- The world might be concerned about Kiribati….if the world
knew where Kiribati is or even that it exists at all. As it is, 99.99999
percent of the world’s population couldn’t locate the tiny Pacific island nation even with the assistance of Google Maps and
the time to find it is running out because Kiribati is slowly being swallowed
up by a rising and merciless ocean. With a population of 103,500 and a proud
heritage, the people of the island are fearful of what will happen to them and
where they will go if and when their tiny swath of earth becomes uninhabitable.
The president of Kiribati has the same fears and to fight for his homeland, he
has embarked upon a global public relations tour that might squander some of
the remaining time he could spend on the island but is aimed at raising
awareness and garnering support for whatever futile measures can possibly be
enacted to save Kiribati. President Anote Tong’s first stop was a
Greenpeace-organized tour of glaciers in Norway's Svalbard Archipelago, a trip
Tong said crystallized the true scale of the threat facing his people. Tong
said the trip left a deep impression that he would communicate to world leaders
at a U.N. climate summit this week in New York. Many of those leaders may be
similarly ignorant of where Kiribati is, but they will learn and they will also
find out about the melt of Arctic glaciers threatening island nations such as
Kiribati, an impoverished string of 33 coral atolls located about halfway
between Hawaii and Australia. Now is the time to act, with many of its atolls
rising just a few feet above sea level……..
- Johnny Depp’s charmed double life continues. He’s an
overpaid movie star by day and by night, he jams with some of the biggest and
best rock stars in the world. His awards show gig with The Black Keys is
well-known, his kinship with “Pirates of the Caribbean” co-star Keith Richards
is well-documented and now, he’s popping up on stage alongside one of the most
iconic veterans of the indie rock scene on the other side of the Atlantic. Depp joined Ryan Adams on
stage in London during Adams’ encore at Shepherd's Bush Empire, playing guitar
on a cover of Danzig's “Mother” and “Kim” from Adams' self-titled, newly
released album. Depp’s appearance isn’t exactly a stunner, as he appears on the
B-side to Adams’ single “Gimme Something Good,” the first single from the
album. Adams said he recently jammed with Depp and alt-rock icon Bob Mould in a
marathon session that stretched well into the night. “There was one night when
Bob Mould was in town, and Johnny [Depp], my friend, the actor, and we jammed –
we had this amazing jam that had to have lasted nine hours,” Adams said. “We met
in the afternoon and it lasted until 3 a.m. Johnny was playing bass for some of
it, I played the bass for some of it – we’re basically Die Kreuzen right now,
by way of Minneapolis, by way of Los Angeles. Total, other-wordly weird jams.”
According to Adams, there were few vocals laid down, but the trio was able to
crank out eight songs during their time together. He is also on record as not
giving a sh*t whether fans like his new album or not, which is exactly the sort
of thing an indie rocker is supposed to say when his new project drops……..
- Over-sensitive people are the joy vampires of the world.
They may have legitimate stories of victimhood, but they take that victim
mentality too far by acting hurt and offended by even the most remote and
tangential connection to their situation and turning it into a reason to go. Such
is the existence of Lianne and
Brian Kowiak, who lost their 19-year-old son, Harrison, to injuries he
sustained from a hazing incident nearly six years ago while rushing a
fraternity in college. It was a horrific and tragic story and it remains so,
but expecting the world to never, ever use the word hazing in anything but a
hushed and reverent tone is a bit of a stretch. Attacking Ben and Jerry’s for
daring to use the term in a completely non-hazing intended pun to name one of
its ice cream flavors is proof that people like the Kowiaks are willing to take
their crusade a step too far. "Hazed & Confused" is the name of a
Ben & Jerry's ice cream released in February and the company insists it is
a pop culture reference to the 1990s cult classic movie “Dazed and Confused.” "In
typical Ben & Jerry's fashion we said, 'How do you kind of tie in a pop
culture reference?' So we were referencing the pop culture reference, 'Dazed
and Confused,'" said Ben & Jerry's spokesman Sean Greenwood. The
Kowiak family didn’t see it that way and fired off a letter to the company in
which they snippily wrote: "Sadly
enough, someone actually thought it was prudent to trademark a name making
light of a concept that thousands of very dedicated individuals, students,
college and universities, professional sports teams and even the U.S. military
are fighting hard to eradicate senseless, dangerous and deadly acts of
hazing." Ben & Jerry’s is adamant that there is no insult or insensitivity
in the name and the flavor remains in its product line…….
- The ugly stereotype that the UFC is a bunch of tatted-up,
Tapout shirt-wearing, pitbull-owning, Monster-drinking Neanderthals who beat
the hell out of people for a living isn't exactly being quieted the past few
days. First, there was fighter Anthony Johnson being suspended
indefinitely relating to allegations of domestic abuse, which could not have
come at a worse time as the NFL stumbles and stammers under the weight of its
own incompetence in dealing with domestic violence issues threatening to
terminate the career of commissioner Roger Goodell. But Johnson isn't exactly
the face of the UFC, so his arrest and suspension weren't exactly earth-shaking
news. The plight of Thiago Silva is a bit different because Silva has a higher
profile in the promotion than Johnson and his domestic violence issues are
actually a flare-up of what was thought to be a dead topic. The UFC had just
welcomed him back after charges were dropped against him relating to an alleged
domestic assault incident with his ex-wife Thaysa Kamiji earlier this year when
the situation took a dramatic turn for the worst. Yes, worse than a man
allegedly threatening to kill his wife while pointing a gun in her direction.
The incident is back in the spotlight after – cue the eerie allusions to Ray
Rice’s own abuse drama - new video evidence came to light. It is 2014, so maybe
athletes want to get used to the reality that if they knock their lady out in
an elevator or threaten her with a weapon, it’s probably going to be caught on
camera. Because of the video, UFC decided to part ways with Silva again. “Thiago Silva was released from his UFC
contract on Feb. 7 due to his arrest by police in South Florida,” a
statement from the UFC said. The evidence that pushed Silva out the door came
from Kamiji, now living in Abu Dhabi, who posted up several videos on YouTube
relating to the incident……..
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