- Good
luck with that, human rights group Transparency
International. You calling on Hungary's president to block new regulations
limiting public access to information about the state-owned postal services and
the National Bank of Hungary is a bit like offering spray-tanning advice to
Donald Trump, but slightly less effective. Sure, the corruption watchdog asked
President Janos Ader in a letter to send the legal amendments to the
Constitutional Court for review, but if Ader doesn’t give a damn about people
within his country asking for transparency and accountability, then he probably
won't even bother to wipe his ass with the TI letter. The organization said
that the changes approved Tuesday by government-party lawmakers "make it
difficult for citizens exercising their rights to monitor the functions of
power and the expenditure of public funds” and while those claims certainly
appear to have some merit, merit doesn’t really matter here. The central bank
is in the crosshairs because critics claim some $872 million have been spent by
the central bank on setting up foundations, as well as unusually large outlays
on real estate and art works. Frivolous spending by an (allegedly) corrupt
government is not a new concept and for a nation with quite a few economic
concerns on its chipped, cracked and dirty plate, it’s a legit concern, but
hopefully the good people at Transparency International realize the futility of
their strongly worded letter of dissent/condemnation directed at a man who
could not give less sh*ts about their feelings……..
- Daisy
Ridley is having herself quite a run. Ridely, who
plays lead female Rey in “Star Wars:
The Force Awakens” and its forthcoming sequel “Episode VIII,” is already a part of the biggest, most iconic sci-fi
franchise around, but she also has musical ambitions. Those sonic dreams were
seconded by director J.J. Abrams, who said that the actress had a
'beautiful voice' at a charity award event. That may have seemed like
frivolous praise from a friendly director, but new evidence would suggest
otherwise. None other than Ridley herself revealed
on Instagram that she has been recording music with music legend Barbra
Streisand. While few under the age of 60 know or care much about Streisand
and her old-people music, within the recording industry she’s well-respected
and has won so many awards and accolades that she can’t be ignored entirely
even if you’re nowhere near retirement age. "I'm
gonna end this spate of pictures detailing my insane weekend with this...
Ummmmmmmmmmmm...” Ridley wrote alongside a photo of herself and Streisand
apparently in a recording studio putting together whatever musical gem that the
actress plans on releasing in the months ahead. Doing so in between her two
“Star Wars” films seems like the perfect opportunity to capitalize on her time
in the spotlight, even if many other actors who have tried their hand at music
have crashed and burned - Eddie Murphy or Taylor Momsen, anyone? - miserably in
their new venture…….
- The Transportation Security Administration never ceases to
amaze with its ability to turn innocuous, inane and random travel items,
accessories and body quirks into national incidents. Toothpaste, mouth wash,
aspirin, all manner of technology and many other items have made their way onto
the TSA’s sh*t list and it appears that a new, wholly absurd entry has taken
that list to new heights….or lows. It happened over the weekend when a woman
went to board her flight at Baltimore-Washington International and a TSA agent
stopped her. Did she have a full-size tube of toothpaste or a suspicious
powdery substance atop a piece of pastry that had security concerned? Nope.
This lady had the sheer audacity to rock a pair of gun-themed shoes and
bracelets in one of her carry-on bags, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said.
"We do not permit replica guns or ammunition past checkpoints,"
Farbstein says. "She was advised that she could put them in a checked
bag." Yes, but they weren't replica guns or ammo….they were freaking
shoes, L. Not like guns she had repurposed and turned into shoes - the new Nike
Air Jordan Glocks! - but shoes with a gun motif, i.e. an NRA member’s idea of
formal footwear. The woman returned to the airline counter and attempted to get
the shoes and bracelets checked, Farbstein said, but it was too late. Faced
with an impossible choice, the harried traveler returned to the checkpoint
"and left the shoes and bracelets with TSA in order to catch her
flight." A shoeless woman running down the jetway at the last minute is
always a fun sight and the TSA claiming that items such as this so closely
resemble actual guns as to cause a real problem….yeah, it’s ass-hattery. The
shoes are a model made by Pleaser Shoes, which makes what it describes as
sensuous, sexy and wild footwear. Notice those aren’t TSA Pleaser Shoes……….
- The
New York Knicks should be thanking God that NBA teams aren't required to offer
fans full refunds for subpar performances on the court. If the league or
judicial systems mandated that fans could be compensated for paying big dollars
to see sh*tty basketball, then the Knicks would not have turned a profit any
time in the last decade. Instead, fans can either elect to stay away from
Madison Square Garden and watch the games on TV/ignore the Knicks until they’re
good again or pay the lofty ticket prices and show up to voice their dissent/sit
silently and stew in their misery. A fan who watched the home team absorb a
104-85 ass-kicking by the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this week elected to
show up and talk junk, focusing his rage on Carmelo Anthony and his
underachieving season topped off with an eight-figure salary. Anthony, who has
surely heard his share of hecklers during his career, decided to get quippy
with his response. "Look, the owner's right there," Anthony said he
told the fan. "Ask for your money back." That directive to approach
incompetent Knicks owner James Dolan, who was seated a few rows in front of the
fan, came during a timeout with 4:15 to
play in the game after the fan started yelling in Anthony's direction. "He
kept calling my name, calling my name, saying, 'You guys suck, you guys
suck,'" Anthony said after the game. "At that point, I was trying to
gather myself, and I turned around. All I did was point at Dolan and told him,
'Look, the owner's right there. Ask for your money back.'” The fact is, Anthony
makes $24.5 million this season and could have given every fan in the arena a
full refund on their ticket for the night and it would have been fair even
though Dolan is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Sadly, security guards
surrounded the fan during and after his interaction with Anthony and escorted
the man from his seat, which was more reward than punishment because at least
he didn’t have to watch the rest of that debacle……..
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