January 6, 2016

Where is Mr. Trof?

In Phoenix tailgating about now, I'd guess...

Mr. Trof, I'm not kidding -- You call up Saban and tell him I want Clemson to lose by a score of at least 79-0

January 6, 2016

Women of DU -- No matter how much you lurve your fiance...

If he claims the Clintons, the Obamas, the Putins, the Sarkozys are going to show up at the ceremony as honored guests, and the FREAKIN' POPE WILL OFFICIATE THE WEDDING(!), you should probably be suspicious...



The Celebrity Surgeon Who Used Love, Money, and the Pope to Scam an NBC News Producer

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/celebrity-surgeon-nbc-news-producer-scam

January 5, 2016

What Russia's been doing in Ukraine since you stopped paying attention

It didn't take long for western media to lose focus. After Russia began its military campaign to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the world largely stopped paying attention to Ukraine. It shouldn't have.

Over the last few months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been busy trying to deepen the quagmire he created in Eastern Europe. A United Nations' report released in November detailed the degree to which his proxy war in Ukraine has turned the country into Russia's killing field. More than 9,000 people have died since the spring of 2014 after Russia-backed rebels began fighting Kiev for independence, with some 20,000 people wounded. Between Aug. 16 and Nov. 15 alone, 47 civilians were killed and 131 were injured. At 9,000, the death toll in Ukraine is approaching the 13,000 killed during the war in Kosovo.

Though Putin has long claimed Russian ground troops are not supporting rebels, the UN and other organizations have proven otherwise. And Russian fighters, ammunition, and weaponry continue to flow into Donetsk and Luhansk, the UN report shows. Even after two Minsk Agreements that were supposed to end fighting between the rebels and Ukrainian forces, Russia has failed to convince its side to end violence in the territories it controls.

That's because with strong political support at home that seems impervious to sanctions levied by the West, Putin has no incentive to see tensions ease in eastern Ukraine. What he wants is to keep the conflict frozen so that Ukraine becomes economically weak and politically unstable.

With the eastern part of the country still in tatters, Ukraine teeters on the brink of bankruptcy — and Russia is more than willing to nudge it over the edge. This fall, Putin ordered his finance minister to sue Kiev in court over a $3 billion bond loan the government has failed to repay. Referring to Kiev as "swindlers," Russian Prime Dmitry Medvedev accused Ukraine's government of stealing from his country. "We'll got to court. We'll seek default on the debt and we will seek default on all of Ukraine's obligations." Of course, Putin and Medvedev won't admit that prolonged war in Ukraine caused the country's GDP to contract nearly 5 percent nor did they mention that Russia refused to back a $17 billion IMF restructuring deal that would have given Ukraine much-needed relief.

http://theweek.com/articles/587241/what-russias-been-doing-ukraine-since-stopped-paying-attention

January 5, 2016

This is why I'll never understand The Daily Mail...

To recap:

Cricketer makes knuckleheaded flirting/sexist comments to female sports reporter, another female sports reporter comes to her vehement defense, and yet in a story about fighting sexist stereotyping, the DM still crams in a bunch of cheesecake pics of the two reporters?? Talk about two differing messages...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3385037/Erin-Molan-goes-bat-Mel-McLaughlin-Chris-Gayle-comments.html

January 5, 2016

Oh, come the hell on! It's just a rock!

World's largest blue star sapphire 'found in Sri Lanka'

The gemology institute in the capital Colombo has certified that the gem weighs 1404.49 carats and say they have not certified anything larger.

The gem is valued at at least $100m and the current owner estimates that it could sell for up to $175m at auction.

Sri Lanka's gem industry, for which sapphire is the main export, is worth at least £70m ($103m) annually.

Blue star sapphires are so named because of the distinctive mark found at their centre.

"The moment I saw it, I decided to buy," the current owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme.

"When the stone was brought to me I suspected that it might be the world's largest blue star sapphire. So I took a risk and bought it."

The owner said it was "absolutely confidential" how much he paid for it. The previous record holder weighed 1,395 carats.

The new gem was mined in the city of Ratnapura, in southern Sri Lanka, which is known as the City of Gems.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35226276

January 5, 2016

Missing Hong Kong bookseller 'in Chinese detention'

A Hong Kong bookseller who went missing several days ago is thought to be in detention in mainland China.

The wife of Lee Bo said her husband had called her from a telephone number in Shenzhen to say he was helping with an investigation.

Mr Lee is the fifth person linked to the same bookshop to go missing in the past two months. The case has raised fears that China is undermining Hong Kong's legal independence. Demonstrators held a small rally outside Beijing's representative office in Hong Kong on Sunday to protest at Mr Lee's disappearance.

One of protesters, Raphael Wong, said: "Freedom of [a] person is inviolable. If the central government arrest a Hong Kong resident and [take them] back to mainland China, this is a threat to our freedom of press and also freedom of speech."

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35217218

Glenn Greenwald was going to speak out about this, but he's too busy re-tweeting apologia for those rednecked pieces of shit in Oregon...

January 4, 2016

Is this the single most "Florida" story ever??

FLORIDA MAN CRASHES DODGE CHALLENGER IN AN ATTEMPT TO TIME TRAVEL

It appears that a Florida man has taken the recent “Back to the Future” celebrations a step too far. Last week a man in Pensacola, Fla. reportedly drove and crashed his Dodge Challenger through the wall of a small office in an attempt to time travel.

According to Pensacola news station Channel Three, the unidentified man was uninjured and was taken to the hosipital for evaluation. So far, the driver has been charged with reckless driving. The report doesn’t state if the car was traveling 88 mph at the time of the collision.

But based on the photos, the Challenger was likely travelling fairly fast. The report states that the Challenger crashed through the front wall of Advanced Tax Services and finally came to a stop halfway through the back wall. Since the accident occurred on a Sunday, no employees were in the office. However, much of the furniture and computers suffered extensive damage.

“It looked like a bomb went off,” Emanuel Mores, General Manager of Advanced Tax Services, told Channel Three. “I was mad, then eventually I was happy no one was hurt.”

A casket business next door also suffered extensive damage and was deemed unsafe to enter. Both businesses stated they will move to new offices.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/florida-man-crashes-dodge-challenger-in-an-attempt-to-time-travel/?sm_id=social_aumomotortrendhub_MotorTrend_20151231_56841906&adbid=682355499115888640&adbpl=tw&adbpr=25383000

http://www.weartv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/driver-plows-into-businesses-while-trying-time-travel-63142.shtml#.VooQixUrKUl


Since the Chally is white we would have also accepted "The driver was trying to reenact the ending scene of Vanishing Point"