- Once again, a group of embattled workers misses the point
when they try to stage a game-changing work stoppage. This time, it’s a union
representing pilots at German airline Lufthansa and they’re locked in a
long-running dispute over pay, which is neither surprising nor a huge deal for
the world at large. What is worth noting is that these morons have decided to
use one of the average worker’s most powerful tools, a work stoppage, in all
the wrong ways. See, the Cockpit Union announced beforehand that pilots of all
short- and long-haul flights out of Germany would go on strike tomorrow,
claiming that Lufthansa has been posting "very good numbers for
years" but that its pilots haven't seen any consequent pay increases. Those
facts are up for dispute, but what is not is that if the union really wanted to
make an impact, it would give no warning of a strike and all of its pilots
would simply not show up for work one day, leaving the airline totally f*cked
and with a real-life disaster on its hands. That would drive Lufthansa to the
bargaining table mighty quickly and if the union is really of the opinion that
"an offer of 2.5 percent is no offer," then an unannounced strike is
the way to go. If they went that way, the pilots just might get the 3.66 percent
yearly raise for 5 1/2 years they’re seeking. Lufthansa called the union's
position "absolutely incomprehensible,” which is corporate titan-speak
for, we’ll up our offer by .5 percent if you come back to the bargaining
table…….
- Who knew that the hip-hop cred of the D.O.-double-G could
fall so far, so fast…and with such high ratings? Yes, the artist formerly known
as rapper Snoop Dogg, the pimp-tastic, pot-smoking, rhyme-droppin’ G, is now
the sidekick former inside trader and fallen domestic diva Martha Stewart and
furthermore, the duo’s basic cable reality show has been renewed for a second
season after a mere two episodes. “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party,”
which doesn’t actually involve any on-screen pot usage despite its misleading
name, is a cookery-based chat show teaming up the two unlikely allies. It
debuted on Nov. 7 and the second episode aired a week later, after which VH1
ordered a second season of the show. “Martha and Snoop are the modern day ‘Odd
Couple’ and the reigning King and Queen of pop culture. Wait until you see what
happens in season two,” VH1 president Chris McCarthy said of the show. The
first episode, which can still be viewed on the network’s website, featured
guest stars Seth Rogen, Ice Cube and Wiz Khalifa, who were tasked with
determining which of the show’s hosts made the best fried chicken. “I don’t know
who’s going to be more fried by the end of the show,” Stewart said at the start
of the episode, a not-so-subtle reference to Snoop’s love of cannabis. Apparently
that sort of comedy is ratings gold, to the point that VH1 had to have itself a
heaping second helping of what is actually the least-terrible reality show it
has cranked out in quite some time……..
- Losers: They’re all around us. We’re reminded of that fact
often at times such as right now, where we hear that a guy named Gregg
Halverson has amassed a collection of over 1,000 old potato chip cans, proving
he has neither friends nor self-respect because if he had either, someone would
have stopped him after about five chip cans. Potato chips don’t really come in
cans these days and if you ask Halvorson, that’s a damn shame. "Potato
chips taste just as good, they may taste even better out of a chip can,"
he said. The good news - if there can be good news for a loser like this guy -
is that Halvorson knows he has a problem. "It's more of an obsession than
a collection," he said. "Each brand has a little different oil, a
little bit different cut, a little different seasoning, a little bit different
salt. He claims to have cans from virtually every company that has ever put
dried potato slivers in a metal tube, including one from a company with a
rather unfortunate name. "How would you like to be a manufacturer that
when we were bombing the Japanese to be called Japps," Halvorson asked. "What
the Japps did is they changed their brand, they went from Japps to Jays.” Part
of Halvorson’s collection is displayed at Black Gold farms in Grand Forks,
N.D., where he is the company president, while the rest of the canisters are in
storage because there isn't enough shelf space to display all of them in one
place. In spite of that fact - and the fact that he looks like a knob for
compiling all of these useless items - is that Halvorson is still adding to his
collection. "There's always room for one more," he added. All in all,
a story that no one’s life is better off for knowing………
- It’s not what’s in the water in Chicago, but what’s in the
bottle….or jar….or needle. Whatever members of the Chicago Bears are using to
jam illegal substances into their bodies because that is happening at an
alarming rate, as Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman has been suspended without
pay for four games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing
substances, becoming the second high-profile Bears player to be suspended for
PEDs in the past week. He joins Pro Bowl wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who received
a four-game suspension for violating the league's PED policy last Monday.
Granted, the Bears are terrible at 2-8 on the season - the third-worst record
in the NFL this season - and getting suspended for PED use is a convenient way
to extricate yourself from a dumpster fire of a season that’s headed nowhere
but a top-three pick in next spring’s NFL draft. Neither Freeman nor Jeffrey
will ever own that they wanted out and that’s probably not why either took
their respective PEDs, but it’s a nice side benefit in the midst of the
mess. "Much like with Alshon, I'm
very disappointed," Bears coach John Fox said. "We don't accept it. I
think we put a lot of time and money into governing it and watching over it.
Like I said before, while they're in this building, unfortunately they don't
live here.” Freeman may have decided to PED-up because he signed a three-year
contract worth $6 million guaranteed in the offseason and wants to live up to
that deal - and maybe it’s working because he’s one of the Bears' leading
tacklers. His suspension begins immediately and he’s eligible to rejoin the
team on Monday, Dec. 19 following the club's home game versus the Green Bay
Packers, but in the meantime, Fox denies that the Bears have a PED problem.
"I don't think this is unique to the Bears. It's an issue everywhere in
the league," he said. Yes, but if players on other teams are doing it,
their cheating is helping their team much more than it’s helping yours………
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