Thursday, September 25, 2014

Liam Neeson lies, Brazilian business fraud and a quitting Dallas Cowboy


- The bears are coming, everyone. As if there haven’t already been enough hints, with these furry killers showing up in places bears need not be, here comes a five-pack of bear sightings in a single day in the Bakersfield, Calif. area. The good news, albeit in a very limited sense, is that wildlife officials caught three of the bears. But as anyone who knows the threat that bears of all varieties – except perhaps koalas, which sleep for 18-20 hours a day – pose to humanity understands, that leaves two potential killers lurking out there in the great wide open. One of the bears was confirmed to be in a rural area, so it was left alone to stalk the humans of its choices and eat them alive whenever it so chooses. The fifth bear sighting was also in a rural area, which should have suggested to the powers that be that the bears have hatched a clever plan to station themselves in what wildlife authorities would deem to be safe areas, but instead inspired those powers to leave the fifth bear alone as well. The first of the three captured bears was taken into custody in the morning in the area of Vineland and Breckenridge roads, the same general location where officials caught a bear in the afternoon. Police caught a third bear just off Pioneer Drive later in the morning and in the lone reasonable response of the day, the morning bear sightings promoted class cancellations on nearby Edison School District campuses. Still, at the end of the day, wildlife officials talked themselves into the lie that the bears were likely following water sources or in search of food. Keep telling yourselves that right up to the point the bears are ripping down your front door……..


- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne needs a change in perspective. At first, he may have been irate after being informed that Orlando Scandrick was replacing him in the starting lineup. He may have skipped the Cowboys' walk-through practice and angrily left the club's Valley Ranch training facility Tuesday, quitting on his team rather than stand on the sidelines and watch on Sunday. But that’s the wrong approach for a man who allowed five receptions for 108 yards and a 51-yard touchdown pass as the St. Louis Rams took a 21-0 second-quarter lead before the Cowboys rallied to win 34-31 in Week 3. For starters, a guy who just got torched that way shouldn’t be demanding that he keep his starting spot. Secondly…has Claiborne ever seen the Saints play? Drew Brees and the pass-oriented Saints offense put up 300 yards in the air on a near-weekly basis, Brees remains one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and against a terrible Dallas defense, 50 points and 500 yards passing are not out of the question. Does Claiborne really want his name associated with that impending debacle? Perhaps he does, because he is expected to play Sunday night against the New Orleans Saints after rejoining the team Wednesday morning to participate in meetings. Oddly enough, Claiborne should have seen this coming. Scandrick didn’t start Week 3 only because he missed the first two weeks of the season while serving a two-game suspension, during which Claiborne filled in. Making matters worse, blowhard owner Jerry Jones said on his weekly radio show that the third-year cornerback had not been worth the sixth pick of the 2012 draft, which had to sting Claiborne all the more. After Sunday, odds are he’ll wish he’d stuck with quitting………


- Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista dreams big. Usually, that’s a positive. In this case, it allegedly caused billions of dollars in losses and a drastically altered stock market. There can be a fine line ‘twixt one man’s brilliant investment strategy and another’s criminal activity and that appears to be the line of demarcation separating Batists and f ederal prosecutors who have charged whim with manipulating the stock market and causing billions of dollars in losses. The prosecutor's office said in a statement that Batista conspired with seven former directors of oil company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes to deceive investors with false information regarding the company's production potential. In simpler terms, they promised the company would make a sh*t-ton of money when in fact, it could make only a fraction of a sh*t-ton of money. They manipulated financial data to make their promises look legitimate and according to prosecutors, the lies did more than just bilk those investors out of their money. If you believes such tall tales, the stock manipulation caused the market to lose more than $6 billion. In what could merely be one ginormous coincidence, OGX didn't deliver on its promises to produce significant amounts of offshore oil even though it reported many finds since 2010 and if a judge accepts the charges, the case will move to trial, where a significant blow may be struck to capitalism. In that case, we will all be losers………


- Proclamation rejected, Liam Neeson. You may be a 62-year-old badass who is beating the hell out of bad guys in remote places around the world because they made the mistake of kidnapping people he cares deeply about, but someone has to be bold enough to stand up to deny your insane claim that the third installment of the “Taken” franchise will be the last. For two heart-pounding films, Neeson has been Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent with a “very particular set of skills” who travels to Turkey, Paris and anywhere else he needs to go to make the bad guys pay. Yes, he’s approaching social security age and a man cannot be an action hero forever – “The Expendables” notwithstanding because it’s a walking punchline – forever. But Neeson has at least a decade of badass-ness left and he needs to know it. "It's a rollicking good story but I think this is the end,” the Irish actor explain. When asked about the third and allegedly final film, Neeson was all jokes. "This time, no more traveling. If my daughter was 'taken' again on a trip, Bryan Mills would have to be certifiably locked up for bad parenting,” Neeson said. The story lines for the movie are being kept under wraps, but word on the street is that Mills will go on the run after being framed for the murder of someone close to him. The actor added: "I have to go on the run, I’ll put it that way, from the not-so-lawful types and the lawful authorities. Bryan Mills served his country faithfully, but now even they are after him. They must not like me,” Neeson added. “Tak3n” will hit theaters on Jan. 8 and with any good fortune, “Taken 4” and its successors will be on the way in the next few years. It can be risky to argue with a genuine killa like Neeson, but if no one does and this franchise ends after just three movies while other, lesser franchises stagger on and on with multiple unnecessary sequels, then there is something very wrong with the world………

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