- These are sad times for Palestine. No, this has nothing to
do with its interminable conflict with Israel because that’s just a way of
life, another entry on the calendar each and every day. This is a much scarier
situation because it involves a menace that does not discriminate against any
race, creed or culture: reality television. Yes, reality TV has infected Palestine
and because Palestinians aren’t going to shack up in a tricked out penthouse
with six of their 20-something peers, get drunk every night and sleep with at
least half of those roommates and at least that many strangers, the world now
has “The President.” It’s a reality show filmed mostly in a ballroom in the
occupied West Bank’s only luxury hotel, where well-dressed young people compete
for a panel of judges’ approval and for the public’s votes. There is no
karaoke, no dancing, no tequila shots at the bar….just competitors vying for a
faux political position that won't actually give them any real power. The
winner of "The President" won’t become a real head of state, but he
or she and three runners-up will be named unofficial youth envoys to three
European countries and Russia. They will also receive a chance to shadow a
Palestinian Authority minister. The pool of candidates for the show may not
have numbered in the tens of thousands like the hordes of losers who camp out
for days on end – proving their lack of a life – to sing for 30 seconds in the
hopes of being cast on “American Karaoke,” but there were 1,000 folks who
wanted in on this one. The finalists will be put through their intellectual and
rhetorical paces by a five-person panel of judges made up of the cream of
Palestinian and Arab-Israeli society, with a winner chosen June 25. “If
negotiations (with Israel) don’t work, as 'The President' it is my right to
achieve a Palestinian state through resistance,” contestant Sewar Salman
explained. She is one of 13 remaining contestants and hails from the West Bank
city of Hebron. Adham Hosari is the show’s director and he has put himself in
an odd position by admitting the prize for winning his little charade doesn’t
matter. “The final material prize is not important,” Hosari said. “We want the
people to know about the problems the Palestinians are facing politically and
socially.” It would appear Palestine has much to learn about reality
TV……..
- While Floyd Mayweather Jr. is winning fights easily and
making $32 million guaranteed before he steps into the ring, the man he once
ducked fighting in the one bout everyone wanted to see is not faring nearly as
well. Former pound-for-pound king
Manny Pacquiao, who never did fight Mayweather as both men used every excuse
they could find not to fight one another back when such a fight would have
mattered, was last seen being knocked out cold by rival Juan Manuel Marquez in
December. The Filipino icon and congressman will return to the ring this fall,
but unlike Mayweather he won't be boxing in Las Vegas or making $32 million for
the bout. Instead, he will fight outside the United States for the first time
since 2006 and the fight will take place at the CotaiArena at the Venetian
Macao Resort Hotel in Macau, China on Nov. 24. China isn't exactly a haven for
big fights, but Pacquiao will face brawler Brandon Rios after Rios agreed to
terms Monday evening, according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. Pacquiao will
face Rios at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds and despite its odd location,
the 12-round bout will be televised on HBO PPV. Because of a large time
difference between the site of the fight and the location of its target
pay-per-view audience, it will take place in the morning in Macau for a usual
primetime telecast in the U.S. Nothing says big-time bout like a mid-morning
start because a breakfast of blood, sweet and Cocoa Puffs is always a delight.
Rios isn’t exactly a fighter on the rise. The former lightweight titlist has
split his last two fights with someone named Mike Alvarado. Rios knocked out
Alvarado in the seventh round in October and lost a close unanimous decision to
him in their March 30 rematch. Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz explained why his
client chose Rios even though he is coming off a loss. "The two fights
with Alvarado were both very close fights and either guy could have won either
fight," Koncz said. "We looked at styles and Rios has the better
style for Manny. He'll come forward and throw a lot of punches. Given the way
Pacquiao looked against Marquez a few months back, even this might be a
dangerous opponent for him………
- Dignity for dinosaurs is important. That’s what makes the
treatment of the
Tyrannosaurus bataar so
disappointing. This ancient beast and former fearsome predator was uprooted
and dragged across three continents before being left to collect dust in a
basement in Queens. The skeleton has been at the center of some archaeological
drama after Gainesville, Fla., paleontologist Eric Prokopi pleaded guilty to
illegally importing fossilized remains of numerous dinosaurs that had been
smuggled out of their homelands. The prized Tyrannosaurus bataar
skeleton was part of his collection, but he agreed to forfeit it as part of a
plea deal. Since he turned it over, the skeleton has sad idly in storage. That
changed Monday when prosecutors and customs officials Monday loaded up boxes
containing chunks of the 70-million-year-old dinosaur to ship him home to
Mongolia. "We are very pleased to have played a pivotal role in returning
Mongolia's million-dollar baby," said Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in
Manhattan. When fully assembled, the Tyrannosaurus bataar is 24 feet
long, about 8 feet high and weighs in at 2 tons. Prokopi imported the skeleton
and other fossils from a dealer in Great Britain and prosecutors accused him of
lying about what he was importing in order to sneak the crates through customs.
To perpetuate the scam, he valued the contents of the crate at just $15,000.
That’s a mighty low price for a predator that ruled the food chain of the
ancient floodplains that are today's Gobi Desert. However, the sale was soon nullified
as prosecutors, the Mongolian government and customs officials began to unravel
the mystery surrounding the shady deal. It’s now back to Mongolia for Tyrannosaurus bataar………
- Why so serious, families of 9/11 victims, why so serious? Yes, you
lost someone you loved in the worst terrorist attack in American history, but
that is no reason to be outraged over the National September 11 Memorial
Museum's decision to charge admission for visitors. Overreactors such as Sally
Regenhard, assistant chairwoman of the group 9/11 Parents and Families of
Firefighters and WTC Victims, are going way, way beyond the necessary when they
call the admission charge a "slap in the face.” "Patriotic people
from all corners of the country go to teach their children something and show respect,
and now they will be faced with this fee? It is outrageous," Regenhard
said. "This feeds the idea of New York City being money-hungry. It is
taking advantage of tourists." So? Taking advantage of toursits is what
New York City and all major metropolitan areas that attract large numbers of
visitors is all about. It’s why McDonald’s has set up 25 locations in every
major city and found a home in major metropolises around the globe. It’s why
there are 751,687 souvenir shops in Manhattan and why street vendors always
keep plenty of “I (Heart) New York” t-shirts on hand. "Making people pay
to grieve is going to prevent people from paying their respects and learn about
the victims,” Regenhard whined. In response, 9/11 Memorial communications
manager Anthony Guido made it clear that an exact price has not yet been set,
but said it will range from $20 to $25. Maybe Regenhard and her ilk should stop
whining because unlike the rest of us, she and other family members of 9/11
victims are exempt from all memorial-museum fees and charges. The museum is set
to open in 2014 and according to Guido, museum officials took their cue from
similar institutions in the country for guidance on admission charges, such as
the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, which charges $12 for adults.
Profiting off tragedy: the new American way……..
- This should totally quash all of those haters who like to
make fun of indie rockers and their fans for being hipster tools. The National,
a Brooklyn-based indie band that has attained such lofty heights that its song
“Mr. November” was used in President Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign
in 2008, played Sunday night at an art gallery in New York as part of a collaboration
with artist Ragnar Kjartansson called A Lot Of Sorrow. Playing an art
gallery in and of itself seems rather hipster-ish, but The National kicked it
up a notch by performing the same song over and over and over and over and
over….until they had played it a resounding 105 times. That’s right, they ran
through “Sorrow” a full 105 times. The track is from their well-reviewed album
“High Violent” and for anyone who had listened to the other tracks on the album
106 times but had only listened to “Sorrow” once. Fans who attended the gallery
event filmed it and posted it online and the band actually had a good sense of
humor about the evening, posting a picture on its Facebook page show a “set
list” with the song’s title written over and over again, accompanied by the
joke, "For the encore, The National played 'Sorrow'." All of this gun
took place at Moma PS1 in Long Island City, so it at least ventured out of
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, i.e. hipster nirvana. The gallery pompously
recapped the evening in a press release that read, "By stretching a single
pop song into a day-long tour de force the artist continues his explorations
into the potential of repetitive performance to produce sculptural presence
within sound. As in all of Kjartansson's performances, the idea behind A Lot
of Sorrow is devoid of irony, yet full of humor and emotion. It is another
quest to find the comic in the tragic and vice versa." The only member of
The National who was unable to gut out all 105 renditions of the song was drummer
Bryan Devendorf, who sat out one take of the track. The mild amount of
attention generated by this bizarre effort should help drum up more publicity
for The National’s forthcoming sixth studio album, “Trouble Will Find Me.”
Oddly enough, the band elected to perform two tracks from the album during a
recent appearance on “Late Night With
Jimmy Fallon” and performed each of the songs just once………
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