NBA interest……….
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! While they may be leaving behind
the city hall they hijacked and used as their makeshift headquarters,
anti-government protestors in Ukraine are not going quietly into that eastern European
night. Just when it seemed the rage might be in full retreat, protestors clashed
violently with police in central Kiev on Tuesday, a day after Russia attempted
to reassert its influence over Ukraine with $2 billion in cash to shore up the
former Soviet state's heavily debt-riddled economy. According to a parliamentary
deputy’s Facebook post, three demonstrators were killed. Ukrainian television
stations reported five injuries to protestors, but neither report has been
independently confirmed. As the dissidence dragged on, Ukraine's defense
ministry ordered demonstrators to stop occupying one of its buildings. At the
core of the day’s drama was the $2 billion cash payment, which re-started a $15
billion aid package from Russia. Protestors were irate that President Viktor
Yanukovich and Russia were working in tandem and had a plan to exclude all
opposition leaders from the country’s government. Russian leaders pointed the
finger in their usual direction, blaming the violence on the West as a
"direct result of connivance by Western politicians and European
structures that have shut their eyes ... to the aggressive actions of radical
forces.” It was Russia’s offer for aid that led Yanukovich to snub a trade deal
with the European Union in November and that began months of riots and rhetoric
by opposition groups who are still boiling over with ire. This week’s violence
has been among the worst to rock Kiev in the past three months as top-notch
rioters torched vehicles and hurtled stones at riot police, who battled back
with rubber bullets and stun and smoke grenades fired from the comfort and
safety of trucks and building tops. "The authorities do not want to
compromise on any issue ... We understand that yet another odious candidate
will be put forward (for prime minister), one who will be unable to restore the
economy or end the political crisis," said Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, an
opposition deputy. To kick things up a notch, militant far-right group Right
Sector urged rioters with weapons to go to Independence Square, center of the
revolt, to protect it from a possible move by security forces to break it up.
Panicked parliament leaders pleaded with police to slow down the opposition as
rioters hurled stones past a line of trucks blocking them from getting within
100 meters of the building. Kiev continues to be the leader in the race for
best rioting city of 2014 and at this point, it’s Kiev and Bangkok by a wide
margin over the field……..
- There is no shock or incredulity left. At this point, VH1
and other basic cable networks have plumbed such depths with their reality
programming that virtually any new ratings grab, er, attempt to move the genre
forward with an original concept can be met with nothing more than a yawn and
an indifferent, “So what?” That is the appropriate response to the latest VH1
offerings, “Naked Dating.” The title isn't exactly a trick, as the a
one-hour weekly series will put two attention whores together under the guise
of finding love and watch as they "explore the art of romance free of
pre-conceived notions, stereotypes -- and clothes." Yes, because there is
nothing more expository on the themes of love and romance than jamming two
people who really want to become famous together on a crappy reality show so
they can pretend they’re seeking love while a camera crew follows their every
move and producers script their lines and suggest possible story lines to make
the show more interesting. The basic concept of the show is having one man and
one woman each date two potential flings/loves of their life. At the end of the
episode, the two will analyze what they've learned and decide on whether or not
to move forward with their prospective love matches. All of these shenanigans
will take place in an exotic locale and no one will wear any clothes, which is somehow
supposed to make it all more authentic. To make the show air-able for a
non-premium cable network, VH1 said, the 10-episode series will be edited to
ensure it meets all necessary standards – except those for class,
respectability and dignity. "At first, this seems like a show that's all
about a noisy, provocative hook – and we embrace that," said Susan
Levison, executive vice president, Original Programming & Production for
VH1, in a release. "But when you go deeper, it's really about something
that we can all relate to – the search for true love." Whatever you need
to tell yourself, S……….
- Cacti are out to get you, California. More specifically, cactus
pads – or nopales, a favored ingredient in Mexican cuisine – for sale in
the Golden State pose a definite health hazard to the masses and the California
Department of Public Health wants to make sure the public avoids consuming what
could be a lethal addition to one’s daily diet. The CDPH has issued a warning
that cactus leaves being sold across the state may have been sprayed with
dangerous pesticides. The contaminated leaves, as with so many illegal
immigrants with whom Americans have such a huge beef, are originally from
Mexico. They were sprayed with the illegal pesticides in question south of the
border, then sold at several stores throughout California, including three in
Los Angeles, the state health department announced. Routine testing revealed evidence
of Monocrotophos, a pesticide that has been banned in the U.S. since 1989.
There is nothing like an illegal pesticide from the ‘80s to space up a meal,
but those in the know know that consumption of Monocrotophos can lead to
neurotoxicity and permanent nerve damage. Even if these extremes don’t hit,
those who ingest the poison can enjoy fun benefits such as sweating, headache,
weakness, nausea, vomiting, hypersalivation, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.
Officials seem to have gotten out in front of this one, as no illnesses had
been reported as of Sunday. State regulators said they destroyed as much of the
contaminated product as they could locate at stores and distribution facilities……..
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