- Raise of hands….who knows where Andorra is and that it’s
not actually the name of a character on the old TV show “Bewitched?” In fact,
Andorra is a real place and right now, it’s the center of an international
financial sh*t storm involving allegations that a bank based there laundered
funds for various unsavory groups from China, Russia and Venezuela. Those are three
widely despised nations among the rest of the world, but for the right price,
it appears Joan Pau Miquel Prats of Banca Privada d'Andorra with launder your
dirty money so it comes out clean on the other side. Police in the tiny,
landlocked nation ‘twixt Spain and France have arrested the chief executive
officer of this shady bank and she will remain in jail until a likely court
appearance Monday. Not so coincidentally, this very bank was just five days ago
named a "primary money-laundering concern" by the U.S. Treasury
Department. Following the announcement, Andorra suspended BPA's board and three
members of its management team after taking over the bank and appointing
temporary administrators. The news was equally bad for the bank outside the
Andorran border as Spain and Panama also took over the bank's units in those
countries. Maybe with Switzerland suddenly open to striking accords with
neighbors such as Italy to eliminate some of its fabled banking secrecy,
Andorran bankers saw an opening and decided to step their corruption game up a
notch. Or maybe they were just dishonest, disreputable scumbags from the start
and this mess was bound to go up in flames sooner rather than later………
- Way to pull together in the face of adversity and unite
behind a common purpose, San Jose Sharks. The are in a
bitter fight for a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference, but reaching the
NHL postseason that has been a true house of horrors for them over the years
seems to be on the back burner for at least two key members of the
organization. Sharks center Joe Thornton and general manager Doug Wilson
are directing more of their competitive fire toward one another than to any
upcoming opponent following offensive remarks Wilson made about Thornton being stripped
of his team captaincy because the pressure and stress were too much for him to
handle. Questioning an athlete’s competitive integrity or ability to handle
pressure are both certified reasons to drop gloves and go and that’s exactly
what Thornton wanted to do after hearing what his boss had to say about him. "I
think Doug just needs to shut his mouth," Thornton said. "All I've got to say is I've been here
every day working hard. I haven't taken a sabbatical. He just needs to stop
lying, shut his mouth.” Bam. That’s straight fire, right there. Wilson’s
comments came not in an intense interview, but rather when he was bumping his
gums in a meeting with about 350 season-ticket holders, "He cares about
the game so much. The reason we took the 'C' off him ... Joe carries the weight
of the team on his shoulders and he's got such a big heart that when stress
comes on him, he lashes out at people and it kind of impacts them,” Wilson
said. “"The pressure and stress, I felt, was getting to Joe. And I sat him
down and said we need other players to step up and share this.” Worst of all,
this drama comes nearly a year after Thornton was stripped of the captaincy last
summer, with the Sharks coming off a first-round playoff elimination that came
after they blew a 3-0 series lead. Eyes on the prize, fellas………
- Near-death experiences are the mother of invention, right?
You nearly get eaten by a giant, angry bear looking to dismember you in under
five minutes and maybe it gets the wheels turning on ideas to prevent similar
occurrences for yourself and others in the future? Enter former
U.S. Marine and current stuntman Billy Lucas, inventor of a new product he
believes could both save lives and line his pockets with some extra cash. The
standing advice for those who encounter angry bears is to never turn your back
on them or try to run because in the end, the bear is going to track you down. Lucas’
own run-in with a bear came while fishing in Montana and it inspired him to
create a backpack gadget he has dubbed the "Back Attack Pack," which
sprays a torrent of repellent behind its wearer. "One thing I learned in
my many years as a stunt man, and even serving as a Marine, is that a human
being's instant reaction to any sort of danger, like an explosion, is to turn
their body away and expose their backs," he said. "When I researched
bear attacks, I was surprised to learn that is what most victims do as well."
The Back Attack Pack is a simple bag affixed to a backpack and inside is a canister
of bear repellent. A person can yank on a shoulder strap, exposing a cord that
sprays out a massive blast of potent pepper spray at the offending bear. Montana-based
UDAP Industries manufactures the product and like Lucas, company general
manager Tim Lynch believes the device is a last resort in a life-threatening
situation. With weather around the country improving and folks having a chance
to get outdoors more, the Back Attack Pack is about to enjoy its first full
season of market availability and maybe save a life or two……….
- Why, Grimes, why? The Canadian pop singer pulled the plug
on what was to be her most recent album and while the smart music fans of the
world and those who like songs that are actually good didn’t mind one bit,
there is the question of whether an artist really did ditch an entire album
based simply on fan reaction to an early single released from the project.
Grimes, knowing it would be bad for her look as an artist if she really bailed
on an album because social media users said nasty things about her crappy
track, is denying those claims about the still-in-the-works successor to her
2012 album “Visions.” The single in question, “Go,” is a collaboration with Blood Diamonds which
was originally written for Rihanna and in general, if a process and artificial
act like Rihanna is turning down a song, it’s not exactly the “Let It Be” for a
new generation. In response to the theory of why she axed her new material,
Grimes wrote in a blog post that it was about her view of the songs, not those
of her fans. "The album was scrapped cuz it was depressing and I didn't
want to tour it," she wrote. "I may release it one day. I throw out
music all the time, i have almost 1000 gigs of unreleased music on my hard
drive. I just want the next album to be as good as possible.” Super, but not
believable. Suggesting that “Go” was never going to be on the album and was
merely released as a thank you to fans patiently waiting for the new album is
also a lame and transparent ploy. But hey, the blog post did alert fans to the
fact that Grimes is “really not that sad or insecure of a person,” so at least
we all learned something here……….
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