- Its
standards may be low, but Moldova is still taking a step forward in terms of
its presidential election process. The former
Soviet republic isn't known for fairness or transparency in its various
governmental processes, but this week provided a glimmer of hope as Moldova's
constitutional court ruled that the country's president will be elected by
direct vote for the first time in the country’s 25-year history. The surprising
ruling came in response to a request by an opposition party and while there’s
no way to know what the fallout will be, most observers expect that it will do
much to defuse social unrest reflected in months of protests over the more than
$1 billion that went missing from three banks prior to 2014 parliamentary
elections. Granted, having some $1.5 billion go missing isn't fixed just by
tossing dissidents a bone by letting them (theoretically) elect their next
leader, but it’s a nice gesture and a quasi-response to protesters who have
demanded early elections. Until now, the country’s parliament has elected the
president for this nation of 4 million located between Romania and Ukraine. Sadly
for parliament, the mandate of current President Nicolae Timofti expires this
month. The (probably rigged) presidential elections will be held later this
year and the only standards in place are that presidential candidates must be
at least 40 and have lived in Moldova for the past 10 years. Yes, just move to
a poor, troubled Eastern European nation and live there for a decade and you
too could be elected its next great leader………
- It’s
a really bad sign if spring training isn't even halfway done and we’re already
scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel when it comes to topics to talk
about. Having blown through Yoenis Cespedes’ outlandish string of luxury cars
and county fair livestock purchases, the world has now moved on to unearthing
the truth about Hank. Hank, of course, is the Milwaukee Brewers' unofficial
mascot. He’s a bichon frise mix who was found as a malnourished stray at the
Brewers' spring training site two years ago and embraced by the team, but
Hank’s identity is now in question. Social media trolls have questioned whether
the original Hank was swapped for another dog of the same breed after side-by-side
comparisons on blogs and on various platforms called into question whether the
current dog was indeed the original. For some inexplicable reason, the team
felt the issue was important enough to hold a news conference to assure the
media and fans that it was indeed the same dog. To the haters who noted that Hank's
appearance has changed in the past two years to a coat that is now a healthy,
white color, Brewers chief operating officer Rick Schlesinger produced a
notarized letter signed by veterinarian William S. Rice stating that the
Lakeside Animal Hospital in Milwaukee confirmed Hank’s identity via a microchip.
Hank was taken to the animal hospital back in April 2014 and had both the
microchip implanted and dental records taken when he was neutered. Those dental
records matched the teeth of the dog presented as Hank, so case closed, right? "We
couldn't ignore the dissimilarities, and while we all had a good laugh at the
theory, we wanted to take the steps to reassure everyone through absolute proof
that there was no Hank double," Schlesinger said. Glad we resolved that
crucial issue………
- Oh, how much
better a place the world would be if those who simply aren't cut out to be
parents were all smart enough to realize that simple fact. Jacksonville,
Florida resident and soon-to-be cell block D resident Lonna Lauramore Barton either
should have taken a pass on procreating or immediately explored the wonders of
adoption for her child as soon as the kid was born because if she had, the
child would probably still be alive and Barton would possibly not be set to
spend the next five years of her life in prison. Instead, a 21-month-old girl is dead, Barton just pleaded
guilty to child neglect and lying to police and her ex-boyfriend, as much of a
tool as he might be, has to be at least remotely aware of what a worthless
piece of crap he is. It all started when young Lonzie Barton was reported missing
last summer and after months of fruitless searching, Barton's ex-boyfriend
William Ruben Ebron Jr. led investigators to her remains in January. But because
Lonzie's remains were too badly decomposed to determine a cause of death,
police had to figure out how she died and that’s where the story went from
awful and sickening to rage-inducing. Ebron told the cops that the child
drowned while being left alone in a bathtub while he and Lonna Barton - wait
for it - got after it in the bedroom. Yes, these ass clowns put a baby in a
bathtub and then had so little self-control or awareness that they decided to
sex it up and leave the child alone to fend for itself in the water. Ebron pleaded
guilty to aggravated manslaughter and is expected to be sentenced to 20 years
in prison, but no amount of jail time is going to undo what these two ghouls
have done. Oh, and these revelations came only after Lonna Barton pleaded
guilty and agreed to testify against Ebron, so they’re also snitches in
addition to being soulless pieces of garbage………
- There
is nothing surer than a sequel or spin-off or prequel for a superhero movie,
hero team-up movie or comic-book-adapted movie right now. If you have a
superhero to anchor your franchise or a bunch of comic book characters to draw
in fanboys, then a studio will literally print money to pay for whatever you
want to do. “Suicide Squad” hasn’t even debuted yet and already its follow-up
is in the works, with director David Ayers on board to helm both projects. We
now know more about who will be a part of the cast for that sequel, “Bright,”
and that cast will include a pair of big names in Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Screenwriter Max
Landis (“American Ultra”) has penned the script and it’s being billed as a
“contemporary cop thriller, but with fantastical elements” and “a major twist.”
Bringing in heavy hitters like Smith and Edgerton will definitely give the film
more cache and the two actors are certainly keeping busy in the meantime. Smith
is currently shooting David Frankel’s “Collateral
Beauty” with Kate Winslet, Keira
Knightley, and Jonah Hill, while Edgerton is reuniting with “Midnight Special” director Jeff Nichols for the true story
historical drama, “Mildred Loving.” The presence of other “Suicide Squad” cast
members for “Bright” hasn’t been confirmed or ruled out, but if the first film
in the series does well this summer, it won't really matter who surrounds Smith
and Edgerton in the next one………
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