- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! France is once again awash in rage
and this time, it stems from angry, striking workers who created blackouts by
cutting power to a big electricity line in western France and occupied train
tracks at a Paris railway hub Thursday as unions at nuclear plants and the
national rail service protested the proposed abolition of some French labor
protections. Resolving this mess is going to be difficult because workers have
sector-specific demands, but are also fueled by months of widespread anger at a
government bill extending the 35-hour workweek and making it easier to hire and
fire workers. Yes, being asked to work more than seven hours a day five days a
week is a reason to riot. It’s definitely true at 16 of France's 19 nuclear
plants, which provide the majority of the country's electricity, and whose CGT
union members voted for a one-day strike this week. Nuclear plants are required
to maintain a minimal level of production even during strikes for security
reasons, something workers in Brittany knew when they cut the electricity
supply from a power station in Saint-Malo-de-Guersac, prompting blackouts in at
least 120,000 homes, according to the RTE electricity network. Even though service
was restored to most homes by early afternoon, it was a bold move when coupled
with protestors walking onto train tracks at the Gare de Lyon station in
eastern Paris. Mix in a union march through Paris and the disruption of service
on high-speed TGV trains and commuter trains for a second day because of
strikes by some union members and you have a genuine uprising that could make
people put down their baguettes and take notice……..
- Oh, will the indie rock love for Democratic presidential
hopeful Bernie Sanders never end? Even though Sanders’ run for the Democratic
nomination will meet its end in a few weeks, the irascible old-timer has struck
a chord with the favorite musical genre of hipsters everywhere and has garnered
performances at his rallies from the likes of Vampire Weekend and Grizzly Bear.
Now, he’s upping the ante with indie rock royalty, releasing a collaborative
single with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore. The song, entitled “Feel It
In Your Guts,” is to be released in 1,000 hand-numbered copies on square, white
vinyl, with screen-printed cover art by David Kloc. Noise Recordings are
releasing the album, with every copy to be given away for free to those who
make individual donations to Sanders’ campaign. For those who aren’t hipster
through and through or are just cheap and want to score the first offering from
this dynamic musical duo for nothing, the track is also available as a free
digital download. A press release describes the song as "a twelve-string
acoustic piece laced with excerpts from Bernie Sanders’ speeches,"
touching on “topics like the worship of money, economic inequality, social justice,
and the need for basic human rights for all people.” It sounds like exactly the
sort of song that will never, ever get a single second of airplay on any radio
station anywhere, but Sanders’ cult following could gain a bit of traction for
the tune in the short amount of time Sanders has left as a candidate for the
nation’s highest office……..
- Another day, another school administrator in deep sh*t for
trying to be one of the cool kids. A day after it was revealed that the University
of Georgia’s athletic director apologized to the alumni association’s board of
directors for paying rapper Ludacris in premium liquor and condoms for his
truncated performance at the school’s spring football game. That’s nothing
compared to the mess rolling downhill at a New Jersey high school principal
reportedly placed on leave after Fetty Wap recorded a music video in the
building in which the rapper made overt drug references and featured a pole
dancer. Paterson Superintendent Donnie Evans announced during a board of
education meeting that East Side High School principal Zatiti Moody has been
placed on administrative leave and that the district has launched a probe into
how Fetty Wap was allowed to record the video. He is a Paterson native and one
of the few who would want to do a music video anywhere near the crime-riddled
city and released the video for “Wake Up” last week. Paterson school district
spokeswoman Terry Corallo said the district doesn’t endorse the content of the
video and noted that it was shot during
off hours and didn’t include students. Yes, but it does include numerous drug
references and feature a scantily clad woman dancing on a pole inside a
classroom, along with numerous banners and posters in the video with the
message "Go Team Kush.” Oh, and there’s that one scene near the end of the
video in which a woman presumed to be a teacher takes an apple from her desk
and uses it as a bong. Square, uncool members of the community are whining
about allowing a video they say glamorizes negative behaviors to be filmed at
the school, but those people are just lame. For the record, Fetty Wap defended
his actions in a statement on his Instagram account, saying the video was
dedicated to the Class of 2016. Don’t sweat the haters, F., just keep blazing
that new trail………
- Just stop, NFL. The world - and even the participants in
the game - have made it clear how they feel about the Pro Bowl. Everyone not
employed by the league office knows the Pro Bowl needs to be Old Yeller-ed in a
hurry because putting that lame dog down is the only humane thing to do. Pretty
much 100 percent of the players selected for the original rosters bail out
because they don’t want to spend time or risk injury in a meaningless
exhibition game after the season is over and those who are finally guilted into
showing up walk through the game at half speed to the point its visibly
embarrassing and fans openly boo their lack of effort. The NFL has tried
various gimmicks to make the game more interesting, most recently having
players selected to mixed-conference teams in a fantasy draft. Through all the changes,
the Pro Bowl has remained an unwatchable farce and nothing is ever going go
make it better. But wait, what’s that? The league and city officials confirmed
Wednesday that the Pro Bowl will move to Orlando, Florida, in 2017? Well then,
that changes it all. If you can play a Pro Bowl at Camping World Stadium during
the week between the AFC/NFC Championship Games and the Super Bowl, then
everyone will care about it. Either that or no one will give a damn and players
will simply be pissed that you removed the one benefit they did enjoy, having
the game played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, and sending them to
Disney World for a week. "For us, Orlando is the new home of the Pro
Bowl," NFL senior vice president of events Peter O'Reilly said. And for
everyone else, Pete, it’s the only must-miss game on the NFL schedule each
year………
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