2014 news: 05/10/14

Saturday 10 May 2014

He's the first openly gay player in NFL

Obama also congratulated the NFL

Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the 7th round

Sam played defensive end for the University of Missouri

He came out in February, telling ESPN: "I'm an openly proud gay man''

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama congratulated Michael Sam on Saturday for being the first openly gay football player taken in the National Football League draft, the White House said in a statement.

"From the playing field to the corporate boardroom, LGBT Americans prove everyday that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are," Obama said. He also congratulated the NFL and the St. Louis Rams, the team that drafted Sam.

Sam, an All-American defensive end who played for the University of Missouri, made history when he was picked by the Rams in the seventh and final round. He was the 249th of 256 players selected.

The 24-year-old got the news by telephone from Rams' coach Jeff Fisher, who told Sam: "You are a Ram. The wait is finally over."

Sam, who was filmed by ESPN as he got the call, broke down in tears and kissed his boyfriend. "Thank you," he could be heard saying to Fisher.

Michael Sam, an All-American defensive end from the University of Missouri, became the first openly gay player drafted by the National Football League after being selected by the St. Louis Rams on Saturday, May 10. Sam was drafted in the seventh and final round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Sam told ESPN and The New York Times on February 9 that he is gay. Sam is seen here before the NCAA Senior Bowl on Saturday, January 25, in Mobile, Alabama.

Sam reacts after Oklahoma State misses a field goal at the AT&T Cotton Bowl on January 3 in Arlington, Texas. Sam was instrumental in leading the Tigers to a 12-win season, an SEC Eastern Division title and a No.5 national ranking. He was selected as the SEC's co-defensive player of the year.

Sam speaks to the media during an NCAA college football news conference on January 1 in Irving, Texas.

Sam pushes past a block by Mississippi offensive lineman Pierce Burton in the second half of a game on November 23, 2013, in Oxford, Mississippi.

Sam displays his game face before going up against Ole Miss on November 23 in Oxford, Mississippi.

Sam celebrates with fans after the Mizzou defeated the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium on November 9 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sam celebrates a sack in the first half of a game against the Florida Gators on October 19.

Sam recovers a fumble for a touchdown against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 12 in Athens, Georgia.

Sam sings the school song after Missouri defeated Indiana on September 21 in Bloomington, Indiana.

Sam is congratulated by teammate Matt Hoch after returning a fumble for a touchdown against Southeastern Louisiana on September 1 in Columbia, Missouri.

Michael Sam's breakthrough season

Photos: Football player Michael Sam

What Sam means for the NFL

Watch NFL prospect reveal he's gay

Later, Sam took to Twitter to post a picture of himself, smiling. "Thank you to the St. Louis Rams and the whole city of St. Louis," he said in the post. "I'm using every (ounce) of this to achieve greatness!!"

See Sam's reaction

St. Louis is only a two-hour drive from Columbia, home of the University of Missouri, where Sam starred.

Besides being a first-team All-American, the 6-foot-2, 260-pounder was named the co-defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference, widely considered college football's best league. His fellow Tigers named him the team's most valuable player.

With those credentials, Sam was expected to be selected, but as the three-day draft wore on, there were questions whether he would.

Fisher told ESPN that Sam was a player who was rated by the team as going much higher in the draft.

"We weren't going to miss the opportunity to add an outstanding player to our roster," he said.

In February, Sam came out in interviews with ESPN and The New York Times, a decision that raised questions about whether he had damaged his chances to play in the NFL.

"I came to tell the world I'm an openly proud gay man," he said in an interview with ESPN.

Sam said he told his Missouri teammates in August and suffered no repercussions. He said he was surprised to discover many people in the media already knew he was gay.

"I understand how big this is," Sam said in the ESPN interview. "It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be ... I want to be a football player in the NFL."

Sam also spoke about his sexual orientation to The New York Times, saying: "I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it. I just want to own my truth."

At the start of the draft on Thursday, it appeared it was also on Sam's mind.

"No matter what happen(s) these next few days, I will always cherish moments like this!!!," he said in a post on Twitter.

Sam's draft was viewed as a barometer of whether the NFL was ready to accept an openly gay player. His selection is viewed as a bright spot for a league that has faced a host of criticism in recent months, from questions about the lack of minorities promoted to the number of players arrested for bad behavior.

"I think this is a good day, against the backdrop of what has happened in the NBA recently," Margaret Hoover, a political commentator and gay rights activist, told CNN.

The NFL Players Association also weighed in on Sam's good news.

"We wish him the best of luck as we do all of the 2014 NFL Draft class," said George Atallah, the association's assistant executive director of external affairs.

Other athletes have come out as gay, but they didn't have Sam's profile. Among them are the NBA's Jason Collins, the WNBA's Brittney Griner, WWE's Darren Young, UFC's Liz Carmouche, MMA's Fallon Fox and Major League Soccer's Robbie Rogers.

Of those athletes, Collins made the biggest media splash.

"I think it's great. I'm looking forward to seeing him play," Collins, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets, told ESPN after the draft pick was announced.

The road to football stardom was not an easy one for Sam, who graduated from Missouri in December.

One of eight children, he grew up in Hitchcock, Texas, where he was raised primarily by his mother. At one point, he has said, he lived out of his mother's car and briefly stayed with another family.

Three of Sam's siblings have died, including an older brother he saw die from a gunshot wound. Two of his brothers are serving prison sentences.

Complete coverage: Rams pick Michael Sam

NFL draft winners and losers

CNN's Azadeh Ansari and Phil Gast contributed to this report.

Secret weapon of China's air force

The People's Liberation Army Air Force has trained macaques to keep troops safe by discouraging birds from nesting near the air force base.

When swarms of birds fly around the base, it poses a threat to military planes that are in mid-flight. The birds could potentially get sucked into plane engines, endangering the lives of both birds and pilots.

"Don't worry, we now have a secret weapon!"

When the nests of birds are discovered on tree tops, the monkey army is deployed to remove them.

When monkeys remove the nests, the birds do not return, as the macaques leave a scent on the branches that discourage the birds.

"The monkeys are loyal bodyguards who defend the safety of our comrades."

Birds pose a hazard to Chinese planes in the air

Monkeys are trained to remove bird's nests from tree tops

The monkeys leave a scent on tree branches, discouraging birds from returning

(CNN) -- The Chinese air force has a new secret weapon: monkeys.

The People's Liberation Army Air Force has trained macaques to keep its troops safe by discouraging birds from nesting near the air force base, the PLA's website reported earlier this week.

The monkeys are used in an unidentified air force base in northern China, which is situated right on a major migratory route for birds.

Inside Chinese military aviation museum

Global policy issues plague Obama's trip

"Don't worry, we now have a secret weapon!" Su Chuang, a high-ranking officer, was quoted as saying on the PLA website. The officer was referring to the specially-trained monkeys that answer to the sound of a whistle.

When the nests of birds are discovered in tree tops, the monkey army is deployed to remove them.

The PLA have tried many different methods to remove the nests in the past, including opening fire on the nests, using long bamboo poles to topple them out of trees, and having soldiers climb the trees to pick them out.

None of these methods were very effective. Apart from being time-consuming and dangerous for the officers who had to climb the trees, the birds kept coming back.

However, when monkeys remove the nests, the birds do not return, as the macaques leave a scent on the branches that discourage the birds, according to the PLA's web posting.

"The monkeys are loyal bodyguards who defend the safety of our comrades," said the web report.

America invades virtual Denmark

Vandals invaded virtual Denmark in the game "Minecraft," trashing it with American pride. This is why we can't have nice things.

A virtual version of Denmark was created in the "Minecraft" game

"Cyber vandals" snuck into virtual Denmark, set off virtual dynamite and raised U.S. flags

Virtual Denmark has since been repaired

Editor's note: Each week in "Apparently This Matters," CNN's Jarrett Bellini applies his warped sensibilities to trending topics in social media and random items of interest on the Web.

(CNN) -- I once stayed at a youth hostel in Copenhagen called Sleep in Heaven. Which sounds quite pleasant until you realize that, apparently, heaven is cold and damp and completely infested with bedbugs.

I guess that's the part they don't tell you in Sunday school.

"No, no. It's great. Nothing to worry about. Beautiful white robes. Big puffy clouds. Probably a salad bar."

"Apparently This Matters" Is Jarrett Bellini's weekly (and somewhat random) look at social-media trends.

But there were none of those. Just bed bugs.

Something was rotten in the state of Denmark.

The next day, bitten and disgusted, I literally ran to catch a train to Berlin and haven't had pleasant thoughts about that country since.

This was back in 2003. The tortured memories persist and still haunt my dreams.

Which is why, the other day, almost eleven years later, I was delighted to learn that the United States finally invaded Denmark, set it on fire, and raised the American flag.

Sort of.

Here's what happened.

There's a wildly popular computer game called "Minecraft" where, as best I understand it, players build highly imaginative environments and constructions using 3D cubes. It's sort of like a modern, digital-version of Lego, but without the risk of waking up the neighbors when you step barefoot on a wayward block.

"Harold, I think Paul next door is constipated again."

"Mark it on the chart, Diane."

Now, I've never actually played this game because I'm a grown man with far more important things to do like tweeting and running my pretend fantasy football sports dynasty.

So, to the millions of fine people who play "Minecraft," I sincerely apologize for oversimplifying your beloved game. It's all just too complicated, for I have six functioning brain cells, and five of them are dedicated to breathing and blinking.

But, from what I can tell, part of the fun in "Minecraft" is creating these new virtual worlds and exploring those of others. And it's also a way to re-imagine worlds that already exist.

So, the Danish government sanctioned the creation of a replica version of their country within "Minecraft" to use as a progressive teaching tool for schoolchildren, educating them about Denmark's geography.

Denmark: Where the walls are made from American flags.

Really, it was a wonderfully creative and virtuous idea.

Thus, cyber vandals promptly decided to blow it up.

Somehow, these vandals were able to infiltrate virtual Denmark while sneaking in virtual dynamite, at which point they virtually demolished parts of virtual Copenhagen.

What's interesting is that the use of this virtual dynamite was actually banned on the Danish server. But the ever-cunning vandals discovered they could sneak it in inside a virtual mining cart.

Which is both amazing and ridiculous .. that it should come to this.

But through their virtual sneak attack invasion, the vandals proudly constructed virtual American flags all over town, and built virtual signs reading: AMERICA.

(Forgive me for a moment as I cue some Lee Greenwood and dab these red, white, and blue tears of pride rolling down my cheeks.)

Initially, it was believed that the virtual damage was virtually catostraphic and virtually widespread. However, Chris Hammeken, an actual spokesperson from the Danish Geodata Agency, explained to the BBC, "Only a minor area was destroyed."

There was no official word on whether or not a virtual Sleep In Heaven youth hostel was annihilated in the process.

I guess a man can dream.

Though the Danish Geodata Agency was quickly able to fully "repair" the "destruction," there was no fixing the psychological damage. Soon after the attack, images appeared on a "Minecraft" forum, and Denmark's defeat had officially gone public. And viral.

Now, understand that I'm not an outwardly patriotic individual. But, despite the fact that -- all kidding aside -- Denmark really is a beautiful country with incredibly happy, intelligent, and peaceful citizens, I have to admit that, upon reading about this I felt a rather large twinge of U.S.A. pride.

The whole thing was just so absurd and wonderfully American.

Oh, that it should come to this.

Follow @JarrettBellini on Twitter.

Space cakes at the fair

A nine-year-old girl has been taken to hospital after eating cup cakes laced with marihuana which were bought from a street stall at the Fira per la Terra fair in Barcelona.

Her father bought her the cakes without knowing they were adulterated and around two hours later the girl began to feel ill and even fell over due to dizziness; she was immediately taken to the hospital where doctors ascertained that she had ingested a psychotropic substance - specifically marihuana. The girl stayed overnight in the hospital for observation and was let go the next day in good health.

The police were alerted and began looking for the vendors of the cakes; they soon found the two women who were, at that time, selling biscuits which had a very strong odour of marihuana.

That same day doctors at the same hospital treated a woman who had come in complaining of, among other symptoms, dizziness, a dry mouth and increased heart rate; she explained that she had bought some strawberry biscuits from two women at the fair.

The two women who sold the adulterated sweets have been remanded into custody and stand accused of crimes against public health.

Larry Wilmore to succeed Colbert

Comedy Central will fill Stephen Colbert's slot with "The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore."

Larry Wilmore will take over Stephen Colbert's time slot on Comedy Central

Wilmore is known as the "Senior Black Correspondent" on "The Daily Show"

Wilmore will bring cable news panel style satire to "The Minority Report"

(CNN) -- Comedy Central's successor to "The Colbert Report" will be "The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore."

With "The Minority Report," which starts next January, the cable channel is trying out a new format in the crowded late-night talk show field, just as it did with "Colbert" nearly a decade ago.

Stephen Colbert and CBS announced last month that he would leave his "Report" at the end of 2014 and replace David Letterman on "The Late Show" sometime next year.

Wilmore, meanwhile, will replace Colbert weeknights at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central, following "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" at 11 p.m.

Stephen Colbert will take over "The Late Show" upon the retirement of David Letterman in 2015. Colbert's rise includes a number of notable moments.

Colbert, left, was originally one of "The Daily Show's" correspondents. He began with the show during its Craig Kilborn era and stayed when Jon Stewart, center, came to host in 1999. Others on the show included, from left, Ed Helms, Rob Corddry and Samantha Bee.

While appearing on "The Daily Show," Colbert was also part of the cast of "Strangers with Candy," a comedy series with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello. He met the pair while he was a member of the Second City comedy troupe in the early '90s.

As a "correspondent" and later an anchor, Colbert developed a character that has been, at turns, pompous, pious and egocentric -- basing the persona on many others in television.

As correspondent, Colbert was key to "The Daily Show's" election coverage. Here he takes part in Election Night 2004.

Colbert's work on "The Daily Show" contributed to a number of awards -- including several Emmys. He poses here with, left to right, Rob Corddry, host Jon Stewart, Ed Helms and Samantha Bee.

Colbert earned praise -- and notoriety -- for his hosting of the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner. In character, his barbs about President George W. Bush and the political news media drew blood.

On "The Colbert Report" -- and that's pronounced "Col-bear Rap-pour" -- Colbert highlights the foibles of politicians with such segments as "Better Know a District," a proposed 435-part series in which he offers a take on every House District. The representatives he interviewed sometimes haven't been aware of the joke.

Very quickly, Colbert's influence rose so high that he got his own Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor: AmeriCone Dream. Here he poses with Ben Cohen, left, and Jerry Greenfield at the flavor's launch party.

The White House hasn't been immune to Colbert's charms. He showed up for a mock press conference in 2007.

"The Daily Show" may have won a bunch of Emmy awards, but in 2013 "The Colbert Report" broke its streak of 10 straight awards for outstanding variety series. It's also won two Emmys for writing, as well as two Peabodys.

Colbert hosted a roast for then congressman -- and later Chicago mayor -- Rahm Emanuel in 2008. Colbert, a South Carolina native, has ties with Chicago, having gone to college at Northwestern, in nearby Evanston, and worked in the city's comedy scene.

Colbert's awards haul isn't limited to Emmys and Peabodys. In 2010 he won a Grammy for his Christmas album, and four years later won another for best spoken-word album.

In September 2010, Colbert testified at a hearing on immigration. He took time to chat with Phil Glaize, chairman of the U.S. Apple Association, left, and Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers. Again, some representatives didn't get Colbert.

In October 2010 Colbert teamed up with Stewart for a Washington rally, "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear." Stewart handled the sanity; Colbert took care of the fear. The rally was a response, sort of, to rallies led by Glenn Beck and Al Sharpton.

Colbert's character definitely loves himself. He went so far as to lick himself during the unveiling of his wax figure at the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Washington in 2012.

Colbert may be responsible for Bill Clinton being on Twitter. When the former president appeared on his show in 2013, Colbert set up an account, @PrezBillyJeff. Clinton later set up his real account, @billclinton.

Colbert, a devout Catholic, has taught Sunday school and talked about social justice. He spoke at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights 2013 Ripple of Hope Awards dinner.

Colbert faces a changed talk-show landscape. Jimmy Fallon, left, has gotten off to a fast start as new "Tonight Show" host on NBC, and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel also has a strong fan base. Observers are curious whether Colbert will bring his character with him to "The Late Show." We'll find out when David Letterman steps down.

Colbert takes a selfie with Letterman on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, April 22. CBS began to introduce the next host of the "Late Show" by having its current host interview him.

Funnyman Stephen Colbert

See Colbert's new look on 'Letterman'

Wilmore appeared several times on "The Daily Show" as its "senior black correspondent." His "Report" will diversify the television lineup, since most late-night comics are white men.

"'The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore' follows in the Comedy Central tradition -- bringing new perspectives to the day's events and breaking ground in the world of late night television," said Michele Ganeless, the president of Comedy Central, in a news release.

The satirical "Colbert Report," which premiered in 2005, took its cues from conservative talking head programs such as "The O'Reilly Factor" which were newly prominent at the time. Similarly, "The Minority Report" will borrow from the "panel shows" that have proliferated on cable news. (Fox News has a brand-new one at noon Eastern time, "Outnumbered," with four women and one man, and a popular one at 5 p.m., "The Five.")

"The series will feature a diverse panel of voices currently underrepresented in comedy and television," Comedy Central said.

Stewart's Busboy Productions developed both the "Colbert Report" and the "Minority Report."

Wilmore called himself "beyond excited to have this chance to continue my relationships with Comedy Central and the brilliant Jon Stewart."

His follower count on Twitter more than doubled after the new show was announced.