- And dictatorship lives on in Europe, even if it’s the far easternmost corner of the continent in a place that isn’t exactly on the agenda for most people planning a European adventure for their next vacation. Belarus just doesn’t fit neatly into that sort of trip and that’s not likely to change now that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, once called "the last dictator in Europe" by a U.S. official, handily won re-election in voting Sunday. Multiple exit polls conducted by national media showed Lukashenko firmly in the lead and his opponents refused to take the decision lying down. Some opposition candidates and their followers took to the streets in the capital city of Minsk and clashed with police. In the uprising, two opposition candidates were injured, one reportedly seriously. Additionally, national media outlets reported that several hundred protesters were arrested and taken away by riot police in a convoy of about 20 trucks. Despite the ferocity and outrage of those assembled, the square outside government headquarters in Minsk was cleared of protesters as of about 11:50 p.m. local time. In a true show of dictatorial force, the government closed off streets and police cordoned off the area. One of the groups gathered to protest came in support of presidential candidate Vladimir Neklyayev, who was one of the candidates injured in clashes with riot police. Another candidate, Nikolay Statkevich, was taken from the scene unconscious and carried back to his office. His spokeswoman, Yulia Ymashevskaya, claimed that he had been badly beaten. The special forces who did much of the beating during the riots used noise grenades and batons to subdue the crowd, then busted out their stun grenades on the demonstrators as they headed toward the square. Those efforts were not enough to deter several thousand people from gathering in the square, chanting "For Belarus!" while many of them waved flags with the symbol of the Christians Democratic Party, led by candidate Vitaly Rymashevskuy. Faced with such a blatant show of disrespect from those who dared to make their voice heard, police clearly felt they had no choice but to use force to push the protesters back and disperse them. The day’s most hilarious development was police turning the downtown square into a skating rink to head off the protests, which is certainly an unusual tactic. As a counter to that maneuver, organizers told supporters to bring salt and sand to throw on the ice. In the end, Belarusians are going to be stuck with another reign of terror from Lukashenko, who has been in office since 1994. He was running against nine other candidates, yet crushed all nine of them with anywhere between 76 and 84 percent of the vote, depending on which exit poll you prefer. Several opposition candidates wanted to see Belarus become a member of the European Union, a dream Lukashenko does not share. He even refused to participate in the first pre-election debates for presidential candidates since 1994 and also did not use an allotted two half-hour slots on primetime national television to address the Belarusians. While I doubt that he legitimately won 84 percent of the vote or at least did so without some sort of voter fraud or intimidation, the reality is that life is going to stay just as miserable as it has been for most Belarusians and breaking Lukashenko’s iron grip on the government just became that much harder………
- Don’t confuse not viewing your program’s accomplishments as being on par with one of the greatest men’s teams in college basketball history with us all being biased against your women’s squads, Geno Auriemma. Auriemma, of course, is the record-breaking coach of the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team and his team recorded its 88th straight win on Sunday over No. 10 Ohio State, 80-51 at Madison Square Garden. No sooner than the game ended and the top-ranked Huskies matched the men's streak set by coach John Wooden and his UCLA teams from 1971-74 than Auriemma took dead aim at critics who don’t view the streak as being equal to what Wooden’s teams accomplished four decades ago. "I just know there wouldn't be this many people in the room if we were chasing a woman's record," the Connecticut coach said Sunday during his postgame news conference. "The reason everybody is having a heart attack the last four or five days is a bunch of women are threatening to break a men's record, and everybody is all up in arms about it." Ha, ha, ha…….oh wait, you’re serious? Look Geno, nothing against you or your team because clearly you all are the class of women’s college basketball and have been for some time, but to compare yourself to Wooden’s teams or any other great men’s program is ludicrous. Look at the state of men’s college basketball, look at the depth of talent and how many good teams there are on an annual basis and then contrast that with the barren wasteland that is women’s college hoops, where the same few programs dominate year in, year out because there just isn’t the depth of talent in the women’s game that exists in the men’s game at this point. Blame it on men’s basketball having been more organized and developed for a longer period of time, thus producing more good teams and players as every level of the game from beginners on up. Or examine how many lopsided, 94-22 type scores you see in women’s high school and college basketball versus how many of those scores you see in men’s hoops. In other words, there isn’t as much developed talent from top to bottom in the women’s game and those who have it and are good enough recruiters to collect more than their fair share can then run roughshod over vastly inferior competition. So save the bitterman’s act, Geno, because it just doesn’t play. "All the women are happy as hell and they can't wait to come in here and ask questions. All the guys that loved women's basketball are all excited, and all the miserable bastards that follow men's basketball and don't want us to break the record are all here because they're pissed," Auriemma said. "That's just the way it is. Because we're breaking a men's record, we've got a lot of people paying attention. If we were breaking a women's record, everybody would go, 'Aren't those girls nice, let's give them two paragraphs in USA Today, you know, give them one line on the bottom of ESPN and then let's send them back where they belong, in the kitchen.' " The guys who love women’s basketball? You mean the fathers of those playing? Because those are the only men who “love” women’s basketball. But keep bittering your way toward history, G. Just know that your history is no match for what Wooden and his players accomplished……….
- What would the holidays be without the kooks from PETA making their über-annoying voice heard? I don’t know that the Christmas season lends itself to their particular brand of kook-ery more than any other time of the year, but People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals seems to think so because they held an anti-fur protest on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on Sunday. Their prime target for their little animal-lover-fest was Michael Kors, a clothing store that, like everything else on Rodeo Drive, is vastly overpriced and catered to the rich, plastic people of southern California. A few PETA idiots threw on Santa costumes and held signs urging shoppers to "let the animals have a Merry Christmas too," "cross fur off your shopping list" & "Ho Ho to Faux," the last of those three an obvious call to buy fake fur. Why PETA doesn’t object to the deaths of fake animals to make fake fur, I’ll never know. Lord knows those tools object to everything else. Their protest was directed at Michael Kors on this day, but the PETA ass hats who showed up to rock their Santa suits and cheesy signs said that they also wanted to put pressure on all designers who have continued to design with fur. Lindsay Rajt, manager of the campaign department for PETA, said "We are hoping Michael Kors will follow the lead of top line designers like Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Vivienne Westwood, and others... and design fur free." Michael Kors refused to comment on the protest and would not allow any filming inside the store, so all of the information coming out from this little protest is slanted in one direction. Beverly Hills police attempted to remove the protesters from the store entrance under the threat of arrest, but representatives for Michael Kors did not want to press charges and preferred letting PETA finish their protest. In turn, the PETA kooks allowed shoppers to enter and exit the store without more than an angry glare and a few choice words from time to time. For tourists and passersby who happened by the store at the right time, there was the ever inspiring sight of the PETA Santas in faux fur singing, "We wish Michael would stop Killing animals for their fur." As always, thanks for nothing, PETA. Now excuse me when I put up my leather coat, coonskin cap and fur-lined slippers, sit down on my leather chair perched on my bearskin rug and enjoy a nice meal of chicken tenders, steak and fish……….
- Few things are more amusing in this world than knobs who claim to see the likeness of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, etc. in piles of grass clippings, the bark on trees, dog droppings, etc. Journey with me to Socorro, Tex., where a bunch of brain-deficient fools believe that they have seen the image of the Virgin Mary in what they claim is an other-worldly reflection on one of the bakery’s windows. "I was standing here by the counter and I saw her. I knew it was the Virgin Mary," said employee Maribel Rivas. "I've told my clients about it and when they see it some cry some get real excited. I think it means togetherness, peace and it's calling for the end of all that's bad, all the violence.” I suppose it’s better than claiming you saw the Lord’s likeness in a lump of unleavened dough or a heap of doughnut scraps thrown in the trash, but this story is still every bit as ridiculous as it seemed on the surface. These sightings of holy figures in everyday places always start the same way: an idiot with too much time on their hands and a healthy imagination combines their need for something to brighten their disappointing life, perhaps drinks a little too much booze or smoke a little too much chron, then has a miraculous revelation. From there, the power of suggestion takes over. People want a sign of hope in their miserable lives and just like they look up at the sky if they approach a street corner and see someone else already looking upward. The first idiot shows them their “miracle sighting,” the second pathetic loser’s impressionable mind takes over and they’re on board. After that, the same mob mentality that allows crappy musical acts like the Hack Eyed Peas and whatever the hot toy is for Christmas in a given year takes over and things spiral out of control. Perhaps the funniest part of the situation is Rivas’ suggestion that the supposed Virgin Mary window reflection is a call for the “end of all that’s bad, all the violence.” How general and ambiguous of you, Maribel………
- One down, a few thousand to go. I fully support Country Music Television’s apparent choice to ban Julianne Hough’s music video for her single “Is That So Wrong.” Hough spoke about the alleged ban at a recent concert, saying that CMT has “kinda banned” the video. The network hasn’t officially announced any such ban, but the video is nowhere to be found on its airwaves or Web site. In the video, Hough gets all “hot and bothered” waiting for her boyfriend to come over and as the video goes on, she sheds various articles of clothing. Along the way, she also turns a few somersaults on a sofa and a bed, with the obvious premise of the video being to take a super-hot chick, remove her clothing bit by bit and hope that people don’t pay attention to the gawd-awful country music she’s lip-syncing along with. Hough’s unimaginative, vocally subpar brand of country pop has been done before and done by other with more talent than her (but poor results nonetheless because the end result is still country music), so focusing on her smokin’-hot physique is the right move. To understand just how little musical credibility she has, just realize that she still has more notoriety from her time as a member of the Dancing With the (D-List) Stars than she does for her music. Just don’t feel bad for Hough over having her video blacklisted because as we all know, even a bad album can move more units if there is controversy swirling around it. Still, that won't stop me from suggesting that CMT take this whole concept of banning videos to a new level and ban every country music video ever made, in essence banning itself and making the world a better place in the process……..
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