A porn biopic success, BlackBerry tries to stop failing and exiling cats in New Zealand

- Convicted criminals are awesome. Most of the time, they are the only ones with enough testicular fortitude to fashion a makeshift rope out of prison clothes and bed sheets, rappel nearly 20 stories down the side of a building to escape from a high-rise Chicago lockup and then, after being recaptured by police, deny that he did all of the above. Convicted bank robber Kenneth Conley is just such a man and just over one month ago, he and cellmate Jose Banks carried out their elaborate escape plan. The scheme miraculously worked, but Banks was caught two days later. Conley proved much more difficult to locate and he managed to elude capture until Jan. 4, when police stopped him outside a suburban apartment complex disguised as an old man and carrying a cane. Now back in custody and facing both a maximum 20-year prison term for bank robbery and a maximum 5-year sentence for his (alleged) escape, the former strip club worker has pleaded not guilty to an escape charge. Conley’s attorney entered the plea at a Wednesday arraignment while Conley, dressed in orange jail clothing, sat in a wheelchair because of a leg injury he suffered in the escape that apparently did not take place. Attorneys are renowned for their ability to lie or to tiptoe around the truth without admitting crimes that actually happened, but one of the more famous prison escapes in recent memory is going to awfully difficult to ignore because on Dec. 17, Conley was verified as being incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center and on Jan. 4, he was apprehended outside that apartment building, a location that does not seem to be a part of the Metropolitan Correctional Center or the Illinois correctional system. Well played, Conley, well played.……… 

- So long, all-you-can-eat buffets. Hello, rope courses and box jumps. Arguably the biggest (both literally and figuratively) draft bust in NFL history is on the comeback trail – panting, wheezing, soaked in sweat and doubled over with his hands on his knees, but JaMarcus Russell is on that trail. Russell, who hasn't played in the NFL since 2009, is the former No. 1 overall pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2007 and he literally ate his way out of the NFL. He ballooned to more than 320 pounds and also struggled with an addiction to codeine syrup. Eventually, the Raiders gave up on him even though the late Al Davis was loathe to give up on any player his team drafted. Russell dropped completely off the map, but he has reemerged and declared that he doesn't want to be remembered as a bust. Standing 6-foot-6, Russell reportedly weighed 320 pounds in the fall but is now working out at the TEST Football Academy, which has worked with several prominent NFL players. Russell is reportedly down to a slim and trim 308 pounds and is being mentored by former NFL receiver and fellow LSU alumnus Michael Clayton. He is also receiving tutoring from former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia on technique and Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk on reading defenses. Russell insists that he isn't coming back for the money or because he misses the celebrity and lifestyle of being a professional athlete, but because his is infuriated by hearing people talk about what an unmitigated disaster he was as a top pick. "The last few years, the things going through my life, football is my job, and it is how it feeds my family. People would say [that] I didn't love the game, but that pisses me off," Russell said. People are always saying that I'm a bust. I want to show them I'm not. I'm committed to this now." The key word in that quote is “now.” When Russell was in the NFL and had banked $39 million in three years, he reportedly did not bother to learn the playbook, work on his conditioning or attempt to be a leader. As a result, he went 7-18 as a starter, completed just 52.1 percent of his passes and recorded 18 touchdowns, 23 interceptions and 15 lost fumbles. Since then, he has been charged with felony possession of a controlled substance for a drink containing codeine syrup and has also clearly been close personal friends with hot fudge sundaes, Little Debbie snack cakes and chili cheese burritos………

- BlackBerry has been in a free fall for several years. The iPhone and Droid have blown right by its devices and all but the most hardcore BlacyBerry devotees who use their phones for business have abandoned what was one the go-to device in the cell phone world. There probably is no way to reclaim that market share, but BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is still trying and ahead of its BlackBerry 10 launch later this month for its new line of smartphones, the company announced on Wednesday the latest version of its mobile management solution for businesses. BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 is now available for download. It will run on BlackBerry 10 smartphones and is compatible with Android and iOS devices and its success is widely viewed as an important indicator of how BlackBerry 10 will be publicly received. That also means it could factor heavily into the long-term health and survival of the struggling company. BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 is currently available to government agencies and corporate clients and its key functions include a separation of work and personal applications on individual devices, as well as data, to make it easy for people to compartmentalize when using their phone for both business and personal reasons. To make the service (and its phones by association) more appealing, RIM has promised to provide better support for work email, content and secure connectivity to “behind the firewall” applications and data. As part of the package, users will also receive BlackBerry World for Work, the new corporate app storefront for BlackBerry 10 smartphones that allows organizations to set up their own app stores for employees. “BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 empowers employees to be more productive and better equipped to serve customers while it provides business and IT leaders with the confidence that corporate data is protected and manageable in the same way they have long enjoyed with BlackBerry,” said Peter Devenyi, senior vice president of enterprise software at Research In Motion, in a statement. If anyone is still listening to BlackBerry-related news, they may be intrigued by that………

- Get the hell out of New Zealand, cats, because you’re not wanted. Specifically, one man who believes the domestic cat should be eradicated from New Zealand because it is a “natural born killer” that is wiping out native wildlife does not want you around. That Kiwi is prominent economist Gareth Morgan, whose blog also describes him as a businessman, philanthropist and “motorcycle adventurer.” Morgan has launched the “Cats to Go” campaign, urging people to “make this cat your last.” He has also created a website to promote the campaign and on that site, Morgan proclaimed that cats were killing native birds “faster than they can possibly breed” in New Zealand’s cities. Without citing any actual, specific evidence, Morgan alleged that cats had contributed to the extinction of nine native bird species and were affecting 33 endangered bird species. “If we are serious about conservation, protecting and enhancing New Zealand’s native fauna, even supporting a predator free New Zealand, then we must overcome our denial and acknowledge that we are harboring a natural born killer,” he wrote. Because he’s a cat oppositionist and not a monster, Morgan doesn’t want any mass cat exterminations taking place. He simply wants cat owners to put a bell on their pet because g “they may be less than 50 percent effective but every bit counts,” have their cats neutered, keep them inside and not replace them when they die. He also wants to create a cat registry by passing new laws requiring cats to be registered and micro-chipped. “Your cat does a lot of damage. If you want to love your cat, that’s fine, keep him in your house,” Morgan explained. “(Cats) just love killing things – and that’s your cat we’re talking about.” As part of his plan, Morgan wants property owners to have the right to trap and dispose of any stray cat that may wander onto their property. Sadly, 72 percent of respondents to a poll on Morgan’s website asking  "Will you make your current cat the last one you own?" said no. Bob Kerridge, chief executive of the country’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, also opposes the plan and said the idea of getting rid of cats was “a bit radical, over the top and completely wrong.” Is it wrong, or might it simply be revolutionary……….

- Movies about the lives of porn stars: Next big trend in Hollywood or a one-time shot? Hopefully the answer is the latter, but there is no doubt that the new film “Lovelace” has found its mark after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival last night. The project, which stars Amanda Seyfried as the famous adult film star of the 1972 box-office phenomenon “Deep Throat,” tells the story of adult film star Linda Lovelace. It details her strict upbringing, her introduction to the porn business and her abusive relationship with her husband Chuck Trayner, played by Peter Sarsgaard. “Lovelace” debuted at Sundance Tuesday night and within hours, the film’s producers had reportedly closed a reported $3 million deal with RADiUS – TWC for its U.S. distribution rights. “I’ve always been drawn to complex, real life characters and Linda Lovelace is just that,” said Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company. “Amanda leads an exceptional cast in a tour de force performance that will leave audiences speechless.  We very much look forward to working with our good friends Avi Lerner and Mark Gill at Millennium on this highly seductive and triumphant film.” Yes, he just called a movie about a porn star triumphant and in a sense, it just might be. Lovelace later wrote a book chronicling her ordeal and became an outspoken advocate against pornography. Seyfried stars alongside Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, James Franco, Chris Noth, Sharon Stone and Chloe Sevigny in the movie………

Beer for hurricane relief, gold digging on asteroids and New Men on the Block return

- In a not-awaited development that no one was looking forward to, the New Men on the Block are making another comeback. The longtime man band is proving that its members simply have no other place to go in the world by reuniting for another run even though its members are now old enough to plausibly be grandparents. Nothing is sadder in the music world than an act that doesn’t know when to retire (see Stones, Rolling) and a man band whose members are now in their 40s is perhaps the saddest entity of all. Yet there are Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, Danny Wood and Jonathan Knight reuniting for a summer tour with fellow old-as-hell man-banders 98 Sync Town Degrees and quasi-man-banders and ‘90s has-beens Boyz II Men for a tour that will start May 31 in Uncasville, Conn. Of course, NMOTB have already attempted numerous reunions and their most ridiculous one was trying to re-package themselves by changing their name from New Men on the Block to simply the acronym of those words, believing that might throw people off the scent of who they truly were. Getting back together at this point is simply depressing, perhaps even more depressing than the aging, nostalgic women breaking out their best ‘90s outfit and dipping into their savings account to buy a ticket when this tour winds through their town. "It just seems like we are getting better and better," said NMOTB member Joey McIntyre, 40. "We're excited to get out there, rock out and have fun." In building interest for the tour, the group will release its first album in four years, titled “10,” on April 2. 2. "We have been doing this for almost 25 years," McIntyre added. "So it's important that the music and the lyrics speak to who we are as grown men." But that’s the problem, J. No one ever liked you as grown men. The girls who shrieked over you and your terrible music liked you because you were young, trendy for 15 minutes and they thought you were cute. No one wants to see a bunch of aged-out dudes singing crappy pop songs and dancing in unison with their frosted tips and matching outfits……….

- Rage against traffic cops is nothing new. However, staging an eight-hour assault on the headquarters of the local traffic police is a slight escalation of that concept. A group of suicide bombers and gunmen launched just such an attack on the headquarters of the Kabul traffic police on Monday, the second coordinated attack on a government building in less than a week. Five of the attackers and three traffic police officers were killed, Afghan interior ministry officials said. Having a second such attack within a week suggests that insurgents may be altering their tactics and seeking to test Afghan security forces in Kabul after a series of high-profile attacks on Western targets last year. Violence in the war-torn nation has gone from prevalent to inescapable in the past 12 months and observers have wondered whether the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will be able to manage once foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014. The first attack was carried out by six suicide bombers who attacked the National Directorate of Security (NDS), killing two guards. "It's very clear that more and more the Afghan security sources are getting into the lead, the more they are targeted by the insurgents," said Brigadier General Gunter Katz, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Monday’s attack started with three attackers detonating suicide bombs outside the main entrance and continued when the two remaining attackers sought to capitalize on the resulting chaos by storming the unfortified area, Deputy Interior Minister General Abdul Rahman said. Sporting automatic rifles, the second wave of attackers battled security forces outside the building nestled between two police hubs and close to parliament and a road commonly used by Afghan MPs. Thick smoke billowed skyward from the compound and an Afghan Army helicopter hovered above the scene as security forces returned fire with rockets and machine guns. The two remaining attackers were eventually killed by security forces, but the apparent victory left Afghan officials certain that the months ahead will be even more violent and bloody than previously expected………

- NFL draft hopefuls have a chance to sell themselves to prospective teams at February’s NFL scouting combine, but some of the more troubled entrants in the draft need more time to talk themselves up than a weekend at the combine affords them. Former LSU star Tyrann "Honey Badger" Mathieu is a troubled soul who needs all of the positive traction he can get with NFL teams after a troubled career that came to a premature end when he was kicked off the team by coach Les Miles after reportedly failing a third drug test. He considered transferring to a smaller school to continue his career, went into a drug treatment center in Houston and fell on his face again when he was arrested in late October along with three other former LSU players -- including quarterback Jordan Jefferson -- after police said they found marijuana at Mathieu's apartment. After the college football season ended, Mathieu decided to end his efforts to play again in college and focused all of his efforts on reaching the pro level. To convince a team to pick him anywhere in the seven rounds of April’s draft, Mathieu must repair his image and convince NFL teams that he has changed his ways. It’s not the sort of effort a player less than two years removed from being a Heisman Trophy finalist typically must undertake, but as Mathieu meets with interested NFL teams during his trip, it’s his most important mission. He knows he will be met with a healthy amount of skepticism from any team official he meets with. "They have every right to do that," Mathieu said. "I'm not really looking forward to people trusting me today or tomorrow. Trust takes time, especially when you've done a lot of things for people not to be able to trust you. It may take two years. It may take five years for people to start trusting Tyrann again.” One quick piece of advice for Mathieu: Not referring to yourself in the third person will be very helpful in convincing teams you’ve gotten your act together. Andy Harris believes this strongly. To prepare for the combine, Mathieu has been training in Florida and also flew to Arizona to work out with Patrick Peterson, a former LSU cornerback now with the Arizona Cardinals. He realizes that if he screws up his next chance for any reason at all, it could spell the end of his non-CFL football career. "This is my last shot," he said. "You've got to learn when to do things and when not to do things, when to party and when not to party. Every day is football. That's the biggest thing I got out of it. I'm just ready to live a football life." The words sound good, but words have never really been Mathieu’s biggest problem………

- If the world cannot agree on where to drill and mine for valuable resources on Earth, maybe it’s time to shift the focus to outer space. In fact, a new venture is already underway to extract mineral resources on asteroids. Furthermore, a second company has joined the race and the announcement of plans by Deep Space Industries to exploit the rare metals present in the space rocks makes the fight over asteroid mining a two-horse race. Planetary Resources went public with its proposals last year, but the company now has competition in a field some experts predict could grow into a trillion-dollar business. Scientists have expressed skepticism over the idea, but Deep Space Industries is undeterred and wants to send a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft out into the Solar System to hunt for resources. DSI wants to send out its spacecrafts, which it calls  "Fireflies,” to hunt for minerals. The crafts would use low-cost CubeSat components and benefit from discounted delivery to space by ride-sharing on the launch of larger communications satellites. With a mass of just 55 pounds, the lightweight crafts could be launched as soon as 2015 on journeys of two to six months. From there, DSI wants to launch bigger spacecraft - which it calls "Dragonflies" - for round-trip visits that bring back samples. The longer missions would take two to four years, depending on the target, and hopefully return 60 to 150 pounds of material from target asteroids. "Using resources harvested in space is the only way to afford permanent space development," said the company's chief executive David Gump. "More than 900 new asteroids that pass near Earth are discovered every year. They can be like the Iron Range of Minnesota was for the Detroit car industry last century - a key resource located near where it was needed. In this case, metals and fuel from asteroids can expand the in-space industries of this century." Both companies hope a steroids could yield precious minerals such as gold, platinum and rare-Earth metals………

- Get buzzed and help out a good cause. For beer-loving New Yorkers, that sounds like a winning offer and next week, it’s an offer they will be able to take full advantage of with a trip to Long Island. Trekking out to the L.I. is normally not on the to-do list for Manhattanites, but the chance to help out victims of Hurricane Sandy should be a solid draw. Starting Tuesday, a collaboration between eight Long Island craft breweries will serve as party liquid courage and part humanitarian aid. A limited-edition beer, an India pale ale named Surge Protector, will flow from the taps at Long Island bars and all proceeds from sales of the brew will be donated to Long Island Cares and Barrier Brewing Co. -- an Oceanside microbrewery that was destroyed by Sandy. The Tap Room in Patchogue and the Black Sheep Ale House in Mineola will serve the beer starting at an 8 p.m. launch party next Tuesday. The day after the launch, 22-ounce bottles of Surge Protector will go on sale at retail beverage centers for about $16.99 a bottle and be available on tap at about 40 bars across Long Island. Surge Protector is a collaborative effort by Barrier Brewing, Blind Bat Brewery, Blue Point Brewing Co., Great South Bay Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing, Long Ireland Beer Co., Port Jeff Brewing Co. and Spider Bite Brewing Co. and was brewed at Blue Point in Patchogue last month. Each of the participating breweries contributed a bag of malt barley to make up the base of the brew and the result was an India pale ale with "a big burst of hop flavor right off that dissipates really quickly and doesn't leave a bitter aftertaste," said Curt Potter, a spokesman for Blue Point. The final product was a 60-barrel batch, which yields about 100 kegs, and with only 2,000 bottles for sale, the brew is expected to sell out fast. According to Barry McLaughlin, a craft-beer specialist at Clare Rose, the idea for the brew emerged from a collaborative beer project the breweries had been planning for Long Island Craft Beer Week in May.………

Colombia's ceasefire ends, Seattle steals an NBA team and James Franco backs down from Bieber

- Voters in Nevada's Assembly District 17 should be extremely proud right now. They are represented in their state legislature by a man who will not be bound by the normal constraints of civilized lawmaking and is willing to kick a little bit of ass to get the job done if need be. Unfortunately, that is not how the North Las Vegas police see Democrat Steve Brooks’ actions. Brooks was arrested Saturday and charged with threatening a fellow state representative. He was arrested during a traffic stop at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the area of Carey Avenue and Mt. Hood Street and was booked on one count of intimidating a public officer by threat of physical violence. Sure, threatening an officer doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with being an effective legislator, but do you think other members of the legislature are messing with Brooks if they know he’s badass enough to stand toe to toe with an officer and not back down? The Assembly Democratic Caucus responded to one of its members being arrested less than three weeks before the 2013 legislative session by issuing a statement on Sunday saying, "We understand an investigation is currently ongoing and we have no further comment at this time.” When he’s not acting like a street thug or choking societal progress in bureaucratic red tape as a member of the state legislature, Brooks is a management analyst with the City of Las Vegas' Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Department. City officials said through a spokesperson that Brooks' case was being treated as a personal matter and would be "thoroughly reviewed." It begs the question once more: Why does everyone seem to have a problem with a man standing up for himself and being tough? Those are qualities that should be appreciated, not condemned………

- Dammit James Franco, what is your problem? While recording, producing and posting a parody of Canadian pop hack Justin Bieber's song "Boyfriend" is never the most dignified moment of anyone’s career, when one posts such a video, the one thing they cannot do is take it down and run away with their tail between their legs. That is precisely what Franco did just a couple of weeks after posting the music video to his WhoSay account. It was lauded by Franco’s fans and even received support from Bieber's ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, but according to Franco he was asked through private channels to take the video down. "I was asked to take it down by some people," Franco said. "Bieber didn't contact me, but I don't think he was too happy. I wasn't trying to diss him." If Franco wasn’t trying to diss the Biebs by rocking a hoodie, flat-brim hat and the singer’s trademark bangs, he definitely should have been. Whatever his motives, the video was at least slightly amusing and it managed to make Bieber’s music at least mildly entertaining for the most fleeting of moments. Whatever pressure Franco was getting would not have been a problem if he would have reached back to his role in “Pineapple Express,” smoked a blunt and told whomever was pressuring him to just chill. Heck, Gomez isn't apologizing for showing up over the weekend at a UNICEF charity concert and playing a cover of Justin Timberlake's breakup jam "Cry Me a River" and Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble,” so Franco should take her lead. Instead, he offered up the mea culpa and headed off to the Sundance Film Festival to promote three new movies……..

- Great. Now, not only can a lack of sleep make a person cranky and more likely to treat their significant other like sh*t, but now a lack of quality nap time may also leave the other person in the relationship feeling unappreciated. Researchers from University of California, Berkeley recruited more than 60 couples, ranging in age from 18 to 56, and asked them to keep a diary of their sleep patterns and feelings toward their partner. As part of the experiment, couples were videotaped while performing a problem-solving task. In the task, those who did not sleep well the previous night showed less appreciation for their partner. Why? "Poor sleep may make us more selfish as we prioritize our own needs over our partner's," says Amie Gordon, a UC Berkeley psychologist and lead researcher for the study. Simply put, Gordon theorized that sleep deprivation can leave couples "too tired to say thanks" and that can leave a person feeling unappreciated. She presented her findings at the weekend-long rager that is the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychologists in New Orleans. "You may have slept like a baby, but if your partner didn't, you'll probably both end up grouchy," Gordon added. "Make sure to say to say 'thanks' when your partner does something nice. "Let them know you appreciate them." She also cited the problems that can arise when a person spends the night battling a snoring, sheet-tugging partner and cannot get enough sleep to wake up rested and ready to start the next day. Sominex is always an option, right……….

- Like far too many people caught in the crossfire because Colombia’s Marxist FARC rebels and the Colombian government, a unilateral ceasefire declared by the rebels at the start of peace talks with the government is dead. The rebels declared the ceasefire over Sunday after the government refused to join the truce, the group said. "With pain in my heart, we have to admit that we return to the stage of war that nobody in this country (Colombia) wants," FARC lead negotiator Ivan Marquez said before entering the latest session of the talks aimed at ending Colombia's long, bloody conflict. The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, initiated the ceasefire when the talks began on November 19 in Havana and set a deadline of two months for the government to also lay down its arms. The demise of the ceasefire was not surprising because Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos rejected the détente from the beginning, proclaiming that the government would maintain the military pressure to keep FARC at the negotiating table. In fact, the regime went one step further by calling the ceasefire a sham to gain international favor and accusing the rebels of continuing their attacks. Government forces never even slowed their attacked and have continued to fight and kill the rebels in their remote strongholds in the jungles and mountains of Colombia. With the ceasefire dead, the rebels are now free to officially launch whatever new offensive they have been planning all along. Marquez refused to comment on any such plans and urged Santos to reconsider the decision not to lay down arms. Ending a dispute that has raged on since the formation of the FARC as a communist agrarian movement in 1964 with a verbally agreed-upon ceasefire was wishful thinking in the first place, as Latin America's longest-running insurgency would never go away that quietly. Colombian leaders say the FARC has been weakened by a U.S.-backed, 10-year-long government offensive, but its estimated 9,000 remaining fighters are still capable of inflicting damage on Colombia's infrastructure and impeding the government’s efforts to increase foreign investment in mining and oil operations. Land redistribution deals and other policy matters remain unresolved at the heart of the peace negotiations and no agreement is believed to be imminent……….

- Seattle appears to be on the verge of getting its NBA team back – sort of. The SuperSonics aren’t returning from Oklahoma City, but the Emerald City is about to rip another city’s team instead. Hedge fund manager Chris Hansen has reached an agreement with the Maloof family, which owns the Sacramento Kings, to buy the franchise with the intention of moving it to Seattle in time for next season. The other 31 teams were reportedly formally notified Sunday night that the Kings have been valued at $525 million and that the Maloofs and a group led by Hansen have executed a purchase and sale agreement. To move the franchise to Seattle by next season, the Seattle group must file for relocation by the league's March 1 deadline. Formal approval is still needed, but ownership transfers that reach this stage in the process typically go through without much trouble. The agreement would transfer the 65 percent majority stake in the Kings to the Seattle group headed by Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, with 53 percent coming from the Maloofs and the remaining 12 percent from minority owner Bob Hernreich. "The proposed transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors and has been referred to the Board's committee process for review," the NBA said in an official announcement Monday morning. The announcement did not address the remaining 35 percent of the franchise, which is held by minority shareholders, not the Maloofs. “We have always appreciated and treasured our ownership of the Kings and have had a great admiration for the fans and our team members," Kings co-owner Gavin Maloof said in a statement. "We would also like to thank Chris Hansen for his professionalism during our negotiation. Chris will be a great steward for the franchise." Sacramento officials, including former All-Star point guard and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, have vowed to keep their fight to retain the team and Johnson tweeted Sunday night, "Sacramento has proven that it is a strong NBA market with a fan base that year in and year out has demonstrated a commitment to the Kings by selling out 19 of 27 seasons in a top-20 market and owning two of the longest sellout streaks in NBA history.” Johnson is forging ahead with a plan to present to the NBA, but at this point it seems like a lost cause. If the franchise does move to Seattle, Hansen’s group intends to have it play two seasons in the SuperSonics' old home downtown at KeyArena while construction is completed on a new, $500 million building for which plans were approved in October………

Movie news, acid ballet attacks and Google's Green Lantern ring idea

- A low-budget horror movie bested a slew of Oscar contenders for the weekend as “Mama” claimed the top spot with a $28.2 million opening weekend. Second place belonged to “Zero Dark Thirty,” which dropped one spot with $17.6 million and has banked $55.9 in cumulative domestic earnings through five weeks. That 1-2 duo also means Jessica Chastain has a role in both of the top-earning films for the frame. “Silver Linings Playbook” was the weekend’s big winner, rising seven spots to third and making $11.4 million thanks to some serious Oscar momentum to raise its overall earnings to $55.4 million and counting. “Gangster Squad” slid down one spot in its second weekend, notching $9.1 million to make its two-week haul $32.2 million. The most successful new film for the weekend was the Russell Crowe/Mark Wahlberg drama “Broken City,” which slotted fifth on the strength of a $9 million first frame. “A Haunted House” was the second scary flick in the top 10, finishing sixth with $8.3 million for a two-week domestic total of $29.9 million. Seventh place went to “Django Unchained” and its $8.2 million weekend. That figure ups the film’s four-week earnings to $138.3 million. “Les Miserables” was close behind in eighth place, banking $7.9 million and increasing its domestic earnings to $130.3 million through four weeks. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” fell three spots to ninth with $6.4 million and has earned $287.4 million in six weeks of release. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the goat of the weekend as his new action flick “The Last Stand” bombed out in its debut and could do no better than the last spot in the top 10, earning $6.3 million. “Lincoln” (No. 11), “Parental Guidance,” (No. 12) and “Texas Chainsaw (3D)” (No. 17) all dropped out from last weekend’s top 10………

- Russia has been a violent place over the past week. First, a 75-year-old organized crime figure was assassinated on a busy street by a sniper and now, even the world of ballet has experienced a taste of that over-the-top aggression. Sergei Filin, a former leading dancer at the Bolshoi who has been the artistic director of Russia's prestigious Bolshoi Ballet for the past two years, had acid thrown in his face outside his apartment Thursday night, leaving him in danger of losing his sight. According to police, the attack was the culmination of a two-week campaign of intimidation. Filin was attacked outside his Moscow apartment building as he returned home. He had previously reported having his car tires slashed and his emails hacked in recent week and had received repeated nuisance calls from someone who stayed silent when he answered. His colleagues believe the motive could have been envy, rivalry or even competition for roles. After the attack, Filin was relieved to have survived and said he was worried he might be killed. "I was scared. I thought he was going to shoot me, honestly ... and I turned to run but he chased me down," Filin said. "He turned and his face was completely covered, either a scarf or some bandage like a mask, only eyes (to be seen)." Filin was returning home after a night out at another theater with Bolshoi spokeswoman Katerina Novikova and the two had parted ways just before the attack. "We just never thought that the war for roles - not for real estate, not for oil - could reach such a criminal level," she said. Friends, family members and dancers rushed to the hospital to support Filin, who suffered third-degree burns and will reportedly need at least six months to recover. Police have not made any arrests, but Filin believes he was followed home and that his attacker called his name before throwing acid on his face. With burns on his face and to his corneas, losing his sight remains an obvious concern, although doctors said they were hopeful that would not be the case. Filin was flown to Brussels for further treatment on Friday………

- He may be gone from Philadelphia and working at a new job, but former Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid doesn’t seem to harbor any bitterness toward the team that fired him at the end of this season. Reid, the winningest coach in franchise history, was fired after a disappointing 4-12 season to end a 14-year run in the tumultuous sports atmosphere in Philadelphia. He has been replaced by former University of Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and it was actually Reid who helped push Kelly toward taking the job after initially spurning the Eagles to stay at Oregon. Kelly told the story at his introductory news conference and explained the role his predecessor played in his coming to the City of Brotherly Love. "One person I want to thank, in terms of advice in this whole thing, is Andy Reid," Kelly said. "And the fact that Andy reached out to me and told me about his experience here just told me what this organization is all about. When Andy texted me (Wednesday) when I accepted the job, I told him I had really, really, really big shoes to fill. And in typical Andy fashion he said, 'Just be yourself and you'll be fine.' So I publicly just want to thank Andy, because that really spoke to me about what this organization is all about." Owner Jeffrey Lurie also praised Reid and cited the rapport he and other team officials have with their former coach. Lurie previously admitted that potential coaching candidates wanted to speak with Reid to get a feel on how the Eagles' organization operates. Given that the Eagles interviewed 11 candidates for the job, that’s a lot of calls to the former coach. Hearing Lurie say that “I have a close enough relationship with Andy where I can probably eliminate some candidates if Andy felt that they weren't good enough” was odd, especially with Reid now at work as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs……….

- Don’t go to any ProMedica campus in northwest Ohio or southeast Michigan looking to find a bottle of Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper or your favorite brand of root beer any time after Feb. 1, because your search will be in vain. Deciding to make their campuses a small slice of healthy consumption nirvana, hospital officials have decided to ban sugar-sweetened beverages at any of their facilities, including eleven hospitals in the greater Toledo area. Their concept essentially takes the idea of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who banned such drinks in excess of 16 oz., and supersizes it. According to an official announcement, the hospital’s goal with the ban is to improve the health and well-being of all employees, patients and those in their communities by eliminating beverages that have little to no nutritional value. Specifically, the ban means the facilities affected will no longer serve or sell drinks with high fructose corn syrup (sucrose) added. The new policy places a ban on all regular soft drinks, non-100 percent fruit juices, sports drinks, tea, coffee and energy drinks. The evidence is becoming overwhelming that sugar-sweetened beverages are hazardous to our health, contributing not only to obesity and diabetes, but to an increased risk for heart disease as well,” said ProMedica Wellness Medical Director Dr. Matt Roth. What will be on the menu with these popular options gone? ProMedica will continue to serve and sell water, low or non-fat milk, unsweetened tea and coffee drinks, 100-percent vegetable or fruit juices and diet soft drinks. The policy was developed with input from the hospital’s medical staff and will apply to all hospital cafeterias, café and gift shops, vending machines, patient and family food menus and even to catering at all ProMedica sites. Employees and visitors can still bring in any sugary beverage they want from the outside, possibly creating a black market for sugary beverages at ProMedica sites……..

- Google’s quest for world domination is a long and winding one, but no great quest can succeed merely on the strength of the logical and ordinary. Google realizes this and that is why the tech giant is thinking big, maybe even drawing inspiration from a certain ring-wearing superhero for an idea currently in development. A common problem for users of Google accounts across the company’s platforms is forgetting a password and to combat this problem, Google is working on a very unusual idea. Rather than password resets or security questions, the company wants to make logging into online services more secure across devices and remove password problems from the equation using a tiny microchip embedded in a USB-inserted "Yubico key" or even in a near-field-activated ring worn on a finger. Yes, a special ring just like the Green Lantern wears. Rather than the secure apps sometimes used to reveal login information when a person forgets it, Google wants to eliminate the password from the mix using hardware. "We’d like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorize a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity," said Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse. On some level, Grosse’s project makes sense because few things are more frustrating than waiting on someone who has forgotten their password to try and track it down on some sticky note they’ve jammed into a desk drawer somewhere, but expecting a user to carry around, keep secure and not lose a small USB plug-in or ring doesn’t seem much better. In fact, such a device could be lost just as easily, if not more so, to lose than a password………

An NHL apology, Scarlett Johansson on Broadway and a stink bug onslaught

- Chris Christie, beware. Christie has been über-vocal in recent weeks, speaking out loudly about the federal government’s lack of response to the needs of Hurricane Sandy victims. The New Jersey governor has sounded a lot like another politician who once presided over an area battered by a natural disaster: former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. Nagin denounced the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, but the federal government had its chance to reprimand Nagin on Friday when a federal grand jury on Friday charged him with 21 counts of public corruption including receiving thousands of dollars in kickbacks for city services. Nagin faces six counts of bribery, nine counts of wire fraud, four counts of filing false tax returns and one count each of conspiracy and money laundering. "Nagin used his public office and his official capacity to provide favorable treatment that benefited the business and financial interests of individuals providing him with bribery or kickback payoffs in the form of checks, cash, granite inventory, wire transfers, personal services and free travel," the indictment said. Federal prosecutors allege that in one case, Nagin received $72,500 in bribes, and $50,000 in another. Some of the alleged crimes stem from countertop company called Stone Age LLC that Nagin and his sons, Jeremy Nagin and Jarin Nagin, owned. The company provided granite for projects such as kitchen remodeling and according to the incidtment, in some cases Nagin received wire transfers and granite as bribes during his two terms as mayor from 2002-10. He also became a very vocal figure after a powerful hurricane broke local flood walls swamped most of his city, killing some 1,500 people and wrecking tens of thousands of homes. Nagin famously told federal officials to "get off your asses" as thousands of people who had been forced from their homes waited for help. Perhaps not so ironically, New Orleans is still struggling to bounce back from the hurricane and with leaders like Nagin having shepherded them along the way, it makes sense. Several local and regional businessmen have received deals to avoid charges and testify against Nagin, so the case against him is strong. Mix in the Nagin administration's former chief technology officer, Gregory Meffert, pleading guilty in 2010 to tax fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bribery in connection with a city program that received federal funds and the picture looks even bleaker for the former mayor, who faces up to 48 years in prison and fines of more than $1 million if convicted on all charges…….

- Something is likely to stink along the East Coast in 2013 and it won't just be the New York Jets. While 2012 was something of a break for residents of coastal states when it came to the menace known as stink bugs. The invasive insects from Asia exude a rubber-like stench when they’re crushed and yet, people tend to keep on crushing them because they’re pests. No one despises them more than farmers, who mostly received a reprieve from the bugs in 2012. Unfortunately, environmental experts believe the bugs may make a major comeback in 2013. Crop growers are already bracing for an insurgence of brown marmorated stink bugs, which can ruin e all kinds of crops, ranging from corn to peaches. Unfortunately, stink bug attacks can be impossible to predict because the pests can live and survive just about anywhere. Experts say there were two primary reasons 2012 was a lighter year for stink bug bombings: an early spring season that allowed crops to get a head start before the bugs could attack them and an unusually high mortality rate for the bugs in 2011. "For some reason that we don't fully understand, there was high nymphal mortality in the fall of 2011, so that translated into fewer adult bugs in spring 2012," said Chris Bergh, an entomologist at Virginia Tech University. Without a definitive explanation as to why the bugs died, farmers can’t exactly be hopeful about their prospects for a repeat in 2013. According to the U.S. Agricultural Research Service, insect populations have recovered and in larger numbers — six times more than in the previous year. Those bugs are hibernating in barns, fields and attics for now and when spring arrives, they will duel with farmers armed with new pheromone traps to give an early warning and EPA-approved pesticides to use on an emergency basis………

- Scarlett Johansson has long been an object of desire for every dude over the age of 10 because of her, um, significant assets. She’s further entrenched herself as someone for jealous women to look at with a withering glare by not only scoring roles in blockbuster movies while distracting husbands and boyfriends everywhere, but also by venturing into music and releasing an album with indie rock favorite Pete Yorn. She has also made runs to Broadway and even won a Tony Award for her role in Arthur Miller's “View From The Bridge” back in 2010. In between filming chapters of the über-profitable “Avengers” movie franchise and her other film projects, she is taking another side trip to the Great White Way with a stint in a revival of Tennessee Williams' “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.” Reviews of the musical and of Johansson’s performance specifically have been mixed, but there is no denying that the production has been a commercial success and popular with theater goers so far, having sold more than 9,000 tickets in its first four weeks. That number is even more impressive considering that top-tier seats are priced at a steep $94. Some critics have praised Johansson’s performance in the production, saying audiences should be pleased with the effort she delivers, but others have been critical of the emotional depth – or lack thereof – in her performance and questioned her ability as a singer. Then again, there will always be haters and critics……….

- Could it be? Is Zimbabwean dictator Bob Mugabe really agreeing with his biggest rival on the shape of a new constitution in a deal that appears to reduce some of the broad (i.e. oppressive) powers Mugabe has wielded during his reign of terror? The rumors may actually be true as the country prepares for (probably rigged) elections this year. Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai – his longtime political rival and the prime minister in Zimbabwe's uneasy ruling coalition – have agreed on the basic framework of the constitution after four years of petty fighting about its design. The two sides forged ahead in the negotiations largely because they were required by a bloc of regional states following Zimbabwe's violent and inconclusive elections in 2008, but the process appeared to break down several times over serious disagreements on more than 30 clauses, including those tempering presidential powers. While Mugabe actually following through on a promise is anything but a guarantee, the agreement on the constitutional outline appears to be a major concession on his part, the sort never seen as he has ruled with an iron fist since independence from Britain in 1980. Mugabe has shaken off attempts at judicial checks and held onto the power to declare war and dissolve parliament. According to Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga, the dictator agreed to relinquish some of those powers as part of Friday’s agreement. Matinenga said the new constitution introduces a constitutional court and outlines an independent national prosecuting authority while stripping the president of his or her power r to dissolve parliament, a body that will be able to revoke the president's declaration of war. Additionally, the constitution would also set term limits for the chiefs of the army, police and intelligence services. From this point, the document will move on to a parliamentary drafting committee and Zimbabweans could vote on a referendum on the charter as early as April. Mugabe’s latest five-year “elected” reign of terror officially ends in June and while he will run again, maybe this time he and his sycophants won't rig the vote to ensure that he remains in power at the age of 89. Either that or maybe he’ll do his nation a favor and shuffle off this mortal coil before that decision has to be made……….

- Like a cheating husband who buys his wife a 99-cent apology card at Dollar General, the National Hockey League is attempting to make amends after four-plus months of royally f*cking its fans over with a lockout that wiped out more than half of its current season. As the league returns Saturday night after a work stoppage that delayed the season and trimmed the schedule from 82 games to 48, many wondered how the sport could ever mend fences and rebuild the bridges it had torched with a selfish, out-of-touch lockout in which both sides – owners and players – dug in and didn’t seem all that concerned with the fans. On Thursday, in a gesture that is sure to warm the hearts of zeroes and zeroes of fans from sea to shining sea, the NHL took out full-page newspaper ads to tell fans it's sorry for the lockout. The ad says: "Like you, we've missed NHL hockey." It goes on to claim that the league is "committed to earning back your trust and support" with "hard work and unwavering dedication." It ran in about 40 newspapers across the United States and Canada and it would be meaningful if the people responsible for it weren't the same damn ones who created the lockout and kept hockey from happening for four months. It would be like Billy Joel taking out a newspaper ad to tell the family whose house he plowed his car into in XXXX how much he missed them having a chance to live in a house without a giant hole in its front wall. Yes, the NHL spent a few thousand dollars running this farce of an apology in at least one newspaper in each of the NHL's 30 team markets as well as a handful of national papers in the two countries, but the goodwill it likely generated in any of those markets can be measured in a much smaller number: 0………..

Cashing in on Mantei Te'o's hoax, Russian mob hits and Tom Morello helps out Springsteen

- That did not take long. Within a day of the story breaking that Notre Dame linebacker and Heisman Trophy finalist Mantei Te’o was somehow involved in an Internet hoax in which he claimed to have a girlfriend who died of leukemia, businesses and sports teams were looking to cash in on the scandal. Discount airline Spirit Airlines piled on first, posing an ad on its website proclaiming: "No hoax. These fares are really low," written in Notre Dame's blue and yellow just like the famed "Play Like A Champion Today" sign players tap on their way from the locker room to the field at home games. But perhaps no one has yet gone as far to the absurd side of the issue as the Florence (Ky.) Freedom, an independent baseball in desperate need of an attendance boost next season after drawing roughly 2,000 fans a game in its 3,100-seat ballpark last season. Even though the season doesn’t start until April, the Freedom know the push for getting people to give a damn about them begins now and that’s why they’re looking to cash in on Te’o’s story with "Manti Te'o Girlfriend Bobblehead Day." The promotion won't take place until May 23, but on that day the first 1,000 fans will get an empty bobblehead box, there will be a pretend kiss cam for fans to kiss their imaginary friends and there will be an imaginary food fight in the kids' area, as well as an air guitar contest. "There's not a lot to do to get attention in January," Freedom general manager Josh Anderson said. "You have to find some way to get the buzz." Even though this scandal won't be front-page news by late May, the team insists it won't pull the plug. "I don't know who we'd be offending," Anderson said. "It would just be isolated to the guy who made his season based off this story." Offending? No one, probably. But you also aren’t going to be entertaining much of anyone, assuming the team follows through on this pub grab when it becomes clear there is no publicity left to grab………

- They seem to be an unlikely pairing, but Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen are set to revive a partnership that has been seen on stage before. Morello joined the legendary rocker on stage at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. in December and appeared on Springsteen’s most recent album, “Wrecking Ball.” At the December show, he joined The Boss onstage for “Death to My Hometown,” “This Depression,” “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” “Badlands” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” songs he will likely play again now that he is set to join Springsteen on his Australian tour. Morello will fill in for Steve Van Zandt on the Australian leg of the “Wrecking Ball” tour while Van Zandt finishes filming Norwegian-American TV series “Lillyhammer.”
Van Zandt, who also played Silvio Dante in HBO’s hit series “The Sopranos,” is expected to re-join Springsteen on April 29 when the tour hits Oslo, Norway. Springsteen is once again covering much of Europe in support of an album, which makes sense given his love for the continent and especially Scandinavia. His famed 1985 show in Gothenburg, Sweden that left the Ullevi stadium shaking to its foundations fostered an abiding love of the city that still inspires Springsteen to visit it regularly whether he is on tour or not. The Boss will also play several gigs in the U.K. and Ireland this summer, including stops at London's Wembley Stadium and Glasgow Hampden Park………

- U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (R-Fla.) is a man of action. When there is a problem in his home state, Nelson doesn’t merely offer hollow words of false hope from his ivory tower perch in Washington; he steps in and does something about it. That’s why Nelson, the lawmaker who initiated the federal python ban, has joined the hunt for the troublesome snakes in the Florida Everglades. State wildlife officials have invited kooks/hunters from all across Florida to join in the hunt for the dangerous beasts and Nelson joined the fight on Thursday with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Ron Bergeron and a researcher from the University of Florida. He could have simply shown up and hunted without any fanfare, but what good would that do in inspiring the people of the Sunshine State to step up and follow his example? That’s why the senator’s office released a written statement in which he tried to position himself as something of an anti-reptile version of John Wayne, Jason Bourne and Rambo all rolled into one. “These snakes don’t belong in the Everglades,” Nelson said in the statement. “They’re causing real problems in one of Florida’s greatest treasures.” The Python Challenge – desperately in need of a corporate sponsor, by the way, based on that unimaginative name - is supported by the FWC, UF and the South Florida Water Management District. The challenge is designed to get the public involved in controlling the snakes and it began Saturday. Previous measures aimed at addressing the invasive snakes have fell short of eliminating pythons, which are believed to have been introduced to the swamps of Florida by pet owners who released the imported reptiles into the wild. “We’ve got the policies in place to help correct the problem, between the state’s regulations and the federal rules that Sen. Nelson helped pushed through,” Bergeron said.  “Now it’s time for boots on the ground.  It’s a great thing the state is doing here.” Boots on the ground and boots to reptilian asses………

- Avoiding smelly armpits is a goal nearly everyone would like to achieve. Sadly, deodorant and body sprays are the only options for many to cover up their under-arm stench. However, a new study from the University of Bristol in England has found a select few individuals with the ability to duck smelly pits naturally may exist. Researchers identified a gene carried by 2 percent of humans that prevents their armpits from producing an offensive odor. The rare gene, known as ABCC11, was discovered when the researchers examined 6,495 British mothers who have been part of a longitudinal health study since they gave birth in either 1991 or 1992. Of that number, 117 of the participants had the gene, which has been known for some time but never associated with sweating. Its link to earwax has long been documented: People with the gene variant are more likely to have “dry” earwax (as opposed to wet or sticky). Even after the study, researcher Santio Rodriguez and his team are not sure how the gene affects both earwax and sweat odor. They theorized that it has to do with amino acid production, given that rapidly growing bacteria give sweat its smelliness, and people with the rare gene variant appear to produce less of an amino acid that engenders bacteria growth. In the study, researchers actually analyzed how many of these individuals still wear deodorant despite their genetic good fortune. Seventy-eight percent of them reported wearing it on all or most days, versus 95 percent of the others in the study. That indicates many of them figured out at some point that they didn’t need antiperspirant or body spray to avoid smelling bad. “These findings have some potential for using genetics in the choice of personal hygiene products,” Rodriguez said. “A simple gene test might strengthen self-awareness and save some unnecessary purchases and chemical exposures for non-odor producers.” According to the study, this special gene variation is more common in East Asian populations…….

- If you thought you heard the sound of tattooed Russian men with bloody hands and automatic weapons weeping on Wednesday, you were not imagining things. The Russian underworld took a hit that day when an assassin’s bullet took out the underworld kingpin known as Grandpa Hassan. Wednesday’s attempt was merely the latest in a series of efforts to end his life, including one plot two years ago when assailants rented an apartment across four lanes of traffic from his son’s house and then lay in wait for three months for the man whose legal name was Aslan Usoyan. That attempt failed when the bullet struck Usoyan in the abdomen but did not kill him. Wednesday’s hired gun was much better at his or her job and fired from the House of Actors, a Soviet-era apartment building, apparently from the attic. The killing is already being called one of the highest-profile contract murders in the Russian capital in recent years even though Usoyan was an ethnic Kurd from Georgia. According to sources, Usoyan was walking out of an Azerbaijani restaurant where he often held meetings when he was shot and survived long enough to reach the hospital before dying soon afterward. No arrests have been made, but Usoyan had reportedly indicated to those close to him since the the 2010 attack that no matter what he did to protect himself, eventually someone who wanted to kill him was going to succeed. In a way, the shooting was a sort of homage to the public, bloody gangland wars in Russia in the early post-Soviet period, when car bombs were common and drive-by shootings dominated the daily life of the city. Usoyan rose to power during that era and according to experts on Russian organized crime, he functioned as something of a banker for many different gangs and also mediated disputes. Oddly, no one is quite certain how he became such a prime target while more notorious organized crime figures were not singled out, but he must have done something to piss someone off if three public assassination attempts in the final 15 years of his life are any indication. The best theory comes from prosecutors, who speculated that Usoyan may have been embroiled in a dispute with his reputed former partner, who is now serving a prison sentence in Spain for money laundering. Oh, and don’t look for police to wear themselves out trying to find Usoyan’s killer. “The fewer bandits, the better for the people,” said Aleksandr Mikhailov, a former deputy commander of Russia’s antinarcotics police force……….

Free Facebook phone calls, Pakistani corruption and NHLers change their violent ways

- Pakistani politics have enjoyed a compelling week…as long as you don’t actually live in Pakistan and rely on that government to effectively run your country. The nation found itself plunged into a fresh political crisis this week after its judiciary ordered the arrest of the prime minister over corruption allegations amid ongoing public protests. Sure, the country’s Supreme Court ordering the detention of Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others accused of involvement in kickbacks over the construction of power stations seems like a negative on the surface, but take a step back and reconsider. Who doesn’t love a quality surprise development in an ongoing investigation that threatens to unravel the entire government? Furthermore, this scandal has already led to incredible entertainment in the form of tens of thousands of protesters occupying streets in the capital, Islamabad, to demand the resignation of the entire government. Fueled by their rage, the protestors have vowed to remain on the streets in support of a populist cleric, who some allege is backed by the military. That rage should only be bolstered by the court’s decision, which is expected to underline the demands of of Muhammad Tahirul Qadri, who is seeking a crackdown on corruption and other reforms. Qadri’s supporters led marches Monday and Tuesday, promising to join local demonstrators to create their very own version of Cairo's Tahrir Square in their quest to oust the government. The scandal is also hellaciously entertaining because its central figure has a catchy nickname: Raja Rental, given to Ashraf by local media because of his alleged involvement in corruption over the introduction of so-called “rental power plants.” These independently-owned plants that sold energy to the state in a bid to close a growing demand-supply gap were introduced when Ashraf was the water and power minister. Twelve months later, a court ruled the arrangement illegal because of a lack of transparency. Ashraf becomes the second prime minister installed by the regime of President Asif Ali Zardari to face a court order. Ironically, the first was Yousuf Gillani, who was removed by the Supreme Court last year for his failure to investigate corruption allegations against Zardari. Enjoy this show, Pakistan……..

- British acid house rockers The KLF, who were also known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and The Timelords, may not be well-known to American music fans, but they have a unique place in music history for one reason: When they split up in 1992, they famously deleted all of their albums, meaning no further copies would ever be made available. Band members Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty led the charge to burn those bridges, which makes it decidedly curious that a number of the band’s albums appeared on retail sites and music streaming services late Wednesday night. Despite being deleted over 20 years ago, copies of “The White Room,” “Chill Out,” “The White Room (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack),” “The Lost Sounds Of Mu Vols 1 And 2” and “Space” all mysteriously appeared on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify overnight. Fans can both stream tracks and purchase the music, either in album form or as individual songs, and no one is quite sure who is responsible for the albums’ sudden revival from the musical abyss. A fan site spotted the six albums soon after they went up and a series of increasingly excited tweets drew attention to the subject. Ironically, the KLF’s sample-heavy, hip-hop-influenced style isn't that far off from much of the music that exists on mainstream station 21 years after their dissolution and perhaps a new generation can embrace their songs. Either that or maybe the members have realized they’ll never attain anything resembling their former fame now that they are individuals and have been forgotten, leaving them no choice but to launch a cash grab, er, reunion tour………..

- The four-month NHL lockout appears to have done some good for at least one player. Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres waited out the lockout just like his peers, but he did so knowing that whenever the work stoppage ended, he would be benched for the first eight games of the season for a carried-over suspension stemming from his hit to the head of Chicago Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa during the teams' first-round playoff series. Torres, an 11-year veteran with six teams, was originally suspended for 25 games after the hit, but the penalty was reduced to 21 by the NHL after an appeal by the players' association. After the Coyotes played 13 playoff games without Torres, eventually losing in the Western Conference finals to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, the remaining eight games of the ban were left in limbo by the lockout. Now that the league is about to start a truncated season, Torres will miss the Coyotes’ first eight games, after which he plans to return to the ice as a changed man. "I can't afford to go through something like that again," Torres said. "There are some things that I'm going to have to change if I want to keep playing in this league at a competitive level, so I look forward to it. I know I can bring more to the game than just physical play." Hearing a player known for his physicality claim that he will tone his brutality down is dubious, but Torres went on to explain that the sport has changed significantly in recent years and he must adapt with it. "Obviously I've got to realize that, and the utmost importance these days is the safety of the other players. I don't want to go through something like that again," he added. Of course, losing more than $170,000 in salary because of the ban probably helped him see the light, but if the end result is fewer needlessly violent hits to opponents’ heads in the course of play, then the motive takes a back seat to the end result…….

- Shameless publicity stunts take all shapes and forms. Sometimes, they involve a self-absorbed person humiliating or embarrassing themselves in the name of bringing attention to their business or cause…and sometimes they involve a business owner trying to turn some moronic, quasi-political “crusade” into a flashpoint of controversy. I Love Drilling Juice & Smoothie Bar owner George Burnett, whose Vernal, Utah business sits squarely in the heart of a conservative chunk of America, clearly had a two-point epiphany at some point in the recent past: First, his smoothie bar wasn’t doing as much business as he would like and secondly, inserting politics into any situation is a guaranteed method of starting a ruckus. Burnett’s brainstorming led him to a brilliant idea to get people talking about his little smoothie bar in Nowheresville, Utah: charge customers with liberal political leanings $1 more for the already-overpriced beverage of their choice and pretend that the surcharge is a way to make a point about fiscal responsibility. “We have a fiscal problem in this country. We’ve got to deal with it or we don’t have a country, so to kind of help make that point, just a little bit, I charge liberals just a little bit more. Really what I’m focused on is the fiscal differences between big government/small government and liberal ways, as far as entitlements and spending,” Burnett said. He claims the extra money will go to support the conservative Washington-based think tank, The Heritage Foundation, and maybe the pro-oil and gas activist is telling the truth. What is also true is that his drinks, , with colorful names like Drakes Well, Oil Creek and Old American, are all overpriced at $3.95 for members of the bar’s “Crew Team,” $4.95 for conservatives and $5.95 for liberals. The pricing structure has generated both positive and negative reaction on the business’ Facebook page, but any reaction at all is what Burnett is after……..

- Making its own phone wasn’t a wise choice, so Facebook is going for a more realistic option: providing free calling via WiFi between Facebook iOS users. Speculation that a promotional event on Wednesday was to announce a Facebook phone proved untrue and instead, the über-popular social networking site announced a new Graph Search functionality, including an update to Facebook Messenger for the iPhone that added the aforementioned free calling via WiFi between Facebook iOS users. Users can already make free WiFi calls via other clients, such as Skype and Truphone, but Facebook is used so heavily by so many people who prefer likes and status updates via their smartphone to real-world interaction that calls directly through the site should have significant appeal. The updated Facebook Messenger for iOS app adds a new Free Call button when users touch the "i" icon in the upper right of a conversation in Messenger. A few technology sites claim to have used the call service and report that the quality is solid and comparable to other similar clients. In the past, companies such as HTC have attempted to push the idea of a Facebook phone and Facebook itself has apps for every major platform. Because so many phone makers are already packing the market and countless others have crashed and burned in their attempts to compete with the Droid or iPhone, Facebook and its already mercurial financial state seemed to have little legitimate motivation to create its own phone. Free calling might be better because everyone loves free………

No "Jack Reacher" sequel, fighting Walmart in Florida and soot as a global-warming offender

- Carrollwood, Fla. residents have fought the long arm of Walmart and won…for now. Following months of heated debate and fighting over a proposed Walmart Neighborhood Market and Wawa convenience store, the project was denied by Hillsborough County commissioners in a 6-0 vote during a meeting Wednesday morning. Walmart attempted to salvage its plans by reminding the commission that the vote was not a "popularity contest," but the commissioners issued their opinion on the grounds that the proposal does not comply with future land use elements. While the issue could end up in the legal system if Walmart continues to fight the decision, for now the proposal to rezone the property at Floyd Road and North Dale Mabry from a mixed use that includes 17,000 feet of retail to 48,000 square feet of retail is down for the count. An overflow crowd of residents attended the meeting, many of them part of a grassroots effort that began last spring when news of the proposed project went public. Homeowners formed the group 813 CARE (Carrollwood against Re-Zoning) and when their efforts were rewarded by the commissioners, those in attendance applauded enthusiastically. "Just to know the commissioners heard us and they understand that it wasn't just about an emotional ‘No,' it was about there are very valid reasons why this is incompatible use for our neighborhood, so they listened,” said Leah Wooten, president of the Cedar Hollow Condo Association. Despite the vote, Walmart said it remains committed to the site. Prior to the meeting, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission recommended the county commissioners approve the project, which would consist of a 45,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market and 6,100-square-foot Wawa store and gas pumps. Traffic and property value concerns are the primary rallying cries for those opposing the project and from the sound of it, they may not want to let go of those issues just yet………

- The impossible just might be possible in Hollywood. A movie that had more than five people buy tickets to see it may not get an unnecessary, unwanted sequel just because that’s what the movie industry does these days. Even more amazing, this film is based on a popular series of novels AND it has a bonafide A-lister in its starring role. That movie would be “Jack Reacher,” the film fronted by the ever-insane Tom Cruise and based on a series of novels by British author Lee Child. While the film is still showing in theaters around the world, rumors are already swirling that there will be no sequel unless the project reaches the $250 million mark, something that can only happen if it does better-than-expected business in the Far East, where it has yet to open. Since opening last month, “Reacher” has been solid but unspectacular, bringing in $154 million worldwide, more than enough to earn back its $60 million production budget and marketing costs. However, for a movie that opened during the Christmas season and was pitched as a blockbuster, that total is anything but impressive and Paramount Pictures appears to be drawing a line in the sand when it comes to a sequel. Trying to explain why “Reacher” hasn’t been a runaway hit isn't as difficult as it might seem; fans of the novels have been extremely critical of Cruise’s casting in the role of reacher, who stands 6-foot-5 and sports a massive 50-inch chest in the books. Because the diminutive actor is nearly a foot shorter than the “real” Reacher and while in good shape, can’t match the hero’s impressive physique, many fans simply don’t buy his portrayal of a former military police officer turned vigilante who wanders across America as a drifter. Whether “Reacher” earns a sequel with a late-game earnings burst or not, Cruise will next be seen on the silver screen in “Oblivion,” a sci-fi flick from “Tron: Legacy” director Joseph Kosinski……..

- There will always be one. The one, of course, being the overly litigious kook who is looking to sue anything that moves both to try and win money they don’t deserve and get some attention in the process. Following that logic, it’s actually surprising that it took this long for someone to sue the San Antonio Spurs for allegedly violating the state of Florida’s deceptive and fair trade practices law. As a brief refresher course, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sent Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green back to San Antonio prior to a Nov. 29 game against the Miami Heat. Popovich took heat from the league and from fans for resting his best players for a nationally televised game, but his voluntarily depleted squad actually led most of the game before falling 105-101 to the Heat. Commissioner David Stern drastically overreacted by fining the team $250,000, but he’s not the only person who wants a piece of the Spurs’ ass for the decision to sit four of their best players. Attorney Larry McGuinness is ticked off as well and he has filed d a class-action suit in Miami-Dade County, alleging that the Spurs "intentionally and surreptitiously" sent their best players home without the knowledge of the league, the team and the fans attending the game. McGuinness claims that he, as well as other fans, "suffered economic damages" as a result of paying a premium price for a ticket that shouldn't cost more. It’s a feeble argument because players aren't guaranteed to play at any time and although teams charge fans more to attend games versus better teams, the Spurs were extremely competitive and nearly won the game. Who is McGuinness – or anyone else for that matter – to say which players comprise the best version of the Spurs and give them the best chance to win? Furthermore, Popovich’s goal is to lead his team to a championship, not make McGuinness happy. If resting three future Hall of Famers for the fourth game their team has played in a span of five nights sets the Spurs up better for a title run, then the coach is doing his job whether McGuinness agrees or not. "It was like going to Morton's Steakhouse and paying $63 for porterhouse and they bring out cube steak," McGuinness whined. "That's exactly what happened here." Not really, fool, but nice try……….

- The days of ducking blame are over, soot. For too long now, soot has not received enough criticism for its role in global warming. That should begin to change now that professor Piers Forster from the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds and his research team have unearthed the ugly truth. Forster and his crime carried out a detailed analysis of the case of soot versus the environment and emerged confident that a major effort in reduction could potentially gain the world several decades of environmental relief. Soon, known as black carbon by scientists, could have as much as twice the direct warming effect it was previously thought to have. Soot is believed to have a warming effect of about 1.1 Watts per square meter, approximately two-thirds the warming effect of carbon dioxide. However, the study points out that the chances of curtailing soot emissions could be easier than reducing carbon dioxide emissions. “There are exciting opportunities to cool climate by cutting soot emissions, but it is not straightforward,” Forster said. “Reducing emissions from diesel engines and domestic wood and coal fires is a no-brainer, as there are tandem health and climate benefits. If we did everything we could to reduce these emissions, we could buy ourselves up to half a degree less warming—or a couple of decades of respite.” The study followed up on previous research indicating underestimation of some regions’ soot emissions and pointed out that an estimated 7.5 million tons were emitted in 2000 alone. The biggest offenders, no surprisingly, were Europe, North America and Latin America, which combined to account for about 70 percent of soot emissions. Residential fires contribute heavily to soot emissions in Asian and African nations. Soot affects global warming because the small, dark particles comprising it directly heat the atmosphere by absorbing incoming and scattered heat from the sun and can also promote the formation of clouds that can have warming effects or fall on the surface of snow and ice, promoting warming and increasing melting by reducing light reflection. Cutting back on soot may not be a full solution, but this study suggests it could be a valuable tool in the battle………

- Who hasn’t wondered where the captain who presided over one of the biggest maritime disasters in recent memory is hiding these days? It’s been one year since the Costa Concordia cruise liner crashed in Giglio, Italy, with the audio recordings of captain Francesco Schettino arguing with rescue coordinators about staying on the boat and trying to help in the aftermath of the crash providing nonstop fodder for critics for 12 months and counting. Stories of him eating fine cuisine right before the crash and looking to flee the boat immediately after it began to sink have become critical fodder as well, but Schettino insist he doesn’t feel the least bit guilty about what happened that fateful night or about his reaction. He understands why some people "hate" him, but has no regrets about how he responded to he shipwreck that left 32 people dead. As survivors and victims' families gathered over the weekend for the unveiling of memorials to those who perished, Schettino was not on hand. He remained at home near Naples, where he lives under some court restrictions as he faces multiple charges of manslaughter, causing the wreck and abandoning ship. Laying low would be advisable for someone in his position, but Schettino wants everyone to know that if they believe he did not try to help the situation after he took the ship off course during a sail-by salute of the coast, they’re wrong. “Everybody believes that I was escaping from the sinking ship,” he said. “(I) tried to make an effort to make sure that I was the last one to leave the ship — from the sinking side." Schettino also believes other people should share the blame for the accident. He even argued that Costa Cruises told him before the wreck that he needed to share some authority with his well-qualified, lower-ranking officers who felt he was "breathing too much down their necks." Somehow, being told to share authority now means shoving blame off of himself and onto those same subordinates. On the charges that he fled the ship with many passengers on board, Schettino contended that the ship was simply too large to know for sure…….