Archive for April, 2009
Boxing is one of those sports that seem to get nationalistic tendencies all riled up. In the Southeast Asian nation of the Philippines, in particular, people do get together to support their “hero” Manny Pacquiao. On May 2, Saturday, Manny Pacquiao is set to meet Ricky Hatton of the United Kingdom in the ring.
The People’s Champion, as Manny is fondly called by his fans and admirers, says that it is going to be war. The odds are in Pacquiao’s favor at the moment. Odds makers have named him as the favorite at a 2 is to 1 ratio.
On his part, Ricky Hatton says that he “has been here before. People say (I’m) over-hyped, overprotected, a fat, beer-drinking Englishman. Well, I’m going to shock the world again.” He also agrees that the match will definitely be a war.
As for their promoters, Pacquiao still has Bob Arun of Top Rank on his side while Hatton has Oscar dela Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. Boxing fans will note that the Golden Boy tried to rekindle his career recently by going against Pacquiao, only to have his face “rearranged,” as many commentators put it. Could this huge fight be his way of getting back at Manny Pacquiao? Perhaps.
In any case, the match is going to be over Hatton’s current title, the IBO junior-welterweight title. In spite of the odds, we can only be assured of one thing: that it is going to be a good fight and that the whole world (or a large part of it) will be watching.
Well, she has not been bitten literally, but boy oh boy, has she been burned in all its figurative sense! When Vice President Joe Biden bought a puppy from Linda Brown in December, she was ecstatic. And why not? It is not everyday that you get to have the Vice President of your country as your customer, right? As Brown said “I thought when Joe Biden bought a puppy from me, what an honor. Out of millions of breeders in the country, in the world, he picked me.”
So what went wrong here? When the word got out about the Bidens buying a puppy from a breeder instead of getting one from a shelter, Brown became the target of pet lovers and animal rights activists. And when we say animal rights, PETA is sure to be close behind. The well known group has grabbed the chance to point fingers at animal breeders; they are saying now that animal shelters have been killed because of animal breeders.
This is only the beginning of Brown’s nightmare. Her kennel has been visited countless times by dog wardens, giving her various citations for things as petty as a piece of kibble on the floor and 5 strands of dog hair. These citations didn’t wash, although Brown has had to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees. According to Brown, both her and the Bidens have received death threats from some animal activists.
Is it just me or is someone overreacting here?
Everyone loves Coke, or at least a ginormous number of people do. That, however, does not exempt the company from being reprimanded for less than honest ads, at least in the eyes of the advertising watchdogs in Australia. Last year, the soda giant ran an advertising campaign dubbed Motherhood & Myth-Busting. The main idea of the campaign was to promote Coca-cola as being safe for children. The claims include the ideas that Coke will not make children fat, and that it would not cause one’s teeth to rot – common concerns for children. The company even got popular Australian actress Kerry Armstrong to be its spokesperson.
This did not sit well with the consumer watchdogs, however, and the main governing body has commanded Coke to correct its advertisement. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which is tasked with watching over cases like these, has declared that Coke should do something about it claims. According to Chairman Graeme Samuel, “Coke’s messages were totally unacceptable, creating an impression which is likely to mislead that Coca-Cola cannot contribute to weight gain, obesity and tooth decay.” He went on to say that “They also had the potential to mislead parents about the potential consequences of consuming Coca-Cola.”
While the Commission does have a point, I dare ask this question: What kind of parent will totally believe that drinking soda all the time is good for his or her child? Interestingly enough, Coke has agreed to publish corrective statements regarding their campaign. I guess there is no excuse for any parent to rely on Coke as his or her child’s refreshment of choice!
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