- There is undoubtedly a perfectly good explanation for all
of this, perhaps as simple as the old, “We took a bachelor party trip to one of
the world’s most dangerous and combustible countries and ended up with a live
alligator in our possession” story. That explanation may or may not help two Spaniards
detained by Iranian authorities for alleged illegal hunting after they were
found with a captured alligator. Iran's official news agency reported the
arrest and Gholamhossein Kazemi, the head of the environment department of
southwestern Ilam province, said the men were detained during a midnight
ambush. He added that both men were turned over to judicial authorities since
they were trespassing in an area that bans hunting and had captured a live
alligator. While the pair were not immediately identified, this is far from the
first time Westerners have run into trouble in Iran. It might be the first such
instance since moderate President Hassan Rouhani came to power in August, but
many visitors from Western nations have been detained in the past on suspicion
of being spies. Making that argument seems like a stretch here, but finding a
reason to imprison or deport a pair of kooks who somehow thought they were
going to capture, transport and escape from the country with a live gator
shouldn’t be that challenging for a country that has proven it will allow
neither the facts not reality to stand in its way when it wants someone behind
bars. Here’s hoping the rest of the bachelor party made it back to España
unscathed and can send along some legal help for their friends…….
- It may have been a wholly unnecessary and ridiculous
revival of a movie franchise done well enough within the past decade, but “The
Amazing Spider-Man 2” still scored big in its box office debut. The latest reincarnation
of the iconic comic book-based franchise garnered $92 million in its first
weekend, earning more than the rest of the top 10 combined. “The Other Woman” inexplicably
managed to finish second, making $14.2 million in its second weekend to up its
two-week domestic total to $47.4 million. “Heaven is for Real” continued its
remarkable run by remaining third for another weekend, adding $8.7 million to
boost its total earning to $65.6 million against a meager $12 million budget. “Captain
America: The Winter Soldier” slid two spots to fourth place and brought in $7.8
million for a five-week domestic bank roll of $237.2 million and counting.
Fifth place went to “Rio 2,” which managed $7.6 million in its fourth week to
cross the $100 million barrier at $106.5 million. The Paul Walker-starring “Brick
Mansions” landed in sixth place with a $3.6 million frame and has brought in
$15.5 million in two disappointing weekends. It did just enough to edge out “Divergent,”
the seventh-place movie for the weekend thanks to $2.2 million in earnings for
the frame and the owner of $142.7 million in total domestic earnings. “The
Quiet Ones” snagged eighth place with $2 million, good enough for an über-modest
two-week haul of $6.8 million. The ninth spot on the earnings list went to “God’s
Not Dead,” which blessed its way to $1.8 million and a seven-week domestic
total of $55.6 million. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” landed the last spot in the
top 10 with $1.7 million and has made a total of $51.5 million so far. “Bears”
(No. 11) and “Transcendence” (No. 13) both tumbled out from last weekend’s top
10……….
- It’s about damn time. Twitter has long lagged behind the
pack when it comes to shunning undesirable communications through social media,
but they microblogging site might be working on a fix for the problem. There is
reportedly an ongoing experiment with a mute button of sorts that would allow a
user to follow someone without seeing that person’s posts in their feed. Before
anyone asks why someone would follow a person but not really follow them, just
remember that making someone think you give a damn about their hourly
motivational quotes or their incessant Twitter pics of their lunch fodder can
mean saving a friendship or making a valuable business contact. Actually seeing
what they post, however, matters much less. For now, the mute button is in the
beta testing stages and there has been no official word from Twitter about when
the feature might be rolled out officially for the masses. In addition to
pretending to follow someone and hang on their every word, the mute function
could also be useful if you simply want to tune out a friend who is going
through an overly chatty phase where they share every detail of their life but
is generally an OK individual to follow. Some users can already mute those they follow because they
manage their Twitter account through third-party apps, such as TweetDeck and Tweetbot.
Unfortunately, those apps aren’t available on every platform, meaning that many
smartphone users still can't take advantage of the chance to tune out the
oversharing ass hats with whom they have the misfortune of being friends.
Twitter veered in the direction of the mute button in December when it changed
the way blocking worked, allowing folks to still view, reply and retweet
whatever a blocked individual posted. However, an actual mute button would be
infinitely better………
- The Toronto
Blue Jays are not mentally tough. So says their own manager, John Gibbons, who
admitted that his team was "a little shell-shocked" following another
late-inning collapse in Saturday's 8-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Blue
Jays were a colossal disappointment last season because of their huge payroll,
but hoped to bounce back this year and contend in the very balanced American
Least East. So far, that hasn’t borne out. Through Sunday, Toronto is 14-17 and
in last place in the division. Their downfall has been hastened by several
late-game collapses, the latest of which came Saturday as Aaron Loup gave up
three runs in the seventh inning and Todd Redmond served up the game-winning
hit in the eighth, one day after the Blue Jays squandered a two-run ninth
inning lead in a 6-5 loss. "We're a little bit shell-shocked right
now," Gibbons said. Following Saturday’s meltdown, Blue Jays relievers
were rocking a combined 5.35 ERA -- the second-worst in the majors -- and five blown
saves in 17 opportunities this season. Loup entered the game with a
flamethrower after Clint Barmes' leadoff double against starter R.A. Dickey in
the seventh and proceeded to douse the infield in kerosene and try him damndest
to burn the Rogers Centre to the ground. "You don't expect [Loup] to
implode like that," Gibbons said. "I'm sure [the relief pitchers]
don't want to hear that phone ring, I'll tell you that. That's the way it's
been going." The next inning, Redmond allowed three straight hits and two
runs as the Pirates seized victory from the Raptors’ feeble hands. "It's
tough because it can really spiral on you," Dickey said. "That
here-we-go-again syndrome can start to set in if you're not careful." For
those scoring at home, that’s the manager and one of the team’s top starters
admitting that the bullpen wants no part of doing its job and getting outs in
pressure situations at the moment. In an attempt to steady their imploding
‘pen, the team promoted top pitching prospect Marcus Stroman from the minors
prior to Sunday's game. After Sunday’s Game 7 loss by the Raptors in a
first-round NBA Eastern Conference playoff series, it’s safe to say one of
Canada’s biggest cities may also be its most depressed…….
- Californication was in full effect late last week at Oakland
International Airport, as a 26-year-old female passenger gave Transportation
Security Administration agents a nice ganja surprise with a package that could
have fetched her a small fortune if she had been able to successfully transport
it back home to Jackson, Miss. Instead, suitcases packed with 81 pounds of
marijuana are now government property after TSA officers screening baggage for
the woman’s flight from Oakland to Phoenix, then on to Dallas before arriving
in Mississippi found the stash. While the TSA typically focuses on weapons and
explosives, they can and will notice a massive pile of the hippie lettuce if
they come across it. According to TSA officials, the stoner in question was
arrested after agents found her ganja in her three checked bags. "TSA
screens every bag placed on an airplane, whether taken as carry-on or checked
with an airline," TSA spokesman Ross Feinstein said. "As is common
practice, TSA notified the Alameda County Sheriff's Office of the discovery,
who responded and took possession of the marijuana. The passenger was
subsequently arrested on criminal charges." TSA practice dictates that if
officers find evidence of something illegal, they refer the matter to local law
enforcement officials, who then make the decision on whether or not they want
to pursue one of the easiest arrests they’ll ever make. The lesson, as always,
is that you need to find a reliable drug mule or a way to conceal your chron in
a package you then ship via FedEx or UPS rather than trying to stash it in your
Samsonite……..
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