- Hey Romania, is your house in order? It had better be if
your president is out there offering his unwanted help to other countries
trying to clean up rampant corruption within their governments. Sure, it seems
nice that Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has offered to help Slovakia with
its anti-corruption fight, saying graft harms the economy and can deter
investment, but is this self-promoting politician really doing this without
ulterior motives? Romania's president said "eradicating corruption is
vital, because ... corruption is not just a threat to the consolidation of
democracy. Corruption slows economic growth. Corruption frightens
investors." Right, and you wouldn’t be looking to boost your own
reputation, maybe contend for a Nobel Prize or position yourself as one of the
great leaders of Europe with all of this, would you Klaus? According to
Iohannis, he discussed ways to tackle corruption during a meeting with Slovak
President Andrej Kiska and added that if Slovakia wanted information "or
to know our model in greater detail, we are more than willing to share our
experience with our partners in building organisms that are just as
efficient." Oh, YOUR model. How very magnanimous of you, bro. According to
Iohannis’ government, Romania's anti-corruption agency prosecuted 1,250 cases,
including a former prime minister and five former ministers, and reported a
conviction rate of 92 percent. Those numbers could totally be inflated or
outright fabricated, but keep offering that help around and see if there are
any takers……..
- Someone needs to tell the Notorious R.B.G. to stay in her
lane. Sure, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one of the nine, er,
eight most powerful legal voices in the United States, but just because she and
her fellow justices have the authority to decide on all manner of legal issues
and set precedents that are all but impossible to overturn doesn’t mean her
opinion on every subject is valid. For example, when it comes to San Francisco
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other players who have decided to kneel
during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality, N.R.B.G. has some
pointed thoughts that sound ill-reason at best and outright wrong at worst.
‘Would I arrest them for doing it? No. I think it's dumb and disrespectful. I
would have the same answer if you asked me about flag burning. I think it's a
terrible thing to do, but I wouldn't lock a person up for doing it,” Ginsburg
said. Oh good, you, a Supreme Court justice who should know everything about
the law, wouldn’t “lock someone up” FOR DOING SOMETHING THAT IS IN NO WAY
ILLEGAL. Well done, genius. Would you also not lock people up for holding up a
homemade sign in a protest march, exercising their First Amendment rights to
vocally criticize police or government officials or for eating a sandwich? All
of those are legal too, but maybe N.R.B.G. isn't a fan. "I think it's
really dumb of them," Ginsburg added. “I would point out how ridiculous it
seems to me to do such an act. But it's dangerous to arrest people for conduct
that doesn't jeopardize the health or well-being of other people. It's a symbol
they're engaged in." Yes, it’s always dangerous TO ARREST PEOPLE FOR SOMETHING
THAT IS IN NO WAY ILLEGAL. Thank God this Mensa is helping shape our country’s
entire legal system……..
- This is on you, would-be paintball battalion commanders of
the world. You think your little weekend color wars need to be as realistic as
possible, so you demand that paintball gun manufacturers give you weapons that
look and function just like the real thing, so they oblige and now, those
manufacturers are in the crosshairs of lawmakers and police in the Nutmeg
State. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and law enforcement officers possed
up to kick off the week, gathering in New Haven to urge paintball gun makers to
stop the sale of guns that look identical to genuine assault rifles.
"These paintball guns, virtually identical to genuine assault rifles, are
tragedies waiting to happen," Blumenthal said. "Federal law rightly
requires clear markings on toy and facsimile firearms, but inexplicably exempts
paintball guns." Blumenthal reiterated that the law requires orange
markings to be placed on toy and facsimile firearms and cited recent
occurrences in New Haven in which people carrying paintball guns resembling
AK-47s have resulted in panicked 911 calls. Why anyone is wandering around
toting an AK-47-like paintball gun in public is unclear, but Blumenthal sees it
as a clear and present danger. "This law must be updated and strengthened,
and I will be consulting law enforcement and safety experts as to specific
steps," Blumenthal said. "In the meantime, paintball manufacturers
should cease sale of these rifles until they develop clear markings along with
shape and style changes to reduce the risk of mistaking these toys for the real
thing." This war is just getting started……..
- Of course yours is different, Noah Hawley. Hawley is the
creator of “Legion,” a TV spin-off series from the X-Men films, and he wants
you to know that the show he’s crafting will be “very different” from the movie
franchise, which might not be the wisest move. After all, the reason this show
is getting a lot of run is its connection to the X-Men franchise, but there’s
also the ego of a show creator wanting everyone to know that he’s putting his
own unique stamp on the franchise and not merely following the predetermined
pattern laid out by those who went before him. The show doesn’t air until next
year, but the buzz is already building. Its star will be English actor Dan
Stevens as psychiatric patient David Haller, who learns from a mysterious
fellow patient that the voices he hears may be real and are from the X-Men
universe. Hawley addressed the fanboy masses at New York Comic Con and laid out
the ways in which his show will be new and different. “Legion is far away from
the X-Men movies, but it still lives within that universe,” Hawley said. “The
only way for X-Men to keep moving forward is to be original and to surprise us.
This is really a surprise. It’s very different.” Oh, you’re going to reinvent
everything? Even the comics on which the show is based, the one in which Haller
has a special connection with X-Men leader Professor Charles Xavier? As for
possible cameos from X-Men stars such as Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy,
Hawley insisted his show needs to establish itself before bringing in any such
big names. Keep telling yourself whatever you need, N., to convince yourself
that yours is new, different and better……..
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