- Here’s your regular reminder that there are places in the
world that are still colossally f*cked-up on account of being stuck in the
bygone, socially retarded beliefs of forgotten ages. It comes frm Burma -
a.k.a. you might know us as Myanmar - where a kook pleaded guilty Friday to
killing three children in front of their families over two days in a horrific
display of ancient superstition. "I did it because I lost control of my
mind at that time as the dark spirit took over me,” Tun Naing informed the
court in Twante, a village south of the major city of Yangon. Yes, the
time-tested, mythical showdown in which one ass hat tells parents that their
children are possessed, then proceeds to punch and kick a 3-year-old boy and
two girls, ages 8 months and 2 years, to death during an exorcism ritual.
Whatever happened to tying them down to a bed and holding some mythical crystal
over their body while chanting in some ancient language, T. Naing? According to
an uncle of the boy, villagers were given “blessed” water and were not in a
right state of mind as they stood in a circle with Naing reciting incantations.
“Because of what he did, everyone was out of their mind,” the uncle explained. But
if Naing was doing his religious duty, then why did he hide the bodies of the
deceased children? Oh, and two days later, he severely wounded a 4-year-old
girl in a nearby village in another ritual, prompting local people to call for
his arrest, so there’s that as well. Unfortunately, superstition and belief in
spirits is common in Myanmar alongside the dominant Buddhist religion, which means
this probably isn't the last time sh*t like this will happen………
- Blunt, no-punches-pulled assessments from disappointed
professional athletes are the best. A bummed-out professional athlete who is
making eight figures a year but is really pissed off about how his team is
performing is a lovely contradiction because said athlete will go from that
locker room interview into a sports or luxury vehicle worth six figures, drive
home to a beautiful, expensive home and sleep in a bed where a 400-thread-count
sheet would be considers substandard. The fact that this athlete is
legitimately upset about a loss is a nice juxtaposition against that back drop
and therefore, big ups to Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard for his
blunt assessment of his team after its 126-109 loss to the Houston Rockets.
"We kind of suck right now," Lillard said. "It's that simple. We're just not very
good right now. We've just got to keep fighting. It's important for our team to
stay together, and I think that's one of the biggest strengths of our team, is
we stay together. If we try to stay positive, and we just keep working and keep
fighting, I think at some point it'll click. We'll get it right, and things
will be fine. But I think everybody's frustrated." The weird twist is that
even with their second straight loss, the Blazers are still 7-6 and right in
the middle of the pack in the Western Conference. It’s not as if they’ve lost
seven in a row or are 2-15 on the season, but they do rank 27th in the league
in defensive efficiency (107.3), which measures the number of points a team
allows per 100 possessions. For a team that made it to the second round of the
playoffs last season, that clearly isn't good enough, not according to their
star point guard……….
- This, state governments, is the debate you should be
having on the topic of legalizing ganja. Not whether you should allow citizens
of your state to recreationally burn the hippie lettuce, but rather how much
you’re going to profit from it. Because sooner or later, every state is going
to legalize it and the ones kicking themselves will be those who waited too
long and don’t have the conversation as soon as lawmakers in Massachusetts are
having it. With less than a month away until it becomes legal to possess, smoke
and grow marijuana in the Bay State, legislators may not agree on how to spend
the revenue from the sale of dank, but the consensus in the statehouse is that
the tax rate on cannabis should be higher. “Certain states are exploring higher
levels,” said state Sen. Eric Lesser, presumably without the pun being
intended. “I think we want to study that, get some input, and see what the
appropriate amount would be to fund and support the services we need in our
state.” The decision needs to be made in short order as on Dec. 21, residents
21 years old and above will be allowed to legally possess up to an ounce of
marijuana and grow up to six plants at home. However, commercial retail sales
won’t begin until 2018, so there is some time to decide whether to stick with
the standards of a 12-percent tax on the sticky icky, which is less than half
the rate in Colorado. If the tax rises above 12 percent, the state will decide
where that excess capital goes. “I think we ought to take the money and put it
toward health care initiatives and offset some of those costs,” state Rep.
Joseph Wagner said. Do this right, fellas and ladies, and there will be tax
revenue aplenty for you to spread around……..
- The Monsters are coming back. The Monsters of Folk, that
is, an indie-folk rock supergroup comprised of Conor Oberst, M. Ward, My
Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and Mike Mogis, and one that hasn’t released an
album together since 2009. They’ve worked on projects on their own or with
their primary bands since then, but reunited on-stage over the summer during
Ward’s opening set for Brian Wilson at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
James, the group’s lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, said in a Reddit
post that the hiatus will soon be over, saying that the group have been working
on a second album for some time. “We started another Monsters of Folk record a
few years ago, for a screenplay that Conor wrote for a Monsters of Folk film,”
James said. “We hope both happen someday, cuz we wanna write music for the
film, but it’s tough to get a weird film made these days. Maybe someday.” Since
the band’s eponymous 2009 debut, Oberst has issued three solo albums, including
this year’s ‘Ruminations,’ while James has released two records with My Morning
Jacket and a solo project and Ward has also made a solo album, this year’s
‘More Rain.’ James sounds like a man with a plan to be exceptionally busy in
the near future, as he said later in the post that he believes MMJ will begin
recording new material in the spring. It’s the busy life of a veteran indie
rocker, striving to stay relevant and present in the minds of hipsters all over
the world…….
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