Friday, August 07, 2015

NBA billionaires get over, hash is still a thing and "Prison Break" officially revived


- Billionaires who splurge on professional sports franchises win and taxpayers with no interest in footing the bill for shiny new sports palaces to help said billionaires rake in even more money lose again. With the Milwaukee Bucks holding a gun to their city and state’s respective heads and demanding a new arena or else the NBA may relocate them to Seattle, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took a moment out from being one of 714 Republican presidential clone candidates to announce that he plans to sign a bill providing $250 million in taxpayer money to pay for said new Milwaukee Bucks stadium. Walker's office sent an invitation to lawmakers and others saying he plans to sign the bill Aug. 12 at an Free Handout Event at State Fair Park outside Milwaukee. Walker’s revelation came after the state legislature passed the arena bill on bipartisan votes in both the Senate and Assembly. In so doing, all involved are caving to threats by team officials to leave Wisconsin if the deal did not get done. Those who have seen this bullsh*t play out in other places and didn’t want to be held hostage and extorted argued that no taxpayer money should go toward an arena for a privately owned team. Yes, current and former owners are putting $250 million toward the arena, but taxpayers will have to pay nearly two-thirds of the cost of the arena. Walker’s support of the plan is not new, as he had been pushing for an arena deal for months. He clearly hopes to be residing in the nation’s capital by the time this raw deal for residents of his state plays out, but regardless of where he lives, this merely reinforces the fact that the 1 percent always wins………..


- Hash…it’s still a thing. If it weren't, customs agents on the French territory of Martinique would not have just made a record seizure of hash at the island's Caribbean port. Officials confirmed that a tip came in that allowed customs officers to find bricks of hashish packed neatly in 13 boxes in the back of a van that arrived in Martinique with more than 600 other vehicles. Prosecutor Eric Corbaux put the value of the 891 pounds of hash at about $2.6 million and to understand what that means, just know that this hash grab is bigger  than all hash seizures combined from 2012 to 2014 in Martinique and two other French overseas territories, the majority involving small amounts found on couriers at airports. What’s great about this major takedown is that so far, no one has actually been taken down. Corbaux said no arrests had been made but the investigation continued and right now, the working theory is that the hash was produced in Morocco. The bust came just weeks after authorities in the French Caribbean seized nearly $875,000 in cash from suspected drug traffickers arriving from Paris, so France and its territories seem to be a real hash magnet right now. This incident occurred on the nearby island of Guadeloupe, where traffickers seem to have taken inspiration from “The Shawshank Redemption” and hidden their stash of drugs and cash inside a hollowed-out dictionary. "These recent seizures reveal we are dealing with local, structured networks that are diversifying their activities," Corbaux said. Sadly, this mess is now all hashed out……..


- Somehow, Michael Scofield is coming back to life. After being killed off in the series finale of Fox’s successful prison drama “Prison Break” back in 2009, Wentworth Miller’s über-smart engineer-turned-felon character will be revived next year when Fox brings the show back for a limited run in the vein of “24.” Jack Bauer returned to the small screen for a 12-episode run and now, Fox wants to do the same for “Break” with a 10-episode run featuring Miller and Dominic Purcell. The show will be helmed by the show's creator, Paul Scheuring. Rumors of the return have swirled for months and now, the network has made it official. "I would describe it as a bit of a sequel. It picks up the characters several years after we left them in the last season of the show. The brothers will be back. Some of the iconic characters from that show will be back,” Fox co-chairman Dana Walden said. "I don't think Paul knows exactly where he's going over the 10-episode arc, but it definitely will address some questions that were set up at the end of the series for a new audience.” Bringing the show back means explaining how Scofield, who had a fatal brain condition that led to his death at the end of the show’s four-season run, is alive again. "What [Paul] pitched to us was a very logical and believable - in the world of Prison Break - explanation for why our characters are alive and still moving around the world,” Walden said. The show originally aired from 2005 to 2009 and despite its name, only two of the four seasons took place inside actual prisons. It began with Purcell’s Lincoln Burroughs character wrongfully sentenced to death for killing the vice president’s brother as part of a vast conspiracy for world domination. Miller played his brother, who helped him escape from behind bars……..


- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Idaho is not normally a place known for its citizen-led uprisings, but there can always be aberrations and so it was that an angry mob of spud-loving locals in northern Idaho lined up outside a U.S. Navy veteran's house on Thursday to protest claims that federal officials are planning on confiscating the man's weapons. According to Republican state Rep. Heather Scott of Blanchard, the Veteran Affairs office has sent a letter to John Arnold of Priest River warning him that he cannot possess or purchase firearms. Scott is leading the uprising and spearheaded a protest that attracted roughly 100 people, including Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, who promised to stand guard against any federal attempts to remove Arnold's guns. Republican Washington state Rep. Matthew Shea of Spokane Valley also took the chance to grandstand and describe he event as a "defiance against tyranny." "I took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and uphold the laws of Idaho," Wheeler said. "This seemed appropriate to show my support. I was going to make sure Mr. Arnold's rights weren't going to be breached." It was a thoroughly bizarre gathering that includes the protestors breaking out in song to sing "God Bless America" and praying while waving both the American flag and the "Don't tread on me" flag. Yes, #TeaPartyfun. Priest River is the sort of isolated, rural hell hole of boredom that makes sane people think about blowing their brains out if they were forced to live there and the town - near the tip of northern Idaho is known for its strong tea party roots and gun-rights activism. With a population of just 1,700, it’s a place where Veteran Affairs spokesman Bret Bowers confirmed a letter had been sent to Arnold from the VA's benefits office in Salt Lake City, but refused to comment beyond saying the agency doesn’t “send officers to confiscate weapons.” Given how poorly the VA does with its mission to effectively and efficiently provide health care to veterans in need, it’s probably a good thing that it isn't trying to take guns away from possibly unstable people……….

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