Entertainment
WHITNEY HOUSTON DIED
They found her in a bath
(via)
Whitney Houston died this weekend aged 48. The singer was found dead in the bath of her hotel suite in Hollywood by her hairdresser on Saturday afternoon. Police who searched the room discovered bottles of prescription pills for anxiety and depression, but no illegal drugs. If you're desperate for a cause of death, the tabloids are reporting that she was seen "hitting the booze hard" and "sweating profusely" the night before. Apparently she had also been acting "erratically" in the lobby of the Hollywood Hilton. This involved "skipping like a child" and "doing handstands" by the pool. Houston had a well-publicised problem with crack cocaine at one point, but according to people close to her she had been "winning that battle" recently.People who remember their mum listening to her back in the 90s were a bit sad, Sickipedia went nuts and the people who were genuinely close to her were understandably distraught.
Europe
THE GREEKS HAD A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION AGAIN
Looting and arson in Athens as politicians pass latest austerity bill
(via)
We'll cover this story in more depth elsewhere, but basically it was Groundhog Day in Athens this weekend, as Greek politicians did what they had to in order to secure more foreign financial aid, while Greek citizens reacted angrily in the streets. More than 40 buildings were set on fire and many others were looted in the capital, while police and protesters also clashed in Thessaloniki, Patras, Corfu and Crete. Antonis Samaras, the leader of the New Democracy party that supports the austerity drive, stated that: "What we are seeing are scenes from a tomorrow that must absolutely be avoided." I guess for many young Greeks, it must seem like that "tomorrow" has already arrived.Watch Teenage Riot: Athens here. Entertainment
THE ARTIST WON A SHIT-TON OF AWARDS AT THE BAFTAS
It got seven(via)
Michel Hazanavicius' silent film The Artist won seven awards at this year's Baftas, including best film, best director and best actor. The best actor award was won by Jean Dujardin. Elsewhere, Meryl Streep won best actress for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. The Daily Mail really weirded me out when they felt it necessary to comment on Streep's "impressive cleavage". Entertainment
WOODY HARRELSON NOT DESCRIBED AS ASSHOLE
Actor described as "mellow" instead
(via)
An interview with Woody Harrelson was published in The Sunday Times and they didn't say he was an asshole. Instead, they talked about his relationship with his dad who's in jail, his straying from the church as an adolescent and the fact that he won his role in Cheers by sneezing and opening a door at the same time. Maybe we just caught him on a bad day. Go to page two for this weekend's sport.Sports
ONE MAN REFUSED TO SHAKE ANOTHER MAN'S HAND
They are both footballers(via)
This weekend, before a football match, Luis Suárez – a white Uruguayan who plays for Liverpool – refused to shake the hand of Patrice Evra – a black man from France who plays for Manchester United. Everyone got really angry about it during and immediately after the game, and then everyone apologised to everyone else the day after. The reason it was so controversial is because during a football match played last October, Suárez had allegedly told Evra that he had kicked him because he was black, and also that he didn't speak to black people, which is confusing because apparently he called Evra black (in Spanish) five times afterwards. The incident was a pretty controversial one, and after an FA investigation, Suárez was found guilty of racially abusing Evra. The Liverpool player was fined £80,000 and banned from playing for eight games. This weekend, Liverpool played Manchester United again. Usually, everyone shakes hands before a football match, but Suárez decided to ignore Evra's outstretched hand. Evra reacted angrily and grabbed at Suárez' upper arm, before regaining his composure and getting on with the game. Much of the world saw a racist refusing to shake hands with a man he'd racially abused. Luis Suárez saw himself refusing to shake the hand of a man who'd lied about getting racially abused in order to get him in trouble. Is Suárez really a horrible racist? In all likelihood, he doesn't have a deep-seated hatred of all black people. But did he call Evra "negro" a handful of times to upset him, in the hope that it'd give him the advantage in their sporting duel? This seems more likely. It's no excuse, but Suárez epitomises the Uruguayan footballing trait of garra, or 'claw': which can be boiled down to a desire to win at all costs. This often manifests itself in the use of tactics that you could describe either as 'streetwise' or 'cheating', according to how much you love the notion of fair play.Suárez using his hand to prevent Ghana scoring a goal that would have knocked Uruguay out of the 2010 World Cup is a very literal example of his garra. If the apology he issued on Sunday night was sincere, then Suárez has probably realised that in this instance his 'claw' had gone ingrown. The ones who've suffered most because of his actions are himself and Liverpool football club. It's not as if black people across the world woke up Sunday morning feeling under siege just because Luis Suárez refused to shake a black man's hand. But it's good that everyone's now apologised and agreed to move on, because when you get to the crux of the story it's just a very childish and tedious one.
WHITNEY HOUSTON DIED
They found her in a bath
Whitney Houston died this weekend aged 48. The singer was found dead in the bath of her hotel suite in Hollywood by her hairdresser on Saturday afternoon. Police who searched the room discovered bottles of prescription pills for anxiety and depression, but no illegal drugs. If you're desperate for a cause of death, the tabloids are reporting that she was seen "hitting the booze hard" and "sweating profusely" the night before. Apparently she had also been acting "erratically" in the lobby of the Hollywood Hilton. This involved "skipping like a child" and "doing handstands" by the pool. Houston had a well-publicised problem with crack cocaine at one point, but according to people close to her she had been "winning that battle" recently.
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THE GREEKS HAD A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION AGAIN
Looting and arson in Athens as politicians pass latest austerity bill
_.JPG)
We'll cover this story in more depth elsewhere, but basically it was Groundhog Day in Athens this weekend, as Greek politicians did what they had to in order to secure more foreign financial aid, while Greek citizens reacted angrily in the streets. More than 40 buildings were set on fire and many others were looted in the capital, while police and protesters also clashed in Thessaloniki, Patras, Corfu and Crete. Antonis Samaras, the leader of the New Democracy party that supports the austerity drive, stated that: "What we are seeing are scenes from a tomorrow that must absolutely be avoided." I guess for many young Greeks, it must seem like that "tomorrow" has already arrived.Watch Teenage Riot: Athens here. Entertainment
THE ARTIST WON A SHIT-TON OF AWARDS AT THE BAFTAS
It got seven(via)
Michel Hazanavicius' silent film The Artist won seven awards at this year's Baftas, including best film, best director and best actor. The best actor award was won by Jean Dujardin. Elsewhere, Meryl Streep won best actress for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. The Daily Mail really weirded me out when they felt it necessary to comment on Streep's "impressive cleavage". Entertainment
WOODY HARRELSON NOT DESCRIBED AS ASSHOLE
Actor described as "mellow" instead
Advertisement
An interview with Woody Harrelson was published in The Sunday Times and they didn't say he was an asshole. Instead, they talked about his relationship with his dad who's in jail, his straying from the church as an adolescent and the fact that he won his role in Cheers by sneezing and opening a door at the same time. Maybe we just caught him on a bad day. Go to page two for this weekend's sport.Sports
ONE MAN REFUSED TO SHAKE ANOTHER MAN'S HAND
They are both footballers(via)
This weekend, before a football match, Luis Suárez – a white Uruguayan who plays for Liverpool – refused to shake the hand of Patrice Evra – a black man from France who plays for Manchester United. Everyone got really angry about it during and immediately after the game, and then everyone apologised to everyone else the day after. The reason it was so controversial is because during a football match played last October, Suárez had allegedly told Evra that he had kicked him because he was black, and also that he didn't speak to black people, which is confusing because apparently he called Evra black (in Spanish) five times afterwards. The incident was a pretty controversial one, and after an FA investigation, Suárez was found guilty of racially abusing Evra. The Liverpool player was fined £80,000 and banned from playing for eight games. This weekend, Liverpool played Manchester United again. Usually, everyone shakes hands before a football match, but Suárez decided to ignore Evra's outstretched hand. Evra reacted angrily and grabbed at Suárez' upper arm, before regaining his composure and getting on with the game. Much of the world saw a racist refusing to shake hands with a man he'd racially abused. Luis Suárez saw himself refusing to shake the hand of a man who'd lied about getting racially abused in order to get him in trouble. Is Suárez really a horrible racist? In all likelihood, he doesn't have a deep-seated hatred of all black people. But did he call Evra "negro" a handful of times to upset him, in the hope that it'd give him the advantage in their sporting duel? This seems more likely. It's no excuse, but Suárez epitomises the Uruguayan footballing trait of garra, or 'claw': which can be boiled down to a desire to win at all costs. This often manifests itself in the use of tactics that you could describe either as 'streetwise' or 'cheating', according to how much you love the notion of fair play.Suárez using his hand to prevent Ghana scoring a goal that would have knocked Uruguay out of the 2010 World Cup is a very literal example of his garra. If the apology he issued on Sunday night was sincere, then Suárez has probably realised that in this instance his 'claw' had gone ingrown. The ones who've suffered most because of his actions are himself and Liverpool football club. It's not as if black people across the world woke up Sunday morning feeling under siege just because Luis Suárez refused to shake a black man's hand. But it's good that everyone's now apologised and agreed to move on, because when you get to the crux of the story it's just a very childish and tedious one.