- Mr. Whoever’s In Charge of the northern Kosovo city of
Mitrovica, tear down this wall. Ronald Reagan addressing Mikhail Gorbachev it wasn’t,
but that doesn’t mean folks couldn’t enjoy the tearing down of a concrete wall
that has provoked tensions between Kosovo and neighboring Serbia. The Mitrovica
wall came tumbling down following an agreement between the government and the
country's ethnic Serb minority, facilitated by the European Union and United
States embassies. It may have taken outsiders to make this happen - just like
the Berlin Wall coming down - but even with the agreement in place, the wall's
destruction by two excavators was still a big moment and it happened without any
incidents. Police were out en mass and on high alert to make sure no one tried
to f*ck up the event, which will hopefully quell the border tensions that began
with the wall in December and increased other incidents in January, including a
Serbian nationalist train that was stopped at the border. This has been one of
the most heated periods in the region since Kosovo declared independence from
Serbia in 2008, but given that Serbia has not recognized it as a separate
country, such situations are bound to keep happening. Serbia’s insistence on
maintaining influence in northern Kosovo, where most of the Serb minority lives,
is a big part of what keeps the drama alive, but at least this literal concrete
barrier to peace is out of the way for now………
- Whether or not Terrell Owens deserved to be inducted to
the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year or not, there’s no question that him
failing to make the final cut is going to produce some quality entertainment. Owens,
who did not get voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, has been
working hard to improve his negative public image since retiring, including
becoming a member of the media and showing up on television smiling and
cracking jokes. But that image makeover didn’t help him in his second year as
one of 15 finalists for the hall and despite 15,934 receiving yards
(second-most all time) and 153 receiving touchdowns (third-most all time),
Owens will have to wait ay least one more year. Let’s just say he’s unhappy about
the delay. “Unfortunately I DID NOT MAKE IT again this year. Thanks to ALL my
fans & supporters. #FlawedProcess,” Owens tweeted. “When you align
expectations with reality you will never be disappointed. To my family, fans
& friends I'm a Hall Of Famer. #FlawedProcess.” Two tweets with a balky
hashtag probably won't start a revolution, especially because the five
modern-era players to make it were LaDainian Tomlinson, Kurt Warner, Jason
Taylor, Terrell Davis and Morten Andersen, all deserving entrants. Warner did
express disappointment that Owens didn’t get in and after fighting his own
prolonged battle to get in, he knows how Owens feels. The rest of us will also know
how Owens feels in the days and weeks ahead because rest assured, he’s going to
keep talking about it……..
- The Walmart Zone really should be a thing. It’s a place -
regardless of which Walmart in whatever part of America it may be - where you
wouldn’t be surprised to see, hear or witness any insane action/clothing
choice/bizarre conversation. Included in that zone is the Walmart in Pine
Hills, Florida, a place where police were called to the scene after a shopper
shot and killed a suspected diaper thief in the parking lot. Amazingly, this
wasn’t some late-night scene in which a gun-toting vigilante gunned down
someone who tried to grab valuable items and make a run for it. It happened in
the morning and according to police, the shooter opened fire out of fear for
his life. “What we have at this point is that the individual felt threatened — one
of the suspects reached for something [and he] thought that it was a weapon or
firearm,” Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Angelo Nieves said. The
victim in the shooting was allegedly shoplifting diapers with three accomplices
and this criminal quartet were loading the diapers in a car when a Walmart
employee tried to stop them. The would-be Yosemite Sam arrived on the scene to
lend a hand - or a firearm - to the employee and shot one of the suspects,
after which the four suspects drove off and smashed into two cars. Three of
them fled on foot, leaving behind their wounded counterpart, who shot made it
as far as a gas station across the street. A witness tried to comfort the man
until emergency personnel could arrive on the scene, but the man was later
pronounced dead and now, police have to try to sort out this whole mess…….
- Indecipherable, mumbled and yet full of fire, Black
Sabbath rode off into its musical sunset over the weekend in their hometown,
playing heir final show as a band at Birmingham’s NEC Arena. The metal madmen,
led by frontman Ozzy Osbourne, played 15 songs from their lengthy catalog,
closing out with “Paranoid,” culled from the 1970 album of the same name. The
gig put a cap not only on the band’s career together, but wrapped up the
81-date The End tour and for those who couldn’t make it to Birmingham and
afford the exorbitant ticket prices for the gig could watch it live on the
band’s Facebook page. Before closing with “Paranoid,” Sabbath ripped through classics
‘War Pigs’, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Children of the Grave.” Osbourne, guitarist Tony
Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler helped form the band in 1968 and were all part
of the final tour even though Osbourne said - at least we think this is what he
said - late last year that he would continue making music following Black
Sabbath’s demise. “It’s not me that wants to retire, it’s Black Sabbath,” he said.
“I’ll be continuing my own musical thing. My wife is good at telling me partial
information, but I know I’m not hanging my boots up for a while.” The end came
one month after keyboardist Geoff Nicholls died at 68 after a long battle with
cancer, having performed with Black Sabbath for 25 years. Put it all together
and it seems like the right time to end things, although like most old-school
rockers, Black Sabbath probably hung on longer than they should have……..
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