- Every Major League Baseball team is looking for an edge. Some
find it in training practices, others in their scouting methods…and apparently,
the Los Angeles Dodgers do it with lasers. The New York Mets complained to MLB
this past weekend that the Dodgers were using laser rangefinder devices to mark
set positions in the outfield at Citi Field and after the Dodgers asked the
Mets if they could paint a set point at all three outfield positions, the Mets
said no and went right to MLB. The Dodgers already use the same practice at
Dodger Stadium and the painted mark in each outfield position is used as a
reference point for the positioning of each opposing batter, but the Mets have
a beef with the idea of using electronic devices to gain an advantage. With
their points plotted out, the Dodgers them give each outfielder a laminated
card with basic instructions on where to shade each batter based on the painted
spot. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was fine with the Mets declining his
team's request to paint reference points on the field, but noted that his team
does allow opponents to paint reference points on the Dodger Stadium grass.
"I have no other comment on it," Roberts said. "We'll abide by whatever
the Major League Baseball rules specify.” MLB has no rules preventing
positioning markers, but this is one of those gray areas that pops up as
technology moves forward and the game has to find ways to adapt and grow with
it in the sporting process………
- If an election is coming in an African nation, then
someone must be getting their basic human rights and ability to express
themselves trampled. Gambia is the site for the latest instance of this
predictable phenomenon as it finds itself in the midst of the run-up to an
election this year. Gambian activists and politicians are trying to get a
handle on things by asking West Africa's economic body to take action against
their government for its brutal crackdown on freedom of expression and the
right to peaceful assembly as the election nears. Amnesty International stirred
up this mess when it released a report that outlined violence against those
opposing the government. According to the report, 51 people, including
opposition members, await trial and at least 36 others have been detained
without charge, including one opposition leader who reportedly died in custody.
The international human rights organization is demanding that Gambia comply
with the Economic Community Of West African States' protocol on democracy and
good governance, as well as calling for its suspension from the body if no
progress on human rights is made. The ECWAS is meeting this weekend and this
topic is likely to be high on the agenda at its summit. Actually rectifying the
problem is another matter entirely and given the level of corruption and
inherent unfairness in the Gambian system is going to a lot more than a few
stern words and empty threats from an economic interest group………
- There are certain accomplishments for which a musician
doesn’t really want to take credit. For example, if that artist has a
reputation for being a respectable rapper and is linked - out of the blue - to
a cheesy commercial jingle for a fast food restaurant, that’s something he or
she would probably want to avoid. Enter Pusha T, who was recently revaled to be
the creator of the now-famous McDonald’s commercial jingle, “I’m Lovin’ It.”
The song has been a fixture for McDonald’s since 2003, when it made its debut,
and is now the longest-running jingle in the fast food chain's history. The CEO
of the company that created the marketing campaign featuring the jingle, Steve
Stoute, recently revealed that Pusha T came up with the track's catchy refrain.
"You know who did that? Pusha T. That's crazy that Pusha T wrote the song
to McDonald's," Stoute said. Amazingly enough, a spokesperson for Pusha T
confirmed that the rapper did write the track, which was performed by Justin
Timberlake and produced by The Neptunes. Timberlake was reportedly paid $6
million to record 'I'm Lovin' It' for McDonald's in 2003 and despite its
commercial - pun intended - success, it never really did much on the charts.
The track failed to crack the top 10 in most markets and the working theory is
that Pusha T came up with it while he was working on 'Lord Willin,” the
Neptunes-produced debut album by Clipse, the rap duo of which he was formerly a
member. This can't go down as one of the proudest moment’s in Pusha’s career,
even if he’s done well enough financially from it……..
- Rarely are conference tables the source of anything other
than the boredom induced by people being forced to sit in a room together for
hours on end in meetings they were ordered to attend and in which they have no
actual interest. Not so for Kean University in New Jersey, which is facing
legal heat from state officials who determined the school violated the law when
purchasing a conference table from China for more than $200,000. According to the
Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), the table was already on a boat from
China to the U.S. before the Union-based university voted to approve its
purchase in May 2014. That’s a problem because the OSC said an email sent five
months prior to the finalization of the purchase stated that Kean President
Dawood Farahi “gave the green light for the table to be made” and for the
school to pay around $200,000 for it. OSC officials claim other documents and
payments reveal that the project to bring the table over to northern New Jersey
began before the trustees gave final approval. School officials spun the story
that the purchases utilized exceptions to New Jersey’s public advertising and
bidding requirements, but the OSC disputes those claims, which covered two
exceptions: “extraordinary unspecifiable services and products" and for
"acquisitions of artifacts or other items of unique intrinsic, artistic or
historic character." Having a Kean official tell trustees the purchase was
a “nod to our partners in China,” a reference to the school’s campus in
Wenzhou, China, doesn’t help the case. Tally it all up and you have a $250,000
table: $30,000 for the specifications, $150,000 for the actual table and
$70,000 for the modifications that were also approved before the board of
trustees voted to bring the table over. And to think this all could have been
averted with a quick trip to the local office supply warehouse………
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