- Let them eat cake…or basic, low-flavor foods prepared by
makeshift eateries in migrant camps in a remote city in your proud nation. The
Prefecture of the Pas de Calais region, the state representative, is fighting
an uphill and some might say punitive battle to close the 72 eateries and shops
in the makeshift migrant camp in the northern port city of Calais, but its
quest to turn off the gas to those stoves and smack the cups of tea out of the
hands of migrants hit a snag when a French court rejected a bid to shutter
those restaurants. The Lille court rejected the prefecture’s demand to close the
operations, which humanitarian organizations contend are a lifeline for the
migrants, estimated at over 7,000 in the camp. To make its case look more
palatable, the prefecture issued a statement alleging that the installations
don't respect sanitation rules, risk fires and are a source of public disorder.
That’s probably an accurate statement of most everything associated with the
migrant camps around France, but if municipalities get the green light to start
shutting things down on such a basis, then it’s not going to be long before the
powers that be make it wholly impossible for migrants to remain in their
country. Undeterred by this legal setback, the prefecture says it will continue
inspections and legal action against what it calls a dangerous underground
economy. Literally living underground may be all that’s for migrants if this
fight for survival ever starts to swing in the direction of those they’re
fighting against………
- Getting extended for more than one season is a rarity for
TV shows. Getting two seasons is a massive endorsement from a network, which
means the news that “Homeland” will have at least three more seasons is beyond
rare. The national security-themed drama stars Clare Danes as its mentally
unstable central figure and earlier this season, it was revealed that the show
would continue for a sixth season. Now, we know that there will also be seventh
and eighth seasons on the heels of Season 6, which will air starting in
January. The sixth season will be set in the aftermath of a U.S. presidential
election, although Danes previously said that the season will be based around a
fictional presidential nominee rather than being based on someone like current
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, saying the presidential
character would be “kind of a composite of all of the different candidates and
a kind of — not rebellious necessarily — but she’s challenging norms and is a
little threatening for that reason.” In announcing the multi-season renewal for
the show, Showtime's programming president Gary Levine was straightforward in
his praise. "Homeland was deserving of a multi-year pickup, and that's
what Howard [Gordon, executive producer] has achieved with his enthusiasm,”
Levine said. Very few shows are able to last for eight seasons or more, even
the really good ones, so winning that war of attrition and outlasting its
rivals is an accomplishment in its own right for the show. Now, who to cast in
the role of Human Circus Peanut Trapped Inside a Hairball Donald Trump……..
- Being a gas station clerk is not a glamorous job. Showing
up day after day, working behind bulletproof glass and dealing with people who
treat you with utter disdain as they pay for their lottery tickets, fountain
drinks and candy bars can wear on a person’s will to live, so in the rare
instance when a gas station clerk gets to fight back, you had best believe he
or she will take that opportunity with gusto. So it was for two clerks at a
Shell gas station in Florida City, Florida who battled back against two robbers who stormed into
their store and tried to take what didn’t belong to them. The thieves entered
with a baseball bat and bad intentions, but the clerks weren't backing down and
at one point, Emanuez Santos and Joseph Aguilera were able to gain the upper hand
and seize control of the bat. This all went down in the middle of the day,
around 2:30 p.m., with surveillance footage showing the two robbers walking up
to the store and immediately approaching the clerks. Santos was struck in the
arm and as that happened, the second suspect climbed over the counter and
ripped $300 from the register before Aguilera grabbed him, causing him to fall
to the ground. At that point, Santos grabbed the bat and used it to strike the
thief several times, causing the man to fall against a nearby merchandise rack
as Santos reached for his leg and clubbed him several more times with the bat.
The suspect broke free in a dazed state, stumbling out of the store with his
accomplice and fleeing the scene in a gold-colored SUV. It was a rare win for
the minimum wage-earning, polyester vest-wearing segment of the workforce and a
reminder that when it’s your turn at bat, you had best swing for the fences……..
- Damn, it’s good to have Hope Solo back - the real Hope
Solo, that is. For the past few months, the loose cannon goalkeeper for the
U.S. Women’s National Team managed to put on a friendly front as she and her
teammates promoted their run for gold at the Summer Olympics, but that version
of Solo really doesn’t entertain anyone. No, the Hope Solo we want to see is
the one who lays out her own coach for not playing her in a key loss in a major
international tournament, which is the same Hope Solo who was infamously
involved in a domestic violence incident in which she was accused of assaulting
multiple family members. That Hope Solo is pretty damn entertaining and after
Sweden bounced the U.S. 4-3 on penalty shots in the quarterfinals of the
Olympic soccer tournament to decide a game tied 1-1 after 120 minutes of play,
it’s that Hope Solo who showed up for the postgame press conference. "I
thought that we played a courageous game," Solo said. "I thought that
we had many opportunities on goal. I think we showed a lot of heart. We came
back from a goal down; I'm very proud of this team. I also think we played a
bunch of cowards. But, you know, the best team did not win today; I strongly,
firmly believe that.” Verrry classy, Hope. The bad news for you is that the better
team did win because in sports, the team that wins is always the better team on
that day. Oh, and you play soccer, a sport renowned for its fake injuries,
flopping and asinine goal celebrations, so there really isn't anywhere on the
pitch where courage can be found on soccer’s best day. “I think you saw
America's heart. You saw us give everything that we had today. Unfortunately
the better team didn't win,” Solo added. Her primary point seems to be that
Sweden played a defense-first strategy, knowing it didn’t have the offensive
firepower to shoot its way past the U.S., but in soccer it doesn’t matter that
the Americans dominated possession and finished with 27 shots, yet lost to a
team that had only two shots on goal. Coach Pia Sundhage, the Swedish coach who
formerly coached the United States and won two Olympic gold medals, owned the
U.S. once more and if Solo wanted to disprove the verdict delivered by the
scoreboard, maybe she should have stopped more of those penalty kicks………
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