Why NBA center Jason Collins is coming out now

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.

My journey of self-discovery and self-acknowledgement began in my hometown of Los Angeles and has taken me through two state high school championships, the NCAA Final Four and the Elite Eight, and nine playoffs in 12 NBA seasons.

I've played for six pro teams and have appeared in two NBA Finals. Ever heard of a parlor game called Three Degrees of Jason Collins? If you're in the league, and I haven't been your teammate, I surely have been one of your teammates' teammates. Or one of your teammates' teammates' teammates.

Now I'm a free agent, literally and figuratively. I've reached that enviable state in life in which I can do pretty much what I want. And what I want is to continue to play basketball. I still love the game, and I still have something to offer. My coaches and teammates recognize that. At the same time, I want to be genuine and authentic and truthful....

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/

Holy fuckin' damn -- Is this Rana Plaza illustration accurate??

Foreign professionals on business trip savagely beaten in Germany

r.i.p. Pat Summerall

NFL broadcaster, local icon Pat Summerall dies at age 82

Source: Dallas Morning News

Employing a signature succinct staccato style that was brief and to the point, Pat Summerall grew into the pre-eminent network NFL voice for a generation of television viewers. Summerall has died at age 82.

He worked a record 16 Super Bowls on network television, the first five as an analyst. He worked for CBS from 1961 to 1993. He moved with the NFL from CBS to Fox in 1994. He retired after the 2002 season.

Summerall worked his final Super Bowl in February 2002. It was his eighth alongside analyst John Madden. They worked together at CBS and Fox for 21 seasons. Their work at Super Bowl XVI in 1982 remains the highest-rated sports program of all-time, with more than 49 percent of the nation tuned in.

Summerall was a regular-season Sunday staple in most Dallas-Fort Worth homes during the 1990s. He and Madden were regularly assigned to the NFL's No. 1 television attraction, the Cowboys. Not a bad deal for Summerall, who lived barely 20 minutes away from Texas Stadium in Southlake, with his second wife, Cheri.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20130416-nfl-broadcaster-local-icon-pat-summerall-dies-at-age-82.ece

Eating the hottest curry in UK - Gordon Ramsay

Teacher Romany Blythe outed as creator of 'The Witch Is Dead Party' Facebook group

This shocking graffiti was today spotted in central London as the drama teacher behind one of the vile Thatcher 'death parties' today compared Britain's greatest post-war prime minister to Hitler.

Romany Blythe, 45, who helps troubled children at schools in Brighton, East Sussex, has created a web page called: ‘The witch is dead' and encouraged thousands to 'p***' on the Iron Lady's grave.

After being confronted about her actions, an unrepentant Ms Blyth has described herself as 'the voice of reason', adding: 'they danced in the streets when Hitler died too'.

Her comments came as the graffiti, which reads 'Burn in Hell Maggie', was spotted in the 'Graffiti Tunnel' of Leake Street in Lambeth, central London, also known as the 'Banksy Tunnel'.

Hatred: 45-year-old drama teacher Romany Blythe, who works with troubled children, asked followers: 'Who wants to p*** on her grave?'

Ms Blythe, 45, said: 'People say you shouldn't speak ill of the dead - but it depends who the dead person is. We just don't want to whitewash what happened when she was Prime Minister.

'In normal circumstances celebrating someone's death would be irresponsible,' she told the Brighton Argus. 'But we are generation X, upset people that left school to find hopelessness and despair.

'She was a despot. They danced in the streets when Hitler died too. Mrs Thatcher was friends with Pinochet. She chose her friends very wisely.'

On the day of former prime minister Baroness Thatcher's death Ms Blythe wrote on her Facebook page: 'So the old bag has copped it finally! Party in the square tomorrow then!'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2307367/Margaret-Thatcher-death-party-teacher-Romany-Blythe-unrepentant-revealed-NHS-breast-implants.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

This Is How Michael Caine Speaks

The Onion from 10 years ago:

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism

http://www.theonion.com/articles/this-war-will-destabilize-the-entire-mideast-regio,11534/

Alan Partridge speaks the truth on farming