Tuesday, January 05, 2016

French soccer blsckmail, Universal Studios beheading attempts and Kyrgyzstan social media smack talk


- If you’re Kyrgyzstan, shouldn’t you simply be grateful that anyone comes to visit you and not be so sensitive about snotty remarks such visitors might make about your nation located in….umm…..Asia-ish? Fact is, a lot of people probably can't spell Kyrgyzstan and that makes it tough to Travelocity your way there, so maybe just maybe Kyrgyzstan's Interior Ministry should develop thicker skin and not get all pissy and deport a British citizen who made rude remarks about the country on social media. According to a statement on the ministry's website, Michael McFeat said something offensive and multiple reports have suggested that his offending post likened a Kyrgyz sausage called chukchuk to the genitals of a horse. He wouldn’t be the first to chow down a local delicacy while traveling, not like what he ingested and lash out on a social media site, but the interior ministry is trying to claim that this remark caused a lot of drama. The ministry alleged that McFeat's comment sparked labor unrest at the Kumitor gold mine, where he is an employee, and when he tried to leave the country as the furor over his words boiled over, he was detained at the capital's international airport. From there, he was hauled off to court, charged with insulting the national dignity and then found to be lacking necessary papers for legal residence in Kyrgyzstan, the ministry said. Next time, bro, just find the most Americanized eatery in your area, order a pizza or hamburger and leave the culinary drama to someone else……….


- The end is here for “Avengers” director Joss Whedon, who has confirmed that he won't be making any films as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future. Whedon directed both “The Avengers” and “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” for the studio and also helmed associated projects such as “Thor” and “Captain America,” but during an appearance at England’s Oxford University, he admitted that his time getting massive paychecks to direct films with even more massive budgets is over. "I sort of had my finger in all of the films in the second phase, but then I just had to concentrate only on Ultron and sort of know when it was done I was just going to stop," he said. "So I made a completely clean break - not because we had a falling out - just because I was like, 'I can't...' If I was still there going, 'Well, here are my thoughts on this film', I'd be there every day.” According to Whedon, there are just so many films in the Marvel realm and although the huge budgets, prominent position on the big screen and major ego boost from being able to oversee a project that will make more money than many Third World countries over the course of a year, he didn’t want to get wholly sucked into that world and not be able to get out or do anything else. “I wouldn't do anything else because there are a lot of films, and it is a lot of fun,” Whedon said. “It's very seductive. When you can put your little fairy dust on things and just improve them slightly, and they actually listen to you... I was a script doctor for a long time, and the part where they listen to you was very rare.” Whatever makes you happy, J……….

- Disney World is supposed to be the happiest place on Earth. It’s Orlando neighbors at Universal Studios and Universal Orlando Resort have never made such claims and maybe there’s a good reason why. It’s probably because you can't really promote your establishment as a jovial place when you have embittered, recently terminated employees looking to decapitate their bosses inside the park on a national holiday. Step right up and meet Frederick Torres, who has been charged with attempted first-degree murder for trying to kill his manager by stabbing him in the neck with scissors on New Year's Day. Torres is a recently fired caricature artist who seems to be bad at both his job and murder, at least based on his attack on Glenn Ferguson at the Islands of Adventure park. Both men draw caricatures at Universal's parks but work for an outside firm, Orlando-based caricature firm, Fasen Artists, Inc., and general manager Anthony Fasen said he fired Torres the day before the attack. The next day, Torres spoke to Fasen on the phone and said he was going to kill Ferguson, according to the police report. "Fasen advised specifically that Torres had said, `I'm going to slit Glenn's throat' and `I'm going to kill your number one artist,"' the police report said. To Torres’ credit, he at least has some follow-through on his death threats and used his scissors to cut an artery in Ferguson's neck, which caused brain leakage. Witnesses spotted Torres chasing Ferguson through Islands of Adventure before the attack and Torres fought his way through two separate security guards to wound his target. All in all, a memorable day for those who spent their holiday as a family at Universal……..


- French soccer just got more interesting. Not that rich European men kicking around a black-and-white ball for 90 minutes without ever kicking it into its intended target isn't already riveting, but it’s a hell of a lot more fun when one player is trying to force a court battle with a fellow national team member over an alleged blackmail case in which that first player has been charged. The charging Frenchman is Karim Benzema, whose request for a showdown with fellow France international Mathieu Valbuena Benzema has been rejected, according to judicial sources. "The request for a confrontation was turned down on December 22," the prosecutor's office in Versailles said of the case in which Real Madrid striker Benzema was charged with complicity to blackmail and conspiring to commit a criminal act involving a sex tape featuring Valbuena. Valbuena isn't denying that he’s on film getting busy, but claims the sex images were on a mobile telephone that was stolen. Benzema has denied any wrongdoing but could face a five-year jail term if found guilty and he has also banned from meeting Valbuena, a midfielder for French club Lyon where Benzema began his career. Any such meeting could have acted as "one of the levers to lift the judicial review" and advance the case, Benzema's lawyer Alain Jakubowicz said. The case is serious enough that Benzema was suspended indefinitely last month from the French national team and in a previous encounter at a national training camp in October, he reportedly approached Valbuena to encourage him to speak to the blackmailers, one of whom was a close childhood friend. Valbuena claims Benzema "indirectly" urged him to pay and unless the case is settled before June 10, Benzema won't be suiting up for the 2016 European Championship……..

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