- Ah, the good old days of letter writing….with bombs
inside. The Irish Republican Army can never be accused of forgetting from
whence it came, not when four of its anachronistically inclined members are organizing
an letter-bomb campaign designed to maim, harm and kill various targets in
Northern Ireland and England. According to police in Northern Ireland, two men
and two women were arrested Wednesday in Londonberry in conjunction with a plot
to blow up the city’s police headquarters. A few hours after the arrests, masked
men loaded a suspected bomb on to a truck and ordered the driver to park it
outside the city's police headquarters. Police moved quickly to evacuate a
nearby school and businesses but could not confirm whether the threat was
legitimate. Either way, the four suspects are thought to have mailed at least
10 bombs over the past year. Either these wannabe killers were terrible at
disguising their bombs or people are simply better at identifying incendiary
mail than they used to be, because all 10 of those bombs were detected and
dismantled safely before they had a chance to harm anyone. The targets for this
ring of mischief-loving miscreants included police commanders, a prison
governor, a state prosecutor's office, British Army recruitment centers and
Northern Ireland's secretary of state. Aiming high is about the only
respectable quality the suspected bombers possess, but give them a few points
for persistence. They are believed to be members of one of several small IRA
factions that remain active in Northern Ireland, but their numbers are quickly
dwindling through both sheer stupidity and the fact that the IRA is an outdated
mechanism of an extremist movement very much on the decline……..
- The University
of Maryland is standing behind its athletic scholarships. Taking advantage of a
change in NCAA rules allowing members of the five power conferences in Division
I to make their own rules in some aspects of athletics, Maryland plans to start
guaranteeing scholarships to students-athletes until they graduate, regardless
of injury or on-field performance. Previously, scholarships were one-year
renewable agreements between athletes and their schools, but UM athletes will
now be able to rest assured that as long as they keep their grades up, they
won't have to worry about whether the coach will bring them back next season.
Haters have long used the argument that allowing scholarships to be renewed on
a year-to-year basis and reduced or canceled for any reason undercut the NCAA's
argument that revenue-generating athletes should not be paid and guaranteeing
the scholarships for athletes in all spots, not just the so-called revenue
sports of football and basketball, gives Maryland a chance to be a
trend-starter in a sense. The decision follows a decision by a federal judge
earlier this month to allow future college football and basketball players to
get monetary compensation. According to UM officials, they are among the first Division
I schools to guarantee scholarships for athletes in all sports. Ensuring that
athletes stay on point academically and don’t cheat in their classes is still a
problem spot for many big-time football and basketball schools, but it is nice
to see at least one institution of higher learning fix one problem area……..
- Strippers are genuinely not considered entertainment fit
for mass consumption. Chelsea Plymale (potentially a fictitious name given her
chosen trade) is challenging that concept by taking her stripping to the
boardwalk in Ocean City, Md. She’s gone from taking off her clothes for
strangers with dollar bills to disrobing for the public right on the boardwalk.
She doesn’t actually get fully naked, as that would put an abrupt end to her
new act, but her performances have nonetheless incited outrage from parents, tourists and business
owners. “I mean, I knew people were going to be shocked but I didn’t know I was
going to be pushed into the spotlight like this,” Plymale said. Nice try, C.
You knew exactly what you were doing and you did it for the very reason you
claim has caught you completely off-guard. Dancing in skimpy clothing aroud a
brass pole on the boardwalk is guaranteed to shine a bright, bright spotlight
on a person and anyone with an IQ above 22 would know that. Plymale has been
plying her trade on the boardwalk all summer and the response has been loud,
pointed and vitriolic for visitors and locals alike. Many have pointed out that
the boardwalk is a place built around family entertainment and a few of those
offended by Plymale’s act have placed complaint calls to Ocean City police. The
police, it turns out, can’t do a damn thing about it. “Basically, the street
performers can go up there as long as they aren’t breaking any other laws and
they’re performing and exercising their first amendment rights. They have every
right to be up on the boardwalk,” Mayor Rick Meehan said. Plymale is sticking
with a bad cliché in explaining why there shouldn’t be a problem with what she’s
doing. “They can keep watching. They don’t have to let their children watch me
perform,” she said. “I’m completely tasteful. I don’t really dance around too
much. I just do pole tricks.” Well said, skank……..
- Gavin Rossdale is not well-liked among rock fans. Keep
this in mind while considering the following. Rossdale and his band, British
rockers Bush are looking for financial assistance to release their new album. More
accurately, they want their fans to pay for said album and they are willing to
hand out bribes to make it happen. Bush have set up a page on PledgeMusic offering
rewards for fans that want to help with the new record, which would be their
first since the largely ignored “Sea of Memories” dropped in 2011. In order to
entice fans to contribute beyond merely overpaying for a record that likely
won't be an all-time classic, Bush is dangling behind-the-scenes footage and
regular updates on the album to fans who pledge money in exchange for t-shirts,
instruments, DVDs and more. "Your support has always meant everything to
us, and we’re incredibly excited to bring you this music in a direct and unique
way here on PledgeMusic. By ordering anything here, you’ll get the new album
digitally the moment it’s released – in fact, you’ll be the first to know all
about it,” Rossdale wrote in a post on the band’s website. "And by joining
us here, you’ll also have access to videos, previously unreleased music,
exclusive photos, and the chance to have some amazing experiences and
interactions with Chris, Robin, Corey and me. It’s an exciting way for us to
share the process of releasing our new music. Thanks always for the continued
support. We couldn’t do this new thing without you. Big love." Yes, big
love and hopefully, big bucks coming for a band that can most definitely afford
to release the project without and charity……….
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