- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Hungary is hungry for change and
that hunger was felt and seen this week as tens of thousands of protesters
demonstrated against government policies that are viewed as restricting
academic freedom and bullying civic groups that receive foreign funding. All of
this centers on recent amendments to the country's higher education law,
amendments critics denounced as a direct an attack on a Budapest university
founded by Hungarian-born American financier George Soros. Lawmakers are
preparing to debate a proposal from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's governing
Fidesz party to force non-governmental groups that receive more than 7.2
million forints ($24,450) a year from abroad to register with authorities and
that could deter some such groups to rethink their involvement with academia. The
protest, as is fitting for any uprising against The Man, overflowed the
confines of Heroes Square, a Budapest landmark. Many of those in the crowd were
students who believe that Orban’s efforts look eerily like those of another
despot not far away, Russian leader and lessee of beachfront property inside
Donald Trump’s mind and soul Vlad Putin. Those students like Soros’ so-called "open
society" ideal and see it in stark contrast to Orban’s restricted,
totalitarian view of the world. This debate is ongoing, so here’s hoping that
there are more - and much more violent - gatherings in the offing for those who
like what Soros is selling………
- Ah, some good ol’ “put ‘em on a milk carton” humor…nothing
makes the slow, early weeks of the Major League Baseball season perk up quite
like that kind of knee-slapping funny business. With the New York Mets off to a
solid start but noted domestic abuser and leadoff man Jose Reyes mired in a
brutally slow start to the season, manager Terry Collins decided that laughter
really was the best medicine. Collins joked, in the wake of Reyes going 0-for-4
in the Mets' 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies to drop to 1-for-27 (.037)
this season, that it was time to bring in the heavy hitters of national
intelligence and law enforcement to help work things out. "I've got the
FBI out looking for the real Jose Reyes," Collins said. "He's being
held someplace." Hey oh, T.C. Nothing like suggesting that the veteran
leadoff hitter who’s been known more in the past couple years for his ugly
behavior off the field than any kind of production on it should be on the FBI’s
radar. When the onslaught of laughter that surely followed his joke died down,
Collins said he has no plans to sit Reyes even though the infielder had just
racked up his fourth straight hitless game. "You have to let him work
through it,'' Collins said. "... We all know he's just too good a player
to continue to struggle, and I think when he breaks out you're going to see a
different lineup." Yes, and here’s hoping he doesn’t end up in a different
kind of lineup any time soon………
- Fast food can be addictive…enough to drive a seemingly
nice, normal 8-year-old boy into a life of grand theft auto. Such is the story
of an Ohio boy who has clearly developed an addiction to McDonald’s food, so
much so that he climbed into the driver’s seat of his father’s van and drove he
and his sister to the Golden Arches for some grub. His desire for a
cheeseburger met seamlessly with the age of YouTube and after watching a few
videos on how to drive a car, he and his sister made their way to their local
McDonald’s. According to police, the boy obeyed all traffic laws, including
stopping properly at red lights, waiting for traffic to pass before taking a
left turn and obeying the speed limit as he drove to the McDonald’s half a mile
from his East Palestine home while his parents were sleeping. Sadly he was
probably one of the more competent drivers on the road, but when the two
children rolled through the drive-thru with their piggy bank money in hand,
employees workers were convinced it was all a prank. “The workers thought that
the parents were in the back, but obviously they weren’t,” police officer Jacob
Koehler said. Eventually, police were called and the boy finally copped to
doing something wrong. Through tears, he told Koehler that he just really
wanted a cheeseburger and the siblings were able to dine on fatty fast food
while they waited for their grandparents to pick them up……..
- Dumbledore was old and not all that good-looking when the
Harry Potter franchise was alive and rolling in the cinematic dough. Now that
the character is being revived in the sequel to “Fantastic Beasts And Where To
Find Them,” the Dumble one is getting an aesthetic upgrade in the form of Jude
Law. Law is set to play a young version of Dumbledore in the film, which will
be the successor to a project released to critical and commercial success last
year and which has spawned what will now become a
five-movie franchise by writer JK Rowling. Director David Yates is back to helm
the sequel and confirmed in a statement that Law would be a big part of the
cast. “Jude Law is a phenomenally talented actor whose work I have long
admired, and I’m looking forward to finally having the opportunity to work with
him,” Yates explained. “I know he will brilliantly capture all the unexpected
facets of Albus Dumbledore as JK Rowling reveals this very different time in
his life.” Law joined a star-laden cast that will also include Johnny Depp, reprising
his role as Gellert Grindelward, the villain originally seen in “Harry Potter
And The Sorcerer’s Stone” and, later, “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.”
Any chance to wear weird makeup, bizarre costumes and affect an odd accent are
like catnip to Depp, who of course also loves the stacks of cash this role will
earn him. Mixing in Law and what will surely be another big name or two should
push a film that was already over the top with its loyal fans back over the top
and back again, making Rowling possibly the only person involved who has a
chance to become richer from all of this than Depp……
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