- The
good news for Joel Embiid is that the results on the court haven't been of the
disappointing variety that leads to a top draft pick being labeled a bust. Unfortunately,
the 7-foot-1 center doesn’t have any positive accomplishments on his NBA ledger
either and that won't be changing any time soon. Embiid, who was chosen by
Philadelphia with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft as part of the
Sixers’ strategy of tanking every season until 2020, missed all of his rookie
campaign following surgery on his right foot. As the season wore on, he shot
3-pointers and even dunked before games in the final month of last season and
the hope was that he could ease back onto the court this coming season. So
about that idea….yeah, it’s not happening. Embiid will have to wait at least
one more season to start his NBA career because the injury-riddled center is expected to miss the
season following a second surgery on his right foot. Ironically, the projected
recovery time is five to eight months, the same timeframe he was given
following the first surgery last year. Apparently the cautious approach the
Sixers took with Embiid last year didn’t do much good, but Chief Tanking
Officer/team president Sam Hinkie said the organization would follow a similar
path again following Embiid’s bone graft in which two existing screws were
replaced and bone from his hip was used for the grafting process. Hinkie was
adamant that the foot did not break again, saying there was simply less healing
than expected. "If we all do our part," Hinkie said, "this will
end in a way in which Joel can achieve all his dreams for having a really long,
really fantastic NBA career. Nobody has talked me off of that just yet. Do we
have reason to be concerned? Of course. But no one has told me that's still not
in the cards." All aboard for a possible third foot surgery next summer to
keep this disappointing cycle going………..
- How
did Slovakia fly under the radar when it came to world leaders in religious
intolerance? North Korea, sure. Kim Jong-Un and his gout-infected, rotund body
radiate hate for Christians. Same goes for any place in the Middle East where
Islam reigns and ISIS terrorizes the populace. But Slovakia, the country in
eastern Europe that people continually confuse with Slovenia and Serbia as a
place where religious bigotry is running at an all-time high? That what it
looks like as the world lobs scornful states at the Slovaks for their country’s
preference to grant asylum to migrants who are
Christians. Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland is leading
the charge against this policy, claiming that Slovakia is being openly unfair
to non-Christians when it shows favoritism to one particular religious group. "Refusing
refugees on the grounds of their religion is blatant discrimination," Jagland
said. "Slovakia should reverse its
position." Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland team up
earlier this summer to c*ck-block a European Union plan for member countries to
take set numbers of refugees arriving in Italy and Greece, saying they were
prepared to offer assistance, but only on a voluntary basis. Slovakia then
ponied up that help weeks later when it announced it was ready to accept a
hundred Christians from Syria and temporarily provide shelter for 500 migrants,
also non-Christians, who have applied for asylum in Austria. Immigration officials
did not say whether the 500 could include non-Christians, leading Jagland and
his crew to launch their attack and claim that discrimination was taking place.
As always, it’s good that the focus is being kept on those who need help and
not on petty bureaucratic squabbles………..
- N.W.A.
died a little bit this week. Sure, “Straight Outta Compton” topped the box
office and ignorant, out-of-touch cable news ass hats marveled at the fact that
the movie not only made $60 million but did so without sparking the violence
they believe to be inextricably intertwined with that damn rap music, but any
boost the iconic rap outfit received from that good news was canceled when a
new music video of The Muppets covering NWA's “Express
Yourself” appeared online. Sure, the video was created by a YouTube used who
matched video footage from 1979's “The
Muppet Movie” to audio from N.W.A.’s 1988 rap classic to make it appear
that Fozzie, Kermit and crew were channeling their inner Dre and Easy E, but
the mere sight of a bunch of puppets from a bygone era trying to hold down the
sick rhymes and lyrical fire that made N.W.A. such a force is just soul killing
on some level. Fozzie Bear takes the lead on the track, duplicating Dr. Dre’s
rhymes while Kermit the Frog strums along on banjo and delivers the track's
vocal hook. The timing of the video is obviously designed to cash in on the “Straight
Outta Compton” buzz and in that sense - and only that sense - it’s
well-executed. The Muppets can definitely use the promotional bump, as these
relics of a bygone entertainment era are ready for their TV comeback in a
self-titled series that ABC will launch this fall. The network is trying to
style the series as a "contemporary, documentary-style show" that
will apparently "lift the lid" on the Muppets' personal lives and
romantic relationships for the first time, so maybe it can answer the lingering
questions everyone/no one is asking about the recent breakup of longtime couple
Kermit and Miss Piggy…….
- Ah,
the scent of good, old-fashioned American bribery. There are still some areas
where the United States can hold its own with anyone in the world and people
plying dishonest government officials with gifts of cash and luxury items is
clearly one of them. Enter Karen Finley, the former
CEO of an Arizona-based red-light camera firm who as pleaded guilty to using
bribery to help her company land lucrative contracts with the city of Chicago. The
whole business of making, selling and installing red light camera systems is
inherently shady for many reasons, so it’s fitting that this newly minted
criminal stood before a federal judge in Chicago to enter the guilty plea under
an agreement with prosecutors. The Cave Creek, Arizona, resident pleaded guilty
to one count of bribery conspiracy and she’ll get what she has coming to her…next
February, when she’s sentenced. Nothing quite like admitting you’re guilty of a
felony charge and having an entire NFL season - two-week break before the Super
Bowl AND the Pro Bowl included - come and go before you’re actually informed
how much jail time you’ll receive. Finley faces a maximum five years in prison
when she is sentenced next year. Prosecutors claimed the former executive at
Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to a
retired Chicago official to secure $124 million in city contracts and with that
rate of return on investment, it’s easy to see why she was willing to take the
chance of doling out those bribes……….
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