- If we’re paying attention to track and field enough to
know that a Somalian distance running coach is at the center of a massive
international doping scandal, then the Olympics must be near. Step right up, coach
of world 1,500-meter champion Genzebe Dibaba and other long-distance runners,
and accept your 15 minutes of infamy after you were arrested near Barcelona when
Spanish police raided your hotel room and found traces of EPO and other banned
substances. Jama Aden was detained along with an unnamed trainer from Morocco,
in conjunction with amateur sports’ governing body, the IAAF, tested 30
athletes who were also guests at the Sabadell hotel. The hotel, about 15 miles
from Barcelona, is where the coach has established annual training camps since
2013. Believe the IAAF and it’s also where he’s doled out all manner of illegal
substances during that time. Police confirmed that Aden and his trainer were
under arrest on charges of administering and distributing doping substances and
endangering public health, capping an investigation launched when a Spanish
anti-doping agency alerted local authorities in 2015. A lengthy investigation
followed leading up to the bust at the Arrahona hotel, close to the training
facilities were many athletes were preparing for the Olympics in Rio de
Janeiro. Authorities found some 60 used syringes in the raid, which rounded up
athletes from African and Asian countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti,
Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar. Nicknamed "Operation Rial'' by
investigators, the investigation included testing for 28 of the 30 detained
athletes. Oh, and Dibaba is a heavy favorite to win the Olympic women's 1,500
in Rio de Janeiro, so she should probably get ready for some very regular
testing in the net few weeks……..
- Oh, trendy foodies, always looking for the next cool thing to Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook about in order to prove what a culinary expert you are. The instant you pause to admire that great shot of whatever is on your brunch plate or take an extra sip of the coolest new drink imaginable, someone else is blowing right by you and finding the next big thing. Here’s hoping that next big thing isn't sushi doughnuts. Possibly the one thing worse than recent food trends like ramen burgers, birthday cake croissants and the rainbow bagel sushi doughnuts are threatening to hijack your Instagram feed and make you wonder what the hell people are doing with their free time and food palates. They look better than the idea of a sushi doughnuts sound and are actually just sushi rolls in the shape of a standard doughnut, consisting of white rice, mayo frosting, and your choice of fish and other beloved sushi items as toppings. Leading the charge on the idea are the hipster-catering kooks of Whole Foods, who have decided to offer their customers a brown rice roll filled with salmon and avocado sushi doughnut. If you can get mainstream acceptance in the form of a major grocery store willing to sell your product, then you have a foot in the most important door there is, but that doesn’t mean sushi doughnuts are going to be a thing for more than their requisite 15 minutes of wholly undeserved food fame……..
- While everything Kanye West does is first and foremost
about Kanye West, it’s nice to know that others can occasionally benefit from
the collateral success his ego-nado creates. For example, the self-absorption
of Kanye being Kanye and looking to show his inherent genius is doing good in
the life of Cameron Grey, a homeless man who originally approached West outside
the House Of Blues venue in Los Angeles in February 2015 and delivered an impromptu
performance on the spot. Grey approached West and his pal Justin Bieber and
asked Mr. Kim Kardashian to give him a chance. West later called the Tennessee
native and provided him with studio time as well as access to Grammy-winning
producer, Anthony Kilhoffer. Grey’s bold move is about to pay off, as West
helped him get his debut album in order and now, the album has its first
single. “Never Bout Us” is the debut single and while the rest of the album doesn’t
yet have an official release date, it does have a title. That title would be “Cocaine
Ferrari,” which sounds like a wholesome family album full of tracks that have
to do with people giving up their cocaine habit in order to buy that Ferrari
they’ve always wanted. Either that or the entire album is about snorting blow
off the expensive leather seats of your even more expensive Italian sports car,
presumably with a self-employed model or two riding shotgun……….
- There are a lot of countries around the world that can
rightfully mock the United States for allowing Oversized Pumpkin Pie Mixed With
a Weathered Basketball Donald Trump to get this close to its highest elected
office, but not you, Italy. Not when an anti-establishment party founded by a
comic has triumphed in Italian mayoral runoff elections, curb stomping Premier
Matteo Renzi's candidates in Rome and another key city, giving the party ample
momentum for its national power-seizing goals. The 5-Star Movement is the name
of this clown fest and its candidate in Rome, Virginia Raggi, a lawyer with a
three-year stint as a city councilwoman, took 67.2 percent of the vote in a
two-person runoff over the weekend. She did make history by becoming both the
corruption-riddled capital city's first female mayor and its youngest while
promising to work to bring "legality and transparency" to Rome's City
Hall, which a party founded by a comedian is obviously well-equipped to do given
that prosecutors in Rome are probing widespread corruption and have found many
municipal contracts were awarded without taking bids to political pals and even
a Mafia-like clique. A second 5-Star candidate, Chiara Appendino, also won big
in Turin, where she defeated Mayor Piero Fassino, a veteran Democrat. Mix in defections
and the Rome scandals and the Democratic Party is taking a beating from which
there is no laughter to be derived. Many of them are pushing back against what
they view as Renzi's brash management style bordering on arrogance. Leading up
to the runoff elections, the premier tried to downplay their importance as a
perceived referendum on his two years at the helm of a center-left coalition
that has been marred by infighting. National elections remain more than a year
away, although Renzi has promised to resign if a referendum this fall fails to
confirm reforms aimed at streamlining Parliament and the lawmaking progress. Given
the way things are going for him right now, it might be time to begin drafting
that resignation letter………
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