- As
always, hope that was worth it. Any time you engage in an activity that leaves
at least one man dead and 380 others injured while causing a fire that gutted
1,000 shanties, there had best be a damn good reason. It’s doubtful that there
is one in the Philippines, where fireworks kooks wreaked havoc and ended a life
by setting off pyrotechnics to ring in the new year despite rain and a
government warning campaign. The fatality came when - what else - a drunken
dude lit a dynamite-like firecracker called "Goodbye Philippines" and
embraced it in Manila as it exploded, ripping his jaw and killing him. The
world is better off without this moron in the gene poon, but Health Secretary
Janet Garin probably would have preferred to not be announcing a wholly
unnecessary death to start a new year. Fire officials determined that a rocket
lit by revelers set an abandoned hut ablaze and that’s why about 1,000 shanties
in Manila's Tondo slum district are now nothing but piles of ash and rubble
with several thousand families now homeless. So if fireworks are incredibly
dangerous under the best of circumstances and the government went out of its
way to warn people of their dangers, then why weren’t people more careful?
Because many superstitious Filipinos usher in the new year with powerful firecrackers
because they believe LOUD NOISES (somewhere, Brick Tamland is smiling) drive
away bad luck and evil. What’s positive/still slightly disturbing is that Garin
noted that this year’s injury tally was less than half of last year's toll
because of rain late in the day and a government scare campaign starring
graphic photos of past victims with their fingers ripped off by firecracker
blasts. Thanks for proving that a new year doesn’t mean you’re any smarter than
you were in the last one, Philippines………
- UFC middleweight
contender Michael Bisping isn't waiting until next month to throw the first
punch in his fight with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Bisping
and confirmed performance-enhancing drug user Silva will square off at UFC
Fight Night 83 on Feb. 27 in London and as one of the more vocal fighters on
the topic of PED use in MMA, Bisping isn't a fan of Silva’s return after being
suspended for testing positive for banned substances prior to and after his UFC
183 bout against Nick Diaz last January. “I've lost a lot of respect for him for that,”
Bisping said of Silva testing positive for PED usage. “I have never taken a
performance-enhancing drug in my life, and anybody that does should be ashamed.
We're all chasing a dream. All fighters have the dream of being the champion,
and you've got to do it through hard work and determination. Anderson Silva
tested positive to not one, not two, but three banned substances in your body.”
The PED issue is obviously one near and dear to Bisping, who suffered a
knockout loss to Vitor Belfort in 2013 while Belfort was undergoing the now-banned
treatment of Testosterone Replace Therapy. In spite of his positive test, Silva
is still regarded by many as the greater mixed martial artist ever, but being a
confirmed steroid cheater will undoubtedly stick with him going forward and
Bisping is among those who won't let him forget it. “To call yourself a martial
artist and take performance-enhancing drugs, you're the biggest contradiction
you could ever make, and you should be ashamed of yourself,” Bisping said.
Ahead of their fight at the The O2 Arena in London in February, Bisping wants
Silva to be tested multiple times to ensure a clean fight and at this point,
it’s not easy to argue with him………
- Typically,
soldiers in the U.S. Army eat subpar food while in the field and do so while
being paid not nearly enough. Now, the Army is asking civilians to do the same,
albeit for a short period of time and without the hazards of enemy combatants
shooting at them or trying to blow them up. U.S. Army researchers have extended
an invitation for folks to help improve the Army’s infamous Meals, Ready-to-Eat
-- if those volunteers can eat nothing else for three straight weeks. The Army
will pay volunteers $200 each if they can eat and drink the provided rations for 21
days, then go back to a normal diet for 10 days The catch is that participants
must eat MREs and only MREs for three weeks and can’t eat anything else. Anyone
between the ages of 18 and 62 who "meets additional screening criteria”
can take part in this effort that is designed to do more than simply make the
food-like substances in MRE’s taste better. The researchers behind the study
are also hoping to add other nutrients to the food and to look at its impact on
bacteria inside the digestive system, potentially improving what they call
"gut health." It’s good to have other goals because many have tried
and failed to improve the MREs' notorious tastes and textures. Those in the
study will receive a cookbook full of cleverly titled dishes including "Bunker Hill
Burritos" and "Fort Bliss-ful Pudding Cake.” The U.S. military has
served up MREs since the 1970s and they often come in small individual packages
designed to last for months or years on the battlefield. Maybe would-be
volunteers for the study can cajole themselves into taking part by convincing
themselves that they’re doing it to serve the men and women who sacrifice so
much to serve their country……….
- Irony,
thy name is Quentin Tarantino. The
famed director, who notoriously threatened to scuttle his latest project, “The
Hateful Eight,” because details from the script were leaked during production,
has been sued by two scriptwriters who allege that his 2012 film “Django
Unchained” infringes the copyright of their screenplay. Oscar Colvin, Jr. and
his son Torrance J. Colvin have accused Tarantino of ripping off certain
elements of their script, titled “Freedom.” In their lawsuit, the two men claim
they submitted their screenplay to the William Morris Agency, which suggested
Tarantino as a possible collaborator, and while that collaboration never
happened their idea (allegedly) appeared on the silver screen without them
involved. The suit states that the Colvins “provided the heart, bones and
muscles to develop the unique idea that eventually would be transformed into
Django Unchained … Tarantino took the plotlines and main story of Freedom and
Tarantino-ised them.” Props for trying to create your own word because not
enough people do that when filing a long-shot lawsuit, but “Tarantino-izing” a
script might not hold up too well in court compared with, you know, actual
physical proof. “Before Django Freeman, there was an escaped slave named
Jackson Freeman who desired to purchase his family’s freedom from a malevolent
plantation owner,” part of the suit says. “Before Dr. Schultz, there was
Samson, another white man, who would assist Mr Freeman in his efforts to rescue
his loved one(s) from slavery.” Tarantino said previously that his movie pays
homage to Sergio Corbucci’s Django, but the plaintiffs argue that the project
bears “far more similarities” to “Freedom.” Not surprisingly, the two men want
hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation, although they did
magnanimously stop short of demanding possession of all awards “Django” won………
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