Would anyone care if 'Mad Men's' Don died?

TV

Drusilla Moorhouse TODAY contributor

6 hours ago

AMC

Falling man from opening of AMC's "Mad Men."

We have a perfect ending for "Mad Men's" season finale: Don Draper jumping out the window.

Obviously there's no chance of that happening. He's the star of the show, and besides, two season-ending suicides in a row (RIP, Lane Pryce) would be awfully repetitive. (Like juggling two juice accounts. RIP, Ocean Spray.)

But nothing is more redundant than Don Draper himself. Other than his brief interlude as a faithful newlywed, you just can't teach this dog new tricks.

Even a year ago, the thought of losing Don would have been inconceivable -- even though the businessman's freefall in the opening title sequence seems to imply that is his ultimate fate. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a metaphor, we get it. But the wretched ad exec has become so dull, predictable and dislikable that we really wouldn't miss him if he took a shortcut down to Madison Ave.

Everyone with sense agrees that Jon Hamm is a nearly perfect human creature, but we'd much rather see him in another role -- like his hilarious bubble boy Drew on "30 Rock." And you know what? "Mad Men's" ensemble cast would be just fine without him -- especially Roger Sterling and Sally Draper, who could easily front their own spin-off series.

Here are all the reasons we're over Don Draper:

Serial cheating: He's not unique among his colleagues at Sterling Cooper & Partners, but at least infidelity isn't a full-time hobby for Roger, Pete, Ted (maybe) and the gang. And yes, we know it's a manifestation of Dick Whitman's childhood in a whorehouse, but the backstory doesn't make his adultery any less boring.

Alcoholism: Another snoozer story line. But would Don be more interesting if he were sober? Doubtful. Another Roger acid trip, on the other hand ...

The sads: He wept on Peggy's shoulder and curled up in a fetal position on his disgusted daughter's bed, but we have lost all sympathy for depressed Don. In fact, our reaction is the same as his: Wah, wah, wah.

Tyranny: Don really is a monster, as Peggy called him after he humiliated her and Ted in the season's penultimate episode. He's spiteful, insensitive and downright cruel. So is Pete Campbell -- but at least we love to hate the snarky stair-tumbler. Don we just hate.

Impostor: Once upon a time, Don's identify theft was a thrilling narrative. Now nearly everyone knows the truth, and no one seems to care. Sterling Cooper's creative director works about five minutes a day, is trashed or asleep the rest of the time, insults his clients and colleagues and betrays his family. So why haven't they publicly outed him? Not that we'd really care. Bob Benson's fraud is so much more fascinating now.

Grim Reaper: Don isn't directly to blame for all the show's deaths, but they sure do seem to follow him like Pig Pen's cloud of dirt. And speculation is rampant that Megan might be the next to go, thanks to a number of clues connecting her to Charles Manson victim Sharon Tate. (Megan's obsession with "Rosemary's Baby" -- directed by Tate's husband, Roman Polanski -- only added fuel to the fire.) Her murder would paradoxically breathe new life into "Mad Men" -- but not if it means we'll be subjected to a final season devoted to her widow's grief.

Are you ready for Don to take a flying leap (literally or figuratively)? What do you hope to see in the season finale? Click on "Talk about it" below and share your thoughts!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/if-don-draper-died-mad-men-finale-would-anyone-care-6C10382406

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Immigration amendment would give legal status to victims of climate ...

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Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz filed an amendment to the Senate immigration bill this week that would allow people displaced by climate change to seek conditional legal status, according to a report in ThinkProgress.

?The amendment I am proposing is quite simple. If enacted, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may designate individuals or a group of individuals displaced permanently by climate change as stateless persons,? Schatz said, according to ThinkProgress.

?Again, let me be clear about what this amendment does. It simply recognizes that climate change, like war, is one of the most significant contributors to homelessness in the world,? he added. ?And like with states torn apart and made uninhabitable by war, we have an obligation not to deport people back to a country made uninhabitable by sea level rise and other extreme environmental changes that render these states desolate.?

?It does not grant any individual or group of individuals outside the United States with any new status or avenue for seeking asylum in the United States,? he said.

The Schatz amendment, introduced Wednesday, also calls for a Government Accountability Office study on ?climate change-induced migration,? including the extent of internal migration due to climate change for the residents of Alaska, Hawaii, territories and other states, as well as the government costs associated with the migration.

ThinkProgress noted, linking to a Guardian article, that last year 32 million people were displaced from their homes due to disasters like storms, floods and earthquakes.?According to The Guardian, 98 percent of the 32 million displacements were due to climate change.

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Source: http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/21/immigration-amendment-would-give-legal-status-to-victims-of-climate-change/

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Happy 31st Birthday, Prince William!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/happy-31st-birthday-prince-william/

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Draft House bill threatens $1 billion in NASA funding cuts

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?King Mo? wins while ?Babalu? retires at Bellator

One fighter got back on the winning track while another decided to end his career at Bellator's summer debut on Wednesday night.

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal was knocked out in his last Bellator fight, which was a surprising result for the onetime Strikeforce champ. Wednesday's fight with Seth Petruzelli was his first fight since then, and he came back with a memorable knockout.

Lawal wrestled Petruzelli to the ground, then finished the fight at 1:35 in the first round with a huge right hook. He needed just one punch to knock Petruzelli out. Lawal will move on in Bellator's light heavyweight tournament to fight Jacob Noe.

"It's kind of highly emotional for me to talk about this right now, but I think maybe I've been in the cage more than everybody in this room here," he said. "I lived the life. That's what I want to say. I have no regrets. I was happy to help this sport grow."

Noe earned his spot in the semifinals with a win over Strikeforce and UFC veteran Renato "Babalu" Sobral. He lost in a third-round, standing TKO, then announced his retirement from MMA.

Babalu finished his career with a record of 37-11. He started fighting in 1997, and fought in Brazilians promotions and Rings before fighting at UFC 28. Sobral fought such fighters as Fedor Emelianenko and Chuck Liddell.

One of the more memorable moments of Sobral's career was at UFC 74. Sobral submitted David Heath with an anaconda choke, but wouldn't break the hold when first instructed to by the ref. He was later cut from the UFC and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his wrongdoing.

Sobral then went to Strikeforce and won the light heavyweight championship before losing it to Gegard Mousasi. He also fought in One FC, and then Bellator before he hung up his MMA gloves.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/king-mo-wins-while-babalu-retires-bellator-173628309.html

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Lavrov: Syria peace conference could be derailed

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) ? Russia's foreign minister said Friday that Washington is sending contradictory signals on Syria that could derail an international conference intended to end that country's civil war, warning that U.S. talk about a possible no-fly zone would only encourage the rebels to keep fighting.

Sergey Lavrov also criticized demands that Syrian President Bashar Assad step down.

"Not because we like the regime, not because we want the regime to stay, but because it's for the Syrians to decide," Lavrov said in an interview. "And to say you must capitulate and deliver the power to us is just not realistic."

In addition, he dismissed allegations by the U.S., Britain and France that Assad's regime has used chemical weapons.

Russia has been the key ally of Assad's regime throughout the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 93,000 people, shielding it from U.N. Security Council sanctions and continuing to provide it with weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that his country signed a contract for the delivery of S-300 state-of-the art air defense missile systems to Syria, but said it hasn't been fulfilled yet.

Lavrov defended the S-300 deal, pointing to the deployment of U.S. Patriot air defense missiles and fighter jets to neighboring Jordan.

"The contract on S-300s is absolutely legal, it's transparent and it's fully in line with the international norms and with the Russian export control legislation," he told The Associated Press and the Bloomberg news agency.

"Second, the contract hasn't been yet finalized. Third, the Americans are leaving Patriots after this exercise in Jordan, together with F-16 planes, and no one is asking them not to do this. The region is really full of weapons, including offensive weapons which have been supplied in the past to the countries of the region, and some of these weapons are infiltrating into Syria."

He said supplies of weapons to the Syrian opposition, which have been promised by Washington and are being considered by the European Union, would be a "very big mistake."

Lavrov was asked if Russia is warning the West in particular against providing the rebels with shoulder-fired air defense missiles that could challenge Assad's air dominance. He replied: "We believe this is absolutely illegitimate, and we aren't going to legitimize it by starting discussing some conditions on which these supplies could be justified."

Putin, speaking to reporters after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a business forum in St. Petersburg, argued that Western weapons, if they are supplied to the opposition, could fall into the hands of al-Qaida-linked militants who form part of the rebel force and eventually be used against the West.

Putin also warned that if Assad steps down, that could lead to the vacuum of power that would be quickly filled by al-Qaida-connected rebels. "How can we avoid it? There are well-armed, and very aggressive," he said.

Lavrov said during Friday's interview that while the U.S. says it favors sponsoring a Syria peace conference in Geneva, it has made statements that have sent a conflicting signal to the rebels. Lavrov said that the U.S. talk about a possible no-fly zone in particular has encouraged the opposition to step up fighting instead of sitting down for talks.

"The message the opposition is getting: Guys, don't go to Geneva, don't say you are going to negotiate with the regime, soon things will change in your favor," Lavrov said. "It's either the conference or the instigation of the opposition not to be flexible. I don't think it's possible to do both at the same time."

The date and location of the international conference on Syria haven't been announced yet, but it's already being dubbed "Geneva 2" because a similar event was held there a year ago.

"If our goal is the conference, then we must avoid any discussions and, of course, any action designed to establish a no-fly zone. We must avoid confrontational debates and one-sided resolutions in the (United Nations) General Assembly and in the Human Rights Council because all this isn't helping to create the atmosphere necessary to convene a conference," Lavrov said.

He shrugged off the U.S., British and French statements about the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime as ungrounded, saying they "smack of politics and speculation."

"We have been told by the Americans, by the French, by the British that they have proofs," he said. "What they showed to us is absolutely unconvincing. It's not based on facts, and it can't be taken as a proof."

He said that a new international probe must determine the truth and added that after the conflict is over, Syria could be encouraged to destroy its chemical weapons stockpiles.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lavrov-syria-peace-conference-could-derailed-131227642.html

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