- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! The border ‘twxt Hong Kong and
China is generally a tense place on account of Hong Kong wanted to be a free,
democratic society and China wanting to control it and squeeze the life and
free will out of it, but the angst was at its apex this weekend when Hong
Kong police arrested nearly three dozen people following scuffles at a protest
in a border town in the latest instance of drama over the growing influx of
mainland Chinese shoppers in the city. There was anger aplenty as police officers
wielded batons and used pepper spray on the crowds after what was supposed to
be a peaceful demonstration came off the rails. Demonstrators clashed with
crowds of village residents opposed to the event after a few of the residents
started talking junk to them along the route. Police confirmed 33 arrests in
the melee, including a future dissident hero who muscled up and fought back to
earn his arrest despite being just 13 years old. Hundreds of dissidents turned
out for the latest protest to target the mainland shoppers, whom they blame for
tacky buying habits that distort the local economy. This time around, protesters
marched in the suburban district of Yuen Long, near the border with mainland
China, for the obvious reason that it contains dozens of pharmacies selling
baby formula to cater to mainland shoppers. See, like so many other products it
makes, China’s food raises major safety concerns and that has made baby formula
a magnet for mainland visitors to Hong Kong, which has a reputation for authentic
and high-quality goods. Rather than embrace additional business, the protestors
lament that the mainlanders' shopping sprees drive up retail rents and force
out ordinary shopkeepers. Stopping the 47.3 million people from mainland China who visit Hong Kong
each year won't be easy, but the occupants of the specially administered
Chinese region that's home to 7.3 million people are trying to find a way……….
- It must be time for spring training in Major League
Baseball. If world-class athletes are injuring themselves doing mundane sh*t
that the rest of the population can do every day without blinking, then the
calendar must have flipped to the time of year when meaningless exhibition
baseball is being played in warmer climates and dudes are getting snipered by
everyday life. First up, Tampa Bay Rays reliever Ronald Belisario, who will miss the
start of the season with a fractured left shoulder which he suffered getting
out of a swimming pool. The Rays' president of baseball operations, Matt
Silverman, confirmed that Belisario would not be able to throw "for
several weeks" because of the injury to his non-pitching shoulder. Even
though the injury came in Venezuela and not once Belisario arrived in camp, the
team doesn’t expect him to be ready for
the beginning of the season. Not
the best start for a player who signed a minor-league contract with the Rays
this winter, with an invitation to spring training. But he has company in the
form of Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale, who suffered a foot injury in
an accident at his home and will miss at least three weeks of preparation time
for the regular season. In a surefire indication that the injury occurred in an
either ridiculous or shady manner, Sale refused to disclose how the avulsion
fracture to the lateral side of his right foot occurred. White Sox general
manager Rick Hahn said Sale landed "awkwardly when he got off the back of
his truck," while unloading his belongings, putting the left-hander's
status for Opening Day in danger. Even if he’s back in three weeks, he might
not be ready to start the season opener at Kansas City. "We'll have to
assess how much arm strength he can build up prior to the opener," Hahn
said. At least Sale was able to crack a joke that he fought off an intruder in
grand superhero fashion, which still wouldn’t be the most bizarre spring
training injury of all-time……….
- What do rich people do when their normal methods of
problem solving are off the table? In other words, when you can't merely buy
your way out of the trouble or put a thick stack of cash in someone’s hand to
make them go away, how do you cope? In this case, it’s because the offending
parties don’t have hands or opposable thumbs and that’s making life very
miserable for the upscale hamlet of Chappaqua north of New York City. This tiny town is
locked in an ugly debate over some intruders who have found their way inside
its gated walls, finding a home in the midst of some seriously pricey homes and
high-end boutiques. Those intruders are coyotes and the prying eyes of the town
and the surrounding town of New Castle have recorded some 160 coyote 160
incursions into backyards and streets over the last two years and at least 10
recent attacks on pets. Clearly, people would want to rid their town of these
dangerous beasts and ensure the safety of their beloved pampered,
sweater-wearing, 400-thread-count-doggie-bed-using fur balls in rhinestone dog
collars, right? Not so fast. While many would love to hire some of those
lower-class, camouflage-wearing rednecks from down the road to come in with
their rifles and take these toothy troublemakers down, local and state animal
rights activists are fighting back on behalf of Wile E. Coyote’s next of kin. The
term “coyote jihad” has been thrown around on social media and members of a
local task force that advocates killing some animals announced they were
staying away from a recent public hearing for their own safety. Maybe it’s not
too late to put a few Benjamins in the paws of the coyotes and see how it works………
- It’s the best Will Smith movie in years, but that doesn’t mean
it’s a certified blockbuster. “Focus” will have to enjoy its one weekend at the
top of the earnings list because after a $19.1 million first-place debut, there’s
nowhere to go but down for the con man caper. It fended off two-time runner-up “Kingsman:
The Secret Service,” which held its spot in its third weekend of release thanks
to $11.8 million, good for a domestic total of $85.7 million. Third place went
to “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” which snagged $11.2 million to
round out its first month in theaters and has banked a solid $140.3 million domestically
so far. The free fall continued for “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which sunk three
spots to fourth place and saw its earnings plummet another 51 percent to $10.9
million, giving the wildly overrated piece of housewife porn $147.7 million in
three weeks of release. The second new film of the top 10 was “The Lazarus
Effect,” which more than tripled its modest $3.3 million budget with $10.6
million in debut earnings to rank as an absolute success for the frame. The
same can't be said for “McFarland, USA,” which dipped two spots to sixth and
racked up just $7.8 million in its second weekend for a two-week bankroll of
$22 million and counting. “American Sniper” slotted seventh with another $7.7
million and its 10-week run in the top 10 was now ranked in a whopping $331.1
million. “The DUFF” looks set for a much shorter top 10 run after falling to eighth
in its second weekend with $7.2 million. With $20 million through two weeks, it’s
tough to call it anything but a forgettable film destined for a quick turn to
Blu-Ray and DVD. Ninth place was the domain of “Still Alice,” which forged
ahead in limited release with another $2.7 million and has $12 million total in
seven weeks. “Hot Tub Time Machine” snagged the last top 10 spot with $2.1
million for a four-week total of $43.1 million. “Jupiter Ascending” (No.11), “The
Imitation Game” (No. 13) and “Paddington” (No. 14) each fell out from last
weekend’s top 10……….
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