Long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, in her fifth attempt, has successfully swum from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida. She is the first to make the entire 112-mile crossing using neither a shark cage nor a wetsuit, but did use a silicone mask designed to protect her from jellyfish. Her swim took just under 53 hours. One other remarkable aspect of Nyad's accomplishment is that she did this at age 64.
From Fox News, if you're a man who likes to swim, and you live in or plan to visit the coastal areas of Denmark or Sweden, skinny dipping is not a good idea.
From Yahoo TV, racial discrimination claims in the lawsuit against Paula Deen have been dismissed.
From the Washington Post, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that "low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations" will no longer face mandatory minimum sentences.
From Today News, a Dutch prince has died after being in coma which resulted from being buried in an avalanche while skiing.
From the Daily Caller, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has signed an election reform law that includes a photo ID requirement.
And from the News Observer, on August 15, the Carolina Mudcats will put on Carlos Danger Night. For that game, anyone with a mustache, either real or fake, will be sold a box seat for just $5. So if you're in or near Zebulon, North Carolina, get out that mustache and enjoy some Minor League baseball.
From the Washington Free Beacon, the new Iranian president Hassan Rowhani has appointed a holocaust denier as his country's foreign minister. This, of course, makes his no worse than Rowhani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (via Pat Dollard)
From the Daily Caller, a conservative group has given their support to the Justice Safety Valve Act.
From the New York Post, the new owner of the Drake's Cakes brands has announced that Coffee Cakes, Devil Dogs, Ring Dings and Yodels will return next month.
And to finish with some humor, my blogosphere buddy Holger Awakens presents the Dem's poster boy.
A few things I've run across in the last couple of days:
In a hospital in central New York, doctors intent on harvesting a patient's organs suddenly realized that rumors of her death had been greatly exaggerated.
Two House Democrats have proposed a new National Historical Park - on the moon. This would present a number of difficulties, starting with the fact that while the moon was explored by twelve Americans, is not United States territory. And any Department of the Interior personnel assigned to such a park would face an exceptionally difficult commute.
A House Republican has inserted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would protect the religious freedom of military personnel.
This next item is two and a half years old, but still relevant in light of the recent Supreme Court rulings on "gay marriage". This is a look inside the gay culture and the gay rights movement, from a former participant.
The Virginia Tech football team has lost a running back, due to his own fault. This past April, Michael Holmes was charged with malicious wounding, a felony, for his actions in a fight that started between his then-girlfriend and an ex-girlfriend. Holmes plea-bargained the charge down to assault and battery, a misdemeanor. School policy allows a misdemeanor offender to be reinstated to his athletic team, but a student judicial panel decided to expel Holmes from both the team and the school.
It would appear that protesters outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo have some complaints about our president. Like many teabaggers/hobbits/wacko-birds back here in the U.S., I say, "Join the club." Thankfully, many Egyptians seem able to distinguish between Barry and America.
From The Corner at National Review Online, abortion-rights activists and their signs.
From Bare Naked Islam, the British government, who recently decided to ban Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller from entering their country, had already stopped an American Jew from doing so.
From CBS DC, according to recently uncovered documents, the State Department "may have covered up allegations of illegal behavior ranging from sexual assaults to an underground drug ring".
From the Washington Examiner, sales of George Orwell's book 1984 have gone up 69%. Hmmm, it does kinda seem like Big Brother is watching us these days.
It appears that my alma mater, with some help from my ancestral homeland of Slovakia, has built an impressive dynasty in NCAA track and field, in the hammer throw event, with no less than four individual national champions.
In March 2005, Spyridon Jullien, a junior from Athens, Greece won the hammer throw at the NCAA indoor championships, and won it again at the outdoor event the following June. He repeated the outdoor title in 2006.
And in 2013, the NCAA hammer throw championship went to Virginia Tech freshman Tomas Kruzliak, who like Lomnicky, comes from Nitra, Slovakia. Must be something in the water in that town.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated today in a ceremony attended by President Obama and former Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Bush. The library is on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Here are some stories from today's events:
Pat Summerall, who spent almost 40 years broadcasting televised NFL games, died yesterday from a heart attack, at the age of 82. He had been recovering from surgery for a broken hip. Starting in 1961, he worked for CBS for 31 years, before moving to Fox and retiring after 8 more years. Before entering the broadcast booth, he had played football at the University of Arkansas and later for nine seasons in the NFL, mostly as a kicker, with the Cardinals (then in Chicago) and Giants. He was originally with the Lions, but lost his rookie season to a broken arm. The Cardinals also briefly used him at defensive end. Besides football, he also covered the Masters and the U.S. Open tennis championship during his time at CBS.
Summerall was born in Lake City, Florida. In high school, he was all-state in football and basketball. In college, he earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's in Russian history. He later became an alcoholic. Twelve years after being successfully treated at the Betty Ford Clinic, a liver transplant was necessary to save his life. He spent the latter part of his life in the Dallas area, and was in a Dallas hospital when he died.
In an attempt to promote an art exhibit, the ad agency Droga5 (whose name resembles "droga", the Polish word for "road") has enabled 5,000 pay phones in Manhattan to connect the caller with someone reminiscing about the way things were in 1993, the year which saw the first attack on the World Trade Center and the first election of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Among those recounting the past is former NY Yankees pitcher Jim Abbott, who threw a no-hitter that year.
Also from the New York Post, and from the "you can't make this up" department, five schools in Norway have rescheduled their mid-term exams to allow students to attend a Justin Bieber concert.
From World Net Daily, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad goes on trial (in absentia) for crimes against humanity.
From the Washington Times, an Islamic cleric has given permission for Syrian rebels to rape non-Sunni women.
From the Jerusalem Post, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu promises a strong response if rockets are fired into Israel from Gaza.
From the Military Times, North Korea has stopped workers from South Korea from entering an industrial complex in the north, but used by both countries.
And from the Canada Free Press and my neck of the woods, at a hearing by the Maryland legislature, a 15-year-old witness testifies in favor of gun rights.
A few things recently in the news as some of us get a day off:
The Washington Post, and in the spirit of the day, invites you to pick the most underrated and overrated presidents.
From the Daily Caller, the president of Brevard Community College in Florida has recommended the firing of a professor who forced her students to sign pledges to vote for president Obama.
From the New York Post, the former LAPD cop Christopher Dorner asked some fishermen to take him to Mexico.
Also from Fox News, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has accused the Obama administration of not enforcing a century-old law requiring immigrants to avoid becoming a "public charge".
From the Los Angeles Times, details of Pope Benedict's physical ailments emerge, including blindness in one eye.
And from CBS News, two brothers in Kansas, while celebrating a lottery win, blow up their house. ---- UPDATE: One more, from Inventor's Business Daily. That asteroid which flew by last Friday is coming back.
In yesterday's Super Bowl, the Baltimore Ravens beat both the San Francisco 49ers and some technical difficulties, as the game was interrupted when many of the lights went out in the New Orleans Superdome. After a delay of about 35 minutes, the game resumed when sufficient lighting had been restored. Baltimore ran up a 28-6 pre-outage lead, but San Francisco then mounted a furious comeback, coming up just short as Baltimore held on for a 34-31 victory. Ravens QB Joe Flacco, with 3 touchdown passes, was named the games Most Valuable Player. It was the second Super Bowl victory for the Ravens and the third for the city of Baltimore, the (now Indianapolis) Colts having prevailed in one of the earlier Super Bowls around 1970.
From the Washington Examiner, before the game, the Department of Energy had praised the Superdome for its energy efficiency. (Read the DOE statement here.)
From the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu states in a cabinet meeting that the primary objective of the newly-elected government will be "to stop the weaponization of Iran's nuclear program".
From Newsbusters, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao blasts President Obama's blaming the Republicans for the state of the economy.
From Breitbart's Big Government, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) backs off on his defense of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), accused of messing around with underage prostitutes in Colombia.
Let's give Harry a two-fer. From Breitbart's Big Journalism, Senator Reid admits that he has not read Senator Diane Feinstein's (D-CA) proposed gun legislation.
From the New York Post, city council Speaker Christine Quinn (D) has been filling in on some ceremonial appearances for Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), whom she hopes to succeed.
From Breitbart Sports, two Egyptian soccer players were shot dead in a riot, which broke out in response to a judge's sentence in a trial of people accused of rioting over a soccer game. (Perhaps it's this type of football that needs to be less violent, Mr. President.) In a related story from Middle East Online, 22 people have died in these riots in Port Said. Al Arabiya News reports 27 people dead.
Back to the American variety of football, and more violence, the New York Post tells the tale of Ray Lewis' homicide case.
From Dawn, an intense battle rages in the Khyber region of Pakistan between a faction of the Pakistani Taliban and the "pro-government" group Ansar ul Islam. (via Holger Awakens)
For the second time today, a legendary baseball figure has gone to the great dugout in the sky. Stan Musial, known as "Stan The Man", died this afternoon at age 92, from natural causes. Musial spent his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals, playing outfield and first base. In high school and in the minor leagues, he had also pitched. After ending his playing career, Musial worked for the Cardinals as a vice president and then as their general manager.
The son of a Polish immigrant father and a Czech-descended mother, Stanisłaus Franciszek Musiał was born in Donora, Pennsylvania. Upon enrolling in school, his named was changed to Stanley Frank Musial. At Donora High School, one of his teammates was Buddy Griffey, whose son Ken Griffey and grandson Ken Griffey Jr. each had successful major league careers. After spending a few year in the minor leagues, Musial joined the major league Cardinals in September 1941 and stayed with them until the end of the 1963 season, except for a stint in the U.S. Navy in 1945 and 1946. During his career, Musial won seven National League batting titles and three NL MVP awards, and was chosen to appear in 24 All-Star games. The Cardinals retired his number, 6. He was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, and elected to the baseball Hall Of Fame in 1969, his first year on the ballot. More recently, Musial was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Go to Baseball Reference to see his career statistics.
Earl Weaver, who managed the Baltimore Orioles to four American League pennants in 17 seasons, and a victory in the World Series in 1970, passed away today while on an Orioles Fantasy cruise in the Caribbean Sea, after collapsing in his room at around 2:00 a.m. He was 82 years old.
As a manager, Weaver compiled a career winning percentage of .583, one of the highest in major league history. He was inducted into the baseball Hall Of Fame in 1996 by the Veterans Committee. Unlike many of his managerial contemporaries, he had never played in the major leagues. After managing in the Orioles' minor league system, including the Elmira (NY) Pioneers and Rochester (NY) Red Wings, Weaver became the major league team's first base coach at the start of the 1968 season. He was promoted to manager in July of that year, holding the job through 1982. After that season, the Orioles retired his number, 4. He returned to manage them again in 1985 and 1986. Ironically, the Orioles won the World Series in 1983 during his hiatus.
As a manager, Weaver extensively compiled and used statistics, such as head-to-head batting statistics of his own players against individual opposing pitchers. He often platooned two players, one batting right-handed and the other batting left-handed, in one position. Weaver's relations with American League umpires were a story unto itself. He was ejected from at least 91 games, including twice before the game even started, and three times from both games of a double header.
Manti Te'o is a college football player who recently completed his senior season with Notre Dame, the team losing to Alabama in the BCS Championship Game. During the 2012 season, he endured the deaths of his grandmother, Annette Santiago, and his girlfriend, Lennay Marie Kekua, within days of each other. Earlier during 2012, Te'o had learned that Kekua was in a car accident, recovered from the resulting injuries, graduated from Stanford, and then was diagnosed with leukemia, from which she eventually died. There was one problem with all of this. Te's and Kekua never met in person. Their relationship was completely online. All of these events, and Lennay Kekua's very existence, were a hoax. The only remaining question is whether Te'o was purely the victim of this hoax, or was in on it. Read more at Deadspin, CBS Sportsline, Newsfeed, Fox News and the Sporting News.
In other news:
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, an Illinois woman survived for two days after her car skidded into a ravine.
From WGRZ, Border Patrol agents have arrested a man who entered the United States illegally, by paddling across the Niagara River into Fort Niagara State Park. (Full disclosure: I have visited Fort Niagara. It's in the northwest corner of New York state, on the east bank of the Niagara River where it empties into Lake Ontario. If the sky is fairly clear, you can see Toronto on the other side of the lake.)
For the first time since 1996, the baseball Hall of Fame will not induct anyone from the ballots cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. None of the eligible candidates appeared on 75% of the ballots, the minimum percentage required. The closest was former Houston Astro Craig Biggio, named on 68.2%. Barry Bonds, who has the career record for home runs, and Roger Clemens, who won a record 7 Cy Young Awards, didn't even get 40%. If you ask me, if Bonds and others who got away with some steroid-enhanced performances ever get elected, their names and achievements should be permanently followed by asterisks.
Major league baseball personnel (players, managers, owners, umpires, etc.) become eligible for selection by the BBWAA five years after retirement, and remain eligible for 15 years. Afterwards, they may be named by the Veteran's Committee, who are allowed to make a small number of selections each year. This past December, they named umpire Hank O'Day, owner Jake Rupert, and player Deacon White, all of whom died during the 1930's. Thus, the induction ceremony next July will include no honorees who are still alive.
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