- It’s good to
know that alleged race-based discrimination by police isn't just a New York
City thing. If you believe 13 men of black or of North African origin,
French police are well-versed in the practice. That baker’s dozen of alleged
harassment victims claim they've been targets of numerous, unjustified police
identity checks because of their ethnicity and their racial profiling case has
wound its way to a Paris appeals court after a lower court rejected their
claims in 2013, ruling that police officers didn't overstep legal boundaries.
In spite of the ruling by the lower court, this case has been characterized as the
first such effort in France to tackle racial profiling by police, which means
that France moves just as slowly as the United States when it comes to
confronting and handling important issues of societal importance, despite
Europe’s sustained belief that it is much more progressive and forward-thinking
than its American friends. This issue has lingered in France since violent 2005
riots in housing projects where police have a notoriously bad relationship with
youths, often of immigrant origin. French law allows for widespread police
checks on people deemed suspicious, but such a broad law is bound to create
problems and critics have long claimed that police simply have too much
discretion when it comes to who they detain, question and arrest. Given the
recent terrorism attack in Paris, dealing fairly with people of all races and
beliefs might be a good one to tackle………
- Former NBA
player Daniel Orton was caught in a difficult place. On the one hand, he’s a
lower-tier, 6-foot-10 center who played for the NBA's Orlando Magic, Oklahoma
City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers from 2011 to 2014 and was most recently
seen balling from the iconic Purefoods Star Hotshots of the Philippine
Basketball Association. On the other hand, he’s a professional athlete who
doesn’t like the idea of someone making a mockery of the sport he loves just
because that person is a world-famous professional boxer who just inked a deal
for the most lucrative bout of all-time. Orton took issue with Manny Pacquiao
serving as a player-coach for the Kia Carnival this season, a role in which the
congressman-world champion-wannabe hoops star has been a non-factor when it
comes to putting points on the scoreboard. Pacquiao scored one point in a
recent victory against the Hotshots, setting a new career high in the process
(probably) but failing to win ovr the Hotshots’ one allotted American player on
their roster. “[Pacquiao playing] is a joke," Orton said. “Professional
boxer? Yeah. Congressman? All right. But professional basketball player?
Seriously? It's a joke." It may be a joke, but Orton is the only one
laughing. His team clearly wasn’t because it fined and released him for daring
to criticize Pacquiao’s lack of basketball ability. Orton was dinged $5,650 for his comments and sent packing
after three games. "Everyone is angry at him," Hotshots top
administrator Rene Pardo said. "It is like he went to the United States
and insulted the name of Martin Luther King." Probably not, Rene, but nice
try. PBA commissioner Chito Salud also issued a scathing statement about the “cavalier
manner in which Mr. Orton issued his comments and the unwarranted antics and
liberties he has taken with the league.” In other words, Manny Pacquiao is the
only reason people know we exist, so stop pot-shotting our meal ticket………
- Everyone should learn and live out valuable life lessons
from James Dalton. Who is Dalton, you ask? That’s a problem right there, not
knowing who one of the all-time cinematic badasses/bar stool philosophizers
ever to appear on the silver screen is. He is, of course, the star of the cult
favorite 1989 film “Road House,” a college-educated bouncer who comes to a
small town and brings order to the local bar while fighting crime and
corruption and romancing the town’s resident über-hot, yet curiously single
bachelorette. He is also the inspiration for the New York Police Department’s
latest effort to educate its officers on how to properly interact with the
public. Yes, the NYPD has turned to a scene from "Road
House" as part of the mandatory, three-day retraining course for 22,000
cops. Instructors told their charges that they needed to have thick skin when
dealing with people and hit the officers with a two-minute clip in which Dalton teaches the bar’s security guards how to deal with unruly
patrons at the Double Deuce. In the clip, Dalton lays out three
simple rules and the final one is the rule the NYPD wanted to hammer home most:
"Be nice." "If somebody gets in your face and calls you a
[expletive deleted], I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he
won't walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can't walk him, one of the others
will help you, and you'll both be nice," Dalton said in the clip. "I want you to remember that it's a job.
It's nothing personal." He wraps on his speech by insisting that the
bouncer “be nice until it’s time to not be nice.” So the next time an NYPD
officer is dealing with a belligerent drunk or a shoplifter who tries to outrun
them down a back alley, look for some friendly banter and polite request to
comply first and a body slam on the hood of the cruiser second……….
- What the hell else is Arnold Schwarzenegger supposed to do? He’s
a former governor who did a mildly terrible job in office, a known adulterer
who got with his maid instead of his hot celebrity wife, former world champion
bodybuilder and a terrible actor who is best known for his pronounced accent
and inability to break beyond the one very specific character mold in which he’s
existed his entire career. That means in the latter years or his career, he’s
not going to be branching out and treading new cinematic ground. It’s why he
has confirmed he will return for “Terminator
6” following this year's fifth installment of the franchise, “Terminator Genisys.” The fifth
chapter in the series is set for release July 1 and it will see Schwarzenegger
return to the iconic title role for the first time since 2003. Bringing back an
aged-out action star with a limited skill set is desperate, but it’s also a
better idea than the 2009 tire fire of a fourth installment that was “Terminator
Salvation,” starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. For the fifth film,
Schwarzenegger will be joined by “Game
Of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke, who takes on the role of Sarah Connor
made famous by Linda Hamilton, as well as by Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke and
former “Doctor Who” star Matt
Smith. Paramount is reportedly planning not only a sixth Terminator movie, but
a seventh one as well. The Gover-nator was asked if he will appear in the sixth
movie and he replied, "Yes, of course, next year.” Sounds good, Ah-nold,
but know that at this point people aren't watching those movies because they
think you and they are awesome; they’ll be gawking because you’re a train wreck
waiting to happen……….
No comments:
Post a Comment