- It’s always uplifting when a successful, well-paid
professional athlete chooses ganja over getting paid seven figures a year to
play a sport. It makes the rest of us feel good to know that having a job
virtually all of us would love to have and the corresponding lifestyle that
making millions of dollars a year brings is less important to an athlete than
taking bong rips and that’s why it’s so life-affirming that Buffalo Bills star
defensive tackle Marcell Dareus has been suspended four games for another positive
test for marijuana. The Bills announced Dareus' suspension but did not offer
specifics and he chased that with a vague, uninspiring Instagram post in which
he wrote that “with deepest regrets I want to apologize to the @BuffaloBills
organization, my fans, my family and the entire NFL football community for the
incident that led to me missing 4 games for the upcoming 2016-2017 season. I
will not #makeexcuses for the events in question and will allow the process to
proceed as is required by the @NFL.” The best part of the statement, though, is
that he claimed to be “committed to the game and am more committed to my
#Billsorganization and fans,” a claim directly contradicted by the fact that he
chose to get high rather than remain highly focused on his training and
preparations for the season. That all of this comes after the sixth-year
defensive tackle was suspended for the first game of the 2015 season for a
violation of the substance-abuse policy following a May 2014 arrest in Alabama
for criminal possession of a controlled substance reinforces that he’s not all
that committed to playing football or being great at it, otherwise he’d seek
help for what seems to be a persistent addiction to the hippie lettuce……….
- Oh, that old ceasefire agreement? The one we came to terms
on a quarter of a century ago? You expect us to keep honoring that? That seems
to be the general philosophy of Morocco when it comes to a 1991 ceasefire
agreement precluding it from trying to seize control of the disputed Western
Sahara. The Polisario Front movement seeking independence for the region is
accusing Morocco of violating by sending troops and equipment into the
territory, allegations that if true would fly in the face of a United
Nations-brokered peace accord struck in 1991, a deal the U.N. followed by
establishing a mission, known as MINURSO, to monitor it and help prepare a
referendum on the territory's future, which has never taken place. In its
defense, the Moroccan government claimed it was trying to dismantle
"smuggling rings and illegal trade,” but U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq
said the U.N. mission in Western Sahara is contacting the Polisario Front and
Morocco about the alleged violations to determine the facts. No one is actually
scared of the U.N. or worried about it flexing its limited, tiny diplomatic
muscles, so it seems safe to say that Morocco isn't really sweating Haq’s
promise that the U.N. mission "will deploy its capabilities if it is so
required as per its mandate." It’s a mandate no one takes seriously or
respects and seeing as this fight has been ongoing in some form since Morocco
annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975 and fought the
Polisario Front, expecting either side to just raise its arms in surrender and
walk away just seems naïve and extremely foolish………
- Now that he’s done starring in “Hamilton,” it’s good to
know that thespian Lin-Manuel Miranda hasn’t been forgotten. Miranda elected to
end his run starring in the biggest musical to hit Broadway in years and given
the immense praise he received for his work leading that show, it seemed fairly
certain that someone else might want him and his immense star power for their
project. That someone is Disney, which has inked Miranda and veteran songwriter
Alan Menken for its forthcoming remake of “The Little Mermaid.” Disney cranked
out a well-received animated take on the iconic Hans Christian Anderson tale in
1989, but this one will be a live action take on the story. Menken, who scored
the original 1989 animated movie and classics like “Beauty and the Beast,”
“Aladdin” and “Pocahontas,” will write new songs for the project along with
Miranda, who will also produce the film along with Marc Platt. It’s clear
Disney has gone sequel crazy, what with its upcoming Mary Poppins redux starring
Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep and Ben Whishaw and Miranda, while Channing Tatum is
set to play a mermaid in the film studio's forthcoming remake of ‘80s movie
“Splash.” Obviously, tales of magical things happening in the sea with plenty
of parts for attractive, big-name actors is what the studio plans to hang its
hat on in the months ahead, even if that means showing zero originality or
willingness to produce a film with an original script and which isn't a sequel
or revised take on a film that already has a proven track record of success.
Stay bold, Disney………
- Don’t shoot the gators. No matter what. That’s the
takeaway for 74-year-old Sumter County resident and certified gator assassin
Reginald Blanton, who went from badass gunslinger and defender of his family to
criminal in a hurry when he was arrested for shooting and killing an alligator
that attacked his son. Yes, his son is 58-year-old Jack Hildreth, not exactly a
helpless youngster about to be gobbled up for lunch by the hungry beast. And
yes, Hildreth really asked to become gator food when he intentionally
approached the alligator, which obliged by lunging at him and biting him in the
leg, injuring him severely. But don’t focus on the recklessness and idiocy of
the son; lock in on the quick-thinking, trigger-happy father who saw that gator
lunging at his son and while another man helped pull Hildreth away from the
alligator, Blanton fired multiple shots. Hildreth was taken to an Ocala
hospital and treated for severe injuries, but it was his old man who really
felt the pain when Sumter County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Blanton for
unlawfully killing the alligator. Not only is the family now dealing with
medical expenses for Hildreth, but they’re also footing the legal bills for
Blaton, hiring an attorney to defend his actions in killing what they describe
as an aggressive gator that came onto private property. Oh, and it’s worth
mentioning that Blanton opened fire on the gator with only a handgun, so he
didn’t exactly have immense firepower to defend his son and horses, which were
also nearby at the time of the attack. In the end, it’s reassuring to know that
the law has the scaly, cold-blooded back of reptiles and not those of residents
in harm’s way when it all goes down……..
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