- Clearly I’ve underestimated the Buddhist monks in Myanmar, because these dudes definitely mean business. Last week they staged a protest march that ended when the police opened fire on them with warning shots, but the monks were not to be deterred. I had thought of monks as peaceful, quiet, humble servants of God, but these monks either don’t know that code or have elected to ignore it, because their response has been violent and aggressive. They have vandalized the shops of those supporting the country’s dictatorship, they have briefly taken local leaders hostage and now they are threatening a boycott of the country’s military and the families of military members. Exactly how one boycotts the military, I don’t know. This isn't like refusing to shop at a certain store because you are boycotting their policies on dolphin-safe tuna. The military’s service is protection, so to boycott them you would either have to leave the country or openly enable those wishing to attack your country. Simply by living your daily life you’re basically using the “services” provided by the military. However, nonsensical thinking aside, I’m with the monks 105%. These guys know their scriptures, they can stage protests, they can dish out violence and property destruction and they oppose dictatorships. All of these are worthy ideals to espouse, and I hope that others in Myanmar step up to fight this worthy fight with the world’s most badass monks.
- Interesting, very interesting. The season premiere of Prison Break last night raised a lot of questions and took some time to digest, but as always, it was top notch. In typical PB fashion, some details about SONA were released, but those details raised more questions than they answered. As it turns out, SONA is some sort of reengage Panamanian prison where the inmates are so out of control and animalistic that the guards pulled out over a year ago. Martial law rules there now, with the inmates governing themselves and the government guarding the perimeter, shooting anyone who tries to escape but doing nothing else. The prison is run by a large black man whose name wasn’t given, but he has his own private “suite” with a flat screen TV and underlings who help him keep order. Disputes are settled by the two dissenting parties fighting to the death in the prison yard. Bellick is in with Michael Scofield, as is Mahone and later in the episode, T-Bag. Bellick is having the hardest time adjusting, stumbling around in a pair of tighty-whities (a disturbing image) the entire show and being given the dirtiest, most disgusting job. Mahone and Scofield are uneasy allies, with Mahone actually saving Michael’s life in a fight. T-Bag is his usual self, schmoozing, scheming and trying to get ahead. On the outside, we learn that Lincoln, L.J. and Sarah are still alive, but the good news ends there. While Linc fights to clear his brother’s name, Sarah and L.J. are captured and held hostage by the Company. Even after learning he’s been cleared of all wrongdoing, Linc has to hassle the American embassy to find Sara, get Michael transferred to a safer prison and work toward Michael’s trial on the charges against him resulting from the murdered woman setup that T-Bag sprung on him in last season’s finale. Just when it appears that Michael is about to get that transfer to a different prison, an old acquaintance of Linc’s, Pamela (XXXXX) meets him at the spot he was supposed to meet his son at and delivers a message. Linc passes that message along to his brother, that there is a man inside SONA he must rescue and help to escape if he wants his freedom. There’s also a mysterious stranger who visits SONA and offers Michael help in escaping and fleeing, but that’s about as far as that went this episode. Judging from the season preview at show’s end, most of the season is going to be at SONA, so escape doesn’t appear imminent. The questions raised by this episode are obvious. First, who is Kenneth Whistler, the man Michael is supposed to rescue? Second, why is Whistler trapped behind a wall in the wet, slimy, dungy basement at SONA? Thirdly, with Sara Wayne Callies’ name not in the opening credits and her face not in the show at all, is she really still a part of the cast? Fourth, where is Sucre and more importantly, where has Bellick hidden his beloved Maricruz? The preview, by the way, did show Sucre visiting Bellick at SONA, gun in hand, so ask this very question. Also, who is this mysterious inmate leading SONA and can Michael find a way to make peace with him? This is the kind of episode that was great when you watched it, but it’s twice as good once you get a chance to think about and digest it. I’m pumped for this season, which continues next Monday at 8 p.m. on Fox.
- University of Arkansas football player Ernest Mitchell has been suspended for UA’s game against No. 21 Kentucky this week after a confrontation with an opponent in last week’s game against Alabama. Coach Houston Nutt clearly wasn’t pleased when Mitchell grabbed an opponent’s helmet and hit him with it, but I wish Nutt were a sunny, positive, glass-half-full guy like me, because then he would see the silver lining in this situation. See, normally football players make the dumb mistake of punching an opponent in the head while that opponent is wearing a helmet, but not Mitchell. He was intelligent enough to keep his own helmet on, then grab his opponent’s helmet and hitting him with it. Let’s give Mitchell credit for using his head to inflict damage on someone else’s head, shall we? In a world where dumb jocks reign supreme, let’s applaud an industrious young man who took the tools available to him and used those tools to assault a fellow athlete while keeping himself protected. Good thinking, E., even if it did earn you a suspension and prevent you from being on the field to help your team as it looks to rebound from a tough loss against a good opponent.
- Amazingly, America wasn’t down with an Academy Awards broadcast that was excruciatingly long, boring, pointless and filled with wall-to-wall self-congratulation by wealthy celebrities. The show received what is believed to be the lowest ratings in Oscar history, with a paltry 13.1 million viewers tuning in to see the effeminate, metrosexual loser Ryan Seacrest host an awards show that was shockingly similar to the dozens of other awards shows that happen on a monthly basis in this country. The viewer numbers are 3 million less than last year’s broadcast on NBC and 700,000 lower than the previous record low of 13.8 million on ABC three years ago. It appears that America has lost its interest in canned, predictable, disingenuous acceptance speeches, scripted and lame on-stage banter and celebrities in expensive outfits sitting around giving out awards to one another.
- Degenerate gamblers, take notice, because if the governor of Massachusetts has his way, you could soon be throwing away your income and your life at one of three new casinos in his fine state. Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed the building of three full-scale casinos in Massachusetts, one each in the state’s western and southeastern regions and one in the Boston area. Patrick made the usual appeal that politicians make when they want to bring casinos into their area; namely, that the casinos will generate jobs and revenue for their state, city, etc. They ever seem to mention the rise in crime that comes in any area where a casino is built, nor do they ruminate on the negative effects a casino will have on people with gambling addictions in the area who now have a huge temptation in their neighborhood that will allow them to fully engage an addiction that could bankrupt them completely. The figure that the governor threw out was $2 billion annually in revenues from the casinos, but even if that figure is accurate (and you can be sure it’s not), at what cost in non-financial terms? Don’t we already have enough options for people looking to lose their money gambling? I refer you to the website of former mob boss Michael Franzese, who travels the country speaking to college and pro athletes, warning them about the dangers of gambling, if you have any doubts as to the powerful and negative impact gambling can have on lives. It’s michaelfranzese.com, and it’s an eye opener.
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