- Circus animals with afros were enough to defeat
outer-space menaces and ‘80s rockers at the box office this weekend. “Madagascar
3: Europe's Most Wanted” remained at No. 1 in its second weekend of release,
earning $35.5 million to raise its cumulative domestic total to $120.5 million.
“Prometheus” remained in second place as the top two films were unchanged,
adding $20.2 million to its coffers for a two-week total of $88.9 million. The
over-the-top ‘80s excess of “Rock of Ages” snagged third place in its debut
with a modest result of $15.1 million, edging out fourth-place finisher “Snow
White and the Huntsman,” which made $13.8 million and dropped one spot from
last weekend. It was another so-so debut for another extremely similar,
extremely uninspiring Adam Sandler movie as “That's My Boy” ranked fifth with
$13 million, good enough for fifth place in its opening weekend. “MIB 3” was
right behind in sixth place, scoring $10 million to boost its four-week haul to
$152.7 million. The two longest-tenured members of the top 10 were next on the
list, as “The Avengers” added $8.9 million to its total and has garnered $586.7
million in seven impressive weeks in U.S. theaters, not to mention the hundreds
of millions more it has made around the world. “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,”
also in its seventh week of release, albeit still-limited release, made $2.2
million for the weekend and has raked in $35.1 million overall. Critical
favorite “Moonrise Kingdom” was in ninth place with $2.1 million and in four
weeks of limited release, its total stands at $6.8 million. “What to Expect
When You're Expecting” snagged the last spot in the top 10 with $1.3 million and
has managed just $38.7 million in five weeks. The quick sinking of “Battleship”
continued as it fell out of the top 10 (No. 11) and “The Dictator” (No. 12)
also dropped out……….
- Yale and smoking: a natural fit. When one thinks of the
Ivy League, they can’t help but think of a health-wrecking, addictive habit
that is as illogical as it is stupid. The wicked smaht Ivy Leaguers at Yale
recently dove in to the world of smoking cessation tactics and discovered that
hotlines
to help people quit smoking could also flag problem drinking. Yale researchers
analyzed surveys to probe alcohol use among 88,479 callers to the New York
State Smoker’s Quitline and discovered that nearly one-quarter of callers
reported hazardous drinking as well. “Once people start drinking, there is a
trigger to start smoking,” said study author Benjamin Toll, assistant professor
of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and director of Smilow Cancer
Hospital at Yale-New Haven’s Smoking Cessation Service. “They lose their
inhibition to tobacco.” Hmm…drunk, impaired people can’t make wise choices
about jamming a carcinogen-filled cancer stick in their pie hole? Weird. While
previous studies demonstrated that alcohol abuse decreases the likelihood that
smokers will quit using cigarettes, this effort pushed that analysis a step
further. A typical call to the Quitline involves a 10- to 15-minute
conversation in which smokers are asked about their past attempts to stop
smoking, and counselors discuss methods that smokers can use to quit smoking.
While muddying the waters of a person’s attempt to quit their lethal smoking
habit by dragging possible alcohol abuse into the mix would be dangerous, there
is hope that better understanding the link between the two could help medical
professionals better treat both addictions. The study appears in the journal
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research…………
- Profiling and stereotyping are the new order of the day at
the HEW
Federal Credit Union in District Heights, Md. While businesses around the
country have taken to singling out customers who wear hoodies or other attire
that conceals their face, the Silver Hill branch of the credit union in
District Heights is kicking it up a notch by banning anyone wearing a hat,
hoodie, sunglasses and even scarves, headbands and hairnets. The policy came as
an abrupt surprise to four women who were refused Friday for daring to sport
headbands and hairnets. "They denied me entrance to the bank as soon as I
got to the door," says Kim Anderson, a Credit Union customer who was
refused service. It took Anderson and her three friends a matter of hours to
announce their intentions to file "The guard said, ‘I'm sorry you can't
come in,’” Anderson says. “I said, ‘why not?’ He said, ‘you have to remove your
scarf. That's our policy.’ I'm like no." She also claimed that the credit
union forced another woman to remove her wig and technically, the policy is
legal because businesses are allowed to restrict what customers wear for safety
reasons, according to the Prince George's County Human Relations Commission.
That doesn’t make it any less bullsh*t, of course, because unless women have
taken to concealing guns or machetes in their scarves or wigs, then head
adornment that don’t obscure a person’s face shouldn’t be an issue……….
- Don’t bring any of that 20th-century medical witchcraft
around here, yo. That’s the philosophy of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a militant commander
in northwest Pakistan. Bahadur warned polio vaccination teams on Saturday to
stay away from the territory he controls near the Afghan border and refuses to allow
immunizations until U.S. drone attacks in the country are stopped. While he is
not alone in wanting the drone attacks to stop – the Pakistani government has
also called for their cessation – there is nothing quite like holding an entire
region of people in need of a simple, effective vaccination as hostages to
advance your own agenda. Bahadur issued the warning in a pamphlet distributed
Saturday in markets in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region. His
resistance is another hurdle in efforts to beat polio on Pakistan, one of only
three nations where the virus is endemic. "We don't want benefits from
well-wishers who spend billions to save children from polio, which can affect
one or two out of hundreds of thousands, while on the other hand the same
well-wisher (America) with the help of its slave (Pakistan's government) kills
hundreds of innocent tribesmen including old women and children by unleashing
numerous drone attacks," the pamphlet said. To exacerbate fears and
paranoia, the pamphlet also said spies could enter the region under the cover
of vaccination teams to get information for the United States about "holy
warriors." Right, because polio vaccination spy teams are the latest fad
in intelligence gathering. Protecting children living in unsanitary conditions
from a virus that attacks the nerves and can kill or paralyze is not enough,
clearly there must be top-secret intelligence data gathered as well. Bahadur
had an uneasy truce with the Pakistani army while he focuses on attacks against
U.S. and NATO troops across the Afghan border and coincidentally, some of his
fighters have recently been killed in the U.S. drone attacks. Because of
Bahadur’s warning, the next round of the vaccination campaign that was
scheduled to begin June 20 is now in doubt. It’s heartwarming to see that
everyone has their priorities straight…………
- Auto racing is still not a sport, but the little driving
competition NASCAR and IndyCar racers have going on is still somewhat sporting
in its nature. Like any game, sport or competition dominated by men, auto
racing needs a little T&A, a hot chick who has no real effect on the
outcome but who can draw in a lot of male fans. NASCAR has its T&A in the
form of Danica
Patrick, who still hasn’t won a NASCAR or IndyCar race but is getting her
chance to drive in NASCAR on the Nationwide Series and according to her crew
chief, is being put in bad situations because competitors don't like losing to
a woman. The fact that Patrick rarely beats anyone of any gender on the track
is apparently lost on her crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who radioed to his driver,
"They hate that you're running this good,” after Austin Dillon got Patrick
loose during Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Michigan, forcing her to spin
out for the second of three times. "I've
heard comments made, 'Well, why is the 7 running so good? The girl is getting
better and better,' " Eury said after an 18th-place finish for his driver.
"It's to the point where she's running with the competitive guys. "We
all have egos. We don't want the girl to outrun us.” Yes, Patrick finishing
18th has to be truly embarrassing for drivers who actually do win at least once
in a blue moon. Patrick ends up going into the wall more often than she sniffs
the top 10 and whether she fights back or not when male drivers (allegedly)
attempt to strong-arm her, she doesn’t seem to have what it takes to end up in
the winner’s circle. Patrick's goal is to run full time in the Cup series next
year with Stewart Haas Racing and when she gets there, Eury believes
experiences like Saturday will help her not win there the way she hasn’t won
everywhere she’s been so far. "I want her to remember how certain people
race her, remember how certain guys race you, so when she gets to his
level, she can race them back like that,'' Eury said. Tell yourself what you
need to hear, T………
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