- When it comes to ganja seizures, this one doesn’t do much
for impressing folks on account of sheer size. What is noteworthy is where U.S.
Customs and Border Protection found 100 pounds of chron stashed at the Port of
Sasabe, about 74 miles southwest of Tucson. When agents took possession of that
100-pound pot collection, they found the drugs hidden inside a shipment of
mesquite firewood. Not just any ordinary firewood, mind you, but quality
mesquite firewood, which came under scrutiny after a narcotics-detection canine
was alerted to the truck. After the nosy canine started barking, officers
descended on the truck and began unloading the firewood, perhaps suspecting
that they might find contraband hidden underneath the cords of fire fuel.
Instead, they had to look inside the wood and not under it; when they split
some of the logs in half, they found them filled with the hippie lettuce and
the man driving the truck was reportedly turned over to officials with
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Seizing 100 pounds of cocaine or heroin is
a much bigger deal than confiscating 100 pounds of the sticky icky, so
hopefully CBP doesn’t spend too much time patting itself on the back for this
one. The fact that Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson could burn through that much
product in one or two good smoke sessions on one of their respective tour buses
means that no one is making their law enforcement career off of this search and
seizure……..
- One of the truly iconic punk bands of all-time could have
made a comeback, but they’re not interested. Dead Kennedys have turned down an
opportunity to reunite, spurning a request for Riot Fest for the band to get
back together. The punk icons initially broke up in 1986 and things took a turn
for the ugly when the band’s former members sued lead singer Jello Biafra over
unpaid royalties. A judge sided with the band members and ordered Biafra to pay
$200,000 in outstanding royalties and damages, along with surrendering the
rights to a majority of Dead Kennedys’ back catalogue. The news about the
not-to-be reunion came from Dead Kennedys co-founder East Bay Ray, who claimed
that Riot Fest sought to reunite the band and the he (and possibly other band
members) had interest in doing the show, only to have original frontman Biafra
turn down the offer. “Dead Kennedys had a sincere invitation to play a reunion
show at Riot Fest in Chicago this fall. Jello Biafra turned it down. Klaus
Flouride, DH Peligro and I were looking forward to doing it,” East Bay Ray
wrote in a Facebook post. Wait, a guy you sued for nearly a quarter of a
million dollars and ripped the rights to the catalog of a band to which you
both belonged doesn’t want to join forces for a kick-ass reunion show? Bitter Biafra
has also been highly critical of the band’s attempts to use Dead Kennedys music
on commercials and to reissue old albums, denouncing the group’s new lineup
with replacement singer Brandon Cruz as a “karaoke band.” The good news is that
Dead Kennedys’ old music still kicks major punk rock ass……..
- Countdown to Russia invading Belarus is somewhere around a
week now, give or take a shirtless Vlad Putin-on-horseback photo or two. It
seems odd, given that despotic President Alexander Lukashenko has been in power
for more than two decades and has worked to establish his nation as Moscow's
closest ally, securing tens of billions of dollars in Russian subsidies. But
ever the skillful autocrat, he’s also played on Russia's security fears by
occasionally reaching out to the West to get Putin and Co. to cave to certain
demands. Lukashenko may have played both sides one too many time and the
relationship between his country and Russia has reached the rocky stage where
observers are openly speculating about Russia possibly staging a "palace
coup" against Lukashenko. Although the overbearing leader recently assured
his nation of 10 million people that "there will be no war" between
the two countries, that may only be accurate because if Russia starts an armed
conflict, it will steamroll Belarus the same way it b*tch-slapped Ukraine in
the Crimea region. The strategy of casing Belarus as both a good friend to
Russia and a pal to Western nations may have run its course and after a
scheduled meeting between Putin and Lukashenko last week was postponed
indefinitely, Russia et up border controls on its previously unguarded frontier
with Belarus. The two leaders have never had a good relationship, much like the
one between Lukashenko and the Belarusian people, whom he has led since 1994
thanks to rigged elections allowing him to stifle both the opposition and
independent media. Visa and border security issues have exacerbated tensions in
recent months and when Moscow responded by unilaterally establishing border
controls, Lukashenko warned the move could trigger a "serious
conflict." Now, the two sides are posturing and flexing and with two hotheads
in control, the chances for actual conflict are rising by the day……..
- The real games haven't started yet, but the real fire is
being thrown around at the New York Yankees’ spring training complex in Tampa. In
the latest example of Player v. Team death match, a.k.a. salary arbitration,
the Yankees who and flame-throwing reliever Dellin Betances lost, but that
didn’t stop Betances from throwing some sweet chin music at the team,
especially team president Randy Levine. Shortly after an arbitrator decided in
the Yankees' favor, awarding Betances $3 million for 2017 instead of the $5
million he sought, the man who’s been an All-Star in each of his first three
seasons threw a 100-mph fastball aimed straight at Levine’s chin. Levine had
ripped Betances' agent for what he felt was an exorbitant salary request and
after the hearing, Betances said he felt "trashed" by the team during
the 90-minute arbitration hearing. He also wasn’t down with Levine demeaning
him by labeling him a "victim" of his agent's attempt to change the
marketplace. "I was planning on putting everything behind me until I was
aware of Randy Levine's comments saying I was the victim in this whole process
and saying how much they love me, but then they take me in a room, trash me for
about an hour-and-a-half," Betances said. "I thought that was
unfair." The most subtle shot of the day came when Betances was asked
whether he will constantly be available to pitch multiple innings and in the
middle of innings after leading relievers in innings pitched and strikeouts
over his first three years in the big leagues. "It is fair for me to say that,"
Betances said. In other words, you wanna talk sh*t about me after you beat me
in arbitration and portray me as some dumb jock being used as a proxy by his
agent, then maybe my arm just won't feel quite as good as normal when you call
on me to help you out of that bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning of a key AL
East game……..
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