- Sweden is not a military power in any sense of the term. But
if you f*ck with the Scandinavian meatball lovers, then you had best be
prepared for their own special brand of wrath, as some unidentified nation is
about to find out. That harrowing piece of information came down when Sweden's
military announced that it has sent naval vessels, aircraft and home guard
forces to investigate reports of "foreign underwater activity" in the
Stockholm archipelago. The Swedish capital is a city of islands and not exactly
known for being a frequent target for espionage or naval invasions despite its gorgeous
vistas, wealth of interesting cultural sites and plentiful supply of
lingonberries. The Swedish Armed Forces said they launched an intelligence
operation Friday in the archipelago after receiving information "from a
credible source,” which is both cryptic and still sounds pretty friendly when
spoken in a Swedish accent. However, Armed Forces spokesman Jesper Tengroth
wouldn't say whether a submarine had been sighted or give any other details. It
was an announcement straight out of the Cold War, when Sweden sending out its
naval forces to hunt for Soviet submarines in its waters was a common
occurrence. Back then, a Soviet sub carrying nuclear weapons got stranded off
Sweden's southeastern coast, causing an 11-day diplomatic standoff before
Swedish authorities allowed the submarine to return home. Maybe this time the
Swedes won't be so kind to the offending nation so bold as to breach its
nautical borders……..
- The D-O-double-G is back and his Rastafarian alter ego is
back on the shelf for now. After dropping “Reincarnated” under his Snoop Lion
moniker last year, Snoop Dogg is returning to the scene. He’s inked a deal with
Pharrell
Williams' I Am Other label for his next rap record and since Williams is the
popular pop music producer of the moment, one can only hope that Snoop’s next
release will sound like all of the other identical garbage the “Happy” auteur
cranks out. There is no title for the album, but it will be produced by
Williams, who has worked with Snoop on some of his more mainstream efforts of
the recent past, including “Beautiful” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” In addition
to no title, the album has no release date, but it does have a few guest stars
lined up. Among the big names on board with the album are Stevie Wonder and
Charlie Wilson, who recently collaborated with Kanye West on “Yeezus.” Whenever
this album with no title finds its way to music marketplaces of all manners, it
will be Snoop’s 13th studio album and his first as Snoop Dogg since his 2011
release, “Doggumentary.” It’s easy to be excited about the possibilities of a
producer who has become a certified bubblegum pop aficionado of the highest
degree teaming up with one of the coolest rappers on the planet and one has to
imagine that Williams’ work with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Paloma Faith, Kylie
Minogue and Schoolboy Q will influence what he does with Snoop. As for the
Dogg-master, maybe working on the album will take him away from his ridiculous
online spat with Iggy Azalea, about whom he made several unsavory comments
about on social media. Pull yourself together, Snoop. Smoke some quality dank
and just chill………
- Who the hell is Rick Stewart? Never mind. It’s a worthless
question and one that nobody needs to concern themselves with because the independent
candidate for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat is little more than a circus sideshow at
this point. Stewart did not meet the criteria for participation in Thursday’s
night’s debate in Sioux City between Democratic candidate Bruce Braley and Republican
Joni Ernst, but being the attention-craving kook he is, Stewart showed up
anyway, with a mock-up of his living room in a cargo trailer parked outside of
the auditorium at Morningside College where the debate was held. Why? The same
reason anyone does anything – because they can. “Since a lot of Iowans didn’t
have a chance to come visit me for waffles on Sunday morning, I’ve got a sofa
and some chairs and some homemade cookies and I invite Iowans to come in and
sit down and chat about politics in general,” Stewart said. Umm….OK? The Cedar
Rapids resident said he was disappointed he wasn’t allowed to participate in
the debate, but in his delusional state he was even more disappointed for the
voters who don’t give a damn about him. . “I’m actually even more disappointed
for the state of Iowa. The voters didn’t get to see the candidates. They only
got to see two of ‘em,” Stewart added. “I think most Iowans would have liked to
see all of us, at least once.” They would like to see candidates…at least real
ones for whom they might actually vote. There are two other independent
candidates on the ballot, but neither of them created a hackneyed version of
their sad little living room and trucked it to the debate site. Credit for Bob
Quast and Ruth Smith for having at least a little bit of self-respect in that
sense……..
- Baltimore
Ravens receiver Steve Smith burns hot. That can be a good thing or a great
thing, depending on whether or not you’re the target of his rage or merely a
bystander able to enjoy the rocket fuel on which he runs. But on days like
this, Smith’s combustible nature is a friend to no one. The 36-year-old,
still-productive receiver has quit his popular Twitter account because he
doesn't want social media to be his focus and as is his style, Smith exited the
stage with plenty to say. "At the end of the day, what's on my Twitter
feed and what's going on with the world, I don't think that should be on the
same level," he said. The decision is sad because Smith was one of the
more active Ravens on Twitter, posting 899 times. His account, @89SteveSmith,
has amassed 92,500 followers, but he left those followers in the dust with this
message: “If you want to know what's going with me follow @SteveSmithFDN
and check out what we are doing. it's been real! Deuces done with tweeter!” Joining
Smith in signing off from Twitter was fellow receiver Torrey Smith, who bailed on the social media site because of
the kooks who kept sending him hate because he wasn’t helping their fantasy
football teams enough with his on-field performance. Smith acknowledged that
criticism was a major reason why he decided to stop using his social media
account, citing the Twitter muscles of various trolls in his explanation. "I'd
kill you on Twitter, so I had to stop," he said. "Somebody said
something inappropriate to me, my wife said I wasn't being a very good example
for my kids. Internet courage is like a Cover 2 corner. When you got safety
over the top, you feel better about yourself." Well said and a nice
football analogy, even if Twitter did lose one of the few professional athletes
who actually made it a better place……….
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