Monday, April 11, 2016

Jesse Pinkman's return, Chicago needs a new top cop and Dada 5000's in-ring death claims


- Somehow, the house where Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was born is still standing. The small house, located in the town of Braunau am Inn, near the German border, has been rented by the government for decades and it has served many purposes, including being used as a library and for high school classes. However, it’s stood vacant since 2011, when a care center for adults with disabilities moved out. That created a concern for the Austrian government, which is afraid that the house could potentially fall into the wrong hands. Given the amount of kooks and ass hats still inhabiting the world while subscribing to the heinously wrong, hateful beliefs Hitler espoused and calling themselves neo-Nazis, the fear that some hate group could take possession of the house and turn it into some sort of Hitler shrine or base of operations for their evil organization is a thing and in order to prevent that from happening, Austrian officials say they plan to try and expropriate the property from its current owner. That owner has no interest in selling and it’s unclear how long a possible expropriation will take, but eminent domain and other such actions aren’t always as heavy-handed and unfair a process as they are in the United States, so it isn’t as simple as passing a bill that rips the home from the hands of its owner and gives it to the government to do with it as it pleases. Still, it’s clear that no matter how much time passes, anything remotely associated with Hitler is still an extremely painful point……….


- One of the most ridiculous fights in recent mixed martial arts history nearly had a tragic ending - according to one of its participants. Back at Bellator 149 on Feb. 19 in Houston, Dada 5000 (real name Dhafir Harris) fought Kimbo Slice (real name Kevin Ferguson) in a forgettable bout featuring two out-of-shape hacks who were more gimmick than great combatants. Both were out of shape, neither has top-end skills and the fight showed it. Ferguson ultimately won, but according to Harris, he nearly lost a much bigger fight that night. He posted on his Instagram account, fleshing out the story of being transported to a local hospital suffering from severe dehydration, fatigue and renal failure. At the time, his family released a statement about his condition with  extremely high levels of potassium in his blood, causing  dehydration, fatigue and renal failure. Harris’ message was a harrowing one to say the least. “Yes, I did have kidney failure during the fight. I also had two heart attacks, which I did code, aka died, during the fight… which put me in Memorial Herman Hospital in Houston, Texas, for more than three weeks after the fight,” he wrote. Dying twice in the ring would be enough to end the career of most fighters, especially one who’s not very good, but the twist is that there is no one verifying his claims of what happened to him in the ring. Oh, and that Instagram post was deleted a short time later. It’s all a little sketchy and a fourth-tier fighter who desperately needs something to keep him semi-relevant for a few more seconds looks like he’s making a cry for attention here………

- It’s expensive trying to find someone to preside over a police department that’s trying to get its officers to stop shooting and/or killing innocent people. For example, the Chicago Police Board spent roughly $500,000 on a nationwide search for a new superintendent, a search that yielded no one actually taking the job because polarizing Mayor Rahm Emanuel is intent on the gig going to his top choice, a man who didn’t even bother to apply for the job. Emanuel wants Chief of Patrol Eddie Johnson to take over, yet the police board spent the nearly half a million dollars on travel, accommodations, advertising and background checks. Alderman Anthony Beale said the cost for the search was so high and the mayor so obstinate about going with Johnson that the city council should just let the mayor make Johnson the permanent superintendent. “That’s a lot of money. There’s no need to spend another $500,000 of taxpayers’ money on a second search,” Beale said.  “Knowing the mayor has made it clear this is his pick, I don’t think you’ll get any more applicants.” The search committee considered 39 different candidates before tabbing the final three, but walking those three into a tense setting where the mayor clearly didn’t want them getting the job made for a recipe for failure. Now, an already angry city full of people who believe they are served by a police force that abuses its power, ignores the law and kills innocent civilians is witnessing a disjointed leadership clusterf*ck its way through failing to find a new police superintendent and making the city look bad all over again in the process………


- How about a cameo, bitch? Aaron Paul and his character, Jesse Pinkman, became one of the most recognizable and quoted parts of AMC’s highly touted series “Breaking Bad,” helping the now-defunct show yield its own spin-off, “Better Call Saul.” The new show has done well in its own right, with its second season set to wrap up this month on AMC. Many actors who rise to fame in a hit show and become inextricably intertwined with their character on that show want to get as far from said character once the show ends, but both Paul and co-star Bryan Cranston have spoken enthusiastically in the past about bringing back their “Breaking Bad” characters on “Saul.” Cranston as meth-making chemistry teacher Walter White and Paul as Pinkman would be a boost for the new show and to hear Paul tell it, all AMC has to do is ask. "All I can say is that we've had multiple conversations about that possibility and if it were to happen it would happen for absolutely all the right reasons. They wouldn’t want to throw Jesse in just so the audience could see him in the background. He'd have to really enter the story,” he said. “And as I'm such a huge fan of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, if they did figure out a way to make that happen I'd be very excited.” Not only is a second season winding down, but the network has already ordered a third season of the show to air next year. “Better Call Saul” is doing well in its own right any an optimist might argue that it doesn’t even need Walt or Jesse to ride in and bolster its bottom line, but most fans of the show were also “Breaking Bad” fans, so their inclusion could only help a strong spin-off……..

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