Cubs panic resumes, a 94-year-old black belt and MIA threatens to go MIA

- Cuba is getting more visitors these days and with that comes the chance to make a lot more money of the touristas who come to the communist island nation. Various hospitality and service industries stand to benefit from the influx of island interlopers, but Cuban authorities are targeting one particular group to make sure that they don’t try to gouge people in the name of profits. Specifically, the government is warning that it will pull the licenses of private taxi drivers who raise fares. The guys and ladies who drive the mostly 1950s-era American cars that function as collective taxis typically charge about 40 cents and are a key form of transportation on the island. Some of complained recently of rates doubling on some routes and while paying 80 cents for a taxi would still seem to be a bargain for many visitors from developed nations, it’s a big problem on the island and comes as officials say the country faces months of economic and energy restrictions due in part to the crisis in Venezuela and a reduction in the amount of oil Cuba receives from its South American ally. According to authorities, Havana official Isabel Hamze said government officials held an emergency meeting and agreed to take "severe measures" against drivers who raise fares. He noted that  fuel prices are stable, so outside of sheer greed, there really isn't any reason for drivers to raise their rates. Maybe the influence of capitalism from American visitors really is making its impact felt on the small island nation…….

-  There are few better ways to drum up interest in a new album than to claim that it will be an artist’s last album. The idea that there will never be any more new music from an artist is a surefire way to get fans’ interest to pique, something rapper MIA knows well. It’s why she’s confirmed that her forthcoming album 'AIM' will be her last solo release. It will be her fifth studio album and while promoting her new single  “Go Off,” a collaboration with Skrillex and Blaqstarr, so was asked about rumors that it would indeed be her last album. "Yeah, I think so. I wanna go and do some other stuff and take some time out,” she said. "I’m sure I’ll put music out and make music, but as an album, this just came together after [November 2015 single] Borders and it just seemed like it wrote itself very quickly. I had to just go with it." Way to hedge, MIA. It’s convenient timing that her decision to “do other stuff and take some time out” comes as she was yanked as a headliner for London's Afropunk festival following controversial comments she made about the Black Lives Matter movement. Her words proved that just because you can write a song doesn’t mean you’re well-spoken enough to articular wise thoughts on a major social movement currently sweeping the United States. To a cynic, claiming this is your last album at such a time would simply be a way for you to duck the heat from your remarks and set up a potentially profitable comeback in the future………

- Old people often have a lot of pent-up anger from decades of putting up with all of the annoying, irritating sh*t going on in the world around them. What better way to channel that rage than a few well-placed kicks, punches and chops? Someone who knows this well is 94-year-old retired doctor Harlan Van Over of Evansville, Indiana, who has held many titles in his life and now, he’s a record-holder as the oldest person ever to earn a sixth-degree black belt in taekwondo. Van Over is now one of about 200 people to achieve the honor of a sixth-degree black belt and he refuses to let age slow down his board-breaking ways. "My mind says one thing, but my body says who do you think your talking to," Van Over said. "He (his instructor) told me many times, if you weren't doing taekwondo you'd be dead, and he's probably right. I've looked death in the face many times so I don't worry about it.” He’s not kidding about the staring down death thing, as he was a bombardier for the Air Force in World War II and was shot down three times over Germany. From those and other experiences, he’s learn the importance of a positive attitude and always doing his best. His instructor marvels at his energy and strength at 94 years old and hopes to be able to a) still be alive and b) have the same fire at that age. It does beg the question of who is actually willing to spat with a 94-year-old dude in class for fear of breaking him, but a sixth-degree black belt is still a sixth-degree black belt………

- If the Major League Baseball season is resuming after the All-Star Break, so too must be the building panic around the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs went 2-9 in their final 11 games and 7-14 in their final 21 before the break, causing fans of the perpetually downtrodden team without a World Series title in more than a century to hit the panic button with a sledgehammer. The media has followed suit, wondering what the hell is wrong with a team once on pace for 112 wins this season, but Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is having none of it. Rizzo launched into a monologue prior to the first game of the season’s second half, going after those who believe the sky is falling for the Cubbies. "The only people panicking about this is the media," Rizzo said. "No offense to you guys. It's been pretty negative. All the comments coming out of everyone's mouth except in this clubhouse. We feel great. We feel great to be back together and we're ready to go." Right, except if you listen to Cubs fans and see where they’re at via social media and various message boards, it’s pretty clear that it’s not just the media being negative about the Cubs' struggles before the All-Star break, when a double-digit lead in the National League Central dropped to seven games. Rizzo and manager Joe Maddon seem to believe that a grueling schedule in which the Cubs played 23 of 33 games on the road and played on 24 consecutive days was simply a tough road that led to a temporary downturn for the team. "The only people worried about it are outsiders,” Rizzo said. If that helps you believe that the sky isn’t really falling, then keep telling yourself that…….