In the age of the endless quest for “the newest thing” its become way too easy to suppress our unique individuality for the sake of vogue.
We work so hard at being trendy, barely noticing that we’re relying on total strangers to dictate our life’s style, from the toys we buy to the food we’re now told are our favorites. Who died and left them boss, I wanna know?
Seeing as one day we ALL will have to Give Up Our Individual Consciousness For The Exaltation Of A Greater Singularity Of Oness With The Cosmos…but right now I resist the universal pull to mold me, shape me, amalgamate me…
Ah! But the World, she is vast my friend. And just when I think I’m out, she pulls me back in…
Here’s a look at a few trends taking hold in 2013, according to that pinnacle of trend spotter blogs, Trend Hunter:
Labor pains – once, only something women had to deal with since the beginning of time. Something they wished they could share with their male partner… for whatever reason.
Well wish no more ladies! There is a new machine that gives the love your life the very same labor pains you get when you’re pregnant.
Why would you even want to subject him to this pain? I don’t know. But then again, he did have something to do with why you suffer yours.
The New York Times is reporting that twenty-six children from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., will join Jennifer Hudson to sing at the Super Bowl to honor the 26 children and school staffers killed in a shooting massacre last month.
The children will be shown live singing “America the Beautiful” with Hudson before Alicia Keys performs the national anthem. USA Today reported that the N.F.L. confirmed the performance.
The Super Bowl is more than a game; it’s a national event. But is there a touch of exploitation in the move? Maybe even a hint of political commentary? Some readers at ProFootballTalk.com seemed to think so, although they may change their minds if they watch the children sing.
In the YouTube video below, Ingrid Michaelson led a children’s choir from Newtown in a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Retired General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, went on the Fox News Network on Tuesday and was interviewed by Bill O’ Reilly. Powell, and outspoken Republican who voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012, was asked by the host to defend his voting record for the Democratic president.
“What is it that you object to mostly, that caused you to vote for President Obama twice,” Reilly asked, to which Powell answered that the economic policies offered by the Republican candidates in 2008 and 2012, would not have fixed the economy. But that answer was not enough for Reilly and he ventured into trying to paint Colin’s votes for Obama, as based on race.
After pointing out that African-Americans are still suffering under President Obama, Reilly questioned Powell’s previous answer that the economy made him vote for President Obama. Powell seemed irritated by Reilly’s insertion of race into the conversation. “Why are you only seeing me as an African-American Bill?” Powell asked. “I’m an American.”
He then goes on to explain that although the economy is not where it needs to be, it is better now than it was before Obama took office. Powell also pointed out that when the general economy improves, as it’s doing now, then the economic outlook for other minority groups will improve as well.
The conversation progressed to immigration and voting, with Powell correctly stating that Republicans in the last election tried to “disenfranchise” minority by requiring voter ids and limiting voting days. “I want to see a Republican party that rather than try and make it more difficult to vote and restricting the days and hours you can vote,” Powell said, “a Republican party that says we want everybody to vote and we want you to vote for us.”
Powell and O’Reilly also spoke about Sarah Palin and other Republicans who turned him off during the previous campaigns.
A father has been reunited with his 22-month-old daughter who was given up for adoption at birth without his knowledge. After a grueling custody battle between the army drill sergeant, Terry Achane, and the Frei family who had adopted his daughter, a Utah judge ruled that the girl must be returned to her biological father.
“I’m just happy right now. I’m with my daughter,” Sgt. Terry Achane told “Good Morning America.”
Achane was stationed in South Carolina when his now ex-wife, Tira Bland, gave birth to their daughter Leah (who he calls Teleah) in March 2011. He expected to return to his wife and baby in Texas, where he expected the birth would take place, after the child was born, the Salt Lake Tribune reported in December. But Bland delivered Leah in Utah, instead, and gave her up for adoption just two days later. It was weeks before Achane knew his daughter had been placed for adoption.
“Utah’s laws appeal to people who want to get it done quick, rather than to people who want to get it done right,” Adam Pertman, executive director at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, told GMA.
President Obama is riding a wave of personal popularity into his second term, with his highest favorability ratings since his first year in office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Fully 60 percent of Americans have a favorable impression of Obama in the new poll, up slightly from October but a clear shift in opinion from an election year in which his ratings hovered in the mid-to-low 50s. And by 39 percent to 26 percent, the president now has more “strongly” positive ratings than strongly negative reviews, breaking a two-year stretch in which intense opposition was on par with (or higher than) intense support.
She performed in a marching band for President Obama’s second inaugural, but the mean streets of Chicago ended up taking the life of 15 year old Hadiya Pendleton.
A 15-year-old girl who performed at President Obama’s inauguration last week was shot dead Tuesday while hanging out with friends in bullet-scarred Chicago.
Hadiya Pendleton was standing under a canopy in Vivian Gordon Harsh Park when a gunman ran down an alley, opened fire at the group and fled in a white car, police said.
Pendleton was shot in the back but managed to run about a block before she collapsed, officer Laura Kubiak said. She died at the hospital.
A 16-year-old boy was wounded in the 2:20 p.m. incident. Police said Pendleton, who had no criminal record, was probably not the intended target.
Word on the street is that this new iPhone killer from Black Berry will be released early February 2013. The Blackberry z10, packed with features never before seen on any previous Blackberry device, will feature a 4.2-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 768, 16GB of memory and according to the cases we saw at CES and its FCC filing, a microSD card slot for expanded storage space, two cameras, NFC support, Bluetooth and access to 4G. It’ll also have an 1,800 mAh battery to keep it powered.
A source with knowledge of the situation has told the media that the Yankees are looking into at least 20 different ways to void the remainder of Alex Rodriguez’s contract. The source did not go in depth with information but one route is by claiming A-Rod accepted treatment from a physician not authorized by the Yankee organization. A definite violation of his contract. Another option is to try to void the contract based on the drugs he purchased. Let’s not forget what A-Rod did was not only against the rules, it was illegal. Not only should he be out of a job, he should be doing 3-5 in a prison somewhere.
Does this all sound good so far Yankee fans? Don’t get too excited. The Yanks face an uphill battle. Although a situation like this should allow a team to void a player’s contract, it most likely will not. The way the MLB drug policy was written was so that a team could not get out of a contract just because of a steroid violation.
The truth is, the rewards out-weigh the risks of PED use right now. Mainly because the MLB can’t just do what they want. These players are in a union therefore the MLBPA must agree to the drug policy. Recently, the two sides did come to an agreement on a much stricter testing system. One that includes random in-season human growth hormone testing. However, until the punishments get more intimidating, you’re still going to have players taking a chance.
Currently, the rules are for the first infraction, a player receives a 50 game suspension without pay. After the second infraction, the player receives a 100 game suspension without pay. Finally, the third infraction results in a lifetime ban from baseball. Three strikes and you’re out. This policy was a step in the right direction but it’s not there yet. A better policy would have a player suspended a full season for the first infraction and receive a lifetime ban after just a second infraction. Furthermore, a team needs to be able to void the contract of any player found guilty of breaking the MLB drug policy. If these rules were adopted, players would think twice about cheating.
Getting back to the Yankees, though they face a tough task of voiding the contract. The attempt shows that they are done with Alex and want him off this team and there maybe a simple way out.
A-Rod already admitted to using PEDs between 2001-2003. Now with the evidence suggesting use from 2009-2012, it becomes pretty clear that Rodriguez is not confident in his own ability without the assistance of banned substances. So battling back from a hip injury now that his help is gone could prove to be a very daunting task for him. Also, the fans and media haven’t exactly been his biggest supporters recently and now with all this going on, it makes sense that the fans and media will be brutal towards him if he does come back. Who would be in a rush to face hostility like that?
If Alex simply retired, the Yankees would be off the hook for the remainder of A-Rod’s contract but he would not earn another penny. However, if he were to find a doctor who stated that he was suffering from a career ending injury, he could walk away from the game with his $114 million owed to him. The Yankees would have to pay him in full but they can then turn around and cash in on the insurance policy they have on the contract and make at least 85% of the money back. It’s a win-win situation that is not so far fetched.
Alex has disgraced the Yankees as well as Major League Baseball. It’s time the game moves on and this could be how it happens.
Wow. The Dow is approaching 14000 for the first time since 2007. This, in spite of the fact that taxes on the top 1% went up for the first time in over a decade.
Seems Republicans were wrong on this too.
Last week the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time in five years. This week the Dow Jones industrial average has been flirting with 14,000, a level it hasn’t seen since October 2007.
In early trading Tuesday, the Dow added 22 points, or 0.2%, to 13,905.
Stocks are a bit pricey relative to their earnings, but are nowhere near the overheated levels they’ve seen before, said Robert Shiller, a famed Yale University economist who identified the stock market and housing bubbles of the last decade.
Shiller, who may be best known for a widely reported index tracking U.S. house prices bearing his name, also created an index to track whether stocks were cheap or overpriced.
His CAPE index — which stands for cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio — factors in 10 years’ worth of earnings. He has collected data stretching back to 1871.
A new PPP Poll found that Texas voters- even Republicans- have had enough of Rick Perry.
PPP’s newest poll finds that only 31% of voters think Perry should seek reelection next year, compared to 62% who think it’s time for him to step aside. He’s among the most unpopular Governors in the country, with only 41% of voters approving of him to 54% who disapprove.
Perry could face great peril in a primary challenge next year. Only 41% of GOP primary voters want him to be their candidate again, compared to 47% who think it’s time for someone else. And in a head to head match up with Attorney General Greg Abbott, Perry leads by only a 41/38 margin. What makes those numbers particularly worrisome for Perry is that Abbott only has 59% name recognition at this point with primary voters. Among voters who are familiar with Abbott- whether they like him or not- he leads Perry 55/33. That suggests the potential for things to get worse for Perry if Abbott does indeed go forward with a bid.
On Saturday, it was exposed that a Miami area clinic was being investigated for ties to steroids but details were not clear. Tuesday morning, the picture became much, much clearer. According to an in depth article that was three months in the making published in this morning’s Miami New Times, Anthony Bosch was the head of Biogenesis of America, a clinic which had a list of clients that included several notable MLB players. Most notably, Alex Rodriguez is said to be a client of Bosch’s and although Rodriguez had already admitted to using steroids during his career, he assured the MLB Commissioners Office that his use was limited to 2001-2003. Evidence acquired from the investigation into Biogenesis of America is suggesting that A-Rod was lying. There is evidence that suggests A-Rod was using PEDs in 2009 after his admission to using band substances and during the Yankees’ World Series run as well as in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The other players that have been named so far are Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, Yasmani Grandal and even former University of Miami star pitcher Cesar Carrillio. The implications are said to be well founded and if proven true, MLB would be well within their rights to suspend all players involved. Alex Rodriguez is looking at a bad situation since it seems he lied during an official investigation by MLB. According to the agreement between the MLB and MLBPA, the league does not need a positive drug test to suspend a player for breaking the drug policy. They just need proof of an infraction. MLB may be able to treat each season as a different infraction and possibly ban A-Rod for life. It is a far fetched situation but if the commissioner finds it necessary to make an example out of him it could end up happening.
Alex has completely destroyed his legacy. By admitting to using steroids early in his career and being found to use them late in his career, there is little doubt that he has used PEDs for most if not all of his play. He will never be the “clean” player to break the all time home run record or even break the record at all. He will never realize his dream of owning a professional baseball team, MLB would never allow it. He likely blew his chance at the Hall of Fame after being viewed as a first ballot Hall of Famer. If the Yankees succeed at voiding A-Rod’s contract and no other team wants to take a risk on him, A-Rod may never reach his 3,000 hit.
Alex is denying the allegations in a statement he put out today. The statement said; “The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true, Alex Rodriguez was not Mr. Bosch’s patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story — at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez — are not legitimate.”
The Yankees then released a statement of their own. After the team supported him in ’09 during his first steroid scandal, it was interesting to see which direction the organization would go. The statement read as follows; “We fully support the Commissioner’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, This matter is now in the hands of the Commissioner’s Office. We will have no further comment until that investigation has concluded.” There was no mention of A-Rod at all. It seems the Yankees are done supporting him.
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