- Smuggling
Cubans into the country is always a dicey pursuit. Oh, but not the kind that
are hand-rolled, smokeable and come inside a humidor. Those are still difficult
to get through customs, but less so as U.S.-Cuban relations have normalized in
recent months. It’s a different story entirely when the Cubans you’re trying to
smuggle into the country are grown men with powerful right arms and a solid
command of the strike zone. Just ask Bart Hernandez, a baseball player agent
who has specialized in representing Cuban defectors, yet now finds himself
under arrest y by agents from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. He
was indicted on charges of alien smuggling by a federal grand jury in Miami,
where he was taken into custody. Hernandez has ties to the Miami-based agency
Praver Shapiro and has represented a handful of Cuban stars on Major League
Baseball rosters. His impressive client base include Jose Abreu of the Chicago
White Sox, Adeiny Hechavarria of the Miami Marlins, Jorge Soler of the Chicago
Cubs and Leonys Martin of the Seattle Mariners, but none of those guys are
involved in this current mess. The players in question is a Cuban national
identified in the indictment by the initials "L.M.T." and the feds
have accused Hernandez of conspiring with two already-convicted Cuban alien smugglers,
Eliezer Lazo and Joel Martinez Hernandez (no relation), to bring an individual
believed to be Leonys Martin Tapanes into the United States illegally.
Hernandez reportedly rejected a pre-indictment plea deal offered by federal
prosecutors and now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, along with
the possible forfeiture of $1.5 million, which prosecutors allege is the amount
Hernandez received in "gross proceeds" from his dealings with Martin……..
- In
arguably the most transparently bogus deal possible, Russia has agreed to
provide a $200 million loan to Armenia to fund the purchase of Russian weapons.
Yes, the Russian government is going to “lend” a fifth of a billion dollars to
its much smaller neighbor so that neighbor can funnel the money directly back
to Russia in a 10-year export credit that will cover the purchase of Smerch
multiple rocket launchers, Igla shoulder-fired air defense missiles, TOS-1
thermobaric rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles and other weapons. It’s quite
a haul and Armenia is part of several Russia-dominated security and economic
alliances that include many ex-Soviet nations, but even those links and being
host to a Russian military base doesn’t make accepting that kind of money from
Vlad Putin and his crew any less dangerous. Russia made this loan and
subsequent arms deal knowing full well that the supplies of new weapons are
certain to anger Azerbaijan, which has been locked in a conflict with Armenia
over Nagorno-Karabakh, and clearly Russia doesn’t give a damn because it knows
it can rough roughshod over Azerbaijan any time it damn well feels like it.
Most experts believe the new weapons shipments from Russia will help maintain a
military parity with Azerbaijan amid increasing tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, a
disputed region that doesn’t receive as much attention as other zones of
conflict in Africa and Asia, but clearly is about to become a much more
interesting place in the weeks ahead………..
- Woody
Allen is going all in with the new direction of movies and entertainment. The legendary comedy director has been around for decades and
could easily be called old school, yet he’s jumping fully on board with Amazon
Prime, the company's answer to on-demand streaming services. He’s already set
to begin filming a previously announced TV series for Prime, starring Miley Cyrus and scheduled to begin production
in March. But Allen isn't stopping there and has doubled down with the news
that his next film released exclusively through Amazon Prime. Amazon confirmed that Allen will be releasing his
as-of-yet untitled film this summer exclusively through the online video
platform. There are several big names attached to the project, a 1930s-set
comedy, including Kristen Stewart,
Steve Carell and Blake Lively.
"Woody Allen is a brilliant filmmaker. We're so proud to be in business
with him for both his next film and his first-ever TV series,” Amazon Studios
head Roy Price said in announcing the collaboration. There is no confirmed
distributor of the forthcoming movie, but with Woody Allen attached to it,
finding someone willing to take on the job shouldn’t be that difficult in order
to get the movie out to the world once Amazon Prime has done its thing. The
movie may or may not be big - the size of a Buick, perhaps - but it’s
interesting to see an older director who has become a cult favorite to many
over the years embrace the new direction of the industry and seek to reach new
audiences……….
- Of
course this was going to happen. If someone told you that a major state
university somewhere in the United States was going to give students the green
light to pack heat on campus, how long would it have taken you to guess it was
Texas? Half a second? Three-quarters of a second? Sure enough, we now have
confirmation that students at the University of Texas at Austin will soon be
allowed to carry handguns on campus. This week, University of Texas President
Gregory Fenves approved guidelines for gun owners in light of a recently passed
state law allowing guns on campuses. "I have thoroughly reviewed the
policy recommendations of the Campus Carry Working Group and decided to adopt
them," Fences said. "Under the law, I cannot adopt a policy that has
the general effect of excluding licensed concealed handguns from campus.” Yes, because…..Texas.
Last year, the Republican-led Texas Legislature voted to allow guns within
buildings on public college campuses throughout the state and furthermore, the bill
requires a university president to adopt and implement the law. But don’t worry
because open carry on campus is still prohibited, so it’s not like it will be
the wild west. UT tried to make the case that because the law says you have to
be 21 before applying for a concealed carry license, less than 1 less of
students will qualify for a license to carry a concealed weapon in classrooms
or academic buildings. Soon after UT’s announcement, Georgia lawmakers began
debate on a measure that would allow guns on college campuses, meaning it’s
only a matter of time before incoming freshmen are issued a Kevlar vest along
with their dorm room assignment and Internet ID. Get that Gloc ready, UT
students……….
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