Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Rick Perry gets mad, The Rock becomes a superhero and athlete-on-athlete crime


- There are three things Rick Perry knows how to do. Talk big, hate Democrats and….uh……he can't remember the third one. But it doesn’t matter because the first two things he does know how to do – and can remember – will be more than enough as long as the Texas governor follows through with his promise to deploy as many as 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border after growing tied of "lip service" from the federal government. Gov. Perry laid the verbal smack down on the Obama administration on Monday, saying the National Guard will provide additional support to a state-funded border surge that is costing an additional $1.3 million a week. The area in question has been swamped in recent weeks by tens of thousands of unaccompanied children illegally entering the U.S. and while that has spawned scores of angry, anti-immigrant protests by conservatives who view the children as costly moochers regardless of their age, Perry is taking a different angle here. He said in announcing the troop surge that criminals are exploiting the situation for human and drug trafficking and therefore, it’s time for Texas to act and provide additional assistance to the more than 3,000 Border Patrol agents who currently work in the region. The National Guard units being sent to the border will roll in over the next 30 days and not surprisingly, Democrats and some Texas border sheriffs are criticizing the plan as an ill-conceived militarization. That seems harsh and not only because ill-conceived militarization contains far too many letters and syllables for Perry to possibly understand in between viewings of his favorite Yosemite Sam cartoons and barbecue rib lunches………


- This is a refreshing change. Normally, if two athletes are involved in bar fights, there are two separate incidents that police must investigate and two police blotter entries to pay attention to. This time around, St. Louis Rams linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar and NBA free agent Donte Greene stepped up and teamed up for an athlete-on-athlete brawl outside a Miami Beach nightclub. Essentially every athlete enjoys at least part of their offseason in Miami Beach at some point, so the fact that more of these fights don’t happen is somewhat surprising. In this case, Dunbar and Greene were arrested early Sunday outside Dream Nightclub in South Beach. According to Miami Beach Police Detective Vivian Thayer, the athletes got into a fight outside the club. Details are scarce about what happened and how it started, which will continue to be true until one athlete’s crew gets loose on social media and starts talking junk about the other side, at which point 20 different sides of the same story will emerge and hopefully a hastily snapped smartphone video will emerge to clear the matter up. Regardless of who started it, Thayer said Dunbar and Greene each face charges of battery and disorderly conduct. Both posted bond before the weekend was up and assuming neither used a gun, knife or other weapon during their scrap and no one was injured in the melee, these two testosterone-peaking pros will likely escape without any serious charges and should face a minimum of discipline from their respective league when this all clears up………


- Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is an angry, forcibly retired despot. Noriega is always irritable, but he’s particularly irked with the publishers of a popular video game that features a mission to capture him. Technically, Noriega isn't so much upset that he’s in the game in a less than flattering way as he is pissed that he’s not getting paid for it. The peeved despot has filed a lawsuit against the Activision Blizzard video game company accusing it of harming his reputation with "Call of Duty: Black Ops II."  The 80-year-old once known as one of Latin America's most powerful strongmen and someone who was convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering and killing political opponents is currently serving out a prison sentence in Panama, where he was extradited in 2011. In his lawsuit, Noriega argues that his portrayal "as a kidnapper, murderer and enemy of the state" in the 2012 video game damaged his reputation. Granted, his reputation was sh*t before, but somehow it suffered harm here and if you believe Noriega, the company used his image and name in order to make money and therefore he's entitled to a share of the profits. “Plaintiff was portrayed as an antagonist as the culprit of numerous fictional heinous crimes, creating the false impression that defendants are authorized to use plaintiff's image and likeness," the lawsuit says. According to the company,  In 2012, the company said "Call of Duty: Black Ops II" had netted more than $1 billion in sales worldwide in its first months on the market. It does include several real-life characters in Cold War scenarios, including Oliver North. However, North did his own voice over for the game and acted as an adviser, while Noriega said in his lawsuit that he wasn't consulted -- or compensated -- for the use of his likeness……….


- The Rock long ago made the official jump from former professional wrestler to bonafide movie star, but he hasn’t stopped working to draw the line between guy who delivers chair shots for a living to thespian chatting with the guy in the director’s chair. The man known as Dwayne Johnson outside the ring has hinted in recent months about a possible superhero role in the offing and now, Johnson has confirmed his involvement in a new DC Comics movie, on that appears to have him on track to star as the hero Shazam. No, he will not be acting as a cool smartphone app that helps you identify that cool song you heard at the club last night. DC Comics character Billy Batson says the word "Shazam" to transform into superhero Captain Marvel and after being created in 1939, the character was renamed Shazam in 2011 due to conflicts with Marvel Comics over their hero of the same name. In the comic books that inspired the movie, Batson is a 12-year-old boy who is granted his powers by the wizard Shazam. The name actually comes from an acronym for legendary figures Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury, who bestow their wisdom, strength, stamina, power, courage and speed upon Batson when he says "Shazam." In the process, he transforms into an adult with superhuman strength, speed and intellect. Johnson will make an official announcement for the basement-dwelling dorks at San Diego Comic-Con this week and sounds legitimately excited about his latest action role. "This character has the power of Superman," Johnson said. "He can throw down. Just say the word. That's all I'm going to say." Prior to becoming a hero, Johnson can be seen later this month in “Hercules” and next year in “Fast & Furious 7” and more………..

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