Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Kansas exploits immigrants, UK hoops drunk in the street and James Cameron rises again


- Oh good, another opportunity for Jimmy Cameron to waste four-plus hours of the movie-watching public’s lives. The oft-reclusive director of the four-hour behemoth that is “Titanic” has directed just one film since that Leonardo DiCaprio-led 1997 release - 2009’s critical and commercial smash success “Avatar” - but he’s making a comeback of sorts by producing a documentary about the mythical lost city of Atlantis. Cameron is executive producer of what is allegedly a two-hour documentary called “Search For Atlantis,” but nothing Cameron has ever done has lasted less than three hours. Besides, this project will be shown on National Geographic and honestly, does that network even have any other programming or does it just air “Planet Earth” reruns on an endless loop? Cameron could make a 10-hour documentary and there would still be plenty of time for it. “Search For Atlantis” is the second documentary made by National Geographic about the mythical city, so clearly someone at the network is really eager to figure out where the hell Atlantis went. Back in 2011, the show “Finding Atlantis” claimed to have located Atlantis off the coast of southern Spain. Cameron claims to have refuted that with fresh intelligence. “Finding the historical and archaeological truth behind the Atlantis myth has always been a fascination of mine,” Cameron said. “Our exploration team will investigate several new theories about where the real Atlantis was, who these mysterious people were, and what disaster wiped them from the Earth over three millennia ago.” Filming for his project has begun in Sicily, Malta, Crete and Sardinia as well as the original documentary’s location in Spain, setting up future chapters, “Atlantis: Where the hell is it?” and “Desperately Seeking Atlantis.” Stay tuned for that barrel of fun………..


- Every government employee’s dream work scenario is no more in Venezuela. The South American nation’s  two-day workweek is no more, as public workers have been ordered to return to working five days a week because officials say a severe energy crisis has eased. This curious policy decision came in April, when the national government decreed that public employees would work just Monday and Tuesday in a bid to save energy. As it turned out, the only energy they were really saving was the sort required to show up at work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday because in a shocking twist, it seems that many of these workers didn’t just sit home and read books while lighting their houses with candles. No, they were likely using up lots of power running their own computers and other miscellaneous electronic devices, so no real power savings were achieved. The return to the five-day work week came because the country’s energy minister said water levels at the dam that supplies most of the country's electricity had been somewhat restored. Those who worry that the system shock employees might have by being asked to work all five days during the week can rest easy because while these slackers will be in the office Monday through Friday, they will only be in that office on Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays until 1 p.m. It’s quite a grind, but hopefully these working class heroes can find a way to endure it…….


- Someone got to their 21st birthday a little early, eh Kentucky senior forward Derek Willis? Willis, who should probably know by virtue of being around for a fourth year under John Calipari - i.e. the maestro of the one-and-done college basketball prospect - that he’s not really destined for great things on the hardwood, now finds himself staring down charges of public alcohol intoxication after he was found lying in the street late at night by Boone County Sheriff's Department deputies. According to a police citation, a observed Willis lying outside the open driver's side door of a car and had to awaken him Saturday morning in Union, Kentucky. The deputy noticed a "strong odor" of alcohol coming from Willis and the car and said he had extremely slurred speech and along with being virtually comatose in the street, that’s a strong indicator that a person has definitely had "a lot" to drink. Willis was arrested and later released after posting $50 bond, while a UK spokesperson said the school is aware of the situation and gathering information. Oh, and the timing of this is a bit gnarly because the 6-foot-9 Willis doesn’t turn 21 until next week, so there’s that too. The irony is that this is a guy who became a bigger part of Kentucky's rotation last season and finished with per-game averages of 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds. He’s also the second-leading scorer returning to a Wildcats squad that lost three players to the NBA draft, but knowing Calipari’s typical disciplinary approach, he’ll have to sit out a meaningless non-league game or two against a Division II opponent as penance for his crimes…….


- It’s one of the worst clichés imaginable when it comes to companies and undocumented immigrants working for those companies. A shady employer hires a bunch of border crashers who don’t have green cards, work visas or anything allowing them to legally enter and be employed in the United States, then turns around and uses their undocumented status to extort and blackmail them. This time, its Century Roofing owners Tommy Frank Keaton and Graziano Cornolo, whose Kansas-based roofing company is accused of forcing workers who are in the U.S. illegally to pay kickbacks by threatening to turn them into immigration agents if they didn't. According to a 17-count federal indictment unsealed this week in Kansas City, Kansas, these two lotharios profited from kickbacks since at least 2009, paying workers who were in the country illegally in cash to complete roofing projects in the Kansas City area in Kansas and Missouri, then forcing the workers to give some of the money back. Ah, make it look like you’re paying them fair and legal wages, but put that cash in one hand and take it right back out before they can stash it in their pockets for the same reason that anyone does anything, because they can. According to a spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall, no attorneys had entered an appearance for either defendant, but given that they a) are scumbags and b) have a lot of money, rest assured that someone will represent them and try to explain why it’s OK for a business owner to exploit people who yes, are breaking the law, but still don’t need to be treated like subhuman beings in order to line the pockets of wealthy Americans who appear to have neither morals nor scruples. Even if Keaton and Cornolo are somehow acquitted of these charges because #americanjusticeisbroken, they should still be convicted of being lame, lazy and unimaginative when it comes to the crimes they (allegedly) chose to perpetrate upon illegals…….

No comments: