- Boy, that escalated quickly. It jumped up a notch, didn’t
it? Within 24 hours of Warner Bros. announcing the
curious choice of Ben Affleck to play Batman in the forthcoming “Batman vs.
Superman” movie, the movie fan base reacted quickly and angrily. One day after
the revelation, an online petition to oust Affleck from a role he hasn’t even
filled for one second yet had already amassed over 30,000 signatures.
The studio announced Friday that Affleck will join Henry Cavill's Superman in the sequel to “Man of Steel” instead of
possible alternatives such as Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin and (if he had accepted
a reported $60 million offer and changed his mind about being done with the
role) Christian Bale. Bale has remained adamant that his is done as the caped
crusader and fans probably would have accepted a few alternatives, but not
Affleck. Ludlow, Ky. resident Jon Roden is the man behind the petition, which
he posted on change.org and titled "Warner Brothers: Remove Ben Affleck as
Batman/Bruce Wayne in the Superman/Batman movie.” The title is
self-explanatory, but the reasoning behind it is not, so Roden explained his
rationale. "His acting skill is not even close to being believable as
Bruce Wayne and he won't do the role justice," Ludlow said. "He's not
built, nor is he intimidating enough for the role of Batman. His portrayal of
Daredevil was atrocious and he's not remotely close to an action star. Please
find someone else." To make sure he wasn’t insulting Affleck (too much),
Ludlow updated the page to "add that this petition was not meant in any
way to harm Ben Affleck or his career.” It’s a hilarious addition and couldn’t
be more bogus, but the petition has collected 30,087 signatures. There is time
for the petition to grow and do its intended job, as director Zack Snyder isn't
due to start shooting the film until next year with stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and
Diane Lane alongside Cavill and Affleck………
- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Technically, there isn't a full-on
riot yet, but Europe is headed that way as the debate over fracking crosses the
Atlantic Ocean. The debate has raged in Pennsylvania and much of the United
States for some time, but it has now sparked threats to use Molotov cocktails in Poland,
a civil disobedience workshop in affluent rural England and an Irish farmer with
a sick child moved to become an eco-campaigner. Those are the early headlines
from Europe’s response to the much-debated oil industry practice. Fracking has
united enviro-nuts with farmers and even white-collar citizens concerned about
house prices and “the industrialization of the countryside.” Rumors of Russian
money financing anti-fracking groups in Bulgaria to help keep prices for its
gas exports high have arisen and the United Kingdom is the new battle front for
the fracking fight. The British government facilitated that by lifting a ban
imposed when the procedure was linked to a series of earthquakes in northwest
England. For the fracking-ignorant, the process involves forcing water and
chemicals into the ground to shatter rocks like shale and release natural gas
trapped inside. Opponents argue that it poses a risk to water supplies, causes
air pollution and flies in the face of the fight against climate change, worse
even than coal. Supporters contend that it is safe, has been carried out for decades
largely without problems, and could actually help reduce carbon emissions. The
leader of the No Dash for Gas campaign group, Brit Chris Peters, took part in a
five-day protest last week against exploratory drilling that might eventually
lead to fracking at a site near the village of Balcombe, Sussex, in rural
England. The protest itself was unimpressive, drawing a mere 1,000 people,
including some from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Poland. However, it did offer workshops
in “methods of civil disobedience, direct action and various campaign
strategies,” which could be good launching points for the aforementioned
Molotov cocktail throwers. So far, the violence hasn’t materialized, but give
Europe time because rioting is something its people do well……..
- Who could possibly have seen this coming? A street
festival in Minnesota that was aimed at bringing a little-known Central
American culture to one of America’s coldest and whitest states and which
involved the words “street vendor” and “guinea pig met” ended horribly? This
surefire recipe for success happened earlier this month at a celebration of
Ecuadorian Independence Day. The party included vendors selling (allegedly)
traditional ethnic foods and one of them was guinea pig meat. Details are still
coming out, but the bottom line is that dozens of people fell sick after
consuming the meat. At least 81 people have been hospitalized for severe
gastrointestinal symptoms after eating guinea pig meat served by a festival
vendor and according to the Minnesota Department of Health, many of those
people tested positive for salmonella poisoning. Although health officials
haven’t yet identified the vendor, finding him or her shouldn’t be that
difficult because even at an Ecuadorian festival, how many carts or trailers
are there where a person can stroll up to the counter and utter the words,
“I’ll have a guinea pig taco,” or “Give me a Giggles the Guinea Pig Burger?” Finding
the culprit will be easier given that the incident took place at the New York
Plaza Produce on the 1300 block of East Lake Street, meaning someone there who
works in the food industry should have an insight or two about what went down.
The lesson, as always, is that anything that could be in your home as a pet
should be thoroughly and expertly cooked by a professional, trained chef in an
expensive restaurant before you eat it for dinner……..
- No one is buying disgraced Milwaukee Brewers’ slugger
Ryan Braun’s too-late, “I’ve been lying to you all along and then lying about
my lies” admission that he really did intentionally cheat with
performance-enhancing drugs, but give a few of his teammates credit for acting
like they accept his mea culpa. Braun admitted he took a cream and lozenge with
a banned substance in them, but didn’t identify the substance or where he got
them. He also didn’t specify how many times he took them, only that they helped
him recover from an injury. In spite of those gaping holes, a pair of Brewers
said Braun’s apology was good enough for them. "I thought it was a good first step on the road to redemption, I
guess you could say," catcher Jonathan Lucroy said. Lucroy is one of
several Brewers who have stayed in touch with Braun by phone since he agreed to
Major League Baseball's 65-game suspension on June 22. "Knowing Ryan and
understanding Ryan, I'm going to be able to move forward and I hope other
people will be able too," reliever John Axford said. Axford said he
believes the statement should offer closure on the matter, which is either
incredibly naïve or just plan dishonest on his part. Then again, he’s just
being a good teammate. Manager Ron Roenicke had Braun’s back as well. "It
certainly was enough for me," Roenicke said. "I think it's enough for
his teammates. He's made some calls to his teammates. "I think no matter
what he says, there's going to be some negative from a lot of people still: 'He
didn't say enough (or) he didn't explain himself enough.' I think he did. And I
also think there are some things he probably still can't say. As I read into
how he said it, I think there are some things that probably he can't bring up.
That's OK with me." Lucroy added that Braun will be welcomed back quicker
by his teammates than he will be by others outside the team, which also makes
sense because he’s still a good player who can help them win games when he
returns next season and for players, winning games trumps all else……..
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