- What do Sarajevo, Paris and Beijing have in common this
year? Aside from being places many Americans would have locating on a map
without the assistance of Google, they’re all places that have spent at least
part of the year coping with serious pollution problems that have led to
government officials instituting severe driving restrictions or bans aimed at
curbing the wheels of large numbers of their respective cities’ drivers for
certain days of the week. Beijing led the way, Paris followed within the past
few weeks and now, Sarajevo authorities have banned half of the city's cars
from driving on city streets in an attempt to ease air pollution. The local government
ordered the introduction of alternative driving days for cars with even and odd
numbered license plates and made public transportation free until the situation
improves, nearly identical to the measures Paris has implemented and other
cities have utilized as a method of trying to lessen the level of toxicity in
their air. As part of Sarajevo’s efforts, some outdoor construction work has
also been halted and in a city located in a narrow valley that hinders the free
flow of air, every small step is helpful in combating the dense fog that has
obscured the view of the city from surrounding hills for more than a week. If
you’re someone who actually believes official government statistics in
situations like this, Sarajevo’s numbers from the past seven days show that the
concentration of hazardous air particles have been between six and 10 times
above the acceptable limit. Assume it’s at least 50 percent worse than that and
you have an idea of what we’re dealing with here………
- Is Chester Bennington the one who always raps or the one
who always screams? It’s hard to remember, but either way, the co-frontman of
nu-metal/electronica band Linkin Park is confident that in a few years, when
he, Mike Shinoda and the fellas are eligible for induction into the wholly
meaningless vacuum of musical memorabilia that is the Rock And Roll Hall Of
Fame, they’ll be inducted alongside the scores of disco, pop, jazz and dance
music artists who already crowd the Hall’s halls and have their lunchboxes,
jumpsuits and instruments on display inside plastic cases. Artists have been
inducted every year since 1986, with performers becoming eligible for induction
25 years after the release of their debut album. Recent inductees include Bob
Dylan, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Velvet
Underground and Joni Mitchell and if you ask Bennington, Linkin Park are a lock
to join their ranks. “There’s no way that we can’t be,” Bennington said. “Biggest-debuting
album of the 21st century. I mean, how can you not get in?” He added that the
band’s chances of future induction are at “a hundred percent,” although that
honor will have to wait until at least 2025, when the band’s debut album,
“Hybrid Theory,” turns 25. That album has racked up 27 million sales worldwide
and Linkin Park has somehow won two Grammys amongst many industry honors it has
achieved. Self-inducting your band into the Hall of Fame is a bit presumptuous,
but given the low threshold the hall has set over the years, it really isn't a
stretch to imagine the Park getting voted in…….
- What a story from Tennessee, where a toilet, Cock(e) and
prison escape all came together over the holiday weekend. Yes, excitement was
high in Cocke County, where six inmates escaped from the Cocke County Jail
Annex during the early morning hours through an escape plan that has been
utilized by prisoners for almost as long as there have been prisons, creating a
hole behind the toilet in their cell and using it to get into the prison’s
inner workings, thereby making their getaway. According to investigators, the
inmates escaped through a hole behind a stainless steel toilet, with a little
help from their old friend opportunity. "The inmates escaped after a water
leak occurred behind a wall unit stainless steel toilet. Apparently the bolts
holding the unit rusted out and there was prior damage to the concrete due to
plumbing repairs,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “The inmates
vandalized the lavatory removing it from the wall and gained access to a hole
which led outside of the facility." Sadly, three of the inmates proved
that they were much better at escaping prison than remaining free, as John Mark
Speir was caught at a home in Cosby and Steven Lewis was captured after a foot
chase in the Carson Springs community. A third inmate, Eric S. Click, was
captured the next day and two men, Daniel Speir and Jarred Schoondermark, were
charged with harboring a fugitive following Speir's arrest. Three other escapees,
John Thomas Shehee, Harce Wade Allen, and David Wayne Frazier, have been able
to keep their temporary freedom going longer than the rest of their friends,
but look for them all to be reunited behind bars very soon……..
- Never underestimate the ire of cross-country skiiers. They
strap on giant-ass skis, they fight the cold and powder across extreme
distances and they do it all wearing full-body spandex. They have reason to be
chafed and right now, the target of their outrage is the International Olympic
Committee's approach to anti-doping issues. That approach has inspired more
than 100 cross-country ski athletes from eight nations to sign their name to a
letter demanding a meeting with the leadership of skiing's world governing
body, FIS, in the wake of controversial comments by its longtime president.
"We believe a soft-handed approach to anti-doping is allowing cheating to
persist in our sport," the letter stated. "We request stronger
leadership by both the FIS and the IOC." The letter’s credibility is
bolstered by the signatures of Olympic medalists from several of the sport's
strongholds -- Sweden, Norway, Germany, Finland and France -- along with dozens
of other athletes who added their names during a signature-gathering effort
conducted at World Cup competitions this month. In a wonderfully ironic twist,
among them are four Russian athletes, all women, including 2010 Olympic team
sprint bronze medalist Natalia Korosteleva. Russia opposing rather than
systematically engaging in doping is a new concept, but maybe it’s legit. There
are also 13 U.S. athletes on the list, including Kikkan Randall and Jessie
Diggins, the 2013 team sprint world champions. The pissed-off posse of
pole-toters wants a meeting with FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper at the
February world championships in Finland and there, will join the growing number
of athletes from across the sporting world pushing for a World Anti-Doping
Agency with more power and autonomy………
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