Riot Watch Tunisia, Pete Rose dispenses advice and Walmart ships unwanted bullets

- Lady Gaga often acts like she’s insane, but typically it’s all an act designed to promote her brand and sell concert tickets and albums. This time, the Gag-meister may actually be nuts. A copy of a crap-tacular new track called “Aura” from her forthcoming (and sure to suck) album “ARTPOP” leaked online Tuesday and fans reacted the way the masses always do when presented with free music from their favorite artists: They shared and downloaded at a disturbing rate. The “If it’s free, it’s for me” theory prevailed and with three months before the full album drops, getting a hold of a piece of the project was too much for thousands of music fans to pass up. In an attempt to convince everyone that they didn’t really hear what they just heard, Lady Gaga took to her website and wrote that the song is only a demo of the finished version. She then asked fans to avoid listening to it and assist in removing links to it online. A user asked her about the leak and Lady Gaga replied: "Please take these [links] down as much as possible." Yes, because people struggling to stay afloat financially and hungry for any free offering they can find always turn their backs on free music. Sharers of leaked music haven’t been Gaga’s only target for verbal bile of late. She recently lashed out at the Russian government after she was accused of breaching immigration laws and promoting "gay propaganda" in Russia and took a run at the country’s communist regime on Twitter. "The Russian government is criminal. Oppression will be met with revolution. Russian LGBTs you are not alone. We will fight for your freedom,” she wrote. "Why didn't you arrest me when you had the chance, Russia? Because you didn't want answer to the world?" If the Russians had arrested her, maybe her upcoming train wreck of an album never would have happened………..

- Returns at Wal-Mart are supposed to be much simpler than this. As long as the purchase was within the past 90 days and one has a receipt for what they bought and no longer want, the exchange should be both quick and easy – even if über-long lines at customer service lead to a wait longer than most doctor’s offices on a weekday afternoon. For Aurora, Ill. resident Kim Michalak, getting the megamart retailer to take back a product it mistakenly shipped to her after she placed an online order is proving to be an impossible task. Michalak recently ordered a few household items from Walmart, including pillows and cat food. What she received was decidedly different than what she ordered, as more than 3,000 bullets showed up at her door. She was given 10 boxes of .22 caliber long rifle ammo and best of all, she wasn’t even required to sign for it. Rather than be grateful that a massive chain retail outlet had just provided her with enough ammo to wipe out her netire neighborhood in a bitter dispute over how tall her hedges along the property line could be, she decided she wasn’t cool with getting munitions and contacted Walmart to ask for a refund. Walmart being Walmart, it refused to take the bullets back because Michalak’s invoice lists the items she was supposed to get, but not the bullets. Exacerbating the mystery even further, the company said it is investigating how the munitions got to Michilak because bullets aren't sold online. With stories like this one, it feels almost like the government isn't doing a damn thing to police guns and ammunition or control who can gain access to them. Perhaps Walmart is simply too big to regulate……..

  

- Current wave of players disgracing Major League Baseball by injecting or ingesting banned substances and performance-enhancing drugs into your bodies, listen up. One of the biggest pariahs in MLB history has some words of wisdom for you. Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hit king and the recipient of a lifetime ban from the game for betting on it while managing the Cincinnati Reds, has a message for Alex Rodriguez and everyone else suspended for their roles in the Biogenesis scandal: come clean. "We have to get these people to understand that if you make mistakes, people will forgive you if you come forward," Rose said. "Don't do like I did. Don't do like [Ryan] Braun did. Don't do like A-Rod did. I wish I had come forward a long time ago. Some guys came forward, like [Jason] Giambi, like [Andy] Pettitte. And they went on with their lives. They're playing and they're making good money, and there's no shadow upon them right now." What Rose neglected to mention was that when he did come forward, it was to sell a book he had written about his life. Rose and his 4,256 hits have been banned from baseball since 1989 after it was learned he bet on baseball. The 17-time All-Star said he hopes Rodriguez "has a good ending of the season” and is confused as to why fans are angry at a man who repeatedly cheated and lied to everyone who his use of PEDs. "It sounds to me like he thinks he got a lot more than Ryan Braun, and basically he might have done the same thing," Rose added. "Baseball and the players association have rules. If you stay within the rules -- which say that you can play while you're appealing -- I don't see what anyone would be in arms about." You don’t? Hey Pete, maybe that’s part of your problem – a big part. You seem to be oblivious to the fact that cheating and breaking the rules of a sport offends folks……..

- Microsoft is trying to improve its subpar product line again. The house that Bill Gates built recently debuted refreshed Bing apps for Android and iOS and now, users of its mobile operating system are about to discover a new search experience. The search feature on Windows Phone 8 will become simpler and (allegedly) deliver smarter, faster results in order to match Bing apps for Apple iOS and Google Android. The company is pushing an automatic update for Windows Phone 8 users in the United States that will supposedly remove steps from the search process, according to a post by Microsoft spokesman Michael Stroh on the Bing Search Blog. The new search will feature a reduced assortment of options. "Today when you tap Search and flick left or right, you see four different search result categories: Web, Local, Media and Shopping. Once the update rolls out, you’ll see just three: Web, Images and Videos," Stroh wrote. The Web category will focus on showing what's most relevant to a search, such as local results, images and videos. Stroh added that the Bing team "also worked to improve the freshness of the service's local results" and made local businesses easier to find or call by surfacing the relevant information. The update will also introduce 10 new Instant Answers for a total of 30, including current exchange rates, translations and traffic status. Additionally, the new Bing app will reach further into popular websites and point users to the most popular parts of that site. Bing Snapshot is also moving to Windows Phone 8 and bringing with it data farmed from sources such as Facebook, Klout, LinkedIn and Wikipedia. Using its search feature will yield larger, auto-size thumbnails. Images have long been a main selling point for Bing in the battle against search competitors such as Google and Yahoo and as part of this and other changes, Microsoft claims the upgrade will also lessen Bing’s drain on data services for smartphones.........

- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Take a look at Tunisia getting after it and rising up to demand their government step its game up. Wednesday night was an outstanding one for dissidence in the northern African nation as tens of thousands of Tunisians filled the streets of their capital to protest the government. The demonstration amped up the general uneasiness in a country with a long-standing reputation as a model for African nations seeking to make the always-tenuous transition to democracy. Staging an overnight protest is always tough because most people forget to bring the snacks they promised they would pick up at the local mini-mart before arriving and half of those assembled don’t bring the proper supplies to spend a night on the street, slugging it out with The Man to make their voice heard. This particular overnight protest took place in front of Tunisia's legislature and ranked as one of the largest in recent months. It was an inspiring scene that included entire families, many of whom draped themselves in the red and white national flag. Tunisian politics have been moderately lethal of late, with two opposition politicians shot dead in the last six months — apparently by the same gun. The protestors claimed the ruling Ennahda Party has failed to protect its people and the party would do well to listen to their voices, as Tunisians ousted their longtime dictator in January 2011, touching off the Arab Spring uprisings. This is a people clearly not afraid of getting their hands bloody and bruised in order to make a point to the powers that be………

France abandons the baguette, less FAT American kids and Chris Brown's last album

- The rarest of rarities has happened to us, America. The world’s FAT-test nation doesn’t often see obesity rates among any group decline, but the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that obesity rates among preschoolers are falling in many states for the first time in decades. The declines are small among low-income preschoolers in 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2008 to 2011, but CDC director Thomas Frieden was quick to seize upon them as a victory in the battle against the bulge. "This is the first report to show many states with declining rates of obesity in our youngest children after literally decades of rising rates,” Frieden said. The figures he cited are part of the CDC's latest Vital Signs report, which includes obesity rates from 40 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories. Ten states were excluded because some had changed how they collected data. Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands posted the largest absolute decreases in prevalence of obesity, with a drop of at least 1 percentage point. Three states that did their part in building America’s next generation of fatties and saw their childhood obesity rates rise were Colorado, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. For the report, researchers analyzed weight and height data of about 11.6 million children ages 2 to 4 in federally funded maternal- and child-nutrition programs. "Although obesity remains epidemic, the tide has begun to turn for some kids in some states," Frieden said. "While the changes are small, for the first time in a generation they are going in the right direction." Reducing obesity among preschoolers is important because children in that demographic who are overweight or obese are five times more likely than their normal-weight peers to be overweight or obese as adults………

- YES! There are days when dreams come true and transcendent events happen that benefit and uplift people across a myriad of socioeconomic groups and ethnicities. This could be one of those days, assuming a colossal D-bag like Chris Brown is able to keep a promise. The not-so-secret misogynist claimed in a recent Twitter post that his forthcoming new album, “X,” will be his last. The album is set to drop on Aug. 19 and Brown assured his fans that his sixth studio release will also be the final one they have to suffer through, er, hear. “Don't worry mainstream America.After this X album, it'll probably be my last album.” What’s great about those bitter words is the fact that it’s not mainstream America that hates Brown’s music. It is those who aren’t cool with abusing women and those who hate crappy, mainstream R&B music that can’t stand what Brown lays down in the studio. The list of mainstream pop collaborators on the album attests to how much Brown is part of the musical mainstream he so despises Nicki Minaj, Ludacris, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna and Diplo. The one interesting aspect of the project is that it features vocals from the late Aaliyah. Brown also addressed the fact that the part of his life he is best known for is smacking around then-girlfriend Rihanna. Being famous is amazing when it's for ur music and talent. I'm tired of being famous for a mistake I made when i was 18. I'm cool & over it!" he  tweeted. If he does retire from music, he can get busy doing more stupid sh*t to piss off his Beverly Hills neighbors, sh*t like painting possibly demonic artwork on the side of his mansion that scares children who live next door…….

- Mustachioed Frenchmen walking down narrow, stone-paved streets with nary a care in the world and a baguette in their man purse is one of the most overused stereotypes of a country that has more to offer. The time to change that stereotype has changed and there is proof in the fact that bread consumption in France has declined to the point that Observatoire du Pain, the bakers’ and millers’ lobby, started a nationwide campaign in June that champions bread as promoting good health, good conversation and French civilization. These days, the average Frenchman eats only half a baguette a day compared with almost a whole baguette in 1970 and more than three in 1900. Women eat one-third as many baguettes as men and younger people consume almost 30 percent less than a decade ago. “Coucou, tu as pris le pain?” (“Hi there, have you picked up the bread?”) is the campaign’s slogan and while it’s a cheap knockoff of the American advertising campaign “Got Milk?” it’s nice to see bakers making the effort. Their slogan has been plastered on billboards and inscribed on bread bags in 130 cities around the country and their battle is ongoing. “Eating habits are changing,” said Bernard Valluis, a co-president of the lobby. “People are too busy or work too late to go to the bakery. Teenagers are skipping breakfast. Now when you see the word ‘coucou,’ we want it to be a reflex for consumers to say to themselves, ‘Ah, I have to buy bread today.' ” The campaign even has a website that explains “France is a ‘civilization of bread’ and this food is part of the traditional meal ‘à la française.'” Organizers are pushing bread as healthy and useful in avoiding weight gain. “Its satiating effect allows you to wait for the next meal,” the site claims. Bread does have a cost-effective check mark in its favor, as its cost of just over a dollar a loaf makes the basic baguette one of the country’s cheapest food staples. An average of 10 billion baguettes are sold every year in France and a festival is hold each spring to honor the feast of Saint Honoré (the patron saint of bakers) so that the French can sample different breads, learn how bread is made and even learn how to become a baker. So far, none of this has been enough to prevent bread from losing its hold on the table to rivals such breakfast cereals, pasta and rice…….

- Movies inspire many people. Some are so moved by what they see on the big screen that they make big changes in their life. Others see a cartoon movie with their children and decide that now would be a great time to devote years and thousands of dollars to constructing a real-life replica of something that previously existed only inside a movie studio’s computer. Bakersfield, Calif. farmer Michael McMaster is one such man and he has finally achieved his longstanding goal of building a real-life, working replica of the titular robot in the popular Pixar film “Wall-E.” He’s a full-time citrus farmer, but somehow found time to do hours and hours of research, collect the necessary materials and build his own Wall-E. "Seven years of gathering information data, still pictures, and posters and things like that. It's a hundred percent scratch made, so it took a long time," McMaster said. "I am actually citrus farmer by trade. My family purchased this property back in 1919, and so I farm for a living.” He admitted that his robot receives much more attention than his citrus crop – and with good reason. His Wall-E robot is able move around, talk and dance. That brings quite a few eyeballs to his property. "It is kind of unusual thing to see an R2D2 or a Wall-E robot in the middle of an orange grove,” McMaster explained. He has taken the robot all over California, almost as if it were a member of his family. "Most recently we had him up in San Francisco. We went to Walt Disney Family Museum,” McMaster said. He pointed out that women love the robot as well, but he does not plan to open up his farm so that visitors – of the lady persuasion and otherwise – can see Wall-E in his natural habitat……….

- Vince Young will get another shot after all. The former Texas Longhorns star was last seen in Buffalo in May 2012, where he toiled briefly with the Bills before they released him prior to the end of training camp. Prior to that, he posted a 30-17 record as a starter with the Titans from 2006-10, then went to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011 as a backup and made three starts (going 1-2). He hasn’t been heard from in football circles since and for the third overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft, that would be an undignified way to end a short NFL career. Young’s next “last” shot will come in the race to win the Green Bay Packers' backup quarterback position. Aaron Rodgers is the starter and arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, so there is no chance Young will unseat him. When it comes to the backup spot, Young said he's up to the challenge. "[It's] no challenge," he said. "I've been through pretty much everything you can think of. I'm just happy, enjoying this and just happy to be here and being here with some special, special guys." He will now have less than a month to show whether he can still be a productive NFL quarterback and believes his age and experience will benefit him in that respect. "Back in the day, I was a young Vince," he added. "Now I'm more mature and definitely learned from things that happened in the past. I'm married now, [a] grown man, 30 years old, kind of like the old head in this locker room." He spent the past year out of football working and training in Austin, Tex. and said he relished the chance to be back home for a while. However, 15 months out of football never led Young to believe that his career was over. To keep himself from falling completely off the radar, he showed up at the Longhorns' on-campus pro day earlier this year. Over the next month, Young must prove his hard work was enough to beat out Graham Harrell and B.J. Coleman to be Rodgers' backup……….

Failed Turkish coups, MLB Twitter rage and a load of crap dumped in Virginia

- Leading a failed coup is one of the most costly endeavors known to mankind. Retired Turkish military chief of staff General Ilker Basbug was reminded of that fact Monday when a court sentenced him to life in prison for his role in the "Ergenekon" conspiracy to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Basbug and dozens of others, including opposition members of parliament, were sentenced to long terms for plotting against the government. Nearly 300 defendant were on trial, but most of the focus was on Basbug and three serving parliamentarians from the opposition Republican People's Party. The trio of politicians were sentenced to between 12 and 35 years in prison. The case has so divided Turkey that security forces fired tear gas in fields around the courthouse in the Silivri jail complex, west of Istanbul, as defendants' supporters gathered to protest against the five-year trial. Opposition groups have billed it as a landmark case in the decade-long battle between Erdogan and the secularist establishment. Prosecutors argued that a network of secular arch-nationalists, code-named Ergenekon carried out extra-judicial killings and bombings in order to trigger a military coup. In turn, opposition leaders have decried the charges as trumped-up fabrications aimed at stifling opposition and taming the secularist establishment which has long dominated Turkey. "This is Erdogan's trial, it is his theater," said Umut Oran, a parliamentarian with the opposition CHP party. "In the 21st century for a country that wants to become a full member of the European Union, this obvious political trial has no legal basis.” Erdogan has denied trying to influence the case, but lying is sort of his thing, so those words are dubious at best. Seeing protestors attempt to cross fields to reach the court and prison complex and clash with riot police was fairly awesome in spite of the verdict. "The day will come when the AKP will pay the price," some protestors chanted. Such are the repercussions of a failed coup…….

- The portraits in London’s National Portrait Gallery, they are a-changin’. Beginning on Aug. 24, the gallery will host a series of 12 pastel works by folk rock icon Bob Dylan. The paintings are a mix of real and fictitious characters and will be displayed at the London museum and will be on display through Jan. 5. It marks the first time Dylan has exhibited his work in the UK since 2008, when The Halcyon Gallery showed a collection of his drawings from 1989 and 1992. "Bob Dylan is one of the most influential cultural figures of our time. He has always created a highly visual world either with his words or music, or in paints and pastels,” said Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery. The name of the exhibit is “Bob Dylan: Face Value” and it will appear in the Contemporary Collection displays at the National Portrait Gallery. Dylan is having himself quite a second half of 2013, as he will release a new album of rarities and previously unheard recordings later this month. “'The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)” will drop on Aug. 26 and offer diehard Dylan fans and hipsters everywhere 35 tracks recorded during the 1970 studio recording sessions that resulted in Dylan's 10th and 11th albums “Self Portrait” and “New Morning.” The good news for those who have long lamented Dylan’s mumbling, low-talking vocal style as a recording artist is that they need not hear the sound of his voice in order to enjoy the voice of his art. All they must do is take a trip to London and spend some time hanging out in the peaceful, quiet environment of a wonderful art museum……….

- Thanks science….maybe? In what could be a leap forward in the fight against global hunger or a giant setback to food that doesn’t taste like ass, the world's first laboratory-grown beef burger was flipped out of a Petri dish and into a frying pan on Monday. A team of less-than-enthusiastic food tasters tepidly declared that it tasted "close to meat.” Oh, and this culinary gem was grown in-vitro from cattle stem cells at a cost of $332,000. For its big debut, the burger was cooked and eaten in front of television cameras to gain the greatest media coverage for the culmination of a five-year science experiment. The faux-burger did resemble a standard circular-shaped red meat patty, but it was actually created by knitting together 20,000 strands of laboratory-grown protein, combined with other ingredients normally used in burgers, such as salt, breadcrumbs and egg powder. Scientists added red beet juice and saffron to give it color. Two tasters were on hand at the unveiling in London and both were judicious in their comments, going so far as to compliment the quasi-burger for its “absence of fat.” It’s akin to saying a 350-pound girl with a handlebar mustache and rampant body odor has “a nice personality.” When asked for a more detailed description of the flavor, food writer Josh Schonwald said the cultured beef had an "animal protein cake" like quality to it and said he would like to try it with some traditional burger toppings. Vascular biologist Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands is responsible for the sorta-burger and admitted that there is much work left to do. "It's a very good start," said. His goal for the project is to prove that the world can have met that does not come from the environmentally and economically costly rearing and slaughtering of millions of animals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), meat production is projected to rise to 376 million tons by 2030, meaning artificial patties could be in high demand………

- Twitter continues to be a grenade ready to explode in the hands of athletes not smart enough to know how to use it. Texas Rangers right-hander Matt Garza proved that point Saturday night in a Twitter rant aimed at A's second baseman Eric Sogard and his wife, Kaycee. The problems began Saturday when Sogard laid down a safety squeeze bunt in the seventh inning that pushed across a run in the A's 4-2 win. The A’s bunted on Garza several times, but it was Sogard’s bunt that appeared to upset him the most. He was angry enough to carry that discontent off the field and into the Twitter-sphere afterward. That’s where he threw an unprovoked social networking haymaker at Kaycee Sogard in response to what appeared to be an innocent tweet. Garza wrote: "@KayceeSogard tell your husband to speak up so his wife doesn't have to do it for him ... Chumps! ... Hahaha!" He then took a swing at the English language and good grammar by adding that "certain people can't shut there woman up!" Although his Twitter account is protected and would-be followers need approval from Garza before being allowed to subscribe to his posts, this is the social networking age and tweets like that are going to go viral. For some odd reason, Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine called Garza's tweets "totally inappropriate." "I think that was certainly crossing the line and not sentiments that are condoned by the team, by any stretch," Levine said. Garza either agreed or was pressured into agreeing because he apologized Sunday for his words. "No questions. Just a statement today," Garza said. "All I want to say is I let my competitive spirit cross outside the lines, and that shouldn't happen. I let my passion, my fire carry over, and that's not how this game should be played. And for that I apologize to the Sogards for anything that was said through my Twitter. That's all I have.” If only you didn’t have all of that when you decided to go Twitter tough guy on an opposing player wife……

- That was a load of crap. The operative word in that sentence is “was,” because what was a load of crap contained in the back of a truck that empties out sewer systems became a hazardous materials spill at the intersection of Frederick and Airline boulevards in Portsmouth, Va. Monday afternoon. The intersection was closed for several hours because of the spill and Portsmouth Deputy Fire Chief Mike Stockton confirmed that the truck leaked for nearly a mile before the driver pulled over near High Street. "It had a mechanical failure that released the back of the truck and allowed it to dump," Stockton said. Atlantic Heating and Cooling Services owns the truck and therefore bore the burden of cleaning up the mess. In what can only be described as a delightfully fragrant scene, the spilled waste was several inches thick in some spots and it looked like a ginormous layer of mud covering the road. Children walked nearby and as only children can do, held their noses and made funny faces as they walked by. The spill proved to be a boon for nearby Smith Brothers Car Wash, where workers were able to take advantage of the sudden surge in cars drizzled or splashed with human waste matter and in need of a very thorough cleaning. "People were bringing their cars back twice because the smell was all inside the car like someone just poured some doo doo or something in there," said employee Charles Watson. "The manure smell was terrible." No word on whether drivers plan to send their cleaning bills to Atlantic Heating and Cooling, but 15 cars were taken for cleaning. The intersection remained closed for much of the day while the cleanup was completed………

Mark Sanchez still sucks, movie news and BMW's new electric car

- A ho-hum movie starring two of Hollywood’s biggest names did just enough to win an uninspired weekend box office race, with “2 Guns” eking out a narrow win in its debut. With $27.4 million in earnings, the Mark Wahlberg/Denzel Washington film did not overwhelm but did overcome reigning box office champion “The Wolverine,” which fell to second with $21.7 million. Through two weeks, “Wolverine” has banked $95 million in domestic earnings. It was not a smashing debut for “The Smurfs 2,” which limped to the finish line with $18.2 million against a budget backdrop of $105 million. “The Conjuring” continued to be extremely profitable, registering $13.7 million for a three-week tally of $108.6 million that has now quintupled its $20 million budget and then some. Fifth place went to another animated sequel, “Despicable Me 2,” which banked $10.4 million to up its five-week domestic total to $326.7 million. Sequel mania continued with “Grown Ups 2” in sixth place, earning $8.2 million to raise its four-week haul to $116.4 million and counting. The third animated movie of the top 10, Fox’s “Turbo,” notched $6.4 million and after three weeks at local multiplexes around the United States, it has amassed $69.5 million in total earnings and has a long way to go to reach profitability. “Red 2” was the fourth sequel in the top 10 – finishing eighth - and with $5.7 million, it has now raked in a whopping $45.1 million….with just $39 million more to go until it breaks even financially. “The Heat” seized ninth place with $4.8 million and its six-week domestic bank roll rests at $149.5 million. “Pacific Rim” completed the top 10 with $4.6 million and it remains a colossal disappointment with $92.9 million in domestic earnings and a $190 million budget hanging over its head. “Fruitvale Station” (No. 12) and “R.I.P.D.” (No. 13) both lost their spots in the top 10 from last weekend……..

- Cosmo Kramer would be proud. Roger Herrin wasn’t paying for fictional calzones on “Seinfeld,” but driving a truckload of bags full of quarters to two local law offices in Southern Illinois was a quintessential eff-you move for a number of reasons. The delivery of $150,000 in quarters was part of a protest by about a court ruling in a wrongful death case. Herrin's son, Michael, died in a car accident in 2001 at the age of 15. Michael Herrin was in a car with three other people when a truck failed to stop at an intersection, striking the vehicle he was riding in. Only Herrin was killed; the other three people inside were injured. Michael Herrin was riding in a Jeep with Jared Head, Ross Duncan, and Katherine Duncan and the four were on their way back from playing golf. The Jeep was covered up to $800,000 and a judge ruled Herrin should get most of that money, $600,000, because his son died. That didn’t sit well with the other three victims, who appealed the decision and won. Roger Herrin, who had already received $1.65 million from other insurance coverage in the crash, was ordered to pay back $150,000 from the $600,000 he received and he clearly didn’t like that decision. "They can have all the money in the world and I'd take my son back," Roger Herrin fumed. "If and when someone ever loses a child. It leaves a hole in your heart that is never repairable.” Despite the appearance of his Kramer-like gesture, Herrin insisted the protest of paying with thousands of quarters isn't about the money, but rather s about supporting his family and fighting for what is right. "To support my deceased son and ex-wife, I have to fight it to the very end and this is final end," he added. "Because I couldn't do it in pennies.” All together, he delivered 7,500 pounds of quarters, contained in 150 bags loaded onto the back of a flatbed truck.……..

- Stunningly, embattled and underwhelming New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez did not morph into a Pro Bowl-level player over the course of the offseason. He still looks an awful lot like Mark Sanchez, the guy who was the back half of the infamous “Butt Fumble” last season, when he slammed into the backside of one of his linemen and fell while dropping the ball on the turf.  That much was apparent Saturday night in upstate New York before an announced crowd of 6,000 at the New York Jets' annual Green & White scrimmage. Sanchez committed a "Butt Stumble," threw an interception and heard boos from the fans and the boos were loudest after an interception on an overthrown deep pass. The man who intercepted that pass did not like the response the play received from the crowd. "I think that's bull crap," cornerback Antonio Cromartie said. The only quality play Sanchez turned in on the night was a 57-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Hill on the final play of the controlled scrimmage. That won't play well against a solid night by his top competition for the starting job, rookie Geno Smith. Smith completed nine of 16 passes for 77 yards, with no turnovers and most of his work came with the first-team offense because it was his turn in the quarterback rotation. Smith’s poise and arm strength were good, but he only led the offense to three points in four possessions. That’s a marked improvement over what Sanchez usually gives the Jets and head coach Rex Ryan said Smith was "absolutely tremendous" on his first drive, when he hit four straight passes before stalling in the red zone. Conversely, Ryan said Sanchez had "some good moments and some bad moments." That’s a liberal description of how Sanchez (6-for-11, 93 yards) fared and there was the memorable moment of him stumbling and falling on his butt while dropping back to pass, a sack that dredged up memories of his infamous "Butt Fumble" from last season. Oh, and there was that time he wide-open Clyde Gates in the end zone. Still, it was the interception that drew a chorus of boos on an idyllic summer night in upstate New York and one can only imagine what the response would be on a fall Sunday at MetLife Stadium………

- BMW has an all-new, all-electric car and it is glassy. Very glassy. As in, the car is made of dried grass. This new luxury sled is called the i3 it is what BMW's engineers and designers call a holistic approach to what eventually may become the dominant fuel for automobiles. The i3 has been under development for five years and the world's newest electric automobile debuted last week in London and Beijing. Its construction is unique, as it is made largely of aluminum but with substantial amounts of plastic cladding and carbon fiber, a lightweight and strong material that has been used in race cars and now in Boeing's new state-of-the art 787 Dreamliner airliner. If the i3 can avoid the crashes and other safety issues that have beset the Dreamliner so far, that will be a solid start. There are plenty of flashy and visually appealing elements to the i3, including the dried-grass composite that forms the top of the instrument panel, exposing its elements in their raw form for all to see. BMW is making a push for environmentally friendly vehicles while seeking to maintain its usual upscale feel and to that end, the i3 can be ordered with a $3,000 onboard, 34-horsepower two-cylinder engine that recharges the batteries on a long trip. Ironically, the system is similar to the one used on the Chevrolet Volt. It is designed to alleviate the fear among owners that their car’s batteries will run down and leave them stranded mid-trip. The basic, Giga and Terra World models of the i3 have a starting price of $41,275 and costs rise steeply from there. All three are four-passenger, four-door cars with the rear doors hinged at the back and a hatchback over the small cargo area with just 8 cubic feet of space. The i3 is slightly more than 13 feet long and runs on a 170-horsepower electric motor capable of accelerating from zero to 60 mph in about seven seconds, with a top speed of about 94 mph………..

- Safe train travel in the United Kingdom is anything but a certainty. Perhaps inspired by recent train accidents in Spain and Switzerland or perhaps spurred on by statistics showing that one person had been killed and more than 1,600 people had been hurt after slipping or tripping at the United Kingdom’s main stations in the past year, he U.K.'s main rail infrastructure company has issued a public education film to warn of the dangers of being a drunken idiot while on the platform. The video shows a man trying to kick a pigeon and missing, sending him tumbling onto the tracks; a seemingly insensible figure falling over and over on an escalator and another man staggering against a moving train before falling underneath. Yes, drunken Brits are a real problem on railway platforms and Network Rail is attempting to address the problem. We do everything we can to make moving around our stations as easy and safe as possible, but our teams deal with far too many people who have injured themselves where it appears alcohol has been a factor,” Robin Gisby, the firm’s managing director for network operations, said in a statement “We want people to enjoy their evenings and get home safe. The only thing I want to see fall is the number of incidents, so hopefully the campaign will be a gentle reminder for people to take extra care as they travel home through our stations.” British Transport Police Deputy Chief Constable Paul Crowther also expressed concern about the level of liquor consumption and its effect on rail station safety. “Somewhat inevitably, drinking alcohol can impair people’s judgment and coordination. Encouraging passengers to be more aware of their surroundings, particularly when they have had a drink, and to be alert to the inherent dangers that exist in stations will, we hope, reduce avoidable slips and falls across the network,” Crowther said. One of the clips in the video is from security cameras at Scotland's Edinburgh Waverley station and its shows two men dressed in kilts – possibly supporters of Scotland’s rugby or football teams – on a platform. One of the kilt-clad lushes tries to boot a pigeon, only to fall onto the tracks in front of a stationary train. “The pigeon will always win when you are beer-goggled,” the caption in the video reads. Asking Brits to put down the booze seems an unlikely option, so maybe putting Taser-equipped guards on the platform is a solid idea………

Muse in politics, Central Park dangers and global warming + violence

- Don’t get confused, soccer fans. Your sport still doesn’t matter in the United States, not even after the announced return of American star Clint Dempsey to Major League Soccer after seven seasons in the English Premier League. Dempsey will play for the Seattle Sounders, who will pay Tottenham Hotspur an MLS-record $9 million transfer fee to acquire Dempsey’s rights. Tottenham announced Saturday they have reached a deal to send Dempsey to the MLS, where he will receive a reported base salary of $32 million over four years - the largest sum in MLS history. "We have reached agreement with Major League Soccer for the transfer of Clint Dempsey," Tottenham's statement said. "We wish Clint every success for the future." The Sounders initially remained silent on the transfer, but the team did issue a thinly veiled promotional statement by telling fans on Twitter to get to Saturday night's game against FC Dallas early for a "special presentation." Dempsey attended Seattle's match against FC Dallas on Saturday night and is expected to be formally presented Monday. In order to pave the way for Dempsey’s arrival, the Sounders signed veteran midfielder Shalrie Joseph to a new contract, a move that opened up a designated player spot by restructuring Joseph's existing deal. Dempsey will join current designated players Obafemi Martins and Mauro Rosales and his acquisition comes as a surprise because the 2014 World Cup is less than a year away and Dempsey has consistently spoken of his desire to play at the highest level possible. MLS is not that level and he has shown little motivation to return to MLS, where he played with the New England Revolution from 2004-06 before being sold to Fulham in January of 2007. Suiting up in front of an MLS-high 40,000-plus fans who attend each Sounders home game isn't exactly the same as playing in front of thousands more in a rabid (and riot-prone) soccer nation such as England………

- When Robert Frost wrote about taking the road less traveled, this probably is not what he meant. An unidentified Russian man faces up to two years in prison for stealing an entire road, communist nation’s Interior Ministry said this week. The road thief in question is a 40-year-old resident of Syktyvkar, the capital of Komi Republic in the Northwestern Federal District. He admitted having stolen 82 reinforced concrete slabs that make up the roughly 1-mile road linking the village of Parcheg with the Vychegda River in a very literal case of highway robbery. Police discovered the theft when they pulled over a convoy of three heavy trucks carrying the slabs, which they said had been removed with a manipulator, an industrial machine that combines a bulldozer and a forklift. Road theft isn't common in Russia or anywhere else in the world, but the country’s recent history is filled with thefts of other infrastructure, especially bridges, which are valued for their metal. A bridge over the Nozma River in the village of Frolovo, northeast of Vologda, was stolen in June and the culprit was dumb enough to leave a trail of tractor tracks that led directly to his home. Police tracked him down with little difficulty and they were able to determine that he slowly and painstakingly dismantled the bridge with a welding torch. He has not yet been sentenced, but could also face up to two years in prison. The road thief in Syktyvkar temporarily made off with the road slabs, valued at 200,000 rubles, or about $6,095, but his joy was short-lived. Before being too tough on either man, just imagine the choice between standing in bread lines for days on end or being able to buy bread for years by stealing and fencing concrete road slabs or the remains of a bridge……..

- The heat is rising around the globe. Science believes that trend may be linked to the boiling blood that is fueling violence around the world. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley suggests that even small changes in temperature or rainfall correlated with a rise in assaults, rapes and murders, as well as group conflicts and war. Lead researcher Marshall Burke and his team postulated that given the current projected levels of climate change, the world is likely to become a more violent place. "This is a relationship we observe across time and across all major continents around the world. The relationship we find between these climate variables and conflict outcomes are often very large,” Burke said. He and his fellow researchers examined 60 studies from around the world covering data from hundreds of years and found a "substantial" correlation between climate and conflict. Their prime examples of the aforementioned correlation are an increase in domestic violence in India during recent droughts, and a spike in assaults, rapes and murders during heat waves in the United States. They also linked rising temperatures correlated with larger conflicts, including ethnic clashes in Europe and civil wars in Africa. Identifying the relationship is one thing, but explaining why it exists is a challenge Burke’s crew hasn’t conquered yet. "One of the main mechanisms that seems to be at play is changes in economic conditions. We know that climate affects economic conditions around the world, particularly agrarian parts of the world,” Burke continued. "There is lots of evidence that changes in economic conditions affect people's decisions about whether or not to join a rebellion, for example." In their findings, the research team estimated that a 3.6-degree rise in global temperature could see personal crimes increase by about 15 percent and group conflicts rise by more than 50 percent in some regions. Proving that theory will be much more difficult than formulating it………

- Muse is about to take over…..the town council in their hometown of Teignmouth, that is. The British rockers could make a temporary foray into politics by taking over the local council in for one day. Matt Bellamy and his bandmates are kicking the idea around as a way to engage younger voters in the region and help them take a greater interest in politics. Jeremy Christophers, the leader of Teignbridge District Council, said discussions for the band to run the council for 24 hours are ongoing, but sounded determined to reach an accord. "We're still in talks to get things sorted. It's vital for the council to engage with the younger generation,” Christophers said, noting that Muse has been on the road a lot lately promoting their latest album, which has plenty of messages about social and political issues. “Muse have been busy on tour promoting their album 'The 2nd Law,’" Christophers said. "The album has songs about global warming and sustainable living, which are important issues." The council leader first invited Muse to take over the running of the council for a day in July 2012, the same day that all three members of the band were chosen to carry the Olympic torch their hometown. "We had Muse here today. They're the biggest rock band on the planet. I've invited Matt Bellamy and the band to come in and run the council for the day,” Christophers said at the time. Since then, Muse have spent much of their time on the road in support of “The 2nd Law.” They are also set to celebrate their 20th anniversary next year and Bellamy has previously hinted that they will play a series of special gigs in 2014 to celebrate the occasion. What better way to commemorate that special day than to take over the local council in a wholly ceremonial and temporary manner………

- Dangers lurk everywhere in Central Park. Although one of Manhattan’s top destinations to visit for tourists and a popular spot for runners, walkers and bikers looking to escape the busyness of the city, the park is fraught with hazards, especially late at night. Wandering into the core of the park, far from the surrounding streets, is asking to be jumped, mugged or worse. Oh, and there is also the chance that a gang of badass raccoons will try to take you out. That is what (allegedly) happened to a street musician from Brooklyn who said she was attacked Wednesday night by a pair of raccoons in Central Park. The furry duo went for Taraka Larson’s leg, apparently trying to cut her down to size so they could finish their assault. "It was my first encounter with a raccoon where there was contact," Larson said. She was strolling around a pond near 59th Street, at the south end of the par, when the animals approached her and attacked. "He takes his little claws and was just gnawing on my leg, and I was like kicking my leg and he goes flying into the bushes," Larson recalled. Her leg bleeding, she ran to the nearby Plaza Hotel for help and the concierge shockingly did not order her non-upper class self to leave immediately, instead suggesting she might need a rabies shot. Larson was taken to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, where staff wondered if her story was accurate. "I'm like, I'm sure it wasn't a squirrel, I think I know what a raccoon looks like. They said it could have been a small dog, and I'm like, it was a raccoon," Larson said. She had taken a photo just before the attack showing the raccoons and showed it to nurses to prove she was telling the truth. Larson received  15 shots to her ankle to head off a possible rabies infection, but officials from the city’s parks department said there were “no indications that the raccoons were rabid.” They may not have been rabid, but they certainly have anger issues……..

LeBron as an NFLer, Taiwanese parliament fights and a Brooklyn Bridge beach

- As maligned as some of its smartphone upgrades have been, Apple has never really been knocked for its “Find my iPhone” service. Tracking down the list phones of absent-minded tech junkies is a useful thing, so much so that Google is launching its own take on the phone-locating service. The Android Device Manager, announced by Google in a blog post Friday, will enable users to track down not only their lost phone, but their tablet as well. The service will pinpoint the desired device’s exact location regardless of how near or far from the users it may be. Google users will need to register their device with the service and once they do, they will be able to log in to the service and see their phone or tablet’s current or last known position on a map. If the device is close enough, a person will then be able to make it ring or sound off at maximum volume, even if they (or the person who stole it from them) left it in silent mode. Should the device be too far away for a loud ring or blast of sound to do any good, merely knowing where it is should be a solid starting point for tracking it down. There could be an issue with calling the bar or diner where you left it because, you know, you don’t have a phone, but there are bugs with any new invention. In the event the phone has been stolen, there is also the option to quickly wipe all the data from the device so whoever has it can't abuse your accounts or run up charges. The Android Device Manager will go live later this month for any Android device that runs version 2.2 or above. Google’s official Android blog will provide updates in between now and the launch……..

- Taylor Swift just jacked some b’otch up and chipped her tooth. Unfortunately, that b’otch was Taylor Swift. The country pop singer managed to blast herself in the mouth and chip a tooth during a show last month in Pittsburgh. Swift, who definitely is not the first person to get into a fight in the Steel City and end up losing part or all of a tooth, admitted that she took a chunk out of her incisor after "uppercutting" herself in the mouth. She was cranking out one of her many country pop hits about a boy she used to love but broke up with in bitter and very public fashion when she brought the microphone up towards her mouth and accidentally crashed it into her mouth. In an incredibly hilarious twist, the song was “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Clearly, Swift should have known the microphone was trouble when she picked it up – HEY OH (insert rim shot here)! Footage of the incident shows the mouth assault unfolding and it seems unlikely base on the footage that those in the audience who paid $50 for seats in the last row had any clue what had happened. The next night, she addressed the accident at a show. "Tonight I was particularly hung up on not chipping another tooth like last show in Pittsburgh, definitely. It had a tip on [the tooth] and it doesn't anymore,” Swift said. “I try to be really quick with the microphone, so I'm not standing there just waiting to sing with my mic right next to my face, so I really quickly pulled my mic up to sing and basically uppercut punched myself in the tooth." This was far from the only ugly incident on Swift’s current tour; a competition offering the chance to have a picture taken with her backstage at one of her concerts has been cancelled because online communities 4chan and Reddit conspired to ensure a "fat old guy" named Charles would win……..

- Now THAT is how a parliament should work. Taiwan’s lawmakers know what’s up and there is no better topic to go nuclear on that a possible new nuclear power plant. Ahead of a vote that would authorize a referendum on whether to finish a fourth nuclear power plant on the densely populated island of 23 million, lawmakers on both sides of the debate went street thug on one another. Legislators threw punches and hurled bottles of water at one another and while it would have been great to see a few chair shots dished out, the fight was respectable – at least for a group of elected officials in suits. Footage from the fight showed as many as eight people involved in one scrap and two other men brawling on the floor as some of htier fellow legislators attempted to separate them. There were even cheerleaders for the brawl in the form of more than a dozen activists in bright yellow shirts who chanted and waved signs on a nearby balcony. In addition to the lawmakers throwing water battles, several of the activists splashed water onto lawmakers below. The issue at hand is a long-simmering one, as construction on the plant began in 1997 before being halted between 2000 and 2008 when the republic’s main opposition party Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in power. “The DPP believes the plant should not be built without a complete safety assessment and a national referendum is unnecessary,” a party spokesman said. “Commercial operation of the plant would threaten the life and property of Taiwanese and endanger the island’s sustainable development.” Opposing nuclear power has long been a plank in the platform of the party, which is against nuclear power generation on safety grounds, particularly given the high incidence of earthquakes on the island. President Ma Ying-jeou's ruling Nationalist Party argued in favor of the referendum on the ground that that the island will suffer disruptive power shortages if the plant is not completed. All-out scrum or not, the referendum bill is expected to pass easily because of a large Nationalist majority in the 113-seat legislature. If the Taiwanese parliament keeps this up, this fight and the battle royale that took place as MP's clashed over capital gains tax on June 25 could start the legislature’s very own fight club………

- Every inch of Manhattan real estate is a valuable commodity because someone can be extorted into paying five or six times its real value because IT’S LOCATED IN NEW YORK CITY! Even the tiniest apartment in the most God-forsaken neighborhood in the scariest section of Manhattan is insanely expensive and that trend extends to public spaces as well. It’s why a desolate strip of land along the East River in lower Manhattan may soon be transformed into a beautiful beach. Finding a beach in New York City usually means leaving New York City and heading out to Long Island or up to the Hamptons, but not if City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer are able to successfully execute their plan. The duo have teamed up to set aside $8 million for the project, which involves turning what is presently an inaccessible stretch of sand under the Brooklyn Bridge into a public beach and vibrant waterfront. Sure, getting people to go to a beach under a bridge can be a tough sell, but an historic and iconic structure like the Brooklyn Bridge might be a little bit more interesting to frolic in the sand underneath. In addition to dumping a sh*t load of sand under the bridge, the plan also calls for concession stands, a spot for fishing and a new kayak launch at 23rd Street that Quinn and Stringer hope will bookend eventual waterfront access from 34th Street to what they call Brooklyn Bridge Beach. Just don’t ask about parking for the beach……

- Fans and media have weighed in many times on how good LeBron James could be if he played another sport. Having Joe Six Pack in the bleachers or a columnist postulate how the world’s best basketball player would fare if he tried baseball or hockey or track and field is fine, but when a professional athlete from another sport weighs in, that’s something worth listening to. Dallas Cowboys receiver and diehard NBA fan Dez Bryant believes that James would have great success if he were playing in the NFL and his words make sense because James was an all-state football player in high school. Bryant said James would be a "beast" in the NFL if the reigning NBA MVP decided to exit stage left from basketball and change sports. The question was a hypothetical one, but Bryant’s enthusiasm was anything but artificial as he discussed the possibility of a 6-foot-9, 275-pound physical freak like James putting on a pair of shoulder pads and a helmet. The idea of James as an NFL tight end or receiver sat well with Bryant. "That dude is just that talented," Bryant said. "I think it would take him probably about a good two weeks to get very acquainted with football, knowing what he's supposed to do. I think that's all he'd need with his physical ability. I've seen a little bit of his highlights from high school. He's got the hands, he can run the routes, he's fast enough. He could play in this league if he put it all together." Although he has been troubled on and off the field during his own football career, Bryant is coming off a breakout season of 92 catches for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns. James is a self-described Cowboys fan and upset some in Cleveland during his days with the Cavaliers by wearing a Cowboys hat and visiting the Dallas sideline before a Browns-Cowboys game. Bryant has a point about James' combination of height, power, hands, speed and leaping ability and believes that with a little work on his technique, LBJ could play at a high level on the gridiron……….å

Uruguay loves chron, Google overhauls Zagat and Denzel Washington back on Broadway

- Not many people noticed when Google bought storied restaurant review service Zagat back in 2011. The tech giant hasn’t given anyone much reason to notice that it has been in control of Zagat since then, as the essential nature of the service has continued unchanged. Sure, Google integrated the Zagat data into products like Google Maps and search, but that was the extent of the “change.” That all changed Thursday as the company unveiled the new Zagat. The revamped version is launching in nine cities worldwide and for now, only those nine cities have rankings. Those for all other locations are gone and Zagat reviews are only available in Austin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. According to Google, the new Zagat will expand to 50 more areas soon, but angry users in other cities who lean on Zagat to tell them which fancy restaurant with $100 steaks and $1,000 bottles of wine is better than the other fancy restaurant with $100 steaks and $1,000 bottles of wine aren't pleased. There will be a searchable database of old reviews on the Zagat website in a few days, but that is not expected to be part of the app going forward. Instead, Google seems intent on turning Zagat into a slightly different kind of service—something more editorially driven and showing off more multimedia content. The Android and iOS apps for the service are getting a major overhaul and will give location-aware quick access to an aggregated review of a restaurant, along with the menu and OpenTable reservations. It will eventually include how-to’s, interviews and foodie news as well. One change that should be popular with everyone is Google removing the requirement that users sign in with Google+. Since no one uses Google+, taking it out of the equation was a no-brainer……..

- The NFL’s quest to polish the meaningless turd that is the Pro Bowl continues. An empty exhibition game that features a bunch of replacement selections filling in for the top stars who were picked for the contest but didn’t want to play going at half speed and not caring who wins is tough to fix, but the league and its players’ association are trying. The biggest change is eliminating the AFC-NFC format in favor of captains picking 43 players per team regardless of conference. Players will still be selected by the same means, but voting will be regardless of conference. Once the players are selected, they will be divided into teams by the two top vote getters, two celebrity coaches and two top fantasy football players from NFL.com. Additionally, kickoffs will be eliminated from the game as a safety measure even though punts will still happen. Not having a kick returner eliminates players like Oakland Raiders returner Josh Cribbs, who has been a perennial Pro Bowler and said in a link from his twitter page that the game was now "tainted." Instead of a kickoff, a coin toss will determine which squad gets the game's opening possession and the ball will be placed at the 25-yard line at the start of the game and after scoring plays. The kick returner roster spot will be replaced with an additional defensive back spot. In order to speed up a game that no one wants to see anyhow, the clock will start after an incomplete pass on the signal of the game referee except during the two-minute warnings and the final five minutes of the game. However, Changes will be made to the game clock during the two-minute warning, with the clock stop in the final two minutes of each quarter if the offense doesn't gain at least 1 yard, in order to encourage offenses to try to gain yardage at the end of each quarter. Defensive players should be fired up because they will now be allowed to play Cover 2 and press coverage instead of the man coverage that was the only allowed defense in the past, except for goal-line situations. The driving force behind the changes was NFL Players Association president Domonique Foxworth, who said players “we wanted to keep the Pro Bowl to honor excellence in individual performance and connect with the fans in a different environment.” Nothing about the Pro Bowl says excellence………

- Gilberton, Pa. was not on the map for anyone outside of eastern Pennsylvania before the past couple of weeks. Many more people know where it is now thanks to Police Chief Mark Kessler. Kessler is the maniac who went on profanity-laced video rants against those who disagreed with him on gun laws and suffered a 3-day unpaid suspension for it. The borough council in the coal town determined that the chief used "borough property for non-borough purposes without prior borough permission" when he made the video where he's seen shooting semiautomatic and automatic weapons. The meeting where the vote took place brought thousands of gun-rights activists to the town of 750, many of them toting their weapons. "I make no apologies and I have no regrets," Kessler proclaimed to the council after its 5-1 vote. He informed them that he would be back "30 days from tonight." Not content with those bold words, he later posted a statement on his website saying that Mayor Mary Lou Hannon and two council members -- Eric Boxer and Daniel Malloy -- "are conspiring behind closed doors for full termination. ""They needed to suspend first to allow themselves time to look for or make up any reason or lie," he wrote. "HEY BOXER, MALLOY , HANNON, YOU'RE COWARDS, YOU'RE HACKS, YOU PRETEND TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION,YOU SICKEN ME !" Hannor did say Kessler has her support for his freedom of speech. Kessler has served as Gilberton’s police chief for 14 years and argued that he was not in uniform in the videos and was exercising in his First and Second Amendment rights. When initially confronted with the outrage over his videos, he posted a backhanded apology that showed no contrition for his words and for railing against Secretary of State John Kerry over his support of a recent U.N. arms treaty. Kessler dared Kerry to come and take his guns and as the supposed founder of the Constitutional Security Force, a gun rights advocacy group, he clearly had no other option……..

- Denzel Washington is headed back to Broadway. The official confirmation hasn’t happened, but the Oscar-winning actor is already discussing his return while he is out promoting his new movie, “2 Guns.” Washington has reportedly agreed to star as Walter Younger in a revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark 1959 drama “A Raisin in the Sun,” a story about a black American family’s bid to emerge from poverty on Chicago’s South Side and carve out a better life for themselves. “We start previews in March,” Washington said. “I’m trying to keep up with my wife. My wife has been doing a lot more theater than me.” The production will have plenty of star power, as Diahann Carroll will return to Broadway after a 30-year absence to co-star as family matriarch Lena Younger. Carrol last appeared on the Great White Way in the 1982 play “Agnes of God.” She also won a Tony Award for lead actress in a musical in 1962 with “No Strings.” As part of his return to theater, Washington will also reunite with producer Scott Rudin and director Kenny Leon, who staged the hit 2010 production of August Wilson’s “Fence”s that won the Tony for best play revival. Along with Carrol and Washington, Anika Noni Rose, Sophie Okonedo and Stephen McKinley Henderson are also (reportedly) on board with a project that has been rumored to be on its way for months. It will follow Rudin’s fall production of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” into the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and previews will begin Oct. 1 for an Oct. 27 opening. “Betrayal” is also star-laden, with Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Rafe Spall on stage. Still two months away from the start of performances, it is already one of the strongest-selling plays in some time, with advance ticket sales reportedly exceeding $6.5 million………

- The fight for chron is on in Uruguay. Members of Uruguay's House of Representatives have passed a bill to legalize marijuana and now the measure moves on to the Senate. If it passes there, Uruguay will become the first country to regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana. The bill has the full support of the government of President Jose Mujica, who says it will remove profits from drug dealers and divert users from harder drugs. Passing a bill that would give the government sole control over the sale of marijuana is a forward-thinking approach in the sense that it turns the government into a ginormous cartel. Under the proposed law, the state would assume "the control and regulation of the importation, exportation, plantation, cultivation, the harvest, the production, the acquisition, the storage, the commercialization and the distribution of cannabis and its by-products.” Would-be chron buyers would need to register in a database and be over the age of 18. They would then be allowed to buy 1.4 oz. of the chron per month in specially licensed pharmacies or grow up to six plants at home. Sadly, foreigners would be excluded from the measure, so any stoners looking for a new utopia would need to not only move to Uruguay, but become a citizen in order to take advantage. A total of 50 of the 96 members of the lower house passed the bill after an intense 13-hour debate in the capital, Montevideo. Supporters of the measure argued that the fight against drugs and drug trafficking had failed and that it was time for “new alternatives.” "The regulation is not to promote consumption; consumption already exists," said Sebastian Sabini of the governing centre-left Frente Amplio (Broad Front) coalition, which has a majority of one in the lower house. The law could not come at a better time, as marijuana use has reportedly doubled in Uruguay over the past year. With an estimated 22 tons of ganja sold in the country annually, according to Uruguay's National Drugs Committee, the government clearly sees dollar signs dancing in front of its eyes and although opposition lawmakers have vowed to fight it even if it passes the Senate or not, Uruguay is clearly stepping its game up………..

Dinosaur brains, NBAers assaulting homeless dudes and French jewel heists

- Wiley doesn’t do refunds. The British MC may have only stayed onstage for just 15 of the 45 minutes he was due to play at Cockrock Festival earlier this month, but he clearly believes that 15 minutes of Wiley is equal to or more valuable than 45 minutes of any other artists because he is refusing to return his reported £15,000 fee for the show. Part of his problem may be that he hates festivals, as evidenced by him lighting up the Cumbrian-based festival and those attending the event, labeling them "pagans", after he was booed off stage on July 20. He took to Twitter to brag about earning £15,000 for a quarter of an hour's work and that didn’t seem to sit well with organizers, who then confirmed that they would be seeking legal advice and later confirmed that they have asked Wiley to return his performance fee. "They say it's a charity event and they want their money back," Wiley said. "I've just stood on stage and been coined and bottled. Obviously I'm not giving the money back." His attitude was terrible before even arriving at the festival and pre-show tweets featured Wiley b*tching about having to travel from London to Cumbria for the festival. He boldly admitted that those tweets may have contributed to the poor reception he received. "When I went on I knew some people were going to be unhappy," he added. "The escalation on Twitter is uncontrollable. The woman who was looking after us said if it gets too much, come off. After 15 minutes I looked at the floor and it was covered in coins. Any one of those coins could have taken my eye out." However, Wiley was not backing down from his use of the word "pagan" to describe the Cumbrian festival-goers, saying: "Pagan's just a word but they don't know that yet. It's a London thing. I don't want them to think I hate Cumbria." Add all of this to his Twitter rant against Glastonbury Festival, after which he left the site before his scheduled appearance and ripped the festival for being too interested in making lots of money and the festival circuit doesn’t seem like the place for Wiley to be……..

- France may not be known for securing and protecting its borders like a boss, but give the French credit for effort. Following the theft of an estimated $136 million worth of diamonds and jewels in possibly the world’s biggest heist, French authorities increased border security this week while the manhunt for the lone robber who made off with the loot continued. Investigators confirmed that checks had been stepped up on the country's borders with Spain, Italy and the principality of Monaco after Sunday's theft at the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes on the French Riviera. The value of the heist was officially raised to nine figures on Monday, surpassing t the $100 million raid on a Paris store in 2008. Lead investigator Philippe Vique, a prosecutor in the nearby town of Grasse, said officers have interviewed staff at the glamorous hotel and continue to review security camera footage for clues, although the man covered his face with a scarf, cap and wore gloves. “We are exploring all hypotheses,” Vique said. He confirmed that the robber entered through a French (ironic, yes) door at the side of the hotel on the famed La Croisette seafront. There were no signs of forced entry, so investigators are unsure if it was left open or whether the thief had cracked it open.

Once inside, the thief moved quickly to the temporary jewelry exhibit held over the summer by the prestigious Leviev diamond house, owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. He used a handgun to threaten three private security guards, two vendors and a manager of the sale before shoveling the jewels into a briefcase. In total, he escaped with 72 pieces, including rings, pendants and diamond-encrusted earrings. His take could have been larger, but he dropped some of the jewelry as he made his escape. Less than a minute after entering, the thief exited through a different French door and jumped about three feet onto the terrace next to the hotel before darting onto a side street……...

- Houston Rockets forward Terrence Jones appears to be a complete and total piece of crap. It’s a harsh description, but such is life when one is arrested after being seen stomping on a homeless man's leg. Jones’ chance to wear the silver bracelets and take a squad car ride downtown came Wednesday in Portland, Ore., where a police sergeant making sure people remained orderly while they left a downtown club shortly after 2 a.m. saw the 6-foot-9 Jones walk by a doorway where two homeless men were sleeping and yell "Wake up!" Maybe Jones was being a typical drunk a-hole and was too hammered to realize what he was doing and maybe he just has no soul and likes treating people he believes are inferior like crap. Either way, screaming in the faces of two homeless dudes wasn’t quite a-holish enough, so Jones then lifted his foot and stomped on one man's leg, said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland police spokesman. For that act, he was booked into the Multnomah County Jail on a misdemeanor harassment charge before later being released on his own recognizance. His victim, identified as 46-year-old Daniel Kellerher, had a minor injury that did not require immediate medical attention, Simpson said. Jones, a Portland natives, was selected by the Rockets with the 18th pick of the 2012 draft. He didn’t exactly turn in a superstar effort in his rookie season, averaging 5.5 points in 19 games. Neither his team nor his agent responded to requests for comment, which is probably wise because trying to defend or explain that kind of behavior is an exercise in futility and makes the defender in question look as bad as the piece of garbage they’re trying to defend…….

- Dinosaur brains have been studied quite a bit. But hey, there’s always another angle for science to use to justify throwing away research dollars and so Dr. Amy Balanoff of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and her team analyzed the skulls of feathered but flightless dinosaurs and learend that these animals (allegedly) developed bigger brains that may have paved the way for them to take to the air. The dinosaur brains proved to be very similar to that of Archaeopteryx, which is thought to be the first bird and lived 150 million years ago. The similarity suggests that other flightless dinosaurs may have already taken key evolutionary leaps towards becoming modern birds by developing flight-ready brains. The likeness is most obvious in the forebrain, which provides the superior vision and co-ordination necessary for flight. Characterisits seen in Archaeopteryx have been identified in a number of flightless two-legged dinosaurs, thought to be distant relatives of modern birds. Having an enlarged brain is another entry on the list of reasons these particular dinosaurs may have been the ancestors of modern birds. For the study, Balanoff’s team used CT scanners to examine the brain cases of modern birds, Archaeopteryx, and several non-avian dinosaurs. The resulting 3-D images allowed them to reconstruct the skulls' interiors and determine brain volume. Areas required for smell, vision and the cerebellum, which is important for the coordination of movement and balance that would have been required for flight were all studied and found to be similar. "Archaeopteryx has always been set up as a uniquely transitional species between feathered dinosaurs and modern birds, a halfway point," Balanoff said. "But by studying the cranial volume of closely related dinosaurs, we learned that Archaeopteryx might not have been so special." Dinosaurs and Archaeopteryx both had large brains in relation to their bodies and those bigger dinosaur brains appear to have possessed much of the flight controller wiring seen in birds even though they didn’t fly. "If Archaeopteryx had a flight-ready brain, which is almost certainly the case given its morphology, then so did at least some other non-avian dinosaurs," Balanoff added……….

- Birds crapping on unsuspecting people is becoming a huge problem across America. First, it was seagulls sh*t-bombing fans at AT&T Park in San Francisco when the birds came flocking in to chow down on left-behind food at the end of San Francisco Giants games. Now, there is a major issue with pigeons taking a dump on travelers at several elevated subway stations in Queens. The borough has a battle on its hands and one local politician isn’t afraid to call the issue what it is. “In all seriousness, we have a war on pigeon poop,” said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-26th). Van Bramer has launched a campaign to take down these winged warriors, labeling them “flying rats.” He will take no prisoners in this war. “This is a battle that we need to win,” he said. Van Bramer pointed to the bird feces that litters the pavement below elevated subway stations where transit riders are merely trying to get to their daily stops. The train in question is the No. 7 and there are three problem stops along its route through Queens: 46th Street, 52nd Street and Woodside-61st Street. “So, at least twice a day, Sunnysiders and Woodsiders are forced to dodge pigeon poop as if they’re dancing through rain drops,” Van Bramer said. That is a beautiful image and the power of the story is only elevated by Van Bramer’s own harrowing tale of being crapped on twice – presumably by pigeons – when he was campaigning for City Council at 52nd Street. As part of his anti-avian quest, he has taken a page out of Paris’ playbook and launched a crackdown on those who illegally feed the pigeons in a nearby park. Additionally, he has ordered metal caps to be put over concrete shoulders to eliminate perches, nylon spikes to be installed over pipes and low-voltage wires and ultra-sonic devices to be put in place at the affected transit stations to drive pigeons away. The 500,000 commuters who ride the No. 7 line daily are undoubtedly grateful……..