Tuesday, June 20, 2017

More people who shouldn't be parents, taking on Dracula and Nazi relics in Argentina


- The Cleveland Browns are historically bad at drafting players - unless you count their ability to successfully draft future members of the NFL’s substance abuse program. In that pursuit, perhaps no one excels quite like the Browns, having selected the perennially suspended-for-drug-violations receiver Josh Gordon - still not allowed back onto the field by the league - and being the ones who foolishly overreached with the eighth overall selection by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 NFL draft to nab former Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert, who played three completely forgettable seasons for the Browns, recording just 42 tackles and one interception over that time. His performance has been so lackluster that he’s now free-agent cornerback Justin Gilbert, although him being out there for any team to sign matters a lot less now that he’s been suspended without pay for at least one year for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Teams tend to be much less enthusiastic about signing players who can't actually, you know, play a single game for them this coming season and while Gilbert was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers before the 2016 regular season, he barely saw the field, recorded three tackles in minimal action and was released in February. In other words, he’s still firmly anchored in reputation to the team that stupidly drafted him and proved that once again, it has no idea what a first-round draft pick actually looks like, but definitely knows how to find a guy who can’t pass a random offseason drug test………


- Much to the surprise of no one, police in Argentina have found the biggest collection of Nazi artifacts in the country's history in a hidden room in a house near the capital, Buenos Aires. Argentina has long been known as one of the South American nations that was a haven for Nazis following the fall of the Third Reich, so stumbling upon relics that include a bust relief of Adolf Hitler and magnifying glasses inside elegant boxes with swastikas in a collector's home in Beccar, a suburb north of Buenos Aires, stuns no one. All told, 75 objects were found and authorities believe they are originals that belonged to high-ranking Nazis in Germany during World War II. "Our first investigations indicate that these are original pieces," Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said, noting that some pieces were accompanied by old photographs. "This is a way to commercialize them, showing that they were used by the horror, by the Fuhrer. There are photos of him with the objects." There were plenty of creepy, disturbing items Bullrich said would have been used to indoctrinate children, including toys that featured a large statue of the Nazi Eagle above a swastika, a Nazi hourglass and a box of harmonicas. Oh, and there’s a photo negative of Hitler holding a magnifying glass similar to those found in the boxes and authorities say they’ve gotten confirmation from historians that it is the very magnifying glass that Hitler was using. This find was set in motion when authorities found artworks of illicit origin in a gallery in north Buenos Aires, after which Interpol began following the collector and with a judicial order raided the house on June 8, finding the items stowed away in a secret room accessed through a hidden passageway hidden behind a large bookshelf…….


- After “Sherlock” came to an unexpectedly early end following the conclusion of its fourth season back in January, the question quickly became what’s next and for at least some of those involved with the popular BBC series, that question has been answered. The writing and production team behind “Sherlock” are set to reunite to work on a new Dracula-themed miniseries. That means “Sherlock” creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss – along with producer Sue Vertue – are looking onward and upward, as Vertue’s Hartswood Films will produce the new version of Dracula, which will be structured similarly to the miniseries format “Sherlock” utilized with feature-length episodes. Moffat and Gatiss will take plenty of inspiration from (and ostensibly creative liberties with) Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic novel and their finished product will hit the airwaves of the BBC some time in the near future. What isn't clear is whether the new series will be set in the times in which its source material was written, or if Moffat and Gatiss will set the events of Dracula in the present day, as they did with their spin on “Sherlock.” The answer to that and other non-pressing questions will have to wait for a while, as Moffat and Gatiss are both working on separate projects at present and won't be able to devote their full energies to all things vampire until those solo efforts are wrapped up…….


- Because #somepeopleshouldnotbeparents. For today’s evidence that many should take a pass on procreating, meet Alabama residents Michael Trosclair and Shari Tremba, who were in an odd situation that saw them make a long trip north to Indiana for a work conference and there, their tale took an ugly turn that in all fairness could be a blessing for their child because it might shine a light on the overall incompetence of her parents without doing any irreparable damage to her - hopefully. The child was toted to an Indianapolis bar with mom and dad, who decided that an Indianapolis bar was a great place to take an infant, causing fellow drunks to look on in horror as Tremba drank and smoke while breastfeeding her child. Nothing says maternal instinct quite like feeding your child as you pour nicotine, tobacco and alcohol into your body, so it’s absolutely shocking that these amazing parents were taken into custody and charged with neglect of a dependent in a situation that endangers the dependent - on top of a public intoxication charge. "Partying was more important than their child," a detective wrote in an affidavit. What a proud moment it must have been for all involved when Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to the Wild Beaver Saloon early in the morning following reports of a woman asking customers for beer because she had apparently run out of beer money and possibly blown right through the budget she had to feed her poor child with something other than fuel from her toxic body. Once again, read this and remember that it is perfectly OK for two people to care deeply about each other, want to be in a committed relationship….AND NOT BRING ANY CHILDREN INTO THIS WORLD FROM THAT RELATIONSHIP………

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