- We all have that one friend we feel obligated to follow or
be connected to on social media, but with whose posts and sharing we want
nothing to do. The chronic over-sharer or the attention seeker usually receives
only silent scorn, an unfollow or a choice obscenity muttered under the breath
of their friends, but maybe a small, island nation in the Middle East is showing
the way to deal with folks who abuse their social media accounts. Enter police
in Bahrain, who say they have made a series of arrests over people
"misusing social media" amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent in
the tiny island kingdom. That might sound like blatant censorship, but the
Interior Ministry is trying to spin its oppressive ways by claiming that those
arrested were trying to "incite people or instigate people to abuse
others." Unsurprisingly for a totalitarian regime. The government offered
no further details on the number of people arrested, nor their names. Those
names might become irrelevant if those people are never seen or heard from
again and they are the latest victims in
the government's widening crackdown on opposition groups and dissent on
a level not seen since the country’s 2011 Arab Spring protest. It’s part of an
ongoing battle between the Sunni-led government and the Shiite population, including
the government stripping citizenship from a prominent cleric, sparking an
ongoing protest in front of the cleric's home. Not really the kind of
happenings you want going on for a predominantly Shiite island off the coast of
Saudi Arabia that’s home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet……..
- Ladies of northeast Florida, let this be a lesson to you.
If you’re out on the town and encounter Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Dan
Skuta, show him all the respect due to a marginal NFL player who had a whopping
1.5 sacks last season playing for one of the league’s most mediocre teams. If
you don’t, you too may be the (alleged) victim of a heinous assault in which
this marginal professional athlete pushes your face "with an open hand
into a glass window" at around 2:30 a.m. Skuta was arrested and charged with
misdemeanor first-degree battery for an incident in Orlando and according to
the police, he had alcohol on his breath and bloodshot eyes. His accuser claims
that she and her friend were standing on the sidewalk when Skuta approached
her, "and began talking to her and flirting with her. Perhaps believing
that he’s an NFL player and therefore irresistible to women, Skuta spit his
game and asked for [the woman's] phone number, only to get rejected. At that
point, police say, “a verbal altercation ensued. He became the latest to head
directly into the teeth of commissioner Roger Goodell’s updated domestic
violence policy, which calls for a six-game suspension without pay for a first
offense and possible lifetime ban for a second offense. Skuta, who had 40 tackles
and 1.5 sacks last season with the Jaguars, is demanding a jury trial on the
charges, presumably because he believes that in the bat-sh*t insane state of
Florida, it’s possible to find a group of 12 people naïve enough to believe
whatever ridiculous explanation he comes up with……….
- Ah, Portland, you haven of wacky, modern-hippie-channeling
granolas with a knack for doing weird sh*t that most cities would never think
of but which is just another day in the Pacific Northwest for you. Another such
occurrence came earlier this week when thousands of riders showed up to Mt.
Scott Park in southeast Portland for the World Naked Bike Ride. Calling it the
World Naked Bike Ride is probably a bit of s stretch in the same way calling
the World Series the world championship of all of baseball is a problem, but
the WNBR had dual purposes that are equal parts practical concern and
lighthearted statement about the world’s disturbing dependence on fossil fuels.
According to event organizers, the central focus of the event is making a bold
statement on the vulnerability of cyclists while on the road with other
vehicles. It’s a cause that every cyclist and runner can sympathize with as
they try to stay alive as idiots with no sensitivity, poor driving skills or an
outright obsession with their smartphone while behind the wheel whiz by at 40
or 50 miles per hour, mere feet or even inches away. The secondary point of the
ride is to encourage people to ponder the world’s heavy dependence on fossil
fuels and to make that point, a whole lot of people took a six-mile ride
throughout the city as a large number of extremely unfortunate police officers
were tasked with making sure the ride went off safely. Here’s hoping those
officers received hazard pay for some of the sights they had to witness………
- Unlike most actors, especially those who rise to fame at a
young age due to an iconic role, Daniel Radcliffe isn't running away screaming
from the character that made him famous once his run ends. Radcliffe, who portrayed
Harry Potter for eight films from 2001 to 2011, has since grown out of the boy
wizard role and gone on to star in musicals and horrible magic-based action
movies, but he says there’s a chance he would be open to playing Harry Potter
again at some point in the future. He’s getting a break right now with actor
Jamie Parker taking on the role for new stage show “Harry Potter And The Cursed
Child,” but the idea of playing Potter at some point later in the character’s
life sounds like it has some appeal to him. "It would depend on the
script. The circumstances would have to be pretty extraordinary. But then I am
sure Harrison Ford said that with Han Solo and look what happened there,”
Radcliffe said. “So I am saying 'No' for now, but leaving room to backtrack in
the future.” He did say that he’s unlikely to see the new play early in its because
it could be a “weird” experience, with a lot of diehard Potter fans in the
crowd who might pay more attention to him and his reaction to the play than
what was happening on stage. “I would never want to do anything that would
distract or take away from the show,” he said, ever the thespian. Oh, and the
odds that a studio will try to revive the Harry Potter franchise about 50 times
between now and the time Radcliffe retires from acting are as close to 100
percent as you can get without being sure because Hollywood never lets a cash
cow die for any reason……….
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