- So….life is a bit heated and confrontational in Myanmar
right now, no? What with Myanmar security forces and Buddhist extremists torching
Rohingya Muslims’ houses in the Rakhin state and also setting several mosques
on fire, the ideas of tolerance, acceptance and co-habitation don’t seem to be
on the agenda. The country’s security forces and government-backed Buddhists
are on a rampage with no end in sight and as they make like Sherman burning his
way through the South en route to the Atlantic, the Rohingyas have been
forcefully accommodated in government camps to live in substandard conditions
with a significant lack of both food and medical supplies. A heavy military
presence in the Rakhine’s capital, Sittwe, and the government’s imposition of a
curfew in the volatile region suggest that the tension isn’t about to be lifted
any time soon. While protests in support of the Rohingya have been held in
countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, and Iran, Myanmar’s government has shown
no signs of letting up or calming down. Unconfirmed reports have placed the
number of Rohingyas killed in the Rakhine state in the west of the country in
recent months at 650, with 1,200 others are missing and 80,000 more displaced.
The confrontation between the ethnic minority Rohingyas and the
Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar is based on the government’s continued
refusal to recognize Rohingyas, who it claims are not natives and classifies as
illegal migrants. This view conveniently ignores the fact that the Rohingya are
said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin,
who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century. The government also
chooses to ignore condemnation from UN Human Rights authorities, who blame
Myanmar security forces for targeting the Muslims rather than bringing the
violence to an end. Rarely does a battle this one-sided and indefensible last
for long…………
- Google is cracking down on Internet piracy…..sort of. The
California-based search giant next week will begin using algorithms
that push potentially pirated material to a lower position in search results,
theoretically making it less likely those doggedly searching the Internet for
pirated music, movies and TV shows will attain what they seek. The announcement
comes after years of pressure on Google from entertainment companies that
realize they are fighting a losing battle against pirated content. The new
system will use “removal notices,” or complaints from entertainment companies,
that have been lodged against a website, in ranking search results, Amit
Singhal, senior vice president for engineering, wrote in a company blog post. “We
are optimistic that Google’s actions will help steer consumers to the myriad
legitimate ways for them to access movies and TV shows online,” Michael
O’Leary, a senior executive vice president at the Motion Picture Association of
America, said of the policy changes. Singhal was quick to point out that lower
rankings don’t represent a conclusion that a copyright has actually been
violated. “So while this new signal will influence the ranking of some search
results, we won’t be removing any pages from search results unless we receive a
valid copyright removal notice from the rights owner,” Singhal said. With 4.3
million copyright removal notices in the last 30 days, the issue is clearly a
significant one for Google. One caveat with the new rules is that the
copyright-policing policy won't affect Google-owned YouTube as it does other
Web sites, despite the fact that YouTube has a reputation as a haven for
pirated material. The difference in how Google will handle YouTube versus other
online content is that flagging supposedly illegal content on most sites
involves using an online process that starts on a page labeled "Removing
Content From Google," while flagging content on YouTube involves using the
video site's uninspiring "Copyright Center." Just as long as there
isn’t a blatant double standard or anything…………
- Bad reviews, tepid response from fans and now,
lower-than-expected earnings for its opening weekend at the box office. It now
seems fair to say that a Bourne-less “Bourne” movie isn't what fans of the
outstanding action franchise wanted. “The Bourne Legacy,” with Jeremy Renner
attempting to fill Matt Damon’s ass-kicking shoes, led his new movie to just
$40.2 million in its first weekend, not exactly a jaw-dropping total for what
was supposedly one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters. Will Ferrell and Zach
Galifianakis scored a surprising second place finish with their new comedy “The
Campaign,” which debuted in second place with $27.4 million. Third place went
to the champion of the previous three weekends, “The Dark Knight Rises,” which
added $19.6 million to its coffers for a four-week domestic tally of $390.1
million. Old person romantic comedy “Hope Springs” debuted in fourth place with
$15.6 million, nearly doubling up fifth-place finisher “Diary of a Wimpy Kid:
Dog Days,” which added $8.2 million to its bank roll in its second week for a
two-week total of $30.6 million. The neutered, bastardized and sissified new version
of “Total Recall” ranked sixth for the weekend with a meager $8.1 million. That
was enough to elevate its cumulative total to a mere $44.1 million after two
weeks. “Ice Age: Continental Drift” fell three spots to seventh this weekend
and after making another $6.7 million, it has earned $144 million in five weeks
of release. Mark Wahlberg’s “Ted” amazingly managed to hang in the top 10 for a
seventh straight weekend, managing $3.3 million to up its cumulative domestic
earnings to $209.9 million. Dance flick “Step Up Revolution” was next on the
earnings list at ninth thanks to a $2.9 million weekend for a three-week haul
of $30.1 million. “The Amazing Spider-Man” edged out un-funny comedy “The Watch”
for tenth place, notching $2.2 million to elevate its overall earnings to
$255.5 million. “Watch” and “Brave” both dropped out from last week’s top 10……….
- Racism in Boston? No way. Sorry, Bostonians, but your city
has a long, noted history of less-than-tolerant behavior, especially when
African-American athletes are involved. So it truly cannot come as a surprise
that Transportation
Security Administration officers at Boston's Logan International Airport are
alleging that a program intended to identify possible terrorists based on
passengers' mannerisms has actually resulted in a high level of racial
profiling. A series of interviews and internal complaints involving more than
30 officers involved in the "behavior detection" program at Logan
Airport indicated that the program targets not only Middle Easterners, but
also passengers who fit certain profiles — such as Hispanics traveling to
Miami, or blacks wearing baseball caps backward. TSA officials confirmed they
are investigating the officers' claims after 32 officers provided written
complaints last month and indicated their co-workers were increasingly
targeting minorities because they suspected the stops would lead to the
discovery of drugs, outstanding arrest warrants and immigration problems.
Compounding the issue, the stops were apparently the result of pressure from
managers who wanted high numbers of stops, searches and criminal referrals.
"The behavior detection program is no longer a behavior-based program, but
it is a racial profiling program," one officer wrote in an anonymous
complaint. This probably is not what the TSA had in mind when it launched the
program at Logan and billed it as a model for other airports across the
country. How quickly the endeavor went from one intended to allow officers to
stop, search and question passengers who seem suspicious to a way to accost
innocent folks for TWB (traveling while black) is more than a little
disturbing. Stories of black travelers being singled out or hassled by the
specially trained “behavior assessors” in the program are beginning to emerge
and provide more credence to the complaints by officers………
- The coverage of former LSU cornerback and 2011 Heisman
Trophy finalist Tyrann Mathieu’s departure from the Tigers has been excessive
and overly dramatic, to say the least. While a player of his caliber being
kicked off a potential national championship contender is noteworthy, the
excessive ruminating on his exodus from Baton Rouge has made it seem almost as
if something tragic had happened, either to Mathieu or to the program he was
leaving. In truth, the case is (allegedly) as simple as the talented cornerback
known as “Honey Badger” going bonehead and failing a third drug test since
stepping onto campus. LSU coach Les Miles announced Mathieu’s expulsion from
the program at a news conference Friday and by Sunday, speculation was rampant about
Mathieu’s next stop. Former LSU kicker Josh Jasper claimed to have the intel on
Mathieu’s new team when he tweeted that the Honey Badger had already
transferred to McNeese State, where he could play immediately. That breaking
news proved premature, as Mathieu did visit McNeese State on Friday night, but
Cowboys coach Matt Viator insisted no decision had been made yet. Mathieu is also considering Jackson State and
Prairie View A&M after ruling out Southern because he wants get away from
Baton Rouge. Prairie View A&M did its best to officially brown nose and
politic for Mathieu’s services, er, to have him enroll and pursue academic
excellence at their fine institution. "Prairie View A&M is honored to
be mentioned in the running for a student-athlete of Mathieu's caliber due to
some connections our program and
university has with him," the school said in a statement. "As of this
time, Mathieu has not met with
head coach Heishma Northern in regards to joining our football program but we
would be interested once we receive the
proper clearance and paperwork needed to talk with him in-depth." Wherever
he transfers, Mathieu has two years of eligibility left. If he moves to another
Div. I school, he would have to sit out a year. If he drops down to a Div. I-AA
school like the ones mentioned above, he could play right away. As for his
former school, LSU will turn to one of the other über-talented, five-star
recruits it has at the cornerback position and likely be in national title
contention without the Honey Badger………..
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