- Riot
Watch! Riot Watch! Ivory Coast has been a dangerous place of late and that
probably explains why its U.N. peacekeeping mission plans to double its
troop presence in part of the country's northeast region. Ivory Coast has seen
a rash of violence this month, highlighted by clashes between farmers and
herders that killed at least 20 people and sent more than 1,000 fleeing into
neighboring Burkina Faso. Seeing that unfold, mission spokeswoman Kadidia
Ledron said that 400 U.N. troops — up from 200 — will be stationed in the
Bounkani region along with reinforcements from Ivory Coast's army. Yes,
international peacekeepers and soldiers to stop angry farmers….makes sense. Army
chief of staff Gen. Soumaila Bakayoko confirmed that the number of Ivorian troops would climb from
500 to 700 in the region. That’s a significant uptick in an area some 370 miles
north of Abidjan, the country’s sweet, creamy commercial center, but you have
to send the trained men and women with guns to where the rage is and right now,
that’s this remote hellscape. According to Yaya Sanou, high commissioner of Burkina
Faso's Noumbiel province, local officials recorded 1,312 people fleeing the
clashes and given the area’s relatively modest population, that’s a concern.
The U.N. isn't known for flexing much muscle when it comes to forcefully
keeping the peace anywhere in the world, but it’s nice that the organization is
at least making an effort here. If it can't combat irate farmers with scythes,
pitchforks and indignation, though, it might be time for Ban-Ki Moon and his
crew to take a hard look in the mirror…….
- And
that’s why you’re doing to stay in the D-League for a nice, long while, Houston
Rockets rookie forward Montrezl Harrell. Harrell, who has played in 38 games
for the Rockets and averaged 9.8 minutes per game, has been assigned to the
D-League five times this season and it’s the fifth stint that finally sent his
season off the rails. He now has five games’ worth of free time to consider his
life’s direction thanks to an incident that took place late last week. At the
final buzzer, Harrell was shoved by Bakersfield's Derek Cooke Jr. and when referee
Jason Goldenberg got between the players, Harrell thanked him for his
cool-headedness by shoving Goldenberg to the ground. Players from both teams
and security got involved to make sure Harrell didn’t assault the official any
further, but it didn’t take long for the National Basketball Association
Referees Association to denounce Harrell’s actions in a statement. “Harrell
committed a deliberate assault and battery against Referee Goldenberg. Anything
less than a multiple game suspension would constitute a green light for
violence against officials,” the organization said in its statement. The NBA
agreed and hit Harrell, a second-round pick and therefore playing for a salary
that probably doesn’t need thinned out by a five-game ban, with said
suspension. Rio Grande has clinched a playoff spot and in his time with the
Vipers, Harrell averaged 24.3 points and 9.3 rebounds, so sadly the team could
probably use him if he’s allowed back on the court this season………
- You
can take 63 gallons of homemade maple syrup out of a Vermont family’s store,
but you can't take the decency out of these small-town folks’ souls. The Miller and Son Orchards farm store in Dummerston has
been open for decades as part of an eight-generation family farm and like many
small-town, rural businesses, it offers merchandise using the honor system.
That makes the door is left unlocked and patrons leave money for eggs, meat,
apples, and syrup. Sadly, not everyone understands the honor component of the
honor system and that’s why, some time between Sunday night and Monday morning,
an unknown scumbag stole more than 63 gallons of maple syrup from the farm
stand. That’s the second time such a crime has been perpetrated, but owner Read
Miller said the theft will not change the family farm's honor system tradition.
He took the same stance in 2005, when a Putney man was convicted stealing about
75 gallons, using his own labels and reselling it. A total of 138 gallons of
thieved syrupy goodness may not be enough to convince the family to put a lock
on its doors or keep someone around whenever the stand is open, but Miller said
he does plan to install some security cameras to prevent another theft from
occurring. Anyone who has ever dealt with tough, resilient and inherently
decent country folk isn't the least bit surprised by the Miller family’s
response to this mess and here’s hoping whoever stole the syrup winds up in an
even stickier mess when karma catches up to them……….
- Internet
trolls take aim at every public figure they can find the instant that public
figure a) gains weight, b) has plastic surgery, c) gets a bad haircut, d) gets
arrested or e) does anything else remotely embarrassing. Most of the time, the
celebrity’s response is either silence, a lawsuit or a strongly-worded
statement from their publicist. Almost never does a famous person fire back as
eloquently or poignantly as “Legends of Tomorrow” star and former “Prison
Break” leading man Wentworth Miller. Miller, whose “Prison Break” role included
plenty of screen time either shirtless or clad in a white wife beater to show
off full-body tattoos that were central to the series, recently became the
target of a snarky meme posted by the tools at The Lad Bible. The meme compared an image of Miller in the show to a photo taken
in 2010 to a shot of him while on “Prison Break,” with the former photo showing
him having gained a significant amount of weight with a caption that read:
"When you break out of prison and find out about McDonald's monopoly.” It
was a seemingly clever, albeit lowbrow take on calling a famous person fat …
until Miller responded. "Today I found myself the subject of an Internet
meme. Not for the first time. This one, however, stands out from the rest,"
Miller wrote a Facebook post. "In 2010, semi-retired from acting, I was
keeping a low-profile for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I was
suicidal. This is a subject I've since written about, spoken about, shared
about. But at the time I suffered in silence.” He explained that he has
struggled with depression since childhood and during the period when the photo
was taken, he was depressed and using food to cope. “In 2010, at the lowest
point in my adult life, I was looking everywhere for relief/comfort/distraction.
And I turned to food…There were stretches when the highlight of my week was a
favorite meal and a new episode of Top
Chef. Sometimes that was enough. Had to be. And I put on weight.” When
hit with that rebuttal, The Lad Bible’s crew of ass hats apologized, after
which they likely went back to their next mocking meme targeted at someone who
could well be in the exact same spot as Miller was………
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