- Nothing can unite Internet users around the world in a
collective moment of “aww” quite like an adorable cat photo or video. So let’s
all come together, stop doing anything producing and get a gag-inducing deluge
of cute from Bulgaria, where an adorable feline named Pooh has been given a new
lease on life. Pooh has achieved the distinction of being his country’s first
"bionic cat" with a pair of prosthetic hind legs after veterinary
surgeon Vladislav Zlatinov carried out the operation that in Europe has only
previously been done in Britain. The goal was to restore a normal cat life to a
fluffy, black-and-white cat who was apparently struck by a train and to do so
in a manner that the traditional solution — a set of wheels — wouldn’t offer. With
few examples to use, Zlatinov turned to a few publications in scientific
journals, but even then, he had no commercial implants available and so the
parts had to be custom-built. The newly built titanium legs were implanted into
Pooh’s body and connected to external prostheses that can be changed like
shoes. After undergoing to procedure, ol’ Pooh had to spend about six weeks in
recovery before he was able to test out his new limbs and since then, he’s been
working to get used to them. According to Zlatinov, Pooh recognizes the
prostheses and tries to keep them clean and the successful surgery has created
quite the demand, as Zlatinov has operated on three more cats and more are on
the waiting list……..
- International basketball is about to get some style at the
top. That’s because FIBA, the organization that governs hoops around the world,
is set to eliminate a longstanding ban on religious headgear in competition.
That means it’s time to break out the hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes in international
competitions and while those head coverings could have some tangible effects on
the game in a physical sense, it’s nice to see FIBA upping its tolerance game. The
organization informed its playing rules committee at a recent meeting that it
needed to craft a proposal that outlines how headgear can be worn safely during
games, with the goal of approving the changes at a meeting in May, the
organization announced earlier this week. As with any bureaucratic governing
body, FIBA first did a two-year study on the issue. A letter published on
social media and sent to FIBA president Horacio Muratore carried the signatures
of a dozen WNBA players including Breanna Stewart, tennis greats Billie Jean
King and Martina Navratilova, and U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, all
urging FIBA to allow the wearing of religious headgear in games. "I am a
Muslim, and I think anybody should have the right (to wear headgear),"
said Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, who also signed the letter. "Jewish
-- hey, if you're Gothic, whatever your religion is -- Muslim, Christian,
Catholic, it doesn't matter. You should be able to support your religion and
wear whatever is part of your religion." Interestingly, the headgear bad
is recent - enacted 20 years ago - but 20 years is still too long for a rule
that never made sense……….
- There are levels of scum-baggery in crime. It’s hard to
know if someone has truly reached rock bottom because the human capacity to
plumb new personal depths is infinite, but those responsible for a recent theft
in Georgia are damn close. These thieves recently stole an equipment trailer
from the public high school in Gwinnett, Georgia, but this wasn’t just any
equipment trailer for any group at the school. It was the trailer for the
Gwinnett HEAT, which is the public school system's adapted sports team for
students with physical disabilities. The gear in the trailer belonged to the
basketball team, but students in the program participate in handball, football
and basketball and compete in statewide tournaments. On the team’s Facebook
page, a post explained that the county-owned trailer was decorated with the
team's logo "to promote the team and inspire the kids,” though it also
seems to have inspired these thieves to hijack it for their own personal gain.
"Whoever stole the trailer had to break several padlocks on school
property. Unfortunately, the trailer wasn't insured by the county," the
post notes. The GoFundMe page set up to help the team replace its stolen
trailer and gear raised about $7,400 after 14 days of fundraising and is on
pace to shatter its $10,000 goal, after which the team plans to use any
additional money to buy new wheelchairs and updated equipment……..
- This just got good. Not that a famous musician’s father
suing him and calling his own child a fraud isn't good, but when that same
lawsuit includes calling one of his son’s musical peers as a “devil worshiper”
takes it to a new level. Enter Frank Ocean’s father, who made those claims and
more in his recently filed lawsuit against his son. Calvin Cooksey is suing his
son for defamation and $14.5 million in damages in response a Tumblr post the
singer made last year in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting. “I
was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as
he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she
was dirty,” Ocean wrote in the post. “That was the last afternoon I saw my
father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t
shock me if it wasn’t.” For his part, Cooksey has denied the accusation of
homophobia in his lawsuit, although he’s going to have a brutal time proving an
allegation of hearsay that happened decades ago, although the suit also accuses
Ocean of publishing “falsehoods” for “the financial success” of his recent
album ‘Blonde,’ denouncing the singer as “a fraud [who] only cared about making
millions of dollars.” But somehow, some way, Odd Future frontman Tyler, The
Creator gets dragged into the mix when Cooksey bashes him as a “devil
worshiper” and laments that is son didn’t “include a homophobic bigot named
Tyler the Creator” in his Tumblr post despite his “homophobic hateful rap
lyrics.” Apparently, having musical ties to Tyler, The Creator makes Ocean a
“hypocrite and fraud who dishonestly betrayed the LGBT fans base for Tyler the
Creator, who has clearly demonstrated hate for the LGBT community.” A cynic
might argue that Cooksey is looking to be just as superficial and just as
cash-grabby as he believes his son so be by suing him for $14.5 million after
Ocean said five years ago that his dad wanted to sue him for $1 million………
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