Thursday, July 10, 2014

Quick Hits: Volume XCIX

- Jesse Ventura's slander lawsuit against late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle began Wednesday. Despite Kyle being fatally shot last year in a gun range incident, Ventura pressed forward with the lawsuit against Kyle's widow, thus destroying any shred of human decency he may have possessed.

The widow of a former Navy SEAL engaged in some testy exchanges with an attorney for Jesse Ventura during the opening day of a trial of a defamation lawsuit filed by the former governor.

Taya Kyle suggested several times that attorney David B. Olsen was misstating the testimony she gave during sworn depositions before the trial.

Ventura’s lawsuit claims that he was defamed in “American Sniper” by Kyle’s late husband, Chris, a former Navy SEAL, and that he slandered Ventura by repeating the false account of a bar fight in Coronado, Calif., in radio and TV interviews, undermining Ventura’s reputation.

Wait a second. You mean to tell me it's possible to undermine the reputation of a guy who came off as a thin-skinned bully while governor, donned futuristic glasses and a feathered boa while staring at a lady wrestler's bosom in his capacity as gov, braided his beard with beads and starred in a TV show touting implausible, nutty conspiracy theories? Yeah, good luck selling that one, Jess.


- Apparently the Cleveland Cavaliers are courting their former superstar to make a return to their fair city.

After more than two years of planning, the Cleveland Cavaliers believe they have LeBron James listening to their pitch to leave the Miami Heat and return to his home state in free agency, according to sources close to the process.

There has yet to be a firm indication that James is ready to leave Miami after four years and two championships with the Heat, but sources told ESPN.com that the four-time MVP is increasingly considering the Cavaliers as an option as he moves into the final stages of deciding which team to sign his next contract with.

A critical face-to-face meeting with Heat president Pat Riley looms on a day to be determined this week, sources confirmed Sunday night, so that James can hear the Hall of Famer's plans for the Heat's roster. But James' agent, Rich Paul, has already sat down with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert in what is regarded as the first formal step toward trying to shrink the gulf between James and Gilbert after the ocean of hard feelings stemming from James' departure from Cleveland in 2010 to sign with the Heat.

Ah yes. I recall when James was being wooed by several teams (the Cavaliers included) upon his becoming a free agent after the 2010 season. Yet when James moved on to Miami, Gilbert penned an open letter to Cavs fans, a letter which questioned LeBron's character and accused him of "quitting" on the team in the postseason a month earlier.

Oh, and in an unrelated matter....

......Gilbert's letter was removed from the team's website Monday, though the Cavs denied the team's pursuit of James led to the web page's removal. It had been posted and available on the site for four years previously.

Huh. Impeccable timing I guess.


- Minneapolis restaurant Bar Louie instituted a dress code recently, one which sparked some controversy.

Seven articles of clothing are now banned from the Minnesota bar, from Thursday through Saturday after 9PM:

No Flat-Billed Hats
No Sleeveless Under Shirts
No Excessively Baggy Clothing
No Large Chains Worn Outside Of Shirt
No Long Plain White T-Shirts
No Athletic Apparel
No Sports Jerseys Unless Collared


"It's the new Jim Crow being enforced in a colorblind way," Michelle Horovitz told Fox 9 News. "You might as well say, 'No black folks allowed.’ It's ridiculous… Minnesota might be the nicest, healthiest, cleanest state in America, but we have huge issues as far as segregation, racism, systematic oppression -- and people want to look the other way."

Serious question: Which is more racist - A private business putting forth a specific dress code or an individual leaping to the conclusion that only black people wear such apparel?

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