- Has Moldova finally grown a pair? Perhaps so after the
eastern European nation’s kahones-rocking said his country will exercise its
"sovereign right" and sign an association agreement with the
28-nation European Union despite external political and economic pressures.
Without saying to whom he was referring, President Nicolae Timofti announced
plans to sign the accord despite the fact that Russia opposes Moldova seeking
that deal with the EU, which Chisinau hopes to sign this year. Not referring to
Russia directly was a not-so-subtle maneuver and one that could portend
difficult days (#wewillinvadeyouoncewearedonewithukraine) ahead for a
country that is a mere fraction of Russia’s mammoth size. In the past, Moscow
has taken
punitive trade measures against neighboring Baltic states and as noted,
Ukraine, as those countries were selfish enough to actually think of their own
interests as independent nations and not the oppressive, communist-leaning hell
hole to which they once belonged. Timofti met with NATO Deputy
Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow and after hearing NATO’s offer to
consolidate security in Moldova, a neutral state, Timofti moved forward with
plans to sign the deal. It’s worth noting that relations between Moldova and
Russia have been strained for a while now and only grew worse after Russian
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin's plane was held up while traveling in the
region last weekend. Provoking Russia twice in the span of a single month is
typically enough to compel a shirtless Vladimir Putin to mount his mighty
stallion of justice and come rushing across your border, but Moldova still
deserves plenty of credit for doing what’s right for itself without regard for
Moscow’s feelings on the subject………
- Coaching sans the greatest basketball player in the world
didn’t go so well for two-time-former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike
Brown. Brown's
second shot with the Cavaliers lasted one season and ended Monday when
bombastic owner Dan Gilbert dropped the hammer on him following a 33-49 season.
The Cavs made two big trades for proven veterans during the season and hoped
building around rising star Kyrie Irving would at least yield a playoff berth
this season, but they never made a serious run at the postseason. "This is
a very tough business,'' Gilbert said in a statement. "It pains all of us
here that we needed to make the difficult decision of releasing Mike Brown.
Mike worked hard over this last season to move our team in the right direction.
Although there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we
believe we need to head in a different direction. We wish Mike and his family
nothing but the best.” Hiring Brown a second time never really made sense
because in between stops in C-Town, he was an abject disappointment heading up
the Los Angeles Lakers and is known for his severe limitations as an offensive
coach. He was axed last year by the Los Angeles Lakers just five games into his
second season and his performace this season would seem to suggest that he’s
not a great coach at this point. Oh, and there is also the fact that LeBron
James is about to become a free agent again and while his return to Cleveland
seems incredibly unlikely, he reportedly is not a huge fan of Brown’s approach
and firing Brown in favor of a name that appeals more to LBJ might be Gilbert’s
last-ditch attempt to woo back his city’s departed star. Brown seemed to know
the firing was coming and was asked after the final game of the season what he
thought about his immediate future with the team. "It's his team,'' Brown said of Gilbert. Yes, and for
the second time in four years, it’s Brown’s former team………..
- Science has ridden to the rescue again. In case the world didn’t
know – possibly because it has been painting in one too many poorly ventilated
rooms with lead paint – a new study led by researchers at the Harvard School of
Public Health has re-revealed the shocking truth that people who are exposed to
paint, glue or degreaser fumes at work may experience memory and thinking
problems decades after the exposure. "Our findings are particularly
important because exposure to solvents is very common, even in industrialized
countries like the United States," said study author Erika L. (Black?)
Sabbath. Black Sabbath’s study involved 2,143 retirees from Electricite de
France, a French utility company, whom she and her team analyzed in terms of
the workers’ lifetime exposure to chlorinated solvents, petroleum solvents, and
benzene. Benzene is used to make plastics, rubber, dye, detergents and other
synthetic materials. Chlorinated solvents are common ingredients in dry
cleaning solutions, engine cleaners, paint removers and degreasers, while petroleum
solvents are used in carpet glue, furniture polishes, paint, paint thinner and
varnish. The fortunate French fellas in this study were exposed to plenty of
nasty stuff. A solid 26 percent of them were exposed to benzene, 33 percent to chlorinated
solvents and 25 percent to petroleum solvents. They underwent weight cognitive
and memory tests as part of the study, each 10 years after they had retired,
when they were an average age of 66. A disturbing 59 percent showed some level
of impairment on three or fewer of the tests, 23 percent were impaired on four or
more and just 18 percent were clean. Participants were also ranked in terms of
exposure level and sorted out by when the last exposure occurred. Predictably, those
with high, recent exposure to chlorinated solvents were 65 percent more likely
to have impaired scores on tests of memory and visual attention and task
switching than those who were not exposed to solvents. “The people with high
exposure within the last 12 to 30 years showed impairment in almost all areas
of memory and thinking, including those not usually associated with solvent
exposure," (Black) Sabbath said. No kidding, Mensa………
- The Black Keys are riding high and have established themselves as
bonafide, world-famous rock stars. Of course, drummer Patrick Carney didn’t need any rock star certification before he was
willing to light up Canadian pop singing hack/dude-desperately-trying-to-be-a-badass-by-getting-lots-of-tattoos-and-arrests
Justin Bieber. The two of them – Carney with his actual musical talent and
Bieber with his complete lack thereof – have been trading barbs for months now.
Carney lit Bieber up after the Keys won their first Grammy in 2013, when he
said, "Grammys are for music, not for the money, and he's making a
lot of money. He should be happy.” Bieber took great offense with someone
telling the truth about him and told his Twitter followers that the drummer
should be "slapped around.” Carney, like anyone who dares to attack a
popular-yet-terrible pop star, saw the outpouring of wrath on Twitter from
Bieber’s devoted fan of tone-dead teenage and pre-teen fans. "I just
started getting called a faggot, you know? All these kids who don't know what
they're saying are saying all of these things that are actually wildly
inappropriate. And these kids are just dumbasses," Carney sad. "I'm
saying that he should be grateful that he has a f*cking career in music. And he
shouldn't be f*cking telling his followers to slap me, and then also be doing
anti-bullying bullsh*t. It's so irresponsible." All are fair points, which
means they clearly have no place in this particular argument. Carney and
bandmate Dan Auerbach should simply rest content in the knowledge that they are
right and that their new album, “Turn Blue,” is light years better than
anything the Biebs will ever craft……..
- Wait….someone in Colorado doesn’t like ganja? Sadly, this
appears to be true. Cure Organic Farm, a place where children come for education and a
healthy dose of anti-pot bias, is located in Boulder County and directly
adjacent to the spot where a 16,000 square-foot greenhouse may be built to grow
marijuana. Farm owner Paul Cure is leading a fight against an operation that
will bring both much-needed commerce and what could be some sweet-ass dank to
the area and he has his reasons – however indefensible they may be. “The main
reason is that the applicant is a person who is under federal investigation and
his last operation was raided by federal agents,” Cure said. Pantera Properties
is listed as the applicant property owner and someone named Laszlo Bagi has his
name on the application as the person seeking the right to build his new pot
paradise. Technically, Bagi was also listed last November as one of the targets
of a federal investigation involving Colorado’s marijuana industry. His
property was raided, but so far he has not been charged. Fortunately for fans
of the hippie lettuce, Boulder County Land Use Department Director Dale Case said
the greenhouse review does not include the applicant’s background. “It looks at
the merits of the project, it’s a land use review, looks at the land use
impacts of that proposal,” Case said. Other property owners in the area have
rallied behind Cure and several have cited the smell that would waft from the
greenhouse. As for Cure, he is of the ill-informed opinion that a farm with
roosters, pigs and visiting children does not belong next to a ganja
greenhouse. In truth, he may be right, which is why it could be time for Cure
Organic Farm and its hippie-loving organic ways to find a new home………
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