Here is some random humor to start off your weekend.
Filed under Humor and Observations
I am a disabled American veteran who served in the United States Air Force under my favorite Commander-in-Chief – Ronald Reagan. At the end of August 2001, I was in New York City for ALEC, the much-maligned American Legislative Exchange Council, the wining and dining paid for by major lobbyists. My wife was with me. It was my first and only time to New York City and I was there as Director of Policy for the Arizona Speaker of the House.
During the visit, my wife caught three Broadway plays, we stayed at the Marriott on Times Square, cruised the harbor, dined in the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center and dined in the Windows of the World restaurant at the top of one of the World Trade Centers. The food and decor were surprisingly not that good there, but the scenery was awesome. We looked all about the city.
On September 11th, less than two weeks later, I came into the Capitol for my morning meeting with the Speaker and our staff to go over policy. The meetings were usually friendly and casual as we all liked each other – a rare thing in politics. I came in and everyone was disturbed, watching the small 14 inch monitor up on the wall that was rarely used. The first plane had just hit a tower.
We were all starting to speculate, wondering if it were an accident, when we saw live as second plane hit the other tower. Then we knew. One plane could be an accident, two was terrorism.
Soon we received the call that the Capitol was to be secured and all “non-essential” staff sent home. I spent the day with the Speaker and one or two others holding down the fort so to speak and coordinating security efforts. The Speaker of the House is responsible for the entire Capitol Complex under Arizona law.
Honestly, growing up abused, then abandoned, I don’t usually emotionally react much to crisis. I have walls. If I had not just been to New York City and actually eaten in the towers 12 days earlier, I don’t know how I would have reacted. At first it was surreal, then I felt numb, then I wanted revenge.
Our photos came back the next week from our New York trip. (Yes, back then we still developed our disposable camera film). Nearly every shot had the Twin Towers in them. We never looked at the photos again. I don’t even know where they are or if we still have them. It is strange to me that it has been so long, as it seems like yesterday. Our new voters turning 18 were in Kindergarten when it happened. Did the Boston Marathon terror event effect them? I don’t know.
It seems each generation faces its own call to arms. Taxation without representation, Barbary Pirates, impressment of American sailors by the British, Remember the Alamo, slavery, Defeat the Hun, Remember Pearl Harbor, Defeat Fascism, the Cold War and the Berlin Wall, Gulf of Tonkin, and 9-11.
Maybe it’s good our new generation is so far untouched. Hopefully, we can skip a generation from having a rallying call the carries with it death, suffering and fear.
Filed under Humor and Observations
If the NFL is serious about not being the National FELON League, they need to act consistently. I’d rather watch non-criminals play the games.
That’s right, since 2000 there have been 723 arrests of NFL players. They also include felony domestic violence. What was done? In most cases nothing. Only an embarrassing public video of Ray Rice aired on TMZ gets a lifetime ban? Here is a link that lists all 723 and what has been done. I listed just the FIRST page of this database below it, the top one, Ray McDonald arrested less than two weeks ago for suspicion of felony domestic violence. Did you hear about that one? Must not have a video tape…
http://www.utsandiego.com/nfl/arrests-database/
These are arrests and citations involving NFL players since 2000 that were more serious than speeding tickets. U-T San Diego reviewed hundreds of news reports and public records in compiling it. The list cannot be considered comprehensive in part because some incidents may not have been reported and some public records proved to be elusive. Increased media coverage of incidents also probably accounts for more incidents listed in recent years.
Use the search box below to filter by team, position or name or just click on the title of any column of the full list to sort the database by that column. After filtering, to return to the full list, just leave the search box blank and click the submit button.
Compiled by Brent Schrotenboer and Merrie Monteagudo, U-T San Diego
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Date |
Team | Position | Name | Incident | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/31/2014 | San Francisco | DT | Ray McDonald | Arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence in San Jose. | |
| 8/23/2014 | Buffalo | DT | Alan Branch | Arrested for DWI in upstate New York. | Released by team. |
| 8/20/2014 | Pittsburgh | RB | Le’Veon Bell | Charged with DUI and marijuana possession following a traffic stop in Ross Township, a Pittsburgh suburb. | |
| 8/20/2014 | Pittsburgh | RB | LeGarrette Blount | Charged with marijuana possession after police pulled over Le’Veon Bell’s Chevrolet Camaro in a Pittsburgh suburb. | |
| 7/23/2014 | Jacksonville | WR | Justin Blackmon | Arrested for marijuana possession in Edmond, Okla. | |
| 7/20/2014 | St. Louis | LB | Jo-Lonn Dunbar | Arrested on battery and disorderly conduct charges after allegedly fighting NBA free agent Donte Green outside a Miami Beach nightclub. | |
| 7/19/2014 | Philadelphia | S_ | Keelan Johnson | Arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer, passively resisting arrest and disorderly conduct after an altercation with police officer at a bar in Tempe, Ariz. | |
| 7/12/2014 | Baltimore | CB | Jimmy Smith | Arrested and cited for failing to follow an officer’s orders in an incident at a suburban Baltimore restaurant. | |
| 7/5/2014 | Cleveland | WR | Josh Gordon | Arrested and charged with DWI in Raleigh, N.C. | |
| 6/29/2014 | Arizona | DE | John Abraham | Arrested and charged with DUI in DeKalb County, Ga. | |
| 6/20/2014 | Chicago | DE | Cornelius Washington | Arrested for speeding and driving with a suspended license in Glascock County, Ga. | |
| 6/9/2014 | Kansas City | CB | Sean Smith | Cited for DUI and careless driving after he stuck a light pole with his vehicle in Kansas City’s Power & Light entertainment district. | |
| 5/30/2014 | Buffalo | DT | Marcell Dareus | Charged with reckless endangerment after crashing his 2012 Jaguar into a tree in suburban Buffalo. He was also ticketed for several traffic violations, including drag-racing. | |
| 5/25/2014 | Cleveland | WR | Josh Gordon | Ticketed for speeding on Interstate 71 in Strongsville, Ohio; a passenger in his car was cited for marijuana possession. | |
| 5/24/2014 | Baltimore | RB | Lorenzo Taliaferro | Arrested for misdemeanor destruction of property and being drunk in public in his hometown of Willliamsburg. |
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| Records 1-15 of 723 | |||||||||||||||
Filed under Humor and Observations
This New Model Revolver was a special order, recorded in the Smith & Wesson archives as having been shipped to Tiffany’s on November 11, 1888. Once in New York, the plain nickel-plated frame received a two-piece silver grip etched overall with scenes of a buffalo hunt.
During the late nineteenth century, Tiffany’s often used etching to render large areas of ornament, including complex and often charming pictorial compositions like this buffalo hunt. The revolver complements two other Tiffany-decorated Smith & Wesson firearms from the collection of Gerald Klaz that are already part of the Museum’s holdings, one exhibiting an embossed and martelé silver grip, the other with a grip in mokume, a Japanese-style laminated metal.
Smith and Wesson New Model No. 3, .44 Caliber Double-Action Navy Revolver, serial no. 23060.
Exhibited by Smith and Wesson at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, this is an unusual example of Tiffany “jeweled” silver. The semiprecious stones suggest the influence of Islamic weapons, on which such stones were considered to have talismanic properties.
Smith and Wesson .32 Single-Action Revolver, Serial no. 94421.
The grip combines three decorative techniques: repoussé, etching, and niello inlay. The revolver was shown by Smith and Wesson at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Smith and Wesson .44 Double-Action Revolver for George Jay Gould (1864–1923), serial no. 23402.
With the exception of the trigger and trigger guard, the steel parts are etched and silver-plated. The grip is covered in sheet silver, enclosing plaques of ivory. It also bears the initials, GJG, for George Jay Gould, (1864–1923), a wealthy financier and railroad executive.
Smith and Wesson .32 Single-Action Revolver, Serial no. 17156.
The grip is sheathed in silver and etched with foliage around shaped panels inlaid with laminated metal that has a wood-grain pattern. This Japanese technique, called mokume (“wood grain”), was one of various metalworking forms explored by Tiffany and Company’s chief designer, Edward C. Moore (1827–1891). His experimentation with Japanese design elements and media helped to establish Tiffany’s international reputation in the 1870s.
Smith and Wesson .38 Double-Action Revolver, Serial no. 70002.
The silver grip has a hammered surface popular in domestic silverware of the period. Its design reflects the elegant, whimsical style of Art Nouveau. The original design for the grip, dated 1883, is preserved in the Tiffany archives.
Smith and Wesson .38 Caliber Safety Third Model Double-Action Revolver, serial no. 83097.
The flamboyant Art Nouveau grips recall French or Russian enameled silver. The revolver was shown by Smith and Wesson at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Filed under Humor and Observations, Uncategorized
1. Lagunita
An archeologist from Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts rediscovered the lost Mayan city of Lagunita. He identified a Mayan doorway, the remains of massive buildings, plazas, ball courts, a pyramid and three altars that date back to 711 AD. How cool is that?
2. Helike
In the year 373 BC, a giant earthquake hit off the coast of Greece, which created a giant tsunami that swallowed the ancient city of Helike. Then, in 2001 a team finally rediscovered Helike, digging up coins, pottery and ruins. The reason it took them so long to find it, was because they were looking in the water, but it was under dirt! The water had dried up!
3. Troy
Yes, the famous city of Troy was once lost. In fact, a lot of people thought in never existed. But then, Heinrich Schliemann went on quite adventure in 1870, following clues laid out in Homer’s the Iliad and dug that city up.
4. Pavlopetri
This is the real life Atlantis. Thes 5,000-year-old lost city was found in 1967 and is thought to have been submerged about 3,000 years ago. So, it had a good run. Archeologists found roads, buildings, courtyards and pottery.
5. Machu Picchu
Maybe the greatest lost city sits on top of a mountain in Peru. It wasn’t rediscovered until 1911 mostly because of its location. People are always digging for lost cities, or trekking through the jungle. No one thinks to look up.
Filed under Humor and Observations
In this Feb. 24, 2009, file photo, a crowd gathers on Elk Avenue in Crested Butte, Colo., during a Mardi Gras parade celebration. Some people in normally laid back Crested Butte are not up for a secretive Bud Light plan to paint their mountain town blue and turn it into a fantasy town for an ad campaign. (AP Photo/Nathan Bilow, File)
Residents of a Colorado town are hopping mad after local officials gave the go-ahead to a beer company to take over the town, fence it in and literally paint it blue for an upcoming weekend as part of an online and television ad campaign.
Leaders in the historic Colorado mining town of Crested Butte have unanimously approved a plan to turn it into the fictional “Whatever” town for a Bud Light ad campaign.
Town councilors gave their approval only after Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch doubled its payment to $500,000.
The Denver Post reports fencing has already been installed for the Sept. 5-7 event that has divided the town.
The beer company has been working with town officials on the plan since the spring, but word only leaked out recently. In the meantime, the mysterious Bud Light event has been promoted online.
“The town government is not elected to turn the town into a weekend beer hall.”- Former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth
Bud Light marketing director David Daniels says the company picked the town for its beautiful location and its reputation for having fun.
“Yes, fencing is already going up. That is part of our operational agreement … that we could have availability this week,” said Daniels, who attributed the public’s concerns to misunderstanding over “the scope and scale of the activation.”
Crested Butte resident Sarah Steffens is one of many locals not happy about that activation.
“Just today I took my son to the skate park and we could not get water or use the bathroom facilities because they were blocked off,” she wrote in an email to the Denver Post.
Former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth is one of the anti-Whatever residents complaining that the half-million dollars the company will pay the city is not enough. Wirth wrote a letter to the town council outlining why it’s a bad idea.
“The town government is not elected to turn the town into a weekend beer hall, using public resources and public property,” Wirth wrote, according to the Denver Post. “Nor is it elected to carry on secret, behind-the-scenes negotiations, waiting until commitments are a fait accompli before informing town residents.”
Bud Light has been building up buzz about a fictional town called Whatever since Super Bowl XLVIII this year. Bud Light fans have been encouraged to apply online for a chance to visit Whatever, and social media campaigns and TV ads have teased about the mysterious town the Anheuser-Busch company is creating.
More than 100,000 have done so, and more than 1,000 of them have been chosen to be flown to Gunnison and bused to Crested Butte for a giant bash beginning Friday. The event also will bring in 300 workers, VIPs, performers and special guests.
“We believe our consumers like us to do big and bold things,” Daniels said about the company’s first-ever takeover of a town.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Filed under Humor and Observations
Enjoy these adorable hounds to brighten your start of the work week.
Filed under Animals
The Original Season 5 Photo had Daryl Dixon up front. This new one removes him, leaving some to speculate he is killed off in Season 5. The actor also made statements about a sad event and the remaining cast being supportive. Clever way to make us worry, or death of the popular character?
If you can’t get enough of the Southern Zombie Mysteries (that’s a joke there, because the True Blood book series is called the ‘Southern Vampire Mysteries’), then never fear! Looks like AMC just placed the official order for the ‘companion’ series to their cult hit The Walking Dead.
This series specifically will cover the zombie outbreak in other parts of the world, Deadline reported this morning. They went on to quote series creator Robert Kirkman:
“Almost from the beginning of The Walking Dead on AMC, fans have been curious about what is going on in the zombie apocalypse in other parts of the world. In fact, beyond requests for zombie cameos, it’s the question I get asked the most,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “Obviously, we all take our stewardship of the original franchise incredibly seriously and we, along with Robert, Gale, David and now Dave, are all proceeding with extreme care in order to ensure that we are offering fans something truly compelling, engaging and distinct. There are many corners of The Walking Dead universe that remain unseen in the shadows. Being given the opportunity to shine a light into those corners and see what lurks out there is an absolute thrill.”
The pilot is scheduled to start filming in late 2014. The Walking Dead returns to AMC on October 15th for it’s 5th season.
Filed under Humor and Observations
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 Credit: Chailalla | Shutterstock.com
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Not all caffeine is created equal. Researchers recently sequenced the genome of the coffee plant and found the caffeine in your morning cup evolved independently from caffeine found in other plants.
The study based on the genome sequencing helps explain how and why the coffee plant might have started producing caffeine in the first place. It also explores coffee’s other likable features, such as its eye-opening aroma and its distinctly bitter taste. And like many exercises in genome sequencing, the researchers behind the coffee study say their work could lead to better coffee varieties in the future
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“Coffee is as important to everyday early risers as it is to the global economy. Accordingly, a genome sequence could be a significant step toward improving coffee,” said Philippe Lashermes, a researcher at the French Institute of Research for Development, in a statement. “By looking at the coffee genome and genes specific to coffee, we were able to draw some conclusions about what makes coffee special.” [10 Surprising Facts About Coffee]
Filed under Humor and Observations
Two young people I know, Kyle and Victoria, seemed to have everything. Kyle worked with his family at the local coffee shop and cafe Hob Nob’s. A smart, great-looking guy, buff and witty, who reminded me of my own son. Victoria the smart, sweet, gorgeous young model with all-American girl next door looks.
Then, this year, both found they had serious cancer. I get updates on Kyle from his family and he has suffered dramatic surgery for soft tissue carcinoma. He seemed fine one day, then he ended up having much of his chest and ribs removed with cancer. He is now going through extensive chemo and radiation treatments. His brother shaved his head in support of Kyle, who has lost his hair.
Victoria had a small spot her on leg. It turned out to be melanoma that had already metastasized. She is in and out of the hospital and going through all sorts of suffering. Still, she is reaching out to help others with awareness.
I don’t usually do this, but:
1) if you are in metro-Phoenix, stop by Hob Nobs and buy a Kyle-strong bracelet.
2) Please go to the donation site below to donate to help Victoria and also watch her video. Thanks.
http://www.gofundme.com/e34gk8
Filed under Humor and Observations
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 