- Riot
Watch! Riot Watch! The rage is real in Iraq, where dozens of enraged protesters
climbed over the blast walls surrounding Baghdad's highly-fortified Green Zone
and stormed into parliament, carrying Iraqi flags and chanting against the
government. This day was a long time in the making, as months of protests,
sit-ins and demonstrations outside Baghdad's Green Zone created a potent
atmosphere for dissent and rebellion. The area is home to most ministries and
foreign embassies, so that made it a natural target for the site of the first
intrusion of protesters within the compound's walls. The riots came after
influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused Iraqi politicians of blocking
efforts to implement political reform aimed at combating corruption and waste,
all but inviting angry citizens to find whatever crude weapons were handy, ball
up their fists and force their way into a secure area to demand that the
government hear their angry point of view. The country’s political scene has
been über-chaotic with a mix of increasingly tense protests and a series of
failed reform measures, creating a virtual paralysis for the government as the
country struggles to fight the Islamic State group and respond to an economic
crisis sparked in part by a plunge in global oil prices. They’re troubling
times for a country that isn't the strongest around when it comes to having a
firm foundation and the respect of its people, so the sight of flag-waving
maniacs storming parliament and screaming angrily into cameras is not really a
helpful development………
- The
latest incarnation of Lara Croft finally has a face. Stepping into the shoes
once filled by Angelina Jolie will be Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, who will play Croft in the new Tomb Raider
film. Vikander won an Oscar for her role in “The Danish Girl,” but will take on
a much different and more action-packed role in portraying the action hero
first made famous as a PlayStation character back in 1996. Jolie played Croft
in two films, including the 2003 sequel “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of
Life.” This time around, Roar Uthaug will direct the film, which is rumored to
be based on the recent storylines of the Tomb Raider games and explore Lara
Croft's origin story. The 2013 edition of the video game allowed gamers to play
through Croft's first adventure as an archeology student, while 2015’s “Rise of
The Tomb Raider” continued that story. As for Vikander, she has proven both her
action and dramatic chops in films such as “Ex Machina,” “Testament of Youth”
and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and will be a key part of one of this year’s
most-ass-kicking movies, “Jason Bourne,” alongside Matt Damon. Before Vikander’s
casting, “Star Wars” actress Daisy Ridley was the frontrunner to play Lara
Croft. There is no official release date for the new Tomb Raider movie and
given that it’s leading lady has just been cast, it could take a while before
production can begin on what will surely be a big-budget film fully of effects,
fights, weapons and a healthy dose of drama………
- At
this point, it’s less shocking and more of wondering how many lazy, disrespectful
slackers are employed by postal and shipping companies. On the regular, we keep
hearing tales of delivery drivers who decide that it takes a little too much
time and effort to properly carry a package to the recipient’s door and set it
down with care, electing to throw, kick or otherwise project said package
toward the door at an alarmingly high velocity. The latest member of the club
hails from Long Island, where a homeowner reviewed his security footage to
figure out what was happening to his damaged packages and found footage of a
FedEx driver who don’t give a f*ck. Jim Munson ships plenty of packages, being
the eBay, buy/sell/trade type, and of late he’s received plenty of complaints
about items arriving damaged. “Plates were cracked. There were some random VHS
tapes; just little items that could be; that were clearly marked fragile,”
Munson said. He went so far as to trek down to his local FedEx location in East
Northport and use his smartphone to record footage of how packages were being
handled. “I was just blown away. I was absolutely left speechless for the most
part,” Munson said. “I couldn’t believe it.” He rolled video as dozens of
packages — some marked fragile – were thrown around like tennis balls. He
dismissively described it as “like watching a 6-year-old kid play basketball
and throwing the basketball up to the hoop” and worse still, employees inside
did nothing to stop the package tossing. Maybe they were betting on whether the
6-year-old kid would shoot the ball into the basket or not……….
- When
a professional athlete reaches the top of their sport, they achieve certain
honors and recognition they have dreamed of all their lives. They want to win
trophies, capture awards, become highly paid pitchmen or women for companies
and maybe even cross over into movies or music. They typically don’t dream of
becoming very literally the face of the drug trade in one of America’s largest
cities. Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry is the reigning NBA MVP,
is about to win the award for a second time and as per Philadelphia regional
transit police chief Thomas Nestel, his mug is being stamped on heroin packets
by drug dealers looking to market their product as top-of-the-line poison. Philadelphia
is known for having the most potent heroin in the country and Curry is known
for having a lethal jump shot, but odds are that the best player on the league’s
best team was not fired up when he heard that Nestel noticed the Curry
heroin-branding this week after an officer stopped a man with the packets. The
chief tweeted a picture of several packets featuring Curry's face and name and
said the approach is "definitely unique" for Philadelphia. Probably, because
no New York City drug task force has broken out a social media photo of LeBron
James dime bags of the dankest weed around and cops in Chicago aren’t posting
pics of Kevin Durant-faced eight balls of coke on their social media accounts. Curry
is along in that respect and even Netsel admitted that he hasn't seen drug
dealers using the names of other athletes or celebrities to promote their products.
Let’s just say those cranking out the heroin, having their foot soldiers cut
and bag it probably aren't too concerned about the possible legal repercussions
of misappropriating the likeness of one of the most famous athletes in the
United States right now……..
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