Hungary rewrites history, "Homeland" gets a season debut date and the Cubs have mascot problems

- The Chicago Cubs have mascot issues. No, not the pants-less cartoon bear mascot they adopted prior to this season that alarmed and creeped out everyone unfortunate enough to experience his oddness. That official mascot, "Clark the Cub," is still an issue, but the current furry headache for Major League Baseball’s most consistently inept franchise is a fake mascot that has been engaging in bad behavior near Wrigley Field. The team has filed a lawsuit against several people it accused of rocking a Cubs hat and No. 78 jersey that has the name "Billy Cub" on the back and causing sh*t in the neighborhood that surrounds the stadium. According to a filed its lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court in Chicago against John Paul Weier, Patrick Weier and three other unnamed individuals, the fivesome has besmirched the good name of the Cubs by doing things like getting into a bar fight that was captured on video and posted online. This is an issue because the team says s the defendants are trying to pass their character off as an official representative of the team, and it accuses them of trademark infringement, injuring the team's reputation and unfair competition. Among the alleged infractions committed by Billy Cub are demanding tips for photos, making "rude, profane and derogatory remarks and gesticulations," and punching a man at a bar near the ballpark. Of course, all of this ignores the fact that people hate mascots and a brawling, F-bombing, crotch-chopping Billy Cub might actually be one mascot fans can get with. As part of the suit, the Cubs want payment for damages and legal fees, the immediate cessation of Billy Cub’s use and for the defendants to "deliver for destruction" the costume's components……….

- It makes such good sense that one has to wonder why it doesn’t happen more often. If a person is able to successfully rob a bank, why wouldn’t that person go back and knock over the same bank a second time once the dust settles? You know the security system, you know the layout and you know the best getaway path. You don’t need to tell that to a group of bank robbers in Northern California, as police are investigating whether these same outlaws who robbed a bank, took hostages and led a deadly chase and shootout carried out other recent bank heists in the same part of Northern California, including one earlier this year at the very same branch. The most recent heist bears striking similarities to a late-January robbery at the Bank of the West, but the second attempt at boosting the bank’s valuable contents turned deadly, leaving a hostage and two robbers dead, police said. The biggest commonality – aside from the location - is that in both cases, armed robbers made their getaway by stealing a bank employee's car. "Investigators have been looking at that January case really hard," officer Joe Silva said. The second robbery differed from the first in that injuries occurred and hostages were taken. As part of the investigation, police are searching for the driver of a dark-colored Buick sedan seen on video dropping off the suspects before the Wednesday robbery. Whoever drove the car ditched it and removed the license plates in a neighborhood about a 10-minute drive from the bank. According to investigators, the driver dropped off three men, armed with three handguns and an AK-47, at a Bank of the West in Stockton. The robbers then took three women as hostages, including a customer and two employees, robbing the bank and fleeing in an employee's SUV, forcing her to drive before shooting her and pushing her from the vehicle. The SUV ride was a full one, as a second employee was later thrown or jumped from the SUV at 50 mph amid an hour-long pursuit and running gun battle with police, according to Silva. The surviving suspect, 19-year-old Jaime Ramos, was arrested after using a hostage as a shield, while his two cohorts were killed during the gun battle. Maybe that’s why you don’t rob the same bank twice………

- HBO has stopped being a primetime tease. The premium cable network has at long last announced the premiere date for the upcoming fourth season of its hit drama “Homeland.” The terrorism-centric show will return on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 9 p.m., picking up where an explosive third season finale left off. Executive producer Meredith Stiehm recently shared some details about the role of the show’s central character, Claire Danes’ Carrie Mathison, in the new season. According to Stiehm, Matheson’s role with the XXXXX will shift dramatically as she is in Pakistan and finds herself acclimating to unfamiliar surroundings. “Emotionally, Carrie has stabilized, and the mental illness that we’ve dealt with, she has now dealt with. She’s going into this season very steady. She’s in a completely different role now that she’s overseas,” Stiehm said. “The baby exists as a marker for her, emotionally, but she was forced to leave the child at home.” While Matheson adjusts to a new role, two of the show’s better-known characters are expected to be conspicuously absent from Season 4. Jessica and Dana Brody, both of whom have played significantly into the first three seasons of the show, are reported to be AWOL this time around. Neither’s absence should derail the momentum “Homeland” has built and with consistently great writing, it would appear that there are at least a few more compelling stories to tell before “Homeland” joins the growing list of other successful shows HBO has put out to pasture……….

- Which side of history does Hungary want to be on? That depends upon who you ask. If the government is the one doing the answering, then the country that was a wartime ally of Germany was actually just one of many nations trampled under the feet of the Third Reich as it stomped its way across Europe, murdering Jews and oppressing so many others. To reinforce that narrative, officials forced through the completion of the main elements of a disputed memorial to the 1944 occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany, working in the middle of the night and guarded by police. Those precautions were necessary because the memorial has been widely criticized by Jewish groups and others who see it as an attempt by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government effort to downplay the Hungarian role in the Holocaust. When there is that level of blowback, folks do what they can to oppose a project and that often includes attempting to physically prevent its construction. The haters object to the depiction of Hungary as a victim of the Nazis given that it jumped on board the genocide train conducted by Adolf Hitler during his reign of terror. In light of their opposition, workers waited until after midnight on Sunday before they began adding the figures of Germany's imperial eagle swooping down on the archangel Gabriel, which symbolizes Hungary, to the monument, which has stood for several weeks. The display reinforces the government’s selective view that both Jews and non-Jews suffered during the war while ignoring Hungary’s sizeable role in causing said suffering by siding with the Germans…….

Spray cake, Indonesian corruption and indie songs about fat cats

- Grimes has clearly run out of things to write music about. Making that sort of assessment about a recording artist can seem harsh, but when a person is combining their future persona as Crazy Cat Lady with some of the worst lyrical content possible, it is time to drop that hammer of judgment. Grimes – real name Clare Boucher – recently posted a song online about the very important topic of her obese cat and how she decided to get Voignamir the help the chunky feline needed. The track, which was recorded in 2009, is a collaboration with Devon Welsh of Majical Cloudz, the person with whom she co-owned Voignamir. "Ooooh my gosh... found this song on my computer that me and Dev of Majical Cloudz made in like 2009 about our cat Voignamir who at the time was on very bad terms with us because we were forcing him to diet and so he was like, very violent but literally like 20 or 30 pounds,” Boucher wrote. “I don't know why it sounds like indie rock haha, neither of us really make music like this.” Finding a forgotten song on the hard drive can be a great thing, but not in this case. This is the kind of forgotten file you stumble across, open and realize in less time than it takes for a program to open why you never did anything with it in the first place. So why release it? "It's our summer jam so we figured we should put it out cuz I am very bored of waiting to finish my album b4 releasing new music haha,” Boucher said, nothing that she plans to release the follow-up to her 2012 project “Visions” later this year……….

- Election fraud is in style this year. It’s (allegedly) happening all over the world in 2014 and it’s currently going down in Indonesia, a place most people in the world cannot locate on the map and a nation where presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto alleged there had "been quite massive incidences" of fraud in general elections, so much so that he might not be able to win one of the most divisive polls in the fragile democracy's history. The Suharto-era general has touting himself as the likely winner, but he boldly admitted late this week that he might lose to his challenger, former Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, due to voting fraud. Nothing says great character and integrity quite like realizing you might lose an election you were sure you’d win and immediately reaching for the “fraud” button. "Half of the Indonesian people support me," Subianto said. "In my conviction, is it more than half, if there is no cheating." Those actually counting ballots and not pulling favorable figures from their asses claim to have carried out "quick count" of a sample of the votes that showing Widodo with a small but decisive lead. These quick counts have accurately forecast past regional and national elections in Indonesia, but they are in direct contradiction to Subianto's insistence that he was on course for victory. His claims have in turn sparked speculation that the superrich candidate might be trying to himself fix the results or will refuse to concede. Indeed, Subianto said he may well challenge the result in the Constitutional Court because of the alleged vote fraud. That would be mighty rich considering the court’s past chief justice is serving a life sentence for accepting a bribe to rule in favor of a plaintiff in a regional election dispute. This is one stinky electoral onion with many layers still to peel back………

- This is why Harvard exists. It’s not to cure terminal illnesses, create innovative products that help solve environmental issues or better the lives of impoverished people in Third World nations. No, the wicked-smaht folks who call Cambridge, Mass. home gather in their ivy-covered, hallowed halls every day so their amazing minds can find a way to speed the interminably long trek between Americans’ desire to enjoy unhealthy and disgusting food products and their disdain for actually putting forth any effort to get fat. Enter two Harvard students, John McCallum and Brooke Nowakowski, and a little something they call Spray Cake. It began as a class project, but has mushroomed into something much more. “Honestly, we were kind of shocked that it hadn’t been done before. In the process of getting the patent made we were basically looking everywhere we could, high and low, for anyone who had done something like this in the past, but we couldn’t find it,” Nowakowski said. “Spray Cake is essentially cake batter in a whipped cream-style can.” Yes, it’s cake without all the hassle of assembling the ingredients, mixing them up and waiting for the finished product to pop out of the oven – or even going to the store and buying an actual cake. “(When) you spray it, it comes out pre-risen, so it bakes in less time. It’s microwavable. It makes more consistently than traditional cake batter,” McCallum added. McCallum and Nowakowski admitted that they were surprised no one else came up with the idea, which is on point in a morbidly obese nation like the United States. Their creation is reportedly organic and has less chemicals than traditional box cakes and won top prize at the Harvard Innovation Challenge. The inventors have found a company to sell their wonder spray and hope to secure a local manufacturer to get it on shelves soon………..

- The NFL doesn’t have quite the same issues as the NBA when it comes to players leaving college when they aren't ready and chasing the dollars of professional sports in an ill-fated pursuit that ruins a once-promising career. That’s because the current NFL rules mandate that a player be three years removed from his high school graduation to enter the league, whereas basketball players can jump to the NBA one year out of high school. But perhaps the NFL feels it’s not doing enough to discourage players who need more seasoning to remain in college for their senior year, because the league is tweaking its pre-draft process to limit the number of underclassmen who can receive evaluations for the draft to five from a single school, with special exceptions possible. Currently, the league allowed possible underclassmen draftees to receive an evaluation on where they would be picked – anywhere from the first through third rounds, and whether a player had no potential of being selected. After seeing a record 107 underclassmen apply for this year's draft, and with 37 of them not selected, the powers that be decided something had to be done to prevent players from passing up the final year of being on scholarship and enjoying the college life. As such, the league's College Advisory Committee has developed new guidelines for players considering forfeiting their final years of eligibility. According to Troy Vincent, the league's head of football operations, underclassmen will be advised on their potential to be picked in the first or second round and could also be advised to stay in school……….

German soccer philanthropy, Australia v. the ecosystem and Billy Corgan b*tch-slaps Amazon

- Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has lots of opinions and plenty of contempt for the world. The bombastic, egomaniacal leader – and sole remaining original member of his band – has fired verbal salvos at hundreds of people in the past couple decades for various sleights, both perceived and otherwise. His view of his own importance in the rock and roll world may be bloated and disproportionate to what Smashing Pumpkins have accomplished, but that has never stopped Corgan from sound off when the urge strikes him. The urge struck this week when online mega-retailer Amazon allegedly leaked the track listing for the reissue of the Pumpkins’ 1998 album, “Adore.” The cash grab/re-release is slated for Sept. 23 and although a second release of an album never looks like a great move by a band, this one is amped up as much as a recycled project possibly could be. It will consist of 107 tracks on seven discs, featuring demos with Rick Rubin, home recordings, outtakes and live recordings. Corgan accused Amazon of letting the track listing slip in a Facebook post that has spread quickly. “Amazon decided to break an agreement and post track listing of ADORE first; despite assurances otherwise that asked us to wait," Corgan wrote. "OBVIOUSLY I've had the 'Adore' tracklist for four months, and could have posted anytime." According to Corgan, he wanted to inform the fans himself about the track list. He also views the incident as symptomatic of a larger problem in the music industry. "The record business as you already know instinctively is quite bad; and some would say music hasn't been in such a disadvantageous place in the culture since the selling of commercial music began in the early 1900s," Corgan noted in a longer post on Smashing Pumpkins’ official website. "And I for one have been very outspoken about what I would say are harmful business practices, the kind which place artists in an exploitative position visa vie their rights and ownership of their own work." Rage on, Billy……..

- Australia ain’t got time for hardline crackdowns on environmental abusers. The fun-loving blokes and sheilas from Down Under are always up for a party or just a crazy night at the bar, but when it comes to protecting the planet’s ecosystem, the interest level is low. The Australian Senate stepped up and took the first step to lead this charge when it voted to scrap a controversial carbon tax. The vote makes Australia the first nation in the developed world to scale back legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the conservative government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott couldn’t be happier. Abbott surged to power last year promising to abolish the “toxic tax” which he said threatened the world's 12th-largest economy. Like a good conservative, he’s a lot less concerned with protecting the planet than he is with protecting the bottom line and the senate delivered a jolt to that line of thought with a 39-32 vote to repeal the carbon tax. What does this result mean? Simply put, 348 companies will no longer have to pay a penalty on carbon emissions, currently just under $25 a ton. Instead, the government plans to replace the tax with a taxpayer-funded $2.4 billion "Direct Action Plan" that will pay industry incentives to use cleaner energy, but imposes no overall limits on greenhouse pollution. Abbott touted the repeal of the carbon tax as great news for families and businesses. “Scrapping the carbon tax is a foundation of the government's economic action strategy,” he said in a statement. The vote isn't playing as well abroad as environmental groups respond to one of the world's largest per capita greenhouse-gas emitters and its many coal-burning power stations giving a ginormous middle finger to the planet. A recent poll showed that 88 percent of Aussies agreed it was important for Australia to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide, but only 46 percent supported the carbon tax. In other words, we like the idea of being eco-friendly, but we don’t want to suffer at all to be part of the effort………….

- Watching Germany win the World Cup was an exercise in observing domination, with Die Mannschaft cruising to their fourth world title by allowing just three goals for the entire tournament. Although their country doesn’t have a reputation for having a great sense of humor or a ton of friendliness or charisma – an undeserved reputation on some level – seeing the Germans roll through the 32-team field in blitzkrieg fashion was impressive – and so are the post-Cup actions of starting midfielder Mesut Özil. Özil and his teammates not only won global acclaim, national favor and one damn nice trophy for their efforts in Brazil, but they also earned in excess of $400,000 each for their triumph. As most of them earn a nice chunk of change playing for their respective club teams, virtually none of the players was in desperate need of the infusion of cash. When the $400,000 landed in Özil’s bank account, his lack of pressing financial need met directly with a great effort he undertook before the tournament began. Prior to the World Cup, Özil generously donated money to pay for important surgeries for 11 sick children in Brazilian hospital. That would have been more than enough philanthropy in a country where he neither lives nor plays, but not for Mesut Özil. He took to Twitter just days after winning his first world title to announce that rather than help 11 children to correspond with the 11 players on the field during a game, he was aiming bigger. “Dear fans, prior to the # WorldCup I supported the surgery of eleven sick children. since the victory of the #WorldCup is not only due to eleven players but to our whole team, I will now raise the number to 23. this is my personal thank-you for the hospitality of the people of Brazil. # Bigshoe # Brasil2014,” Özil tweeted. For the math-challenged, that adds up to 34 children who will receive vital surgeries because of a man they may never meet and whose team b*tch-slapped theirs 7-1 in a World Cup semifinal. Helping one child for each of the 23 players on the German national team may not be the lasting headline from the 2014 World Cup, but it shouldn’t be far from the top of the list……… 

- There are no bad reasons to run across the United States. New Hampshire resident Jessica Goldman found her reason over the past three months and it drove her San Francisco’s City Hall to New York City’s City Hall, a journey of 3,200 miles that spanned 91 days, eight pairs of shoes and gallons of sweat. The run was to raise money for people with brain injuries, a cause that came to Goldman’s attention after she witnessed a car crash that left one man with serious head trauma. “There are so many people going through these struggles, and a lot of times it’s invisible,” Goldman said. “They definitely need some help and advocacy to help them get through that.” She planned and mapped her own run and averaged nearly 35 miles a day, including the final day of the run when the New York City skyline came into view. Upon arriving, she became a media darling for a couple of days and used her hard-won platform to promote her cause and let the world know about the struggles people with brain injuries have to deal with. “They lose their jobs. They lose their ability to use transportation and get around,” she said. “Just the strain that it puts on the entire family is just very overwhelming.” Goldman raised more than $25,000, according to Mary Reitter, executive vice president of the Brain Injury Association of America. Goldman’s trek was all the more impressive because she did it pushing a cart she used to carry her belongings through snow, severe storms and pesky bugs that nibbled at her exposed skin. Mix in distracted or uncooperative drivers who refuse to yield an inch for pedestrians and it was a harrowing venture at times. Many people followed Goldman online and some came out to support her as she became just the second woman to cross the country on foot solo and self-supported, according to USA Crossers, a group that records transcontinental trips. With her journey complete, she can put her firsthand knowledge as the owner of a massage therapy businesses to work to find some relief for her aching body………

Unions support restroom breaks, a Ron Howard Beatles documentary and Carmelo Anthony gets close to an actual NBA title...sorta

- Take that, French Muslims…who also happen to be incarcerated and forced to live in one of the world’s most interesting countries from a concrete cell with only half a baguette per day. You may have foolishly believed that you were entitled to and would receive the specialized meals that meet your religion’s dietary specifications, but you were sorely mistaken. Now that France's highest administrative body has suspended a plan to provide Halal meals for Muslim inmates at Saint-Quentin-Fallavier prison in Grenoble, eastern France, it’s only a matter of time before this executive hammer drops on other inmates making absurd demand about the gruel piled on their plastic trays at the prison cafeteria. The council of state decided that providing Halal meat was impractical "owing to its financial cost and high needs for organization,” saying in so many words that spending extra cash to procure and prepare a specific type of meat for a group of lawbreakers who are supposed to be paying their debt to society and not being catered to while behind bars is a bad idea. France's Justice Minister Christiane Taubira also argued the plan would infringe France's robust rules on secularism that ban religious expression in public places, which was a nice way of back-stopping against potential backlash for the decision. France's highest appeals court will make a final decision on the case, which came before the council after the request of a Muslim inmate last November. Given that France has the largest Muslim population in western Europe, estimated at some 5 million, the result of this case matters quite a bit………

- Carmelo Anthony may have never won an NBA championship and may have just signed a new contract with the New York Knicks that ensures he never will, but starting next season, the nine-figure earner will be able to tie himself directly to championship gold. Anthony and his Knicks teammates will have a gilded addition to their uniforms starting next season, as all franchises that have won a championship will wear a small gold tab on their back jersey collars. The story first broke after images obtained from an adidas retail catalog appeared online, showing a gold championship tab that would be the first league-wide championship badge ever used by one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. The rationale behind the gold tab isn't tough to trace, as the World Cup just concluded and the tab is similar to the way soccer teams denote World Cup titles on the uniforms they wear when they head out to the pitch for 90 minutes of scorless soccer followed by 30 minutes of scoreless overtime soccer and a totally arbitrary penalty kick shootout to end things. The NBA is clearly looking to thieve something great from another sport and make that something it’s own, further augmenting its quest to elbow past the NFL as America’s most popular sport. Soccer uses a star for each title, while the NBA will use a single gold tab regardless of how many tittles a team has won. Franchises with dozens of titles, like the Boston Celtics, will have the same number of gold tabs as one-time champions like the Portland Trail Blazers...........

- Ron Howard is a man steeped in 1960s entertainment lore and fame, so of course he is the right man to direct a new documentary about The Beatles' early years. Howard has signed on for the film, which will be produced for the Beatles' Apple Corps Limited company with White Horse Pictures and will be made with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison. The obvious question is whether Howard’s access to those who know the stories at the heart of the film will outweigh to puff piece it is likely to be for that very same reason, but it is expected to put a magnifier over a time in The Beatles’ history that hasn’t typically been a focal point in previous documentary or autobiographical efforts. It will zero in on the formative touring days of the band, from shows at Liverpool's Cavern Club and their time in Hamburg, up until their 1966 gig in Candlestick Park in San Francisco. "I am excited and honored to be working with Apple and the White Horse team on this astounding story of these four young men who stormed the world in 1964. Their impact on popular culture and the human experience cannot be exaggerated,” Howard said. After recently directing a movie about Jay Z's Made In America festival, perhaps Howard was simply in a musical frame of mind. In addition to Howard’s project, The Beatles' movie “A Hard Day's Night” was will be re-released in cinemas on its 50th anniversary. It was fully restored and after hitting theaters, it will be part of a limited-edition DVD and Blu-ray release to grab even more cash………

- Unions rarely fight for well-deserved rights to be enjoyed by hard-working, talented employees. Teamsters Local 743 is a rare and beautiful exception and its latest battle is one that every working man and woman should be able to appreciate. Employees at Chicago's WaterSaver Faucet company are blue collar folks with wants and needs, specifically the want to not urinate on themselves and the need to make a few trips to the restroom during the day. That’s not easy when The Man will only allow you six minutes a day inside the employee restroom and threatens to discipline you if you go beyond the allotted time. Yes, WaterSaver is timing bathroom breaks and tightening the noose….on employees’ bladders. Thankfully, the union has swung back, filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming unfairly disciplined 19 workers in June for "excessive use" of washrooms. According to the knobs in the company's human resources department, "excessive use of the bathroom is... 60 minutes or more over the last 10 working days," according to the affidavit. The drama began last winter, when WaterSaver decided it was an excellent use of corporate resources to install swipe card systems on bathrooms located off the factory floor on the grounds that some employees were spending way too much time in there, and not enough time on the manufacturing line. Why anyone would want to spend excess time in non-private, filthy restroom is unclear, but WaterSaver CEO Steve Kersten said 120 hours of production were lost in May because of bathroom visits outside of allotted break times. The thought that The Man was monitoring their toilet time had to be unnerving, so the company decided to incentivize the idea of holding it until your insides threaten to explode. WaterSaver has adopted a rewards system where workers can earn a gift card of up to$1 a day if they don't use the bathroom at all during work time. Stunningly, Kersten said only a few workers have earned them. He also claimed that so far no one has been suspended or terminated, although warnings have been issued as the first step in a three-part disciplinary process. Union leaders rightly claimed that said monitoring bathroom time is an invasion of privacy. "The company has spreadsheets on every union employee on how long they were in the bathroom," WaterSavers union representative Nick Kreitman said. “There have been meetings with workers and human resources where the workers had to explain what they were doing in the bathroom.” The prevailing theory, by the way, is that employees are getting around a ban on cell phone use on the factory floor by taking their iPhone to the bathroom stall……….

Elvis losers at the casino, Blink-182 is back and Chinese corruption

- Blink-182 took a long break nine years ago. There most recent hiatus will be much shorter. Back in 2005, the pop-punk trio took nearly four years off and pursued their own individual projects, only to reform in late 2008. They still didn’t release any album for three years, but did return together on stage as presenters at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Their first album in eight years, 2011’s “Neighborhoods,” didn’t exactly set the punk world afire, but the lukewarm response to the release hasn’t deterred a band that has been cranking out the same sort of punk-pop sound for two decades. Now, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge has confirmed that Blink are working on a new album with an Instagram post stating that the band have started rehearsals for their upcoming live dates – which includes a headline slot at Reading And Leeds Festivals later in August – as well as the successor to “Neighborhoods.” "Rehearsals start today," DeLonge said in the caption to an image of old photos of the band. "And yes there will be a new album. Sorry for the wait." Appearances have been sparse from Blink of late, although last month the band did announce a one-off London show in August as a warm up to the Reading and Leeds festivals. One key difference with the new album, whenever it may drop, is that the band split from their previous label, Interscope, in 2011. They put out the “Dogs Eating Dogs” EP the next year, but this will be their first full-length project since that time……..

- Corruption is never far away in China. For example, Chinese state television has posited a steady string of corruption claims and theories by a series of government officials in recent months and yet, the state-run broadcaster itself now faces allegations of graft in its own ranks. At least six people at China Central Television's financial news channel, including star anchor Rui Chenggang and two senior executives, have been arrested in the past two months and Rui was taken away just before going on air for a recent edition of his business news show. All of this is part of a massive anti-corruption campaign that has reached to all levels and multiple areas of the government, including a former deputy chairman of the body that controls China's military and a former boss of the Cabinet agency that oversees the biggest state-owned companies. Other state media have claimed that CCTV took bribes for favorable coverage and while that does obliterate a broadcaster’s integrity and credibility, it really shouldn’t surprise anyone in a thoroughly corrupt, Communist nation. Sure, Chinese newspapers, broadcasters and other media are owned by the state and can largely make their own editorial decisions, but they are always bound by official censorship guidelines. Men and women like Rui often take bribes from companies to bury news about scandals or speak favorably about companies. Allegations of corruption within state media have persisted for years, with bribes ranging from a few thousands of dollars to six figures. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who took power in 2012, has trumpeted ending corruption as one of his top priorities. At the same time, he has imposed severe restrictions on the media and ordered outlets to undergo training in Marxism to emphasize the ruling party's control. Rui may now be the face of that campaign, with 10 million followers for his blog and national prominence………

- As all of Major League Baseball pauses for a three-day break, its top officials on both sides of the aisle are talking big about a major issue. MLB commissioner Bud Selig and players' association executive director Tony Clark both want their league to eradicate the menace of smokeless tobacco and both view the recent death of Tony Gwynn to salivary gland cancer as a potential tipping point in the fight. Selig is not nearly as tepid at this point than Clark, even though he is dropping heavy hints about retirement and maybe be more focused on the early bird special at Bob Evans and his next game of shuffleboard than fixing baseball. Clark, on the other hand, expressed hope that smokeless tobacco use among players will diminish through greater efforts to educate them on the health hazards. The union head said the players are willing to discuss the issue in labor talks, but ass-hattedly insisted the use of smokeless tobacco should remain a matter of individual choice with no blanket ban. "We believe the numbers suggest that usage has declined significantly," Clark said. "It's declined in the minor leagues and the major leagues. Our hope is that we can continue to educate guys on the damage that dipping can do and they will continue to decide not to dip and chew. We give the players the opportunity to make the decision they're going to make against the backdrop of it being legal. At the end of the day, we don't condone it and they know we don't condone it." As Clark alluded to, smokeless tobacco is banned in the minor leagues, but MLB only refuses to provide tobacco to players and bans them from carrying tobacco cans in their uniforms or doing on-camera interviews while chewing. Selig can continue to point to those rules and Clark can crow about personal choice all he wants, but turning a deaf ear to the horrors that smokeless tobacco wreaks on the game and the mouths that chew it is indefensible for both………

- Rarely is there a lack of losers at a casino. However, those losers are typically the dorks in polo shirts or Hawaiian shirts who came to Las Vegas or Atlantic City with a surefire plan to beat the house and walk away with thousands of dollars more than they came to the casino with. Over the weekend, Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, N.C. welcomed in a massive share of tools and fools in pursuit of, you guessed it, a new Guinness World Record. The Guinness Book of World Records has inspired more insipid acts of idiocy among losers who know they have nothing of worth to add to the world but insist on trying anyhow by gathering with other like-minded knobs to all play the opening lick of “Smoke on the Water” or bark like a seal in unison while hopping on one foot and eating an Oreo. The record in question at the casino was as moronic as they come, with backwards-thinking dweebs looking to set the world record for the largest gathering of Elvis impersonators. Being an Elvis impersonator is embarrassing enough for anyone who knows a person, but getting together at some second-rate casino with 895 impersonators to smash the previous mark of 645 is on another level. Worse still, this wasn’t even a legit gathering of pathetic people who dress up like Elvis on a regular basis. No, the casino padded the total by giving guests free Elvis outfits to wear and while singing a chorus of Presley's “Can't Help Falling In Love.” It was dubbed the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest by the casino and ironically, the only ultimate part of the day is the ultimate and permanent shame that everyone involved with this train wreck should feel and eventually will when the reality of what they’ve done becomes officially certified by Guinness………

Church of England progress, "Game of Thrones" raves and underwater engagements

- Incoming SMU freshman point guard Emmanuel Mudiay is no longer incoming SMU freshman point guard Emmanuel Mudiay. He’s new first-year European professional player Emmanuel Mudiay and his reasons for heading overseas are deliciously murky at best. Mundiay, who some believe could be a No. 1 overall draft pick in the near future, had committed to play for Larry Brown over Kentucky and Kansas. However, his commitment wavered and over the weekend, Mudiay's mother and two brothers informed Brown and members of his staff in a meeting that he intends to play overseas. Mudiay himself hasn’t surfaced to explain himself, further adding to the intrigue, but his brother Stephane passed along quotes purportedly from his hoop savant sibling in which Emmanuel Mudiay stated that he was excited to play at SMU, but saw his mother struggling financially and decided to play for money rather than for free. There are also rumors that he could already have run afoul of the NCAA for the same reason and now, the athletic 6-foot-5 point guard will chase offers from various European teams and decide what interesting foreign locale he wants to enjoy for the next year. "He's the most special point guard I've ever seen at that age," Brown said of his never-was star guard. "He plays the right way, and God has given him incredible gifts. We all know [the NBA is] a point guard's league." Along with a family that is clearly heavily involved in his career, Mudiay will have plenty of help in his search for a team, as Under Armour, which sponsors his high school team, Prime Prep, and also Mudiay's summer team, Mo Williams Elite, is assisting in the quest to find the best temporary landing spot for him………

- College students spend much of their summer doing one of a few activities….traveling, taking a class they dread and want to be able to focus all of their energy on as a summer course, working at that killer internship and…..getting engaged underwater? That last entry on the list isn't for everyone, but University of Florida student Alex Montgomery, it was all part of the plan. Montgomery and his lady love, fellow UF student Lauren Schuhle, were scuba diving in Marathon when the perfect proposal plan came together. Montgomery went to great lengths to stage the entire event, setting up multiple underwater cameras to capture all of the action. The couple, who dated for over a year and a half, have always been a bit unconventional in their relationship and as a result, an odd proposal made perfect sense for the groom-to-be. “Everything Lauren and I do is outside, that’s the kind of couple we are. We like to get out and do adventurous things,” Montgomery said. “I didn’t want to do something status quo. She was so overwhelmed and everything at once. She didn’t cry right away, but she grabbed on to my arm, it was pretty cool and exciting.” Of course, with an underwater proposal, it’s tough to see if a girl is actually crying, so maybe next time find a drier location. The idea of videotaping the proposal was part of a social media-centric plan, as the video was quickly posted online and has drawn plenty of attention on YouTube. The entire family was in on the plot, as the scuba diving trip was a family outing that included planning assistance from several family members in Montgomery being able to bury a treasure chest under the sea containing a laminated flipbook with a message for the love of his life, along with a proposal banner - talking underwater can be difficult - and the ring………..

- Who’s ready to down copious amounts of Ecstasy, wear glowstick jewelry on every possible appendage, cram into some abandoned warehouse that’s 125 degrees inside and get their rave on “Game of Thrones”-style? The time has finally arrived for all tweakers who fit that description thanks to Kristian Nairn, better known as Hodor in HBO’s hit drama “Game of Thrones.” Nairn, an Irish thespian who clearly likes to club it up as often as possible, is cashing in on his quasi-fame from the show by embarking upon a DJ-ing tour that will see him make six stops in a place that always knows how to party and never turns down a good time - Australia. Somehow, Nairn is actually basing the name of his tour on the show that is the sole reason anyone knows his name, calling it the Rave of Thrones tour. The shows will be built around Nairn playing deep house, with a visual warm-up set from the fictional kingdom of Ego based on the popular fantasy show. As with any big event or tour, there needs to be time for a proper build-up and so this little ego trip won't kick off until Aug. 28 in Sydney, with dates in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Darwin, and the last set at Zhivago in Adelaide on Sept. 7. No word yet on which “Thrones” characters could make an appearance, but nothing goes together quite like fictional medieval characters and the most unlistenable, quasi-futuristic music imaginable, so this should be a party no one wants to miss………

- Look at you, Church of England. It’s only taken several centuries, but modest social progress is yours at last. The church has finally resolved one of its longest and most divisive disputes with an overwhelming vote in favor of allowing women to become bishops. The church's national assembly, anachronistically known as the General Synod, achieved the required two-thirds majority in each of its three houses and in total, 351 members of the three houses approved of the move, with 72 backwards-thinking ass hats voting against it and 10 abstaining. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby hailed the result as the completion of a process that started more than 20 years ago with the ordination of women as priests and called for the entire church to unite behind the decision. "As delighted as I am for the outcome of this vote I am also mindful of whose within the church for whom the result will be difficult and a cause of sorrow," Welby said in a statement.  British Prime Minister David Cameron also sought to attach his name to the occasion by calling it a "great day for the Church and for equality." Those who continue to oppose the measure contend that allowing women into such a senior position in the church goes against the Bible. What made this debate so contentious is that the Church of England represents diverse religious groups from conservative evangelicals to supporters of gay marriage and changing the policies of such a group is a sh*t storm of red tape, outrage and outdated beliefs. Two years ago, opposition from lay members torpedoed the same change that just passed and yet, women’s rights groups kept fighting. Back in 1975, the General Synod ruled that there was no fundamental objection to women becoming priests, but it took nearly two decades for the first women to officially be ordained. Now, Welby says he expects the first woman bishop in the Church of England by next year. Score one for long overdue progress……….

NFL felons, drone advertising and movie news

- What does the always-combustible situation in the Middle East have to do with France? As anyone who has spent more than a layover at Charles DeGaulle International Airport knows, France is home to plenty of Muslims and people who have called the Middle East home in the past, so what happens in the Gaza Strip does not stay in the Gaza Strip. France is home to Western Europe's largest Muslim population and largest Jewish community. With Israelis and Palestinians once again vowing to obliterate one another with various weaponry, pro-Palestinian Parisians are eager to make their voices heard. An angry mob of them tried to force their way into a Paris synagogue with bats and chairs on Sunday, brawling with security officers who blocked their way, according to police and a witness. A cynic might note that the unrest was caused by only a few dozen demonstrators, but those cynics ignore the fact that everything great starts with a few embittered souls who want to make a point. In this case, the synagogue clash came at the end of sizable protest in the French capital demanding an end to Israeli strikes on Gaza and accusing Western leaders of not doing enough to stop them. Prime Minister Manuel Valls decried unspecified violence that he called "inadmissible” at two synagogues and issued a statement in which he said, "France will never tolerate using violent words or acts to import the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on our soil." The biggest clash came at the Don Isaac Abravanel synagogue in eastern Paris, where worshippers were blocked inside while police pushed protesters back. Witnesses told tales of protestors descending on the building from multiple directions, picking up chairs from sidewalk cafés and swinging bats at security guards. Ironically, some 150 people were inside for a ceremony honoring three Israeli teens recently killed, said Le Bail-Kremer, a representative of anti-racism group SOS Racisme. The protest that spawned the synagogue attacks involved about 10,000 people and was largely peaceful. Thankfully, a few sadistic maniacs changed that boring scenario………

- The Apes have won. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” was promoted to the hilt and those promotional dollars were enough to garner a box office earnings win in its debut weekend with $73 million. Clearly, a movie with a $170 million budget needs to earn more than 40 perccent of its cost in its domestic debut, but a win is still a win. “Transformers: Age of Extinction” had just such a win last weekend, but its earnings fell off 56 percent this time and it slipped to second place with a mere $16.5 million. That gives the Michael Bay blockbuster $209 million in three weeks. Über-low-brow comedy “Tammy” snagged third place with $12.9 million in its second weekend, boosting the Melissa McCarthy-led film $57.4 million in its first two weeks. The impressive run continued for “22 Jump Street,” which slotted fourth in its fifth weekend, adding $6.7 million to its domestic coffers and bumping its overall American take to a robust $171.9 million and counting. “How to Train Your Dragon 2” claimed fifth place with $5.8 million and pushed past the break-even point with $152 million domestically through five solid weeks in theaters. “Earth to Echo” continued to succeed on a lesser scale with $5.5 million in its second weekend for a two-week bank roll of $24.5 million against a meager $13 million budget. “Deliver Us From Evil” earned a seventh-place result with $4.7 million for the weekend, giving the demonic flick $25 million in two weeks of work. It was a seventh straight top-10 performance for “Maleficent,” which banked $4.2 million to make its cumulative haul a whopping $222 million thus far. “Begin Again” was next on the list, securing ninth place with a $2.9 million weekend in limited release. That gives the indie flick $5.2 million after three weeks. “Jersey Boys” rounded out the top 10 with $2.5 million and inched past the point of profitability with $41.7 million against a $40 million budget. “Think Like a Man Too” (No. 11) and “Edge of Tomorrow” (No. 13) both lost their spots in the top 10 from last weekend………

- Drones are not going away. Thankfully, not all of them are owned by the U.S. government and not all of them are earmarked for spying on and/or killing people who are deemed to be terrorists or too closely linked to terrorists. Some of those drones are in the control of red-blooded Americans who simply want to chase their own version of the American dream by cashing in on a burgeoning industry. Philadelphia resident Raj Singh is one such entrepreneur and he dreams of drones flying up and down the Las Vegas Strip, mimicking larger manned crafts by flying advertising banners. The Federal Aviation Administration isn't down with Singh’s vision and is hiding behind the totally lame rationale that commercially flown unmanned drone flights are illegal. Singh hatched his plan after seeing a story about Amazon’s plans to eventually expand its online empire by using drones to deliver orders. He created his own company, DroneCast, and set about making it a profitable enterprise. "We have 15 employees and I just hired a president who used to work at Merrill Lynch, used to be an executive at Merrill Lynch. Now we have him at DroneCast," Singh said. This young businessman held a demonstration on the Strip last week, flying in the face of FAA regulations prohibiting anyone from flying an unmanned craft for commercial purposes. Just don’t tell Singh that he’s breaking the law because he is having none of it. "We are not violating any laws. There are policies in place that are not enforceable because they are not laws," Singh said. "They basically just say fly under 400 feet, five miles from airports.” As per the FAA Modernization Act of 2012, anyone who wishes to operate unmanned aircraft is subject to FAA regulation. Time will tell if Singh is right or wrong, but he insisted that if the FAA bureaucrats crack down, he will back down. "If the FAA comes out and says you got to do this or this, we'll comply. We want to show everybody that drones can be used responsibly, and we're going to set that standard," he said. Until then, DroneCast will keep chugging toward its projected earnings of $1.5 million this year………

- Get it, Baltimore Ravens. That title of NFL’s most wanted team is there for the taking and your roster of aspiring felons and straight-up knuckleheads is doing work this offseason and the rest of the league simply cannot keep pace. Big ups to Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith for joining the growing line of Baltimore players in the mug shot line with his arrest for misdemeanor disorderly conduct late Saturday night after an alleged incident at suburban Baltimore bar. Smith, who is considered one of the top young cornerbacks in the game, racked up his first arrest as a professional, but did have off-the-field issues at Colorado that caused him to slide to No. 27 overall in the draft three years ago. He becomes the fifth Ravens player arrested this offseason and there is nothing sophisticated or intelligent about his arrest. According to police, Smith was helping an intoxicated woman in the bathroom of a Towson, Md. bar when she because nauseated. Up to that point, he had yet to do anything worthy of an arrest even though he was in a restroom with a person of the opposite sex. The issue arose when medics arrived and rather than allow them to do their job and handle the situation, Smith refused multiple orders from officers to step aside. He informed them that he was helping the woman and didn’t need their assistance. He bristled when officers asked him to step into the hallway, according to police. Thankfully, he didn’t exacerbate his problems by fighting further but was nonetheless detained and issued a citation. This ordinarily wouldn’t be a major point of concern for the team, but arrests tend to compound headaches when running back Ray Rice (felony aggravated assault, accepted into pretrial diversion program), offensive lineman Jah Reid (misdemeanor battery, accepted into pretrial diversion program), wide receiver Deonte Thompson (felony possession of marijuana, charges dropped) and rookie running back Lorenzo Taliaferro (misdemeanor destruction of property, drunk and disorderly) have already dinged the police blotter in recent months………..

Winnipeg v. bus musicians, Josh Homme vs. the haters and Twitter betters college football

- Monks and beer seem like a natural fit…right? No one thinks of the dudes with shaved heads in brown robes and doesn’t automatically think of the stereotypical home brew guy who likes to make his own craft beer and then tell everyone how awesome and distinct his brand of brew is. In truth, Trappist monks have been brewing beer in Europe for centuries and the concept simply has never caught on the way it should in the United States…until now. Thanks to the Trappist monks at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass., brewskis and men of God are intermingling in the U.S. of A in a big way and it’s all in the name of keeping the doors of their monastery open. For six decades and counting, the monks relied on jams and jellies to support the monastery, but their business model became an outdated relic and they realized the "expense line was rising at a faster rate than our income," Friar Issac said. At that point, the friars sat down and honestly assessed their situation. They elected to embrace their heritage and start their own brewery. It was no simple endeavor and putting the plan into motion took some time. The brewery finally opened for business earlier this year, becoming the first Trappist brewery outside of Europe. Its operations are based on sustainability and green practices, with the spent grain from the brewing process used by local farmers as animal feed and compost. The installation of solar panels on the brewery’s roof will further augment the enviro-friendly approach and Friar Isaac noted that the entire process is actually very in sync with the monks' "quiet, meditative way.” "We really brew on the practical level to sustain a way of life," he said. "Plus it brightens up Sunday suppers,” he said……….

- Twitter is used for a lot of destructive and damaging activities – it’s about time someone found a way to utilize the social media site for something productive. Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin and his Kansas State counterpart John Currie treaded new ground this week by turning some good-natured Twitter banter into a home-and-home football series to be played in Manhattan, Kansas, in 2018 and in Starkville, Mississippi, in 2019. "It takes a pretty savvy partner," Stricklin said. "John's a pretty sharp guy. It was kind of a fun way to do it. There's a younger generation of guys out there that communicate through these mediums." The back and forth commenced Friday when Currie, participating in a Chillin For Charity video, was challenged by Stricklin to contribute to the charity. The charity itself was a good enough purpose for some playful, productive banter, as all of its proceeds go to the Kay Yow Foundation, which raises money for breast cancer research and is named in honor of the former North Carolina State women's basketball coach. Currie challenged Stricklin and other ADs to contribute and at the end of the video, he addressed Stricklin. “We think that Mississippi State ought to come here at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and play a little football sometime,” Currie said. He tagged Stricklin in his post and since the two had already had preliminary discussions in the past about a possible series, both decided it was time to take the chance in front of them. Stricklin’s initial offer for games in 2016 and 2017 didn’t work, but the later dates proved to be feasible for both. "Mississippi State and Kansas State are two of the leading research universities in the country," Stricklin said. "Even though we're land-grant universities, we're both tech-savvy. You have to be able to run with the advance crowd." For once, Twitter wins the day……..

- Canada has produced some truly…umm, memorable music over the years. Loverboy, Barenaked Ladies, Bryan Adams…the list goes on and on and on. So how is the next great Canadian musical icon supposed to emerge if the powers that be in Winnipeg are going to stifle his or her talents on one of the primary places where the world could hear a joyful song? Yes, Winnipeg’s executive policy committee has approved a new transit bylaw Wednesday that says if a person sings on a city bus, they could be fined $100 for their offense. t. The committee actually voted to pass several transit rules along with the tickets-for-tunes policy, including fines for not paying bus fare, carrying a firearm, urinating, and spraying graffiti on a city bus, but the new singing rule is the one rightfully garnering the most attention. This overreaching rule not only bans singing on buses, but provides for the same fine for passengers who play an instrument or offer any live musical performance on a city bus without permission from Winnipeg Transit. The troubadours of Winnipeg are squarely in the crosshairs of The Man here and the committee clearly doesn’t care what the public thinks because an initial public poll showed that 76 percent of respondents did not agree with the rule change. The ass-hatted among the respondents noted that loud music and singing can disrupt others' rides, as well as the driver's concentration, but these people are ass hats. “The intent of the proposed Transit by-Law is to provide improvements to Transit safety and security, and to provide a mechanism to manage disruptive behavior on the Transit system,” Winnipeg Transit director Dave Wardrop said, adding that the rule could be tweaked. “With some revised wording, we expect that the purpose of the proposed by-law will be clearer that the intent is not to limit freedom of expression.” Should the rule stand as is, perhaps it’s time for Wippipeg wannabe rock stars to channel their inner Rosa Parks and take the fight to the filthy, stained, gum-caked floors of their primary mode of transportation……….

- Josh Homme does not appreciate being labeled the guy who changed Arctic Monkeys' sound. Homme, who worked with the band on their third album “Humbug” and also provided backing vocals on the track “Knee Socks” on their much-praised release “AM” last year, has heard the suggestions that he was responsible for the band’s altered sound to a more plodding, heavy style on recent albums. "I think there's a misconception that I slowed them down or weirded them out when we worked together," Homme said. "They've been playing this dangerous game of changing on every record, reaching like a rock climber for their next grip. I just love them as people." That’s good news because caring about a band as people doesn’t happen often enough and in no way does it sound like overly praising show business talk that doesn’t have much actual weight behind it. Homme is correct when he says that Arctic Monkeys have altered their sound significantly from album to album and each of their four releases has sported a different approach as they have gone from quirky indie/alternative band from Sheffield, England to mainstream indie favorites whose music consistently appears on soundtracks for commercials and TV shows. As for Homme’s primary band, Queens of the Stone Age, the plan is reportedly to begin work on a follow-up to last year’s “Like Clockwork,” with Homme insisting the band has "more than enough songs" for a new album………

Polish incompetence, Ellie Goulding concert fights and the NFL in London gets an ally

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- Maurice Jones-Drew must be a big fan of Hyde Park, warm beer and fish and chips. If not, the Oakland Raiders’ new running back would not be throwing his weight behind arguably the worst expansion idea the NFL has had in some time. The rumors of an NFL team moving to London full-time have been floating around for some time, ever since the league started playing the occasional regular season game in Wembley Stadium in 2007. Since then, the NFL has played at least one game in the city each year and of late, talk of flipping a team with subpar attendance across the Atlantic Ocean and creating a logistical nightmare with regular eight-hour flights for three-hour games has amped up. Jones-Drew, who played his first game at Wembley Stadium in 2013 as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars and will return there in 2014 as a member of the Oakland Raiders, is oddly in support of the idea. "You know what? I think they deserve one. It's just the toll it takes on the body because it's so hard to fly across the pond. I think the fans deserve it and London deserves it because it is a great city," Jones-Drew said. "My only worry is the toll it would take for a team to go back and forth and how would you get that done? There are some things they would have to work on -- they might have to bring the Concorde back and cut that time in half. But you never know.” He’s right, unfortunately, because anything that will increase the 11-figure annual earnings figure the NFL will soon attain is on the table for the owners and commissioner Roger Goodell. That NFL games are something of a novelty for Brits and a full-time team would rank far behind the the United Kingdom’s many professional soccer club is one of the many solid arguments against such a move, but cash always trumps all……….

- Duuuuuuude….this is soooo not cool. Spokane, Wash. resident Mike Boyer was totally stoked to be a pioneer, he accomplished his goal and now, he’s suffering because of it. Boyer, like so many ganja-loving denizens of the Evergreen State, was really stoked when Washington became one of two stages to legalize recreational hippie lettuce use. He bided his time until the law took effect and when it finally happened, he cashed in a perfect plan to become the first Washingtonian to buy recreational marijuana in Spokane. Like a “Lord of the Rings” fan camping out at the local multiplex for a week to get the best seat at the first midnight showing of the latest film in the franchise, Boyer was at the front of the line when the city’s first marijuana shop opened its doors. He thereby garnered plenty of media attention for his notorious purchase and at the time, that seemed pretty cool. It no longer seems cool, as confirmed by the fact that Boyer posted his resume to Craigslist Wednesday afternoon, saying that he had lost his security guard position at Kodiak Security after his high-profile marijuana purchase at Spokane Green Leaf one day earlier. And yes, failed cops who don’t carry an actual gun and work as glorified babysitters who watch security monitors from a broom closet at the mall actually do have work standards they must meet. Kodiak Security seems to have higher standards than most given that it took the company less than 24 hours to dispatch Boyer. “I lost my job due to the news coverage of me being the FIRST PERSON TO BUY MARIJUANA LEGALLY IN SPOKANE! I regret nothing. But now im (sic) jobless and have decided to post my resume here,” Boyer wrote in his Craigslist posting. Maybe revisit that no regrets philosophy when you burn through your new stash of the dank, bro…….

- There are certain concerts where one expects to see fights break out in the crowd from start to finish. Rage Against the Machine, Slayer, Slipknot and Drowning Pool all come to mind, but pop princess Ellie Goulding typically does not make the list. Yet there was Goulding, headlining a show at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England earlier this week when a scuffle in the crowd interrupted her rendition of “Anything Can Happen.” If a fight was going to break out at a show by an electro-pop artist, one might theorize that it would be a chick fight and indeed it was. Two women in the audience started the brawl and Goulding attempted to end it by stopping her set and addressing the offending parties. "Girls, what's up? That song is meant to be happiness, not fights," she said. "No drink throwing. It's not nice. It's really annoying and it's bloody sticky." Throwing drinks in someone’s face is usually a reason to fight and proving that she was more concerned with the altercation at hand than enjoying the concert which she paid a fair amount of British Pounds to attend, one of the brawlers got lippy with Goulding in response to the singer’s rebuke. No one knows what she said because she’s an irrelevant chick fighting at a pop concert and didn’t have a microphone, but Goulding was having none of her snarky retort. “We've all got stories, doesn't mean you have to tell them,” the singer shot back. “Stop boos. Booing isn't nice. "It's quite a laddish crowd tonight, fights breaking out, drinks spilling.” Her peacemaking efforts didn’t exactly qualify her for a post-music gig with the United Nations and stopping a chick fight as opposed to a full-on, multi-man street fight because tatted-up, head-banging maniacs at a Slipknot show isn't so tough, but give Goulding credit for trying………

- The legislators of Poland do not seem to be a big fan of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Granted, everyone should be a big fan of a man rocking the last name Tusk, but the Polish parliament doesn’t subscribe to that theory and it’s probably why opposition leaders have held two votes of no confidence already this month. Tusk’s center-right government survived its second such vote of July this week after the parliament decided 236-155 in its favor. The vote went down in the Sejm, or lower house of parliament. It came after the opposition tried to seize on the leaked conversations of some leaders as a reason why Tusk and his friends absolutely had to go. While the ruling party can celebrate the result, it represents a significant setback for Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the nationalist Law and Justice party, who called the vote. However, don’t expect it to end the targeting of the prime minister for eviction from a position of power. Kaczynski isn't backing down from his accusations that Tusk is guilty of dragging Poland into a political crisis and of general incompetence in guiding the nation of 38 million. The first vote of no confidence, ironically, was requested by Tusk himself to strengthen his position during talks at the European Union. If anyone else feels like calling a third vote of no confidence, now would be the time………

When anchovies invade, making a 7-foot Polish man happy and Iggy Pop as a sobriety sponsor

- Sum 41's Deryck Whibley has battled a lot of challenges in his life; being really bad at music, being married to the pop music train wreck that is Avril Lavigne, being the frontman for a tremendously bad pop-punk band of his own…and oh yeah, being a raging alcoholic. Currently, one of those problems has elbowed the others aside and left Whibley in a fight not for his career or his marriage, but for his life. He was admitted to hospital earlier this year after his liver and kidneys collapsed as a result of years of heavy drinking and as he undertakes the recovery process and realizes that it’s not a lot of fun to be the sober friend in the ground but it is fun to not be dead, life has changed substantially. "Now I'm sober, I don't get calls from certain people that I used to… the drinking friends,” Whibley said. “Now I'm the bum-out to them. Who wants to invite the sober guy to the party? Y'know who has been incredibly supportive? Iggy Pop. He had a lot of great advice; he's been through it all. We've been friends for years." That’s right, punk rock icon Iggy Pop is the stable, steady force that is going to help guide a troubled young rock star safely through a turbulent chapter in his life. Iggy Pop, best known for doing copious amounts of drugs, rolling around in broken glass on stage during shows and being an absolutely madman well into his 60s is going to be a voice of reason for Whibley – along with noted clean and sober dude Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe. “He told me what to expect from people, that not everyone will understand. Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum from Guns N' Roses have been great too. We go out for coffee and talk about sh*t,” Whibley added. According to Whibley himself, even one more drink could kill him, but thankfully he has a cadre of has-been rock stars whose livers have endured decades of combined alcohol abuse to help him stay on the sober train……..

- Who’s up for some bitchin’ electoral conspiracy theories? Hop on board the conspira-train bound for Haiti and enjoy the ride, because this powder keg of conspiracy goodness is just heating up. With long overdue legislative and local elections scheduled for Oct. 26, President Michel Martelly and his party seem to be will in control of the electorate’s loyalties. That’s a problem for Haiti's leading opposition factions, who are not simply biding their time and waiting to be screwed over once the polls open and the hijinks can begin for real. Opposition leaders have fired some early shots by alleging that the country's presidentially appointed electoral council is stacking the deck in favor of Martelly and shutting them out of the process…without actually spelling out how they are being excluded from the fun. The allegations center on claims that the Provisional Electoral Council picked by Martelly has only seven of its mandated nine members and is therefore not legitimate. The chief complainers include the Unity party of former President Rene Preval and the Lavalas Family of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. None of these conscious objectors have registered with the council and refuse to recognize it as a legitimate part of the process. There are some bonafide questions about the council, namely how any respectable government body can be led by a man who is defending former dictator and all-around d-bag Jean-Claude Duvalier against charges of embezzlement and human rights abuses. Unity spokesman Dieudonne Saincy voiced the opposition’s demands for an "impartial" electoral council before the balloting, but so far the government has refused to give any ground………

- The question of how to turn a 6-foot-11, bearded Polish man with some of the palest skin known to man the happiest guy on Earth has finally been answered. Marcin Gortat has never been an All-Star, he will never be considered the best or even second-best center in the NBA at any point in his career, but he is still good enough to earn a shiny, new five-year, $60 million contract to remain with the Washington Wizards. The Wizards announced Thursday that they had signed the Polish Punisher to the longest-possible deal for on the first day permitted under NBA free-agency rules and Gortat posted a picture of himself signing the papers on his Twitter page, writing that it was the “Best day Of my life!!!” One can understand his excitement, what with long-term financial security, an eight-figure annual salary and the chance to remain with the Wizards after helping lead the club to its first playoff berth since 2008. While $12 million a season for a good, but not great center could be construed as a stretch by the casual basketball fan, a Gortat supporter could argue that he averaged 13.2 points and a team-leading 9.5 rebounds after he was acquired in a preseason trade with the Phoenix Suns and became a key physical presence in the post alongside young star guards Bradley Beal and John Wall. The Wizards were never going to be in the running for LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony or any of the other premium free agents this offseason, so bringing back their own free agents and adding a few complimentary pieces to the mix was as good as the team and its fans could hope for. A happy Gortat is rarely a bad thing……….

- Grab some fresh dough, tangy sauce and a big bag of mozzarella cheese and fire up the car, y’all. It’s time to head to La Jolla Shores, Calif. and take advantage of a golden opportunity presented by nature. Beach-goers at La Jolla have found less room to roam and enjoy the beautiful blue waters of late thanks to a massive swarm of anchovies swallowed up huge sections of beachfront real estate. "It is rare to see so many anchovy abutting the surf zone," said professor Dave Checkley of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). "More usually, schools are seen hundreds of yards to many miles offshore." No one seems to have explained the sanctity of the surf zone to the anchovies, who clearly have no respect for the area in which waves break on shore and humans normally swim. A typical school of anchovy can range from hundreds to millions of fish, with the size of this school conservatively pegged between 1 million and 100 million anchovies. It’s the sort of group rarely seen this side of a pizza-making convention, but the cause is something of a mystery. Changing ocean temperatures are known to increase the numbers for anchovies hitting the beach and the North Pacific is currently transitioning into a cooler state, which is favorable to anchovies, so this isn’t a total shock. Still, the chance to procure some choice anchovies was not lost on some hungry diners who flocked to the scene in large numbers of their own – local California sea lions, which are one of the primary predators for anchovies. Some beach visitors took the chance to wade out and snorkel among the anchovy, creating a rare experience that might make them think twice the next time they hit up the local pizza parlor for a pie……….

Lykke Li owns the suck, RGIII gets a statue and visit a French presidential getaway

- Who doesn’t want to vacation it up like the French political elite in their free time? That chance has finally arrived amidst the walls of an old fortress on a tiny island, surrounded by pine trees and the placid waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Fort de Bregancon has long stood as an über-private holiday retreat of French leaders, but that place of respite for the privileged few is throwing its doors open to the masses. Socialist President Francois Hollande has already run afoul of the upper class by seeking to hike tax rates for millionaires and level the socioeconomic playing field for all Frenchmen and in that same spirit, Hollade is breaking with tradition and allowing members of the public to visit the fort for a measly 10 euros. That fee covers a trip to the stylish villa, which is positioned on one of the most beautiful and unspoiled parts of the French Riviera. The opening of the fort is a public relations ploy from the president as he touts his toned-down lifestyle, but it’s also a nice chance for visitors to peruse the property’s salons, its dining room and the president's office. However, those expecting mountains of shiny marble and the sort of elegant parquet floors that are the hallmark of so many French palaces will be disappointed, as the fort mostly sports white walls and very basic file floors in keeping with the local Mediterranean style. Instead of an opulent palace, it looks more like a family vacation home. The structure was originally built in the Middle Ages and became state property during the French Revolution. Gen. Charles de Gaulle made it the official residence of the Republic after spending a mosquito-infested night there in 1964, electing to renovate the building into a more habitable space. Every French president since has spent time at the getaway and it was a favorite spot for Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette, who visited often during his presidency from 1995 to 2007. Little did Chirac know the fort would someday be a tourist draw used to rake in a few extra dollars for the government………

- Robert Griffin III was a massive presence on campus during his three years at Baylor. He’ll continue to loom large over the university’s Waco campus even though he’s three years removed from wearing the green and gold and balling at Baylor. Like so many college football luminaries before him, Griffin has been honored by his former school with a statue of himself at the place where he played. A 9.5-foot bronze statue of the school's first-ever Heisman Trophy winner will be installed in the south end zone plaza prior to Baylor’s 2014 season opener against SMU on Aug. 31. That’s the only major detail school officials are giving out about the statue, as Griffin's pose for the oversized artwork is being kept under wraps. All that’s known about its appearance at this point other than the metal from which it will be made is that artist Tom White took photos of RGIII in his Baylor jersey this summer and both the quarterback and Baylor officials had an opportunity to weigh in on the design. Ironically, the statue will be erected at McLane Stadium, a sparkling new waterfront venue that is a massive upgrade over Floyd Casey Stadium, where Griffin played his college football. His success is a big reason McLane Stadium was possible and the state-of-the-art facility will sport a scenic view and opportunities for pregame "sail-gating” along with a chance for innumerable selfies with the most famous man ever to put on a Baylor jersey. Maybe this will help boost Griffin’s spirits after a lackluster second season in the NFL that saw his own head coach bench him for the final two games of the season in the supposed interest of protecting Griffin and his still-recovering knee……..

- This, America, is how you turn our nation’s absurdly high number of imprisoned people from a negative into a positive. Just drink in this scene….there were 500 busted-up, neglected bikes sitting around, taking up space at a New Orleans Police Department warehouse, contributing less to society than an imprisoned felon doing 25 to life for second-degree murder. But in a matter of days, those bikes have gone from useless hunks of plastic, rubber and metal to working bikes that can be donated to children and others in need of an eco-friendly ride. Men like Hayward Jones, who is serving a life sentence at the infamous Angola State Prison, are among those who have agreed to spend some extra time out of their cells fixing up the bikes. Jones views the exercise (pun intended) as one that can help inmates with shorter sentences learn a valuable lesson to be used when they re-enter the world. “There’s always a stigma, ‘Oh you’re just like me.’ But it’s bigger than that. Not only do I have experience to hear about, I have a life to share and I have something to offer you, if you want it,” Jones said. The bike-fixing process, in theory, allows inmates to give back to the community from which they have taken so much through their crimes. It also allows inmates to mentor troubled young men whom they can hopefully steer/frighten away from prison and the bikes just might be the needed mode of transportation for someone who is seeking a job and could end up going down the wrong road if they don’t get one. It may not be a perfect mix, but like welcoming migrant workers across the border to do the menial tasks the average American refuses to do, it fills a small crack in America’s great societal wall………

- Points for honesty go to Swedish pop singer Lykke Li. Li’s music may not be great – actually, it most certainly isn't great – but at least she knows where she resides on the musical totem pole. Li, whose debut album “Youth Novels” was released in 2008 when she was a 22-year-old, fresh face on the music scene, admitted that as she looks back on her debut, she isn't impressed with what she hears. "I cannot stand my first album. It is so bad. I sucked,” Li said of the album. That was very…. on-point, so say the least. “Youth Novels” launched a trio of released capped by this year’s “I Never Learn,” which seems to resonate much more favorably in the ears of its auteur. "I knew that one day I would arrive. I’ve worked so f*cking hard, harder than anyone would imagine, and I’ve done everything alone,” Li added. “I deserve to be here." “Youth Novels” featured then-popular singles such as “I’m Good, I’m Gone” and “Little Bit,” neither of which sounded very good at the time and which certainly haven't held up well over the past six years. Maybe the lessons learned from a subpar debut have paid off, as “Never Learn” is much less electronic and strikes a melancholy, ballad-led sound that is at least an incremental improvement over what preceded it. Still, Li noted that such a release may not have been the smartest move for an artist who has thrived on something much different. "In a commercial sense this album is the worst move I could make: nine songs that just rip your heart apart,” Li concluded……….