- Someone
should probably tell Belarusian President Alexander
Lukashenko that Russia doesn’t so much ask you to host one of its military air
bases in your country so much as Vlad Putin and Co. give you a heads up that
you’re going to be hosting a base whether you like it or not. Lukashenko
informed the world this week that his nation doesn't want to host a Russian
military air base, which says much about the growing tension between the two
neighbors and allies, but doesn’t really affect whether or not the base is
built. According to Lukashenko, he knows
nothing about plans to set up a Russian air base in Belarus and if those plans
exist, his nation has no need for them. The statement came in the wake of Putin's
order to his government last month to sign an agreement on Russian military
base in Belarus. Underscoring all of this is the fact that the two countries have close political, economic
and military ties and Belarus depends on Russian energy and other subsidies. In
other words, Russia is the abusive parent that also gives their child a small
allowance and now the kid is objecting to dad deciding to tear down the kid’s
tree house because the tree needs to go to make way for dad’s new garage for
the old car he’s remodeling. Lukashenko is caught between trying to improve
Belarus’ ties with the West, emulate Putin by cracking down on dissent and free
media and not allowing Russia to walk all over him………
- Sure,
“Star Wars” fans are colossal dorks who tend to lack both social skills and
skin pigmentation on account of all their time spent dwelling in basements.
Still, it has to be pretty freaking cool to know that the next movie in the
iconic outer space franchise features a character
whose name is almost certainly inspired by your music. Enter the Beastie Boys,
who can be fairly sure that when “Star
Wars: The Force Awakens” introduces a new character called Ello Asty, it’s
a reference to the iconic rap outfit’s 1998 album “Hello Nasty.” On the
official Star Wars website, Ello Asty is described as "a skilled if
occasionally reckless X-wing starfighter pilot for the Resistance,” which seems
to jive fairly well with what the Beastie Boys have always been about. Director
JJ Abrams is known to be a fan of the group, famously using their track
“Sabotage” in his 2009 “Star Trek”
reboot. Dorks, er, fans of the franchise have used their ample amount of
free time on account of having no social life to study
an Ello Asty tie-in action figure and discover that it has the words 'Born To Ill' written on his
helmet in Aurebesh, a fictional language used in the Star Wars universe. The actual movie is set for release Dec. 18
and it will be set 30 years after the events of “Return Of The Jedi.” Beyond a Beastie Boys-inspired character,
the cast will include Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong'o,
Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow and Andy Serkis………
- Look
at Amtrak, all full of itself and trying to muscle up on the U.S. government. Yes,
the same Amtrak whose trains derail more often than the plot in a Seth Rogen
movie. Depsite its many and very public failures, the rail company is throwing
down the gauntlet and warning Congress that it will
suspend service on parts of its national network by December unless Congress
extends its deadline for implementing advanced safety technology. That warning
came in a letter sent Monday by Amtrak Chairman Joseph Boardman to Senate
Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. It outlined efforts to install
Positive Train Control (PTC) to enhance train safety as per the Rail Safety
Improvement Act, passed in 2008. The act set a Dec. 31, 2015, deadline for most
commuter and freight trains to be overhauled with PTC -- a new GPS monitoring
and safety network aimed at preventing deadly accidents like the recent Amtrak
derailment in Philadelphia that left eight dead. Anything that might help
Amtrak kill fewer people seems like a solid idea, especially PTC, which regulates
train speeds electronically by automatically slowing down trains as they head
toward sharp turns or crowded area. In his opus, Boardman wrote that Congress
must act to extend the deadline to install the system as host railroads are not
expected to meet the deadline. “Should Congress fail to pass legislation to
extend the PTC deadline beyond December 31, 2015, there will be significant
impacts to our service and on our customers and tenant railroads,” Boardman
said. He warned of “significant potential impacts” and said “a vast majority of
our network would be inoperable without an extension of the deadline.” Yes,
that could save lives and passenger service would continue on track that Amtrak
owns, including a large part of the Northeast Corridor between Washington and
Boston, but other regions would be affected in a major way………
- The
season certainly has taken a major downturn for the Georgia Bulldogs….right on
schedule. Under Mark Richt, Georgia tends to be ranked highly early in the
season, beat a bunch of cupcakes while some of its key players are suspended
for offseason arrests, then implode once the season heats up and the opponents
get better. So when wide receiver and star return
man Isaiah McKenzie was named in an incident report for making
"terroristic threats or acts" towards a female at a Chili's
restaurant prior to last Saturday’s 38-10 home ass-kicking at the hands of the
Alabama Crimson Tide, it was right on script for Richt’s crew. The idea of
terroristic threats at a place where all anyone really wants is their baby
back, baby back, baby back…..Chili’s baby back ribs is slightly hilarious, but
this one is real. According to police, McKenzie reportedly told the female that
"he was going to call some friends and they were going to come out and he
was going to kill her.” Why a Division I athlete would need to call in a group
of friends to harm a woman is unclear, but the police report also names four
other Georgia players -- safety Dominick Sanders, receiver Terry Godwin, linebacker
D'Andre Walker and safety Jarvis Wilson -- as witnesses. Not having one of
their best players certainly didn’t help the Bulldogs Saturday, but odds are
that McKenzie wouldn’t have been able to make up that 28-point gap on his own,
even with a punt return touchdown to his name this season. For now, he remains
a member of the team and with Georgia’s track record, one of his teammates will
do something even dumber to push him out of the spotlight very soon………..
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