- What the eff, Cuba? The communist hellhole of repression
is at it again, with its overbearing regime closing dozens of home-based movie theaters on
Saturday and reiterating its plans to end the private sale of imported goods as
authorities trumpet a message of "order, discipline and obedience" in the growing
small business sector. Raul Castro’s regime issued an official statement saying
that home-based theaters and video games will "stop immediately in any
type of self employment," a local euphemism for small business. The
statement said "the showing of movies, including in 3D salons, and
likewise the organization of computer games, has never been
authorized." This comes on the heels of the government banning the
private sale of imported goods last month, dealing a crippling blow to the more
than e 20,000 small businesses and their employees who sell clothing, hardware
and other goods brought in informally by travelers. Castro, who replaced his
brother Fidel in 2008, has actively made over Cuba's Soviet style economy with a
series of market-oriented reforms, yet the state still employs 79 percent of
the 5 million-strong labor force. “These measures are corrections to continue
bringing order to this form of management, fight impunity and insist people
live up to the law," the government said. "In no way does this mean a
step backward. Quite the contrary, we will continue to decidedly advance in the
updating of our economic model.” Oh, never mind on all of the concern, then. If
a government that routinely tramples the basic rights and freedoms of its
people without remorse says this is not a step backward, then there is NO need
to worry. The entrepreneurs and the public who have lamented the import ban and
the fact that it compels them to buy high-priced, low-quality clothing from
state-run establishments should just simmer down, as should those who want to
watch a movie that isn’t simply communist propaganda in the comfort of a home
theater………
- It may look and play like a crappy sci-fi drama starring
an over-the-hill Harrison Ford, but those perceptible negatives weren't enough
to prevent “Ender’s Game” from earning the top spot at the weekend box office
in its debut. With $28 million, “Ender’s Game” won an uninspired earnings race
and toppled the reigning champ, “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” which
dropped to second with $20.5 million and has banked $62 million in two weeks of
release. Third on the list was “Geezer ‘The Hangover,’” a.k.a. “Last Vegas,”
which opened to $16.5 million as Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline and friends
outperformed expectations. “Free Birds” brought animation to the top four and
became the third new movie to crack the first four by making $16.2 million for
a solid, yet unspectacular debut. Fifth place belonged to “Gravity,” which
banked $13.1 million and has risen to an impressive $219.1 million on domestic
earnings through five weeks. That number is more than double its $100 million
budget, making the film a huge commercial success. “Captain Phillips” can say
the same with its $8.5 million weekend, good for sixth place and an $82.5
million total bankroll through four weeks. The critically acclaimed “12 Years a
Slave” continued to excel in limited release, placing seventh with $4.6 million
despite showing in a mere 410 theaters across America. In three weeks, the
slave-centric drama has earned $8.7 million. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
2” secured eighth place with $4.2 million and has amassed $106.2 million in its
six weeks in theaters. “Carrie” fell three spots to ninth with a $3.4 million
weekend to up its total tall to $31.9 million after three weeks. “The Counselor”
rounded out the top 10 with $3.3 million for two-week total of $13.4 million,
while “Escape Plan,” (No. 11), “Enough Said” (No. 13) and “Prisoners” (No. 18)
all surrendered their spots from last weekend’s top 10……..
- Most everyone who lives and considers the world around
them for even a second thinks at some point about leaving something behind when
they shuffle off this mortal coil. A farmer in rural Anson County, N.C. found a
way to leave behind a booming legacy for his son, so much so that bomb squads from
two counties and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had to
be called in to deal with the situation. It seems this farmer compiled a
massive stash of dynamite and stored it in a barn on his property. Anson County
Sheriff Tommy Allen said his office was contacted by a relative earlier this
week and asked to help deal with dozens of sticks of deteriorating dynamite the
farmer left behind when he passed away. According to Allen, the explosives were
used to blow up stumps while clearing land for farming, but the leftover
dynamite had sat unused in the barn for many years. In fact, ATF agents who
helped with the disposal of the incendiary items said because the dynamite was
as much as 50 years old, it could have been even more dangerous than newer
dynamite. A combined effort by the sheriff’s department and federal agents
disposed of the dynamite without incident, including several bags of blasting
caps that were found along with the dynamite. The blasting caps were detonated
in a safe area without incident and explosives experts also set fire to the
dynamite in order to minimize the risk of explosions. Safe detonation is always
solid, but not nearly as fun as a barn in the middle of nowhere going boom in
the middle of the night and sending a giant fireball of structural carnage
flying into the night sky………
- The Boston Red Sox had themselves a fun, emotional day on
Saturday when they celebrated their third World Series championship in the past
decade with a parade through the streets of their city. There was
emotion-filled moment at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, constant
interaction with the tens of thousands of supportive fans who lined the streets
and the amusing sight of players riding in the famed duck boats that are
usually reserved for lazy, quacking
visitors who want to see the city by land and sea without doing much walking or
physical activity. The half-boat, half-truck vehicles were originally designed
for the military but have become the vehicle of choice for those wishing to
take tours through Boston and onto the Charles River. They are also a clear
favorite of one of the players who helped pitch the Red Sox to an unexpected
championship, so much so that Jake Peavy had barely exited the duck boat he
rode in the parade when he decided to make one of the biggest impulse buys of
his life. Peavy announced on Twitter that he bought one of the duck boats that
carried the team through the streets of Boston, writing, “Wow what a
special day! Thank u all from the bottom of my heart! & yes the boat is now
mine & hopefully in the family forever! #BostonStrong.” The team later posted a
photo of Peavy with his new duck boat, although the photo was curiously lacking
the presence of Peavy’s smiling wife, celebrating the fact that her husband
just spend thousands of dollars on a fuel-inefficient, cumbersome truck/boat
that neither of them will ever actually drive………
- Importing herbs and spices to make one’s dinner tastier
and more exotic is a highbrow thing to do, but rich folks who buy their
seasoning from abroad might want to rethink their cooking habits in light of a
nauseating report released by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. According to the report, a solid 12 percent of spice imported
in the U.S. is contaminated with such stomach-churning ingredients as insect
parts, rodent hair and feces. Oh, and another 7 percent of the
spice imports investigated had salmonella, a type of bacteria that could cause
illness in humans, meaning nearly one-fifth of spice imports are packing some
sort of extra punch that probably shouldn’t be making its way onto anyone’s
dinner plate. "Nearly all of the insects found in spice samples were
stored product pests, indicating inadequate packing or storage conditions. The
presence of rodent hair (without a root) in spices is generally indicative of
contamination by rodent feces," the report said. Most of the contaminants
are introduced to the products from field insects and rodents, with stones and
other miscellaneous plant matter scooped up with the spices and herbs at time
of harvest adding elements to the mix as well. Toss in sun drying on tarps or
concrete yards and there is no end to the amount of foreign matter than can
pollute the finished product. FDA inspectors found salmonella in ginger and
poppy seeds from India, allspice from Turkey and red pepper from Japan, showing
that contamination is a global issue. Given that the United States imported 1.1
billion pounds of spices in 2009 from over 140 countries and is the largest
importer of spices, maybe it’s time for America to take care of its own herb
and spice needs………
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