- Canadians are not always a placid, serene people clad in
denim and chowing down on round bacon while rocking out to Bryan Adams and
Loverboy. Sometimes, Canadians get angry and you definitely would not like them
when they’re angry, at least not if you’re a fan of on-time trains and reliable
transportation. Such are the perils of the Great White North now that some 3,000 Teamsters members have gone on
strike at Canadian Pacific Railway after contract talks failed to reach an
agreement before a midnight deadline. The Teamsters Canada Rail conference
union represents 3,300 locomotive engineers and other train workers who walked
off the job this weekend, leaving the government’s flabber thoroughly gasted. "I
am incredibly disappointed," Labour and Status of Women Minister Kellie
Leitch, who was one of the negotiators on the other side of the table from the
union. Leitch offered up a thoroughly weak plea to the union to end the strike
immediately and return to the negotiating table, decrying what she deemed "reckless
disregard for Canadians and the Canadian economy." The government offered
no immediate indication on how rail service might be affected, but said it
would review all available options for resolving the dispute, including the
introduction of legislation in Parliament. In advance of the strike, a union
spokesman claimed that any disruption of service would have a widespread effect
on industries that rely on trains. Canadian Pacific said it would implement its
“extensive contingency plan” using “qualified management employees to maintain
a reduced freight service on its Canadian network." Back in 2012,
parliament passed legislation to force an end to a nine-day strike by some
4,800 members of the Teamsters union and CP Rail employees, but here’s hoping for
a more combative showdown this time………
- Behold the purchasing power of the sex-starved suburban
housewife. “Fifty
Shades of Grey” received far too much hype and despite being billed as much
more salacious than it truly was on screen, the movie adaptation of E.L. James
housewife porn novel generated $81.7 million in its debut weekend. That
drastically outpaced a strong performance from fellow newcomer “Kingsman: The
Secret Service,” which opened to $35.6 million. Both newbies bumped reigning
box office king “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” from the top of the
heap as the animated children’s movie slid to third place with $30.5 million,
upping its two-week domestic haul to $93.7 million. “American Sniper” also fell
two spots to fourth, but banked another $16.4 million and has amassed an
impressive $304.1 million in eight weeks of release. Fifth place went to “Jupiter
Ascending” with a $9.4 million effort and the outer space non-epic has managed
a mere $32.5 million in its first two weeks, leaving just about $143.5 million before
it earns back all of its bloated budget. The news isn't any better for “Seventh
Son,” which slotted sixth this time around with a scant $4.2 million and has
earned back just $13.4 of the $95 million Universal spent on what’s shaping up
to be one expensive train wreck. “Paddington” cuted its way to seventh place
with $4.1 million and while not overwhelming, it has earned $62.3 million and
counting in five weeks of release. Eighth place was the domain of “The
Imitation Game,” which has done well in three months of limited released and
made $3.5 million for this frame. With $79.6 million, the World War II-based
film is doing as well as expected. “The Wedding Ringer” finished ninth with
$3.4 million for a $59.7 million five-week total, while “Project Almanac”
locked down the tenth spot on the list with $2.7 million and has made $19.5
million through three weeks. “Black or White” (No. 11) and the über-awful “The
Boy Next Door” (No. 12) both lost their top 10 spots from a week ago………..
- Some people accomplish great feats of relevance in their
career, milestones that make the world a better place for all of us. Gemma
Kirby is not one of those people. That’s not to say she didn’t recently
accomplish something of note in her field, because she clearly did. For those
not plugged into the world of circus performers, Kirby is a daredevil who regularly
performs acts of extreme danger for various circuses and over the weekend, she
went human cannonball for some 5,000 spectators at a Circus XTREME show in
Philadelphia. This time was a bit different because it was the 500th time she’s
allowed herself to be turned into human ordinance and a circus spokesperson
confirmed that the tiny Minnesota native donned her sparkly outfit and was shot
out of the cannon at a speedy 66 mph, landing safely in an air bag about
104-feet away. Chelsey Scalese noted that Kirby’s act of controlled recklessness
took a mere three seconds. It was all part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey show and on most nights, a woman in a sequined outfit being shot
from a cannon would merely be one of many acts aimed at entertaining the masses
under the big top, alongside a BMX troupe and parkour performers on trampoline.
But for one night and one night only, Kirby stood apart by joining the elusive
500 kaboom club and here’s hoping that unlike record-setting Major League
Baseball sluggers like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Bar-roid Bonds and Alex
Fraud-riguez who reached the 500-home run milestone with the use of
performance-enhancing drugs, Kirby was able to reach her exalted circus status
naturally………
- Is the NFL actually learning or was this simply too
obvious of a call to blow? Let’s go with option B because even Roger Goodell
and his sycophants can't possibly whiff on every issue relating to violence
against women. Give the blundering suits of the shield enough tries and
eventually they’ll figure it out even if there isn't a hideous elevator assault
video to accompany the story. The one the league finally got right is the case
of former Tennessee linebacker
A.J. Johnson, who is a subject of a rape investigation and was slated to take
part in this week's NFL scouting combine. The combine starts Tuesday in
Indianapolis, but Johnson won't be there because Knoxville police named he and
suspended Tennessee defensive back Michael Williams as subjects of a rape
investigation in November. Being a suspect wasn’t enough to keep the NFL from
including Johnson on the list of invited players for the combine that was
released last week, but after Williams' lawyer, David Eldridge, confirmed on
Thursday that Williams had been indicted, league officials finally pulled the
rip cord. NFL spokesman Michael Signora confirmed that the league withdrew its
invitation to Johnson, who along with Williams was suspended from Tennessee's
team the day before they were identified as subjects of the investigation.
Johnson has since graduated and it had to be a true honor for all of his fellow
graduates to walk alongside a rape suspect who could be on the verge of
becoming a millionaire. Sadly, not every player commits his alleged violent
crime against women before entering the NFL, so cases like Johnson’s won't help
the league solve all of its problems in that area……….
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