Saturday, August 29, 2015

Ripping college athletes' $$, dudes packing heat in their drawers and Albania attacks stoners


- Dammit, Albania. Much of the world is clued into the fact that ganja isn't nearly as big a danger as it has long been made out to be, but you seem to be oblivious to the fact that stoners are a threat to no one. If Albania knew this, its law enforcement officials would not have confiscated about half a million cannabis plants this year, arresting 240 suspected growers and drug traffickers. Interior Ministry spokesman Ardi Bita actually seemed proud of those numbers this week when he rolled them out and announced that fighting drug production is a "top priority" for police. Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri’s office announced that some 7 billion euros ($7.9 billion) worth of marijuana has been seized and destroyed so far, which is a whole lot of blunts, bowls and bong rips for stoners who are just looking to chill, relax and get baked. Just this week, 100 police officers destroyed some 16,000 plants in Kurvelesh, south of Tirana. Albania, a small country in eastern Europe, has long outproduced its small geographic size and played a big role as one of the largest marijuana producers in Europe. That began to change last year when a major crackdown began, marked by police storming the southern Lazarat village with armored personnel carriers. Drug growers weren't about to cede an inch of ground or an ounce of pot even to the law and returned fire with automatic weapons and rockets. Prime Minister Edi Rama has set the fight against drugs as a main priority for his government, elected in 2013, and that fight remains as nasty as ever………


- How about a bonus season of your favorite show in a single year, “American Horror Story” fans? Show  co-creator Ryan Murphy tossed out a major teaser for the popular FX series when he said it could return for two separate seasons next year.  Of course, fans are still waiting to delve into the show’s fifth season, “American Horror Story: Hotel,” this fall, but hearing that not one, but two new seasons could be in the offing is encouraging news. Lady Gaga is but one of several additions for this season, but Murphy and co-creator Brad Falchuk are already planning for what’s next. "Next year we might do a fall American Horror Story and a spring. We have to decide," Murphy said. "We're doing something that we've never done before on the show where we're doing two different groups of writers rooms. Some of our writers will be bouncing around but a whole different group are coming in late August. The next thing we're crafting up is very, very different than this. Not smaller. But just not opulent. More rogue and more dark." Everything around the show seems positive at this point, as the fourth season, “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” has been nominated for 19 Emmy awards - second only to “Game Of Thrones.” Any time you’re battling “Thrones” in any awards show context, you’re doing something right. Both shows are dark, edgy and bloody, so it seems that America isn’t so much into happiness and sunshine in a dark world when it comes to its top entertainment choices these days………..


- A lot of dudes will brag about for power and potency of what they’re packing in their underpants. Pittsburgh resident Eietyoung Kemp is one dude who can actually make those claims and back them up, although doing so will have to wait until he’s prosecuted and punished for allegedly killing one of his friends in an accidental shooting in which he was allegedly adjusting a gun he kept in his underwear when it went off and shot his buddy. There are so many questions here, including who keeps a gun tucked in their drawers, but the sheer bad fortune necessary not only to squeeze off a round from that Fruit of the Loom-based handgun, but to avoid blowing your own junk or part of your leg off and instead fire a shot so ill-placed that it kills a friend is mind-blowing. Kemp faces charges including criminal homicide and carrying a firearm without a license in the death of Robert Alston. Kemp told police he was riding to a party with Alston and two other friends over the weekend and was sitting in the back seat when he adjusted his trouser cannon and  it fired through the front seat, hitting Alston. Clearly, Kemp ignored the old adage that if you feel like you need to pack heat at a party you’re going to, that’s a party you don’t need to be at. After manslaughtering one of his friends with two witnesses, Kemp said he panicked, ran away and threw the gun in the Allegheny River. He finally surrendered to police five days after the incident and will now learn how much of his life he just ruined………..


- It’s amazing how quickly college football coaches moved into “take it away” mode after their players were granted stipend money to cover cost-of-living expenses by the NCAA. First came news that Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster had a moronic plan to fine his players if they were late for practice or meetings and the justified mockery of his idea had scarcely died down when Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville said he will consider withholding some cost of attendance money from players who fail to meet academic requirements or violate team rules or athletic department policies, including student code of conduct. "We are holding them accountable," Tuberville said. According to UC, the withheld money would be subject to an appeal. He was adamant that the penalties will be for off-the-field shortcomings only, not athletic performance. Cincinnati athletics director Mike Bohn insisted these aren't actually fines and are merely a “tool” that will “help our student-athletes.” How about you help them by not trying to rip some of that small amount of money they’re getting to help them out while you’re making millions of dollars - at least for your major sports - off their backs and names? Bohn mentioned academic fraud or drinking and driving two examples of offenses that could lead to a reduction in aid, and senior associate director of athletics Maggie McKinley, a voting member on NCAA regulation and overseer of the school's compliance office, said the language used in players' grant-in-aids expressly gives the school the ability to reduce or terminate the financial assistance if there are violations of department policy or student code of conduct policy. Cincinnati football players receive $5,504 to $7,018 per year in cost of attendance dollars, which will be among the highest in the country this season. All financial reduction decisions will be reviewed by an oversight committee and this actually fits in well with the fact that athletic scholarships also aren’t guaranteed, with schools renewing them each year and able to rip them from a player after any season if they so choose……….

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