- Joaquin Phoenix may be the quintessential kooky,
publicity-stunt-walking actor, but he just may have a better grip on the
entertainment industry than anyone else in Hollywood. He spent more than a year
carrying out an elaborate hoax that he
was ditching acting to become a rapper for Casey Affleck’s fake documentary,
“I’m Not Here,” grew an absurd beard and basically starting acting like a
borderline sociopath mixed with a hint of split personality disorder. Since
then, he’s returned to his normal lifestyle as an actor, but that doesn’t mean
he has no issues with the entertainment industry. In fact, he may be more like the
rootless, war damaged loner he portrays in “The Master” than anyone realized.
In a recent interview, he expounded on his view of his chosen profession and
revealed just how much he dislikes many facets of Hollywood. Using the
launching point of Oscar buzz for Paul Anderson’s drama loosely inspired by the
founding of Scientology, Phoenix ranted about what a ginormous waste of time
the awards show circuit is. “I’m just saying that I think it's bulls---. I
think it's total, utter bulls----, and I don't want to be a part of it,”
Phoenix said when asked about a potential Oscar nod for his performance. “I
don't believe in it. It's a carrot, but it's the worst-tasting carrot I've ever
tasted in my whole life. I don't want this carrot. It's totally subjective.
Pitting people against each other ... It's the stupidest thing in the whole
world.” He pointed to the Oscar nomination he received for his turn as Johnny
Cash in 2005’s “Walk the Line” and called it “one of the most uncomfortable
periods of my life.” Sounds like that Best Supporting Actor statue should go to
someone else………
- Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in general have a bad
rap as a place where it always rains and where overpriced Starbucks coffee is
the fuel that runs life. There is more to Seattle than overpriced coffee and
rain and Scott
Sowle is proving it. Sowle isn’t well-known outside the city, but in the
Emerald City he is known simply as “Shoe Guy.” He has undertaken the mission of
providing shoes to those in need in Seattle. "Just imagine being on your
feet 12 hours a day, constantly moving, standing in line for food, standing in
line for this," Sowle said. "They know me as just Shoe Guy. They
don't have a clue that my real nickname is Scooter.” After spending years
homeless and hopeless, Sowle was finally able to find something to give his
life purpose and direction, but not before hitting rock bottom. . "I
struggled so bad that I wanted to jump off the Magnolia bridge just a day
before going into the Union Gospel Mission," he said. Yet after 13 years
of homelessness, Sowle had an epiphany: help others who were down and out get
the one tangible thing that would make their daily existence – literally – less
painful on a minute-by-minute basis. He started handing out fliers, making
calls and showing up on street corners with a sign, a box and an idea."Let's
help some people," he recalled. "Give me your used shoes." The
idea caught on quickly and people began donating dozens of pairs of shoes,
which Sowle cleans and disinfects. He sorts the sanitized shoes, bags them up
and takes them to the streets to pass out wherever they are needed. He visits homeless
shelters, food banks and the Union Gospel Mission, where is recovery began. Men
and women greet him with hugs and sometimes tears, knowing they will at least
have something to keep their feet warm and protected. Now if only he could get
Starbucks to donate some free coffee to hand out…………
- Believe it or not, the director general of the World
Anti-Doping Agency believes that a major American professional sports league is
not doing enough to stop performance-enhancing drug users. David Howman, for
some odd reason, does not think the NBA's anti-doping program is sufficient. "They've
got gaps in their program, between what they do and what we suggest would be
better," Howman said. "They know what we would suggest. And I would
just hope that they would be discussing all of those things rather than just
putting them on the side table." Predictably, the NBA declined comment. The
cheaters will always be one step ahead of those trying to catch them because
there is too much money and fame at stake to not find a way to get any possible
edge, so Howman saying the Association is coming up short on policing PEDs
should surprise no one. He contends that the league is simply in denial about
the prevalence of steroids and other performance enhancers throughout the
sports world. “(The NBA does) not feel they have such an issue as the other
major leagues and therefore haven't addressed (doping) in quite the same way. I
just think you've got to be very careful when you start saying
performance-enhancing drugs are not beneficial in any sport, because you're
going to be proven wrong,” Howman added. WADA has created testing protocols
that are employed by hundreds of leagues and national federations globally,
including the Olympics and international cycling, where cheating is pretty much
a bonafide part of the training process. For whatever reason, the über-arrogant
David Stern feels that his powers as NBA commissioner are enough to deter
doping or that NBA players simply don’t need the benefits of synthetic
testosterone, EPO or other PEDs the way a track and field competitor or cyclist
would. The NBA somewhat ironically bans HGH, but doesn’t actually blood test
for it. WADA strongly recommends the test, which the NFL is at least
considering implementing. Could the first NBA doping scandal be far off? Here’s
hoping………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Greece has been an angry place for
months now and really, the daily riot forecast for Greeks has never been
sunnier than it is at present. Every day could bring multiple uprisings full of
hate, violence and rage for the nation in economic turmoil and facing expulsion
from the eurozone. Friday brought the rioting goodness in heaping helpings, as anti-austerity
protesters clashed with riot police, hurling rocks and gasoline bombs on the
day of a general strike that brought much of the to a standstill. The strike
was Greece’s second major walkout in three weeks and undoubtedly freed up many
dissenters to join a crowd of 40,000 marching in Athens in a bid to show EU
leaders meeting in Brussels that new wage and pension cuts will only worsen
their suffering after five years of recession. But like every protest that
hopes to grow up and become a riot, there must be a spark. That spark came when
a small group of bold protesters began throwing pieces of marble, bottles and
gas bombs at police barricading part of the square in front of parliament. Riot
police retaliated with tear gas and it was on. Police and rioters were throwing
objects and haymakers, a 65-year old protester collapsed and died of a heart
attack (allegedly) and three people were injured. When the smoke (and tear gas)
cleared police detained about 50 protesters suspected of attacking them. All of
this occurred against the backdrop of a 24-hour strike called by the country's
two biggest labor unions, ADEDY and GSEE. Striking workers ranted about the
government digging their graves and burying them in economic troubles, although
a struggling economy having most of its business and public sector activity
come to a grinding halt might not be the best idea. Public transportation and
shipping activity were heavily disrupted, bakeries and other shops were shut
and newspaper kiosk owners, lawyers, taxi drivers and air traffic controllers
joined in as well. There have been three such occasions since late September
and each has featured enraged Greeks taking to the streets holding banners and
chanting slogans to show their anger at austerity policies imposed by EU and
IMF lenders in exchange for aid. "The new, painful package should not be
passed," the ADEDY public sector union said in a statement accompanying
the strike……….
- Anyone who has traveled in Europe for more than an hour knows
that smoking is much more common there than it is anywhere in the United
States. How Europeans manage to live so long while choking down so many cancer sticks
is a real medical marvel, especially now that riveting research from the World Lung
Foundation and American Cancer Society has come to light. The good ol’ WLFACS
has crunched the numbers and discovered that Eastern Europe is dominant in the
world of upping one’s chances for lung cancer. Death dart consumption in the
region can exceed 2,000 cigarettes a year, according to this study. The single
largest hazard for secondhand smoke is Serbia (2,861 cigarettes per person per year), according to data
from 71 countries. Its neighbor, Russia, is lagging a bit at 2,786 cigarettes
per person per year and the culprit could be its indefensible efforts to cope with
its smoking problem. Russia has modeled its anti-smoking efforts on laws in
Western countries that coincided with a drop in smoking rates. Those proposed
new laws would limit cigarette advertising and public smoking in Russia, and
more than double excise taxes on cigarettes. One notable exception to Eastern
Europe’s lung-assaulting ways is Romania, which has had its own tough
anti-smoking laws in place since 1997. What other countries are huge hazards to
their own lung and respiratory health? South Korea, Kazakhstan and Japan all
claimed spots in the top five, with South Korea notching 1,958 cancer sticks
per person annually and Japan not far behind at 1,841. China, which is the
world’s largest overall consumer of cigarettes by virtue of its massive
population, was extremely disappointing with an average of 1,711 lung darts per
person per year. Obviously, a nation that has such a reckless disregard for its
own well-being and pounds fast food like no one else has to be high in these
rankings as well, right? Umm….no. The United States ranked a disappointing 34th
in the study and on average, Americans smoke about 1,000 cigarettes per person
annually, in a virtual tie with Israel, Ireland and Australia. The real winners
are Ethiopians, who smoke an average of 46 cigarettes a year. If only Americans
could get their numbers that low, the U.S. would save billions on the direct
health-care costs related to smoking are estimated at $96 billion per year………
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