Monday, December 07, 2015

What Colombia has besides blow, Bruce Springsteen's next box set and Liberty U needs free Kevlar


- While it can be infuriating for fans to watch a professional athlete making nearly $18 million a year play so poorly that he’s contributing less than players making 1/10th of his salary, it’s still nice to hear said eight-figure earner admit his suckage publicly. The Dallas Mavericks gave shooting guard Wesley Matthews a four-year, $70 million max contract this summer even though he was still recovering from a ruptured left Achilles tendon he suffered in March. Let’s just say that Matthews hasn’t lived up to his lofty salary so far, with his field goal percentage this season clocking in at a robust 34.2 percent, including 30.8 percent from 3-point range. Those numbers are both about 10 percent below his respective career averages and with Dallas playing reasonably well as a team, the Mavericks could use more from their big free-agent signing. Matthews knows it and he’s at least owning it. "I'm just tired of hurting the team, tired of missing shots," Matthews said. "I put everything I have into this game. I have since I started playing. I put everything I had into getting back and being ready. I'm just trying to keep the doubt out. I never second-guess myself. I've never been the one to be hesitant or lack confidence.” He went on to say that even if he’s “going through hell on offense,” he’s going to play his ass off defensively so he’s not a total drain on the team. Not exactly what the Mavs thought they were getting when they signed one of the NBA's most prolific 3-point threats in recent years after his five-year run in Portland, but credit for being honest about how poorly you’re playing and trying to fix it……….


- College is supposed to be a place of growth and learning. Not all learning, however, is good learning. For example, let’s say the world is in the aftermath of yet another terrorist attack apparently carried out by Muslim extremists and your university’s president decides that now is an opportune time to urge the student body to carry concealed weapons on campus to counter any possible armed attack, saying that “we could end those Muslims before they walk in.” That is definitely an educational statement, even if it educates you on the fact that your university’s present is an ass-hatted ignoramus whose delusional world views are condemned by virtually everyone hearing them because they do in fact suck donkey balls. Enter Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., who wants his campus to pack heat and be ready to open fire whenever and wherever live rounds are needed. “Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here,” Falwell told students at the Christian school during a speech. "I've always thought if more good people had concealed carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in.” His dubious words were initially met with rousing applause from students, but large crowds are often sycophants with little capacity for independent thought when listening to a speech from an authority figure to whom they are subject. Yes, Falwell later said he was specifically referring to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the couple who shot and killed 14 people during a holiday party in a Southern California office building on Wednesday and tried to couch his comments by saying there are “many good Muslims, many good moderate Muslims,” but Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe was having none of it and denounced the comments as “rash and repugnant.” The lesson to remember here is that when visiting Liberty University in the near future, be sure to pack your Kevlar vest and helmet………


- The Boss is famous for his long, energetic and memorable live shows. He’s toured the world many times over and always seems to bring something unforgettable to the stage, so the obvious question is what that something will be for Bruce Springsteen’s 2016 tour. According to the iconic rocker, he will honor his 1980 album 'The River' during his upcoming trek, as the tour has been christened in support of his reissue of the album, which was his fifth studio LP to be released. The River Tour will see Springsteen touring North America from January to March, starting in the unlikely location of Pittsburgh and winding around the continent before wrapping up with two shows in Los Angeles from March 15-17. The expectation is that The Boss will play 'The River' in full and draw heavily from its recent box set release during the tour. 'The Ties That Bind: The River Collection' includes the original album plus unreleased music, unseen concert footage and a new documentary. The original release was a double album that was Springsteen’s first No. 1 album in the United States and fittingly in light of the reissue, it spawned a time of continuous touring early in his career. The third disc in the reissue serves up Springsteen's show with the E Street Band from Tempe, Arizona on the 1980 River Tour, including over two and a half hours worth of footage and 24 songs. Fans who pony up for the box set will receive their purchase in  a 10-inch by 12-inch box with a hardcover 148-page coffee table book that contains 200 studio and live photograph……….


- Colombia: It’s more than just a great place to score some quality cocaine these days. If President Juan Manuel Santos is telling the truth, it’s also the site of one of the world’s most sought-after, fought over and valuable shipwrecks. Santos claimed that the Spanish galleon San José has been discovered off the coast of Colombia and at a press conference in the colonial port city of Cartagena, he said Colombian researchers, working with a “dream team” of international investigators, located the ship last week. The San José sank June 8, 1708 after a running battle with the British navy and its much-debated worth could be anywhere between $4 billion to $17 billion, according to court records. It was loaded with gold, silver and millions of Spanish pesos at the time, but in his address, Santos didn’t mention the monetary value of the find or the legal drama around it. “This has an enormous archaeological value for Colombia and for all of humanity,” Santos said, announcing that a museum will be built in Cartagena to showcase the discovery. Investigators used underwater mapping to study thousands of anomalies and found five shipwrecks in the search area, eventually identifying the San José by its brass cannons marked with a distinctive dolphin insignia. Many have called  the San José the Holy Grail for treasure hunters because it was carrying the accumulation of six years worth of gold and silver being sent back to Spain, but instead of reaching its destination, it became the most valuable shipwreck in the Western Hemisphere. Because of the valuable nature of the find, Santos said that many details about the discovery need to remain under wraps and that the presidency was the only institution authorized to provide information about the find. In other words, treasure hunters need to move quickly if they’re going to plunder any of that gold before it’s hauled off to the museum……….

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