Pakistani International flight 709 after an emergency landing.

These days, with increased terror threats and a general uneasiness, it’s pretty easy to get your plane escorted to an emergency landing by jet fighters.  Any sort of disturbance during an international flight is a pretty bad idea, and a flight going from Lahore, Pakistan to Manchester, England ended up with an escort from Typhoon jets from RAF Coningsby after a pair of passengers got into an argument and tried to barge into the cockpit while talking about blowing up the plane.  Pakistani International Airlines flight PK 709 was forced to land after two passengers made bomb threats.

One of the plane’s passengers, a Mr Munsif, described the scene:  ”We were half an hour from Manchester when the pilot announced he was taking the plane down.  We landed safely.  He said he had some kind of threat from someone on the plane.  Three to four people boarded and two men were removed from the plane.  They were arrested and taken away in handcuffs.”

The plane was diverted to Stansted, only 10 minutes from its scheduled destination in Manchester.  Two British nationals, 30 and 41, were arrested.  The plane was searched and no bombs or explosives were found.  Funny how a possible explosion risk gets the same treatment as a guy smoking in the bathroom.

Tags: lahore, pakistan, manchester, england, pakistani international airlines, PK 709, pakistani international airlines flight PK 709, bomb threats, plane landed after bomb threats, typhoon jets, RAF Coningsby, pakistani airplane gets forced down by RAF, pakistani airplane bomb threat, stansted

Robbie Rogers controlling the ball for Stevenage in England.

Robbie Rogers made waves back in February when he came out of the closet and promptly retired from professional soccer.  Despite being only 26 and having suited up in the Premier League, League One, Major League Soccer, and the US Men’s National Team, Rogers decided that he couldn’t be both gay and a soccer player.  However, three months later, he’s had a change of heart and a change of team.  Robbie Rogers is making a return to MLS as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Rogers’ rights were picked up by the Chicago Fire after he left Leeds United.  Two weeks later, he came out as gay and retired.  Now, LA  has traded for his rights, giving up striker Mike Magee in exchange for the winger.  The trade reunites Rogers with former USMNT coach Bruce Arena, as well as putting him closer to his childhood home in Huntington Beach, California.  Rogers made his debut in MLS with the Columbus Crew, winning a MLS title in 2008.

This is the rare move that seems like it benefits all involved.  Rogers gets to go to one of the marquee teams in MLS, while LA gets itself a little extra attention by having the first gay player in the league in a gay-friendly environment thereby replacing some of the missing Beckham drawing power.  As for Chicago, they traded rights away for a game-fit player, and Mike Magee is a Chicago local who gets to play for his hometown team.  Looks like it worked out well for all involved!

Tags: robbie rogers, mls, major league soccer, los angeles galaxy, chicago fire, mike magee, professional sports, professional soccer, first gay player in mls, first openly gay professional soccer player, gay player in mls, gay player signs with mls team, robbie rogers los angeles galaxy, robbie rogers gets traded to the la galaxy, chicago, illinois, los angeles, california

One of Amanda Bynes’ many, many mugshots.

Amanda Bynes has a history of getting wild and crazy.  She’s obviously got something wrong with her, as she can’t stop drinking like Randy Travis and smoking pot like Fiona Apple now that she’s retired from acting to become a full-time Twitter celebrity and train-wreck.  Well, Bynes is in trouble again, thanks to some very public consumption of marijuana.  Amanda Bynes was arrested by police in New York City on drug charges.

According to the cops, Bynes was spotted smoking marijuana and rolling a joint in the lobby of her apartment building in Midtown Manhattan, and that’s when the authorities were called on her.  NYPD found Bynes upstairs in her apartment, where cops saw heavy smoke and Bynes holding a bong.  Bynes tossed the bong out the window, but it was too late by then.  Police arrested Bynes on charges of reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence, and criminal possession of marijuana.

Bynes is already on parole, having been given three years probation in California stemming from a DUI arrest in April 2012.  At that time, she had too much to drink and side-swiped a Los Angeles police car.

Tags: manhattan, new york city, midtown manhattan, new york, amanda bynes, amanda bynes arrested, amanda bynes arrested on drug charges, drugs, celebrities, famous people, amanda bynes drug arrest, amanda bynes arrested for drugs, hollywood, amanda bynes bong arrest

This is Nina Agdal. She’ll be taking the luckiest teenager ever to prom.

When Mark Davidson put up a video asking Kate Upton to be his prom date back in March, he never expected a response.  Not only did he get a response, he got an affirmative from the blonde Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover girl.  Pretty cool, right?  Well, as it turns out, a silver medal is still a pretty great prize, because when Kate Upton had to cancel on young Mr. Davidson, he got a pretty great replacement.  Model Nina Agdal has agreed to replace Kate Updon as a teenager’s prom date.

“I picked out my dress and now I’m ready for prom!” said Agdal, a 20-year-old from Denmark who you might be familiar with from her work with Victoria’s Secret, the SI Swimsuit Edition, and more.

For his part, Davidson seems just grateful for the attention, if not for the beautiful, body-painted prom date.  Said the Los Angeles teenager, ”While I would have loved for Kate to come to my prom, I understand she is a very busy and in-demand professional.  I am so grateful for Kate responding at all.”

Let’s be honest.  While he didn’t get his top pick for prom date, you can’t not be thrilled you’re taking a model to prom.  While she’s not Kate Upton, she’s definitely not a disappointment.  If anything, she might be a better date than Kate Upton because there wasn’t any peer pressure for her to go, she chose to go!

Tags: los angeles, california, sports illustrated, victoria’s secret, si swimsuit model, sports illustrated swimsuit model, mark davidson, nina agdal, kate upton, mark davidson prom date, kate upton replaced by nina agdal, nina agdal takes teenager to prom, nina agdal prom, mark davidson takes nina agdal to prom, kate upton prom, kate upton drops out of prom date, unusual prom dates, models, supermodels, cover girl, nina agdal replaces kate upton on prom date

What remains of the Skagit River bridge on Interstate 5.

Bridges are engineering marvels,  aren’t they?  A well-crafted bridge is not only functional, they can also be beautiful.  A more functional bridge on Interstate 5 in Washington state was definitely more functional, but arguments can be made on how well crafted it was.  After all, it crumpled and fell into the river it was trying to cross.  An I-5 bridge across the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, Washington, collapsed.

“N/B and S/B lanes of I-5 Skagit River Bridge collapsed.  People and cars in water,” tweeted Washington State Trooper Mark Francis.

The bridge was built in 1955.  It is believed by witnesses to the crash that the bridge collapsed when an overloaded truck drove across it.  Three cars were dropped into the river, with three people being hospitalized at Skagit Valley Hospital due to minor injuries.  As for the bridge, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be ready for travelers any time soon.

Tags: interstate 5, i-5, interstate 5 bridge collapse, bridge collapses on i-5, i-5 bridge collapse, mount vernon, washington, skagit river, mark francis, unusual accidents, bridge collapse, interstate bridge collapses, people and cars dropped into water during bridge collapse, bridge collapse injures 3, 3 injured in bridge collapse

After hacking a soldier to death, this man delivered a pro-jihad speech.

In the middle of the street in broad daylight you wouldn’t expect to see someone being hacked to death with a machete, but we’re living in strange times.  In the Woolwich suburb of London, England, two suspected Muslim terrorists hacked an active duty soldier to death on the street.  As the men hacked the soldier to death, they changed “God is great,” in Arabic.

“We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day,” one of the attackers said while still holding a bloody machete.  ”This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  I apologize that women have had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same.  You people will never be safe.  Remove your government, they don’t care about you.”

After the murder, rather than fleeing, the two men waited on the street, weapons in hand.  When the police arrived half-an-hour after the killing, they shot both suspects.  The terrorists were taken to separate hospitals for treatment of their injuries.  I’m sure they’re very disappointed they weren’t killed and martyred.

Tags: terrorism, two men hack a soldier to death on a street, london, terrorist attack kills a soldier, london terrorist attack, two muslim men kill soldier with machete, muslim terror attack in london, london, england, woolwich, machete attack, machete, law and order, violence

Brian Urlacher will no longer be a Chicago Bear or NFL player.

When you hear about the Chicago Bears, generally the story is the team’s offense.  From high-profile free agents to struggles and general misbehavior, the Bears offense is an obsessive vocal point because the Bear’s defense is really good year-in and year-out.  You don’t have to worry about the defense, because Brian Urlacher is there to keep it locked down.  Well, not anymore.  Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher will be retiring from the NFL at age 35.

“After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a decision to retire,” wrote Urlacher in a statement.  ”Although I could continue playing, I’m not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that’s up to my standards.  When considering this, along with the fact that I could retire after a 13-year career wearing only one jersey for such a storied franchise, my decision became pretty clear.  I want to thank all of the people in my life that have helped me along the way.  I will miss my teammates, my coaches and the great Bears fans.  I’m proud to say that I gave all of you everything I had every time I took the field.  I will miss this great game, but I leave it with no regrets.”

Since being drafted in 2000, Urlacher has been a Chicago Bear.  He played 182 games with the team, winning both the defensive rookie of the year and defensive player of the year awards, as well as making 8 Pro Bowls and the NFL’s 2000′s All-Decade team.

Tags: brian urlacher, brian urlacher retires, bears, chicago bears, brian urlacher retires from the chicago bears, nfl, football, professional football, national football league, sports, middle linebacker, urlacher, brian urlacher retiring from the nfl, brian urlacher retiring

Dan and Nick Gilbert celebrate their #1 draft pick.

Every year, when the NBA has to decide who gets the top draft pick, they turn to a series of ping pong balls, each weighted according to the odds that it will come to the top of the machine.  Obviously, it’s a strange system, but there we are.  It keeps teams from taking too hard in an attempt to get the top draft pick, and it keeps things interesting for those teams that qualified for the lottery but weren’t abysmal.  The Orlando Magic had a 25% shot at winning the draft lottery; instead, they’re picking second.  The Cleveland Cavaliers landed the number one pick in the NBA Draft, using owner Dan Gilbert’s son Nick Gilbert as a lucky charm.

“It’s huge for us,” Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said immediately after the pick. “For us, it’s about the city of Cleveland and giving them more hope as we build the franchise to the level we want to go to.”

This will be the third time in 11 years that Cleveland has landed the top pick in the NBA Draft.  Those picks have panned out thus far, with both LeBron James and Kyrie Irving making their way to the team.  The third pick, expected to be Kentucky center Nerlens Noel, will be a great addition to a young team.

Tags: sports, basketball, nba, national basketball association, nba draft, nerlens noel, dan gilbert, nick gilbert, cleveland, ohio, cleveland cavaliers, cavaliers, cleveland gets the top pick in the nba draft, cleveland wins the nerlens noel sweepstakes, professional basketball, orlando magic get second pick in the nba draft, orlando magic, nba draft number one pick

An elegant all-brass torpedo is like real-life steampunk.

While on a training mission outside San Diego, California, two Navy dolphins made a very unusual discovery on the ocean floor.  No, it’s not a cache of pirate treasure, it’s something even more rare and valuable than a big box of gold doubloons.  One of the first underwater weapons crafted for the military has been found.  An incredibly rare brass torpedo was discovered by Navy dolphins off the coast of San Diego.

The 11-foot-long brass torpedo was one of only 50 built between 1870 and 1889 by Howell.  It was one of the first torpedoes developed that could follow a track and not leave a visible wake.  Amazingly, only one other Howell torpedo has ever been discovered, and it’s the one pictured above from the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington.  That makes the discovery of a second torpedo a pretty awesome artifact to pull from the ocean floor.

“Considering it was made before electricity was provided to U.S. households, it was pretty sophisticated for its time,” Christian Harris, operations supervisor for the biosciences division at the Systems Center Pacific.

Tags: howell, howell torpedo, rare 19th century torpedo discovered, rare torpedo discovered, 19th century brass torpedo recovered, rare brass torpedo recovered by navy dolphins, navy dolphins, military technology, military, weapons, torpedoes, san diego, california, Naval Undersea Museum, Keyport, Washington, christian harris, systems center pacific, pacific ocean

Ray Manzarek tickling the keyboard during a live performance.

The Doors were a distinctive band, but there were two aspects that stuck out more than others in their awesome sound.  The first was the baritone caterwaul of poetry coming from the mouth of Jim Morrison.  The other is the awesome keyboard work of Ray Manzarek.  Morrison died in 1971, but Manzarek was able to live on, continue performing, write books, produce music, work on films, and generally have a rich full life for many years.  Now, that life is over.  Ray Manzarek has died at age 74.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ray Manzarek met Jim Morrison at UCLA film school in 1965.  Morrison read Manzarek some song lyrics, and that was the lynchpin for the legendary rock band getting together to push against boundaries both musically and lyrically.  The Doors were a blend of rock, blues, jazz, and poetry, and the work of Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger, and drummer John Densmore were at least as important to the band’s success as Morrison, though they tend to be overlooked in the shadow of Morrison’s genius.

Manzarek died surrounded by friends and family at his home in Rosenheim, Germany.  He had been struggling with bile duct cancer.

Tags: ray manzarek, the doors, ray manzarek dead, ray manzarek dead at 74, doors organist ray manzarek is dead, the doors, jim morrison, rosenheim, germany, bile duct cancer, musucians, rock music, rock and roll hall of fame, robbie krieger, john densmore, music, light my fire

More tornado devastation in Oklahoma.

It has been an unusually rough spring, particularly in the southwestern part of Tornado Alley.  A few days ago, a Texas town got wiped off the map.  Now, a suburb of Oklahoma City has been smashed to bits.  A massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, destroying two elementary schools and killing up to 91 people.  The tornado, a 2-mile-wide monster with up to EF5 winds, was on the ground for over 30 minutes.

The worst news of the whole event, if a disaster like this could have worse news, is that an elementary school took a direct hit.  Plaza Towers Elementary School was completely destroyed by the tornado, with up to 20 children from that school killed by the winds and debris.  All tornadoes are dangerous, but this one is proving to be one of the worst possible results imaginable.

“It is absolutely devastating, this is horrific,” Oklahoma Lt. Governor Todd Lamb said.  ”We’re going to have fatalities. … We’re going to have significant injuries. … We just don’t know what those numbers are.  Schools have been hit, a hospital has been hit, businesses have been flattened, neighborhoods have been wiped away — we don’t have the numbers in yet but it is going to be significant and it is going to be horrific.”

Tags: oklahoma city, moore, oklahoma, plaza towers elementary school, up to 91 people dead in oklahoma, oklahoma hit by massive tornado, massive tornado strikes oklahoma, oklahoma tornado, natural disasters, tornado, tornadoes, todd lamb, two schools hit by tornado, 20 children killed by tornado, up to 90 people killed by tornado in oklahoma

This might be the winning Powerball ticket.

There have been some high lottery jackpots in the past, but we are reaching rarified air.  It’s been awhile since someone won the Powerball, and the number keeps getting higher and higher.  There’s a new record Powerball jackpot of $600 million waiting to be won, so make sure you pick up your tickets before tonight’s drawing.  The previous Powerball high was $587.5 million in November 2012.

“If this hasn’t caught your attention, I’m not sure what would,” says Mary Neubauer of the Iowa Lottery, who runs the Powerball.   ”Our billboards aren’t designed to display a billion.  We’re not sure how we will display that amount, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

The reason Ms. Neubauer dropped a mention of a billion dollars is that if the Powerball jackpot is not won, the prize money will continue to rise.  Given the amount of people expected to play the numbers this week, that could boost the jackpot to a staggering 10 figures.  No one has hit the powerball jackpot in two months, hence the epic prize money for the person who hits the lucky five numbers and Powerball.  The odds of winning are 1 in 175 million.

Tags: powerball, lottery, jackpots, powerball jackpots, powerball jackpot reaches 600 million, 600 million powerball, record powerball jackpot, record powerball, record lottery jackpots, powerball jackpot may reach 1 billion dollars, iowa lottery, Mary Neubauer

I struggle to believe that someone who got famous for killing someone could be a murderer.

He rose to fame for his good deeds, but it’s a bad deed he’s found renewed notoriety for.  Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, AKA Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, rose to fame as a result of his heroic actions when he stopped a woman from being attacked by killing the attacker with a hatchet to the brain pan.  Now, it is believed that Kai is a murderer.  Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker has been arrested for murder.  As it turns out, you may need more than just a towel to hitchhike, Arthur Dent.

The body of Joseph Galfry Jr., a 73-year-old lawyer from Clark, New Jersey, was found murdered in his home with a blunt object.  The body was wearing only underwear and a tee-shirt and was found in a blood-soaked bed.  Apparently the two had met in Times Square and went to Clark’s home.  After the incident on Saturday, some fans of Kai’s gave him a ride to Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at the bus station in Philadelphia.  A posting on Kai’s Facebook page asks, ”what would you do” [after waking up and] “realizing that someone had drugged [and] raped … you?”

Tags: kai, kai the hatchet wielding hitchhiker, kai the hitchhiker, Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, philadelphia, pennsylvania, kai the hatchet wielding hitchhiker arrested for murder, kai the hitchhiker arrested for murder,  Joseph Galfy Jr., clark, internet celebrities, unusual criminals, murder, internet celebrity murder, new jersey

Censored Bea Arthur, for your protection and my sanity

Bea Arthur had an impressive life and career, and it’s no wonder that an artist would like to compose an image of her at her best.  Artist John Currin depicted Bea Arthur in oil paint on canvas, and the piece became noteworthy for one reason:  it depicts a topless Bea Arthur.  Well, Christie’s Auction House  had their Post War and Contemporary Art Sale on Wednesday, and Currin’s painting “Bea Arthur Naked” was the star of the show.  An oil painting of a topless Bea Arthur sold for $1.9 million dollars (warning: uncensored painting at link).

Bea Arthur was pretty impressive, both in regard to her height and in terms of what she was able to accomplish.  She had a great one-woman show a few years ago before her death, she was part of one of the better ensemble comedies in network TV history in “The Golden Girls,” and she was a decorated military veteran and one of the first female Marines to enlist.  Apparently she also had a decent rack, at least according to the imagination of John Currin, who based his picture on clothed images of Bea Arthur.

Tags: christie’s auction house, christie’s, bea arthur, naked bea arthur, bea arthur naked, topless painting of bea arthur, unusual images, unusual art, topless bea arthur painting sells for 1.9 million dollars, art auction, auctions, unusual paintings, john currin, post war and contemporary art sale, topless bea arthur

This is what a mile-wide tornado looks like.

There are a lot of scary things about tornadoes.  They’re just a big, scary force of nature that cannot be reasoned with, cannot be controlled, and can rarely be predicted.  Once a tornado is on the ground, you don’t really know where it’s going to hit or how hard it is going to hit.  A series of massive tornadoes tore through Granbury, Texas, destroying 100 homes and killing 6 people last night.  Granbury, the hardest hit area in Hood County, has been practically wiped off the map.  Sadly, most of the homes in the community were built by Habitat for Humanity.

“We did use our Code Red Emergency Phone Notification System to alert the citizens of the county in the affected areas and in the areas that were going to be affected,” said Hood County sheriff Roger Deeds, who added that the system saved lives.

Homes are completely destroyed, so authorities believe that there may be a much higher death toll than initially announced and there are expected to be trapped survivors found in the rubble.  There are 48 injured people at Lake Granbury Medical Center, and 100 people at a Red Cross shelter.  The tornado string was accompanied by softball-sized hail, which is just incredible to think about.  Here’s hoping the damage doesn’t get much worse and the death toll doesn’t rise as a result of this storm.

Tags: tornadoes, hood county, texas, north texas, granbury, roger deeds, hood county sheriff’s department, tornado, natural disasters, line of tornados, mile-wide tornado, over 100 homes destroyed by tornadoes, line of tornadoes in texas, disasters, habitat for humanity

A parking meter in need of feeding.

It’s one of the worst feelings you can have.  You go into a store, do your business, and come out of the store to find a ticket on your windshield.  It’s enough to drive some people to commit vandalism, and no one is safe from meter maids, not even Batman.  Well, a group of six people in Keene, New Hampshire, has declared war against parking fines, and now the city of Keene has declared war on them.  The city of Keene is suing a group of people who have been feeding parking meters.

The notes read,  ”Your meter expired; however, we saved you from the king’s tariffs,” and encourage recipients to “pay it forward” to someone else.

Of course, it’s not as simple as people going around and feeding the meters.  Keene accuses Robin Hood and his Merry Men (as the group is known) of doing more than good deeds, saying they have ”intentionally taunted, interfered with, harassed and intimidated” the city’s three parking enforcement officers.  For their part, Robin Hood and company say the city is suing them simply because the city is losing money thanks to their good deeds.

Tags: Keene, New Hampshire, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, Robin Hood, Merry Men, parking meters, vigilantes feeding parking meters, Keene sues Robin Hood, Keene sues parking meter feeders, feeding parking meters, good deeds, unusual lawsuits, law and order, parking enforcement officers, cops

When it comes to drunk driving, there’s a constant battle to prevent DUI deaths.  Cops are always looking for drunks, hanging out by bars waiting for people to stagger to their cars and setting up checkpoints to otherwise annoy sober drivers.  Now, the law may be getting changed to make it easier to give a person a DUI.  The legal limit for blood alcohol level may be getting reduced.  Under the proposed limits, even one drink before driving may put a person at risk for a DUI, depending on their weight and the strength of the drink.

“Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” said National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah Hersman.  ”Alcohol-impaired deaths are not accidents, they are crimes.  They can and should be prevented.  The tools exist.  What is needed is the will.”

The current legal limits for DUI is 0.08, but the NTSB has proposed changing that to 0.05.  That’s one of 20 proposed changes designed to cut down on drinking and driving accidents, but it’s the one that would be the most difficult to get states to implement.  After all, they already lowered the legal limit for DUIs down from 1.0, and that took a long time to get states to go along with.  It remains to be seen if they’ll have any good luck getting the limit lowered again.

Tags: ntsb, national transportation safety board, dui, driving under the influence, blood alcohol level, bac, national transportation safety board wants to lower legal limit for drunk driving, legal limit for drunk driving to be lowered, drunk driving laws, drunk driving limit to change to 0.05, bac to lower from 0.08 to 0.05, one drink drunk, Deborah Hersman

Chris Hadfield is awesome.

When it comes to what you can and can’t do, the International Space Station doesn’t have a lot of amusements.  After all, it’s a pretty small area in which to work.  However, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has been spending his downtime doing something creative.  Basically, he’s become a video blog and Twitter star thanks to his amazing onboard experiments, answering questions and entertaining thousands of people here on earth during his time on the ISS.  Now, he’s gone a step farther and created a piece of history.  Chris Hadfield has produced the first music video ever shot in space for David Bowie’s hit “Space Oddity” and the video has gone viral.  Here it is, if you haven’t seen it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s no need to fear a Major Tom-style space disaster for Commander Hadfield; he and his two ISS crewmates (American Tom Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko) landed in Kazakhstan after returning to earth in a Russian Soyuz-TMA capsule.  Meanwhile, David Bowie and his army of Martian spiders are held at bay for another day.

Tags: ISS, international space station, chris hadfield, space oddity, david bowie, space oddity music video filmed in space, space oddity music video, chris hadfield space oddity, chris hadfield ISS, chris hadfield iss music video, major tom, ontario, canada, astronauts, iss commander chris hadfield, soyuz, russia, soyuz-tma, viral videos, iss video, music video in space

Angelina Jolie carries the breast cancer gene.

Angelina Jolie is famous for a lot of reasons, but the most notable one are her physical features.  She is a beautiful woman, especially in her younger days before she got too thin, and her lips are only one part of her appeal.  Another part of her appeal is now permanently gone.  Angelina Jolie has had her breasts removed and rebuilt by surgeons.  As it turns out, blood tests revealed that she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene that substantially increases her breast cancer risk, so she decided to do something about that before it became a problem.  Any kind of surgery is bad, but a double mastectomy is a whole lot better than chemotheraphy.

“My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman,” Jolie wrote. “Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could.  I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.”  Jolie added, ”For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options.  I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices.”

Jolie’s mother, movie producer Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian cancer at age 56 in 2007; Jolie is 37 years old.  She underwent the double masectomy and reconstructive surgeries at the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Los Angeles over a period of three months.  Jolie says she went through the procedure to spare her own children the pain of worrying about their mother’s cancer status.

Tags: angelina jolie, angelina jolie double mastectomy, angelina jolie has her breasts removed, angelina jolie gets a double mastectomy, angelina jolie breast cancer gene, breast cancer gene, unusual health news, celebrities, hollywood, BRCA1 gene, marcheline bertrand, pink lotus breast center, los angeles, california,  mastectomy

The government is trying to stop the 3D printed gun.

When Cody Wilson, the 25-year-old crypto-anarchist and University of Texas law student behind Defense Distributed, helped create the world’s first 3D-printed plastic handgun (called The Liberator), one of his more audacious ideas was to release the blueprints online to allow anyone with a computer and a 3D printer to make their own gun.  Turns out, the government hates this idea more than I could have expected–and I always figured they’d stop it somehow.  The State Department has forced Defense Distributed to remove its 3D printed gun plans from the Internet.

“Files are being removed from public access at the request of the U.S. Department of Defense Trade Controls,” reads a statement on Defense Distributed’s website Thursday.  ”Until further notice, the United States government claims control of the information.”

The Department of Defense Trade Controls is an agency under the purview of the State Department.  The agency argued that posting the files online violated the Arms Export Control Act.  Due to the location of Defense Distributed’s web servers (New Zealand), putting the plans up through servers operating in a foreign country is essentially an illegal export.  Never mind the fact that information on any server can be seen throughout the world if it’s published to the public.

Time to go back to getting guns the old-fashioned way, I suppose.

Tags: defense distributed, plastic gun, 3d printed gun, the liberator, defense distributed pulls the liberator plans from online, the liberator plans pulled, liberator plans taken offline, Department of Defense Trade Controls,  Arms Export Control Act, unusual laws, unusual weapons, plastic weapons, cody wilson, federal government stops the liberator, federal government stops 3d printed guns

“Yum, criminal meat!”

Bryan Zuniga thought he was going to make a clean getaway.  Police pulled the 20-year-old Zuniga over in Pinellas Park in St. Petersburg, Florida, for failing to stay in his line.  However, after stopping his car, Zuniga made a break for it.  The budding crook jumped a fence and took off for the hills, but he probably would have been better off getting arrested, because Pinellas Park is a popular place for alligators to congregate.  Bryan Zuniga got attacked by an alligator while running from the police; he was later arrested at the hospital by police.

Alligators aren’t law enforcement officers, and they’re not friends to criminals.  Alligators are alligators, and if you intrude on their domain, you may well suffer the consequences for your temerity.  In the case of young Mr. Zuniga, he was bitten repeatedly on the face, arm, and armpit, and suffered multiple puncture wounds as a result of his alligator encounter.  Police booked him on a multitude of charges ranging from traffic violations, driving without a license, and running from the police.

It’s a good thing incompetence isn’t a crime, because Bryan Zuniga almost gave himself the death penalty with the power of alligator.

Tags: Bryan Zuniga, Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg, Florida, unusual criminals, unusual crimes, law and order, animal attacks, alligator attacks, unusual animal attacks, alligator bites fleeing criminal, alligator attacks criminal, criminal attacked by alligator, animal vigilantes, criminal stopped by alligators, cops arrest criminal after alligator attack

Amazon may make 3D glasses a thing of the past.

Not content to rest on the success of the Kindle family of tablets and ereaders, Amazon has continued to look for ways to expand their offerings to the public.  Once a company gets a taste of being a device creator, they’re rarely satisfied with continuing to resell the stuff made by others.  Hence, Amazon is looking to add to its portfolio in an interesting way.  Amazon is believed to be working on a smartphone with a 3D screen.  The company is also working on another smartphone, as well as an audio-streaming device.

Here’s the interesting thing about Amazon’s 3D smartphone.  Rather than needing bulky glasses, the smartphone will use retina tracking technology to create 3D images that do not need special glasses; instead, the image will appear to project from the phone like a hologram, which might be the coolest thing ever.  With an increasing amount of print media and movies being both 3D and viewed on smartphone screens, this is a great idea.

I’m not sure if I would want to jump into the smartphone world myself–the Kindle Fire has been a success, but the smartphone world is much more crowded–but to make the screens and then sell them to smartphone companies or make my own line of 3D computer and television screens?  That’s a pretty good profit center with a lot less risk.

Tags: technology, unusual technology, smartphones, smart phone, amazon smartphone, amazon working on 3d smartphone screen, 3d smartphone screen, smartphone screen, 3d smartphone, amazon 3d smartphone, amazon 3d smartphone screen, 3d, hologram phone, holograms, retina tracking technology, amazon audio streaming device

Lifts, separates, provides economic and cup-size boost?

The Japanese economy could use a boost at the country tries to lift and separate itself from an economic slump.  Prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced a new series of reforms and stimulus efforts to decrease inflation to 2 percent and increase economic growth, and he’s getting a little help.  Bra-maker Triumph International has announced a special “Abenomics” bra called the “Branomics.”  The bra features a rising trendline, an arrow motif, and padding to increase volume up to 2 percent.

“We hope that, as the Japanese economy grows, we can also help bust sizes to get bigger,” said Triumph spokeswoman Keiko Masuda.

Triumph is famous for its publicity stunts, which are big news in Japan.  The 127-year-old company routinely has publicity stunt bras in Japan, with everything from solar power to “husband hunting” and even a rice bra with growing plants inside.  There’s no real economic benefit to the Japanese people, since the Abenomics bra will not be sold and is just a publicity stunt.  However, it’ll probably be a nice distraction.

Tags: Triumph International, Triumph, Shinzo Abe, Branomics, Branomics bra, Abenomics bra, Abenomics, unusual underwear, unusual bras, three arrow economic revival plan, three arrow bra, publicity stunts, publicity underwear, keiko masuda, unusual clothing, unusual bras

Caffeine in all the things has the FDA concerned.

Last month, Wrigley rolled out a brand new product called Alert, a caffeinated chewing gum with the equivalent of half a cup of coffee in every stick.  Sounds pretty good, right?  Well, enjoy it while you can, because Wrigley is pulling Alert caffeine gum off the market.  The move comes after discussions with the Food and Drug Administration, who are concerned about the proliferation of caffeinated products hitting the market.

“After discussions with the FDA, we have a greater appreciation for its concern about the proliferation of caffeine in the nation’s food supply,” said Wrigley president CaseyKeller in a statement to The Associated Press.  ”There is a need for changes in the regulatory framework to better guide the consumers and the industry about the appropriate level and use of caffeinated products.”

Interestingly, the only time the FDA explicitly approved caffeine for the market was when they gave the go-ahead to caffeinated sodas in the 1950′s.  All the other foods with caffeine, from Four Loko to caffeine doughnuts, have just kind of dribbled out into the market and the FDA is concerned about the increase in caffeine products and how that may affect children’s health (not that children could easily get Four Loko).  There are also concerns that caffeinated candy and gum could be appealing to children.

Tags: wrigley, caffeine, caffeine gum, alert, wrigley alert, wrigley alert caffeine gum, caffeine in food, fda, food and drug administration, wrigley pulls caffeinated gum off the market, casey keller, caffeine in food, caffeinated food, caffeine and health, health news, unusual health news, unusual food news, unusual snacks, chewing gum

Ray Harryhausen, stop motion animator, is dead at 92.

When he was 13 years old, Ray Harryhausen and his childhood friend Ray Bradbury went to see the film King Kong at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.  From that one experience, a preteen mind was blown and a career was launched.  Ray Harryhausen was enthralled with the giant ape and began making his own films at his childhood home in Los Angeles.  Sixteen years later, in 1949, Harryhausen got a job as the lead animator for Willis O’Brien, the man who gave King Kong life, on the film Mighty Joe Young.  That kicked off a legendary career as a stop motion animator bringing to life a variety of monsters and legendary creatures.  Ray Harryhausen has passed away at age 92 in London, England.  Take a look at his beautiful creatures below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“The modern digital effects are very effective, but I don’t think they’re the be-all and by-all.  You shouldn’t eliminate everything just because CGI (computer-generated imagery) came.  It’s a wonderful tool, and I think you should treat it as a tool.  It can enlarge everything we do with puppet animation — with hand puppets, with string puppets — and stop-motion.  But it’s not right to kill off everything just because CGI came into the picture,” said Harryhausen at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1999.

The thing Harryhausen did in his movies, from the Sinbad series to Jason and the Argonauts and his 1981 masterwork Clash of the Titans, was to craft wonderful models and then pain-stakingly bring them to life using a technique called Dynamotion.  From George Lucas to Nick Park and Henry Selick, stop motion animation lives on, and they are all directly inspired by Ray Harryhausen.

Tags: ray harryhausen, ray harryhausen dead, ray harryhausen dead at 92, ray harryhausen has passed away, movies, videos, stop motion animation, special effects, animators, stop motion animator ray harryhausen, London, England, Los Angeles, California, Willis O’Brien, Ray Bradbury, Hollywood, Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad, Clash of the Titans

Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, sexual harassment prevention officer arrested for sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment is entirely too common, but it seems to be most prevalent in the United States military.  Even with volumes of laws on the books to prevent and discourage sexual harassment, you still hear about it happening.  It can destroy careers and turn workplaces hostile, and that’s if the victim is lucky.  You would think the man in charge of the United States Air Force’s sexual assault prevention and response program would be able to restrain himself, but that’s not the case.  Anti-sexual harassment officer Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Krusinski has been arrested for sexual assault.

The assault occurred at a bar in Arlington, Virginia.  Apparently, a drunk Krusinski got gropey with a female patron and repeatedly refused to take no for an answer.  After grabbing the woman in the parking lot, multiple times no less, police were called and the military man found himself in irons.  Krusinski has been charged with sexual battery and is being held on $5000 bond; he’s also been removed from his post pending the results of an investigation.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel “expressed outrage and disgust over the troubling allegations and emphasized that this matter will be dealt with swiftly and decisively,” says Pentagon spokesman George Little.  ”The American people, including our service members, should expect a culture of absolutely no tolerance for this deplorable behavior,” adding, “ongoing efforts to combat this vile crime.”

Tags: usaf, united states air force, sexual assault, usaf sexual assault prevention and response program, sexual assault prevention officer arrested for sexual assault, jeff krusinski, arlington, virginia, united states military, george little, pentagon, chuck hagel, sexual battery, unusual arrests, law and order, sexual harassment prevention officer arrested

Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry have been recovered after nearly a decade.

When someone goes missing, if they’re not found within a few days, they tend to stay missing.  You hear some occasional happy endings, typically when the person kidnaps themselves, but if someone is kidnapped by another person?  They rarely have a happy ending.  However, that was not the case for a trio of missing women from the Cleveland, Ohio, area.  Three missing women have been recovered after being missing for nearly a decade.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight were found in a home in Cleveland owned by three brothers; Berry had been missing since 2003, DeJesus had been missing since 2004, and Knight missing since 2002.  Berry was in the company of a small child, four or five years old.  Amazingly, the women had been only a door or two away from freedom the entire time, with neighbors seeing one of the accused kidnappers, Ariel Castro, every day.

“I heard screaming… And I see this girl going nuts trying to get outside,” said Charles Ramsey, a neighbor who helped free the women.  ”I go on the porch and she said, ‘Help me get out.  I’ve been here a long time.’  I figure it was domestic violence dispute.  She comes out with a little girl and says, ‘Call 911, my name is Amanda Berry’… When she told me, it didn’t register.”

Image: WKYC

Tags: cleveland, ohio, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, kidnapped women freed after years, three missing women freed after years, kidnapping victims, kidnapped women, charles ramsey, three women kidnapped were recovered after decades, stories of survival, unusual stories of survival, kidnapped women freed after decades, missing women found after decades, law and order, crime and punishment, unusual crimes, ariel castro

KFC has embarked on a new campaign to sell its chicken to America by eliminating the necessity to actually pay attention while you eat.  Some call it a marketing stunt while others call it a food revolution, but KFC is calling it an important step in the evolution of the company, and you can try it for free.  KFC will have free Original Recipe boneless chicken today between 2-4 PM for the first 100 customers to request a free piece of chicken by saying, “I ate the bones” (or just asking for a piece).  KFC is calling it the Greatest Day in Chicken History.

I’m not sure why this is such a big deal, to be honest.  I mean, it’s KFC Original Recipe without the bones.  I’m not sure why they haven’t already been doing this!  I know they’ve had various boneless options on the menu in the past, and I guess those all had different spice recipes than the beloved recipe invented by Col. Harlan Sanders.  Good luck getting into your local KFC today between 2 and 4, free piece of boneless chicken or not.

If you miss out on the free chicken offer, do not despair.  There’s still plenty of boneless chicken to go around as KFC is offering a variety of mixed boneless and regular chicken buckets, value meals, and other options for those with a craving for the Colonel.

Tags: kfc, kentucky fried chicken, kfc boneless chicken, i ate the bones, kfc boneless, boneless kfc chicken, boneless chicken, fast food, new fast food items, original recipe boneless, kfc boneless happy hour, boneless chicken happy hour, free boneless chicken for the first 100 customers at kfc, free boneless chicken from 2-4 today, free chicken day

A working gun made via 3D printer.

If you think 3D processing technology is only used to make your head hurt in video games and movies, then I suggest you think again.  So-called 3D printers using plastic blocks are creating a whole new world of manufacturing possibilities, and a company called Defense Distributed has managed to break new ground in 3D manufacturing.  It took the company a year of development, but Defense Distributed has successfully built and fired a working gun made by a 3D printer.  The weapon is made of ABS plastic, with the only metal parts being the firing pin and the ammunition.

“There is a demand of guns – there just is.  There are states all over the world that say you can’t own firearms – and that’s not true anymore.  I’m seeing a world where technology says you can pretty much be able to have whatever you want.  It’s not up to the political players any more,” says Cody Wilson, a 25-year-old University of Texas law student and the creator of Defense Distributed.  ”I recognize the tool might be used to harm other people – that’s what the tool is – it’s a gun.  But I don’t think that’s a reason to not do it – or a reason not to put it out there.”

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, there is no law against building your own firearm and Defense Distributed has received proper certification as a manufacturer and seller of weapons.  Provided they do not make any outlawed automatic weapons, Defense Distributed has every right to print guns on their 3D printer; the company also plans to distribute the blueprint to their gun online.

Tags: guns, printers, 3d printer, 3-d printer, gun made with 3-d printer, ABS plastic, Defense Distributed, Cody Wilson, gun made on 8000 dollar 3d printer, 3d printer used to make gun, handgun made by 3d printer successfully fired, plastic gun fired, 3d printer gun fired, abs plastic gun fired, batf, atf, bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms, unusual weapons, unusual guns, fierarms, unusual weapons, 3d printed firearms

People get tattoos for a lot of different reasons, but the primary reason is probably passion.  People get tattoos to remember lost love ones, celebrate their passion, or show off their pride in their culture.  Workers at a New York City brokerage must be pretty passionate about their jobs, because there’s a lot of company ink happening.  At Rapid Realty NYC, workers are encouraged to get company logo tattoos.

Rapid Realty NYC CEO Anthony Lolli describes his workers as “passionate about the brand.”  I’d imagine they’re also passionate about the extra 15 percent in commission they get for sporting a company logo tattoo.  The company, which has franchises throughout New York, started the policy a year and a half ago when an employee got a tattoo to show off company loyalty and the trend has been growing ever since.

You have to admit, it’s a pretty good way to build a viral marketing campaign, and it’s a lot harder to lose than a sticker or a lapel pin.

Tags: new york city, nyc, new york, rapid realty, anthony lolli, brokerage, Rapid Realty NYC, unusual ink, unusual tattoos, tattoos, workers get extra money for having tattoos, company logo tattoos, company rewards workers for company logo tattoos, company tattoo gets workers 15 percent commission, extra commission for company tattoos, branding, marketing, unusual marketing

The X-51A Waverider attached to its B-52 carrier.

When it comes to air travel, there’s always a ceiling of some sort.  First, it was breaking the sound barrier, which was accomplished in 1947 by Chuck Yeager, the world’s most famous pilot.  After that lingered the so-called hypersonic speed barrier, Mach 5.  The United States Air Force has been actively trying to break Mach 5 for years, and it seems like they have accomplished something spectacular.  The Air Force’s X-51A Waverider has successfully broken Mach 5.1, a new speed record.  Fire up the White Stripes and have a celebration!

“I believe all we have learned from the X-51A Waverider will serve as the bedrock for future hypersonics research and ultimately the practical application of hypersonic flight,”  crowed a thrilled Charlie Brink, X-51A program manager for the Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate.  ”This success is the result of a lot of hard work by an incredible team.  The contributions of Boeing, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne, the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, NASA Dryden and DARPA were all vital.”

The scramjet-powered vehicle hit a top speed of Mach 5.1 during its 6-minute flight on May 1.  That’s a feat on more than one hand.  It’s the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight ever AND the longest flight made by the X-51A in its four test flights.  The USAF has spent an impressive 9 years working on hypersonic flight at a cost of $300 million dollars.  The plane traveled a total of 230 nautical miles.

Tags: X-51A Waverider, X-51A,  X-51A Waverider breaks 3000 miles per hour, hypersonic jets, airplanes, united states air force, usaf, air force, hypersonic jet breaks 3000 miles an hour, 3000 mph,  X-51A Waverider breaks 3000 mph, charlie brink, air force research laboratory aerospace systems directorate, scramjet, DARPA, NASA Dryden, 412th Test Wing, Boeing, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne

Taco Bell’s new dollar menu.

Taco Bell is known for a lot of things.  Specifically, acceptable Mexican food at cheap prices done with a creative twist.  From Taco Bell’s faux street tacos to the legitimate hit that is the Doritos Locos Taco, The Bell is riding a winning streak right now, but the menu can always get more creative, the food cheaper, the volume turned up even higher.  To that extent, Taco Bell is getting a new value menu.  Gone is the Why Pay More Menu and replacing it will be the $1 Cravings Menu.

“Our $1 Cravings Menu just went into test in two markets, and pending final results, will launch nationally in the near future,” said Taco Bell spokesman.  ”At Taco Bell, our value menu is our entire menu.  So when consumers are looking for what they get for what they pay – whether it be Fresh Mex with our Cantina Bell Menu, signature beverages or snacks with our Happier Hour Menu, or a dollar menu with our $1 Cravings Menu – Taco Bell can’t be beat.”

The new menu will have an impressive 12 menu items, some of which are brand new stuff like the beefy cheesy burrito, spicy beef mini quesadilla, spicy potato soft taco, shredded chicken mini quesadilla and beef crunchito.  I’m not sure what a beef crunchito is, but hopefully there won’t be any beef controversies coming from the new menu.

Tags: fast food, value menu, taco bell, taco bell menu, dollar menu, taco bell dollar menu, dollar cravings menu, taco bell one dollar cravings menu, taco bell cravings menu, unusual menu items, new taco bell menu, why pay more menu, taco bell to end why pay more menu, taco bell to add dollar menu, mexican food, Rob Poetsch, taco bell to launch 12-item value menu

Joanne Chesimard AKA Assata Shakur, America’s most-wanted female terrorist.

During a traffic stop in 1973, Black Liberation Army member Joanne Chesimard shot and killed New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike.  She shot him twice with her personal weapon, then when that gun hammed she executed Trooper Foerster with his own service revolver.  She was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in 1977.  Two years after her conviction, she escaped prison.  For her history of violence and her years spent on the run, Joanne Chesimard AKA Assata Shakur has become the first woman to top the FBI most wanted terrorist list.  Chesimard fled to Cuba in 1984 after hiding out in a series of safe hosues in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

According to New Jersey State Police Col. Rick Fuentes, the self-styled Assata Shakur “flaunts her freedom,” adding, ”To this day from her safe haven in Cuba Chesimard has been given a pulpit to preach and profess, stirring supporters and groups to mobilize against the United States by any means necessary.”

Of course, Shakur has maintained her innocence, including doing an interview with BET in 2001 where she described her all-white jury as a lynching rather than a trial.  The now-65-year-old woman and godmother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur has commanded a high price for years, and now authorities in New Jersey have increased her reward to a staggering $2 million dollars, which out to bring the bounty hunters out of the woodwork if it hasn’t already.

Tags: fbi, federal bureau of investigation, fbi most wanted list, most wanted list, most wanted terrorist list, first woman on the most wanted terrorist list, Joanne Chesimard, Werner Foerster, black liberation army,  Assata Shakur, new jersey turnpike, unusual criminals, murderers, rick fuentes, new jersey state police

Brenda Heist, missing since 2002, emerges from hiding.

In February 2002, Brenda Heist’s life was on the rocks.  She was in the process of getting divorced from her husband Lee Heist, applying for housing assistance, and struggling to make ends meet as a bookkeeper at a car dealership near her home in Lititz, Pennsylvania.  That’s when she decided to leave everything behind and disappear for awhile.  After dropping her kids off at school, Brenda Heist disappeared for 11 years.  Well, the missing Heist has emerged, alive and well, in Key Largo, Florida; she stayed off the grid by being homeless for several years and working odd jobs.

“She was very upset, she was sitting in a park crying, thinking about how she would raise her children, feeling sorry for herself,” said Detective Sgt. John Schofield, who stuck with the missing persons case for the entire 11 years Heist was missing.  When Heist got an offer from two men and a woman to hitchhike with them to Florida, ”At a whim, she decided at that very moment, she would go along with them.”

Heist revealed all the details of her lost 11 years in a long interview with Schofield, who said, “She was very emotional; she hung her head; she’s ashamed.  She was crying when I met with her.  She knows what she did was completely wrong, but all that while, she’d never made one effort to call or contact her family at all.”

Heist turned herself into the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, believing she was wanted by the police in another county.  As it turns out, she was not wanted, because it is not illegal to leave your family behind and disappear.  However, it’s pretty rare for someone who goes missing to come back alive; miracles like Brenda’s return happen less than 5 percent of the time.

Tags: brenda heist, lee heist,  Lititz, Pennsylvania, Key Largo, Florida,  Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, woman turns herself after 11 years, woman missing for 11 years turns herself in, brenda heist found after 11 years, unusual people, woman disappeared for 11 years,  Detective Sgt. John Schofield, woman found after disappearing on february 2002, unusual people, law and order, missing persons case, brenda heist missing for 11 years, brenda heist found after 11 years

“Mac Daddy” Chris Kelly has passed away.

It’s always strange when someone from your childhood dies.  It’s even stranger when someone fairly close to your own age is the person who is dead.  I was never a big hip-hop fan, but I think anyone in their early 30′s remembers Kriss Kross fondly, if only for their amazing Sprite commercial and distinctive style of wearing their clothes backwards.  Well a piece of 90′s nostalgia has passed on.  Chris Kelly AKA Mac Daddy from Kriss Kross, has passed away at age 34.  He was found unresponsive in his Atlanta, Georgia home, and was pronounced dead at a Fulton County hospital.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amazingly, Chris Kelly and Kriss Kross partner Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith only recently performed together after time away from the music industry.  The two performed for the 20th anniversary of So So Def Records, the label of southern rap mogul Jermaine Dupri.  Dupri is the man who discovered Kriss Kross in an Atlanta-area mall and made them teenage superstars.

Tags: chris kelly, mac daddy, kriss kross, atlanta, georgia, fulton county, so so def, so so def records, jermaine dupri, billy johnson jr., yahoo music, music, rap, backwards clothing, one of kriss kross dead, chris kelly dead at 34, mac daddy dead at 34, chris ‘mac daddy’ kelly, rappers, chris smith, daddy mac, chris ‘daddy mac’ smith

The Medal of Labor and Medal of Socialist Labor, side by side.

Once upon a time, it was the highest honor that a citizen of the Soviet Union could receive.  It went to weapons designers, famous cosmonauts, and the best of the best that the people of Russia.  However, since the fall of the USSR, the medal has been out of commission.  Thankfully, or perhaps not thankfully, Vladimir Putin is something of a Soviet Union history buff, and he’s tapping into the nostalgia for Stalin by reintroducing a great Soviet-era honor.  Vladimir Putin has awarded the Hero of Labor medal for the first time since 1991.

Fittingly, the medals went to some very important people and also some blue collar slobs.  Brain surgeon Alexander Konovalov and Valery Gergiev, director of the Marinsky Theatre and conductor of the London Philharmonic, and three blue collar workers–Putin’s biggest support group–were all given the medals.  However, the medals have been redesigned.  Rather than the hammer and sickle of the USSR, it sports the double-headed eagle of the Russian Federation.  Aside from that, the medal is the same, though Putin denies any Stalinism overtones.

Said Putin:  ”Stalinism is connected to the cult of personality, massive legal abuses, repressions and camps.  There are no such things in Russia, and I hope they will never happen again.”

Tags: vladimir putin, ussr, soviet union, russia, hero of labor, hero of labor medal, first hero of labor medal issued since the fall of the soviet union, russian president vladimir putin, Alexander Konovalov, Marinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev, hero of socialist labor, josef stalin

Gold is now legal tender in Arizona.

For generations, the use of precious metals as money was a given.  Gold and silver coins were the coin of the realm for thousands of years, and if Arizona lawmakers have their way, the use of gold and silver may return to prominence as the cash money of choice for big spenders throughout the desert southwest.  Arizona has passed a law making gold and silver legal tender, putting it alongside paper money as proper currency.  The bill passed the State Senate by a vote of 18-10; it was previously passed by the House of Representatives.  The bill moves on to the office of Republican Governor Jan Brewer.

“This is the first step in getting it into the statute so we can build on it,” said Republican State Senator Chester Crandell, one of the bill’s sponsors, who called it a “work in progress”.

Gold as currency, a longtime favorite position of groups like the Tea Party, American Principles Project, the Gold Standard Institute, and other fiscally conservative institutions.  Only one state currently allows businesses to accept gold and silver as legal tender.  Utah passed similar legislation in 2011.  Here’s hoping that the increasing move towards gold and silver will mean the spread of cash-for-gold machines.

Tags: Arizona, legal tender, gold, silver, gold standard, gold and silver, gold and silver to become legal tender, arizona passes law to make gold and silver legal tender, money, arizona gold and silver money, chester crandell, arizona state senate, unusual laws, unusual monetary policy, phoenix, jan brewer, Tea Party,  American Principles Project, the Gold Standard Institute

Jason Collins is the first active gay NBA player.

When it comes to gay athletes, the door has been slow to open.  Gay people are everywhere and in every industry, even the US military, but a gay, active professional athlete?  Not exactly a trail that’s been blazed.  Until now, that is.  Jason Collins, a 12-year NBA veteran, is the first professional basketball player to come out as gay.

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center.  I’m black.  And I’m gay.  I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport.  But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation.  I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.”  If I had my way, someone else would have already done this.  Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.”

There have been other gay athletes, but unlike Robbie Rogers, Collins has no plans on retiring.  Indeed, he’s looking for a little work.  Collins, all 7 feet tall and 250 pounds of him, is currently seeking a teem for his 13th NBA season.  I have no doubt he’ll find it, despite his relatively advanced age for a professional basketball player.  His twin brother, Jarron Collins, retired from the NBA in 2011.

Tags: jason collins, nba, national basketball association, professional basketball, gay professional athlete, gay nba player, jason collins comes out as gay, jason collins gay, sports illustrated, homosexual basketball player, gay athlete, sports, jarron collins

Wreckage from a plane used in the 9/11 attacks.

It’s amazing to consider that the events of September 11 happened 11 years ago.  The world has changed a lot since then.  The toll 9/11 took on the people of New York, from a dying generation of rescue dogs to the sick and injured human first responders, has been massive and lingering.  However, as construction continues on the replacement Freedom Tower, there are still a lot of signs of 9/11 lingering, but none more impressive than this.  Part of one of the Boeing 767 planes used in the 9/11 attacks was recovered in Manhattan.

The part is impressive when you consider just how large it is and how long it went undiscovered while wedged in an 18-inch gap between buildings.  The part, composed of cables and levers and all kinds of bits, is 17 inches wide and 4 feet long.  It is part of the landing gear from the plane.  The area around 51 Park Place, the site of a controversial mosque and Islamic center, has been a hotbed of discovering 9/11 wreckage, but this is an impressive discovery nonetheless.

“It’s a manifestation of a horrific terrorist act a block and a half away from where we stand,” said New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly.  ”So, sure, it brings back terrible memories to anyone who was here or who was involved in that event.”

Tags: new york city, new york, manhattan, 9/11, september 11, part of 9/11 plane found in new york, 9/11 landing gear found 11 years later, boeing, boeing 767, new york police department, raymond kelly, 51 park place, september 11 terrorist attack, wreckage from 9/11 found, unusual discoveries

Eric Fisher, human giant and #1 NFL draft pick

They say that football games are won not by the quarterback or the running back or the wide receivers, but in the trenches.  If you can control the line of scrimmage with your offensive line or defensive line, then you can control the football game.  That axiom has found renewed traction in the NFL if the results of the first round of tonight’s NFL draft are to be believed.  The first seven picks of 2013 were offensive and defensive linemen, with the draft headed up by number one pick Eric Fisher, a 6’7 306-pound offensive tackle from Central Michigan University, who was selected by Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs.  They’ll need Fisher to protect new starting quarterback Alex Smith.  Here are the full first round results.

It was a night of odd trends, to be sure.  The first seven picks were linemen, and the first two picks were offensive tackles.  That’s the first time since 1970 two tackles went 1-2.  Fisher is only the third offensive tackle to go at the top of the draft (1970 and 2008).  Meanwhile, the first quarterback wasn’t taken until the Buffalo Bills grabbed Florida State’s EJ Manuel at 16 (the lowest since 2000).  Amazingly, no running backs were taken in the first round of the NFL Draft (a first since 1963) as compared to a staggering 18 linemen in 32 picks.

But no matter what may happen in the draft itself, at least Roger Goodell got booed.  That’s really all that matters.

Tags: nfl, nfl draft, 2013 nfl draft, national football league,  national football league draft, andy reid, kansas city chiefs, offensive tackle, eric fisher, eric fisher taken number one in nfl draft, mac, mid-american conference, central michigan, offensive tackle, first mac player taken with the first pick, no running backs taken in the first round of the nfl drafts, nfl draft milestones, ej manuel, third offensive tackle taken number one since 1970, first draft since 1970 to have offensive linemen go in the first two picks, first seven picks of 2013 nfl draft are linemen, football