- Whole
Foods…and wholly scumbags. According to New York
City's consumer chief, Whole Foods supermarkets have been routinely overcharging
customers by overstating the weight of prepackaged meat, dairy and baked goods
and the mark-up was substantial and clearly intentional. For example, the price
on a package of coconut shrimp at the upscale market was too high by $14.84,
Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin said. Yes, the snobby
types who shop at Whole Foods might not be the most sympathetic figures, but
when a package of chicken tenders was overpriced by $4.85 and a vegetable
platter by $6.15, someone is clearly up
to something shady. "These overcharges are incredibly troubling,"
Menin said, alleging that they continued even after Whole Foods was informed of
the city investigation, which began in the fall. That’s just outright stupid or stupidly
defiant, because dialing the scamming back a notch once it was clear the fuzz
was closing in on you would be at least mildly intelligent. The investigation
checked the eight Whole Foods markets then open in the city and interestingly,
a ninth has since opened. The Texas-based
chain has a total of 422 stores in the United States, Canada and the United
Kingdom and Menin sounds ready to drop the hammer as heavily as possible on the
ones her department investigated. “We have been meeting with Whole Foods for
months," she said, "but we repeatedly found problems that were
incredibly pervasive." The best Whole Foods has done is a lame-ass
statement saying it “disagrees with the DCA's overreaching allegations." No
penalties have been assessed, but the fines for falsely labeling a package can
be as much as $950 for the first violation and up to $1,700 for subsequent
violations. Whole Foods is accused of thousands of potential violations and just
last year, it agreed to pay $800,000 in
penalties — and improve pricing accuracy — after an investigation into alleged
pricing irregularities in California. Shady operations seem to be a way of
business for these d-bags………
- Just
stop, any studio considering spinning a Spider-Man movie of its own. Spidey has
been recreated and reimagined so many times that there simply aren't enough
legit stories left to tell, never mind the fact that there have been five
movies with his name on them in the past decade-plus. It’s almost as if
Spider-Man is cinematic crack and studio executives can’t put down the credit
card and handheld mirror and sober up. They keep making Spider-Man movies and
now, British actor Tom Holland has been cast in the role, replacing Andrew
Garfield, who replaced Tobey Maguire. Holland began his career appearing in “Billy Elliot The Musical” in London's
West End from 2008 to 2010 and has since appeared in movies such as “The
Impossible” and “In The Heart of the Sea.” He has also appeared on BBC shows
and now, he’s signed on with Marvel and Sony, which are working jointly on the
next Spider-Man film. The
studios also announced that Jon Watts, director of forthcoming thriller Cop Car starring Kevin Bacon, has
been hired to direct the project as they
try to reboot the franchise - again. "As with James Gunn, Joss Whedon, and
the Russo brothers, we love finding new and exciting voices to bring these
characters to life. We spent a lot of time with Jon and find his take and work
inspiring,” Marvel executive Kevin Feige said in a press statement. Sony chimed
in as well, calling Holland “a vibrant, talented young actor capable of
embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world.” Hey ass
hats….this isn't about who you can find to play the role. It’s about the fact
that you cannot keep “reviving” the same damn movie over and over and over
again and dropping new actors in, all the while knowing fan boy suckers will
keep paying to see it. Yes, Sony Pictures and Marvel struck a landmark deal in
February, allowing the new Spider-Man to make his screen debut in May 2016's “Captain America: Civil War,” but that
doesn’t mean we need more solo Spider-Man movies. Time for a trip to web
slinger rehab, you gravy-training tools……….
- What
to do with the sea gypsies, that is the question. Yes, sea gypsies do exist and
while they might seem less of a nuisance than land-based gypsies because they
can't be as much in your face begging for money because they decided ti
immigrate to a country where they don’t speak the language or add anything of
worth to society on account of being adrift at sea, they are still a problem
for nations like Thailand and Myanmar. The problem
becomes more complicated when you have an international organization like Human
Rights Watch insisting that the governments of Thailand and Myanmar must end
discrimination and other abuses against a nomadic seafaring tribe whose
livelihood in their waters has been upended by development. Those people are the
Moken, often dubbed "sea gypsies," who the HRW claims face extortion and other abuses by
authorities, while also under restrictions due to new conservation and
immigration laws. The organization contends in its shiny new report that the
Moken are particularly vulnerable because most are stateless as a result of
their nomadic lifestyle. The world got to know the Moken when they were able to
save themselves from the ravages of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami by knowing
the seas so well that they could recognize warning signs of the disaster and
flee to high ground. Howevr, the storm pillaged the sea of many of the natural
resources from which the Moken extracted a subsistence living, and commercial
fishing further depleted the waters. "Far from the idyllic image that
tourism promotes of the Moken people, these sea nomads face increasing
restrictions and attacks at sea, and systematic discrimination on land,"
said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. His group believes that 3,000
Moken live mostly on small boats on islands along Myanmar's southern coast, with
800 more marooned in Thailand. There, they are allegedly targets for start
authorities who view them as leeches and drains on society……….
- Joe
Maddon remains the most entertaining manager in Major League Baseball and it’s
not close. Maddon, now the skipper for the Chicago Cubs, has taken the
previously lackluster and supposed “loveable losers” and turned them into a
playoff contender using their plethora of young talent combined with his
quirky, offbeat coaching methods. His penchant for speaking his mind no matter
the circumstances is another part of his managerial charm and he flashed it
following the final play of his team's 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in
the finale of a three-game series. Maddon, angry with the call that ended the
game, , lashed out at the replay system, calling for an overhaul complete with
“nerds” who could provide instant, independent analysis of replays. "I
think it screams for an independent group back there to research the
video," Maddon said after the game. "That's what I think it screams
for as opposed to working umpires that are actually on the field. I think you
should get a bunch of nerds back there that know how to look at a videotape and
then come to a conclusion. I think it would be much more interesting that
way." Maddon appears unsatisfied with the MLB-employed nerds who currently
administer reviews at MLB headquarters in New York, nerds who are actually
umpires that rotate from field duty to replay duty throughout the season. The
offending play in this case occurred with two outs and the Cubs trailing by
three in the bottom of the ninth. Batter Chris Denorfia lined a ball off the
left-field wall that bounced right to left fielder Scott Van Slyke, who threw a
strike to second base as Denorfia slid in. Umpires called Denorfia out, but replays
showed he might have gotten his left arm on the bag as he was being tagged on
the front of his jersey. The call stood but wasn't confirmed by replay, meaning
there was nothing definitive. Maddon disagreed and for the first time in sports
history, actually advocated for nerds to play bigger role in games………
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