- France’s New Year’s resolution, it seems, is to not be
France. That’s according to French President Francois Hollande, whose New Year's Eve
television speech to his country contained the decidedly un-French promise to
seek and carry out fight rather
than surrendering and running from it. In this case, Hollande proclaimed that the
fight against racism and anti-Semitism will be his national cause for 2015.
That’s noteworthy because France faced an increase of acts of anti-Semitism and racism
in 2014, according to government statistics, and tolerating acts of bigotry,
hatred and violence are really bad for a nation’s look globally, no matter how
many awesome cultural sites and artifacts it possesses. Hollande pointed to Muslim
Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and black Justice Minister Christiane
Taubira both being the target of slurs, incidents that are even more
troublesome because France has the highest Muslim and Jewish populations in
western Europe. The president addressed "the rising, worrying threats"
of terrorism and fundamentalism, urging his countrymen not to give in to fear.
In typically empty political promise fashion, Hollade didn’t bother to offer
any specifics about how he would actually accomplish his goal and expecting
such details any time soon would be a foolish pursuit as well. The only
quasi-detail he offered up was a veiled reference to the far-right National
Front, saying only that France must remain in the eurozone. For the zeroes and
zeroes of Frenchmen who thought that listening to a canned speech from their
president rather than celebrating New Year’s Ever was an appealing idea, all of
this had to be extremely captivating………
- Eventually, there will be a black, Hispanic or Asian 007.
The question is merely who will play the part and when it will happen. If
wildly overrated rapper and raging egomaniac Kanye West has his way, Idris Elba will be the next James Bond. Elba as the first black Bond makes sense
on several levels, as his physical presence, satisfactory British-ness and believability
as an action star would all jive well with the 007 character. Why West’s
opinion on the topic means a damn thing is another issue entirely, but he is
adamant that Elba be considered for the role whenever Daniel Craig moves on
from portraying Bond. "James Bond is a role made for British actors and
you won't find a British actor who has the talent of Idris. To be honest you
won't find many anywhere who have his talent,” West said. He seems to have a
co-support in embattled Sony chairman Amy Pascal, who wrote in a leaked email
that Elba should be the next Bond. Elba has plenty of big credits to his name,
including starring in HBO’s acclaimed drama “The Wire” as Luther. Elba was
asked last year about the possibility of playing Bond and his response was
extremely politically correct and deferential, exactly what one would expect
from a polished thespian. "I say it all the time, but if it was to ever
happen and if I was ever to get offered that role, that would be the will of a
nation,” Elba said at the time. One of his former co-stars, “Long Walk to
Freedom” actress Naomie Harris, Elba met Bond producer Barbara Broccoli to
discuss the possibility of playing the famous spy. For now, Craig still has the
gig and will anchor the next Bond flick, “Spectre,” this fall. That leaves time
for West, Pascal and others to grow their Elba for Bond campaign………
- I have a fever…and the only prescription is more foghorn. The
loud, droning tones of one of the most blaring horns may not seem reassuring or
comforting to a person who lives close enough to hear them on a regular basis,
but residents of Portsmouth, N.H. feel differently. Many of them are concerned
about a plan
in the works to change how the foghorns on the coast are activated. As usual
when a decision is being made that pisses off a large group of people, the
government is involved. In this case, it’s the United States Coast Guard, which
is upgrading its system to a newer technology. According to the Coast Guard,
the old system is outdated and therefore dangerous to both sailors and anyone
in the immediate vicinity of said foghorns. With the new system, mariners will
be able to activate the horns manually and for that reason, area residents are
worried that they won't hear their beloved HHOOOONNNNNKKKKKKK nearly as often. Coast
Guard Lt. Scott McCann works in Portland, Maine and tried to provide words of
reassurance by explaining that the new system is very similar to the old one,
except for a slight and important change of when and how it is activated.
"That way, if the mariners want the sound signal activated because they
need it to warn them of an obstruction, then they have access to activate that
sound signal. And it's also a more reliable system," McCann said. Those
worried about the change should know that seven of 18 foghorns on the New
Hampshire and Maine seacoast have already been converted, so they have already
seen how the new arrangement will work and it hasn’t been that terrible. The
Coast Guard plans to complete the system overhaul this year……….
- The final NFL wild card game of the weekend just got a lot
more interesting. No, that’s not a reference to the fact that star Detroit
Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh won his appeal of a one-game suspension
for stepping on an opposing player in his team’s regular-season finale,
receiving a $70,000 fine instead. Suh’s presence will add buzz to the game, but
it’s Dallas Cowboys safety Barry
Church who bolstered the atmosphere around the game between the two teams by
promising to get some legal retribution against Lions receiver Golden Tate, who
played for the Seattle Seahawks in September 2012 and crushed Dallas linebacker
Sean Lee on an illegal blindside block. "That was the dirtiest shot I've
ever seen," Church said of the hit. “"We were talking about it on the
way back from Washington, me and Sean. He was just like, 'Man, I wish I could
play so bad in this game just to give a little payback for what he did in
Seattle.'” Lee is out for the year with a knee injury suffered on the first day
of organized team activities in May, but his buddy Church is more than willing
to get some payback for his injured teammates. “We're looking forward to seeing him. We'll definitely get him back
after that, but it will be within the rules, within the rules," Church
added. On the play in question, Tate doubled back during a Russell Wilson
scramble and launched himself into Lee, striking the linebacker in the chest
and chin with the crown of his helmet. Lee landed with a thud and remained down
for a moment, during which time Tate showboated by flexing his biceps and
strutting in celebration of the hit. As if there wasn’t already enough on the
line with one team’s season ending when they lose, this mini-drama makes the
contest that much more contentious………
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