Thursday, December 17, 2015

Scotland Plays Its Trump Card

GOP candidate Donald Trump has been stripped of honoraria in Scotland following his statements that Muslims should be prevented from entering the U.S.

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said: “Mr. Trump’s recent remarks have shown that he is no longer fit to be a business ambassador for Scotland and the first minister has decided his membership of the respected GlobalScot business network should be withdrawn with immediate effect.”

Meanwhile, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen revoked an honorary degree awarded to Trump in 2010 due to “statements that are wholly incompatible” with the university’s values.

Just a week after these embarrassments, Trump was dealt yet another loss at the hands of the Scottish Supreme Court.  Trump's attempt to prevent a wind farm being built within sight of his golf course was dismissed by five justices of Scotland's highest court.    Commenting on the decision, former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond branded Trump "three times a loser".

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Sports Fans Fail Biology 101

Outraged internet users are incredibly confused that American Pharoah (a horse) had somehow been passed over by Sports Illustrated for "Sportsperson of the Year." Instead, the honor was awarded to tennis star Serena Williams-- a human. 

What is it about the non-human being that could possibly have kept the magazine's editors from bestowing the honor of "Sportsperson of the Year" on the animal?   Mmmm . . . hard to say.

The tweets poured in-- "I'm cancelling my subscription!" . . . "why have a reader's poll if you're going to ignore it?" . . . "I'm sickened about what you did to the horse industry" . . . "American Pharoah is the man!"

What this says about the readers of Sports Illustrated, I'll let you all decide.



Sunday, December 13, 2015

Burundi Breakdown

The U.S. State Department is now warning Americans not to travel to Burundi as political violence there increases.  A travel warning issued on Sunday urges US citizens in the central African country to leave "as soon as it is feasible to do so".

On Friday, 87 people were killed after three military sites were attacked, Burundi's army said.  Witnesses said that some of those killed were shot execution-style with their arms tied round their backs.  According to reports,  bodies on the streets were almost a daily occurrence in Bujumbura, but the Friday count was the largest number of deaths in one night.

It all started earlier this year, when protests broke out in April after the ruling party announced President Pierre Nkurunziza would seek a third term in office.  The Burundi constitution limits the president to two terms-- but Nkurunziza claims that his first term (in which he was selected President after the end of the civil war by the parliament and not by a popular vote) doesn't count.  Although the country's constitutional court agreed with the President, many of the members of the court were harassed by Nkurunziza supporters and had fled the country prior to the vote.

An attempted coup by Army officers on May 13 failed to depose Nkurunziza, who then returned to Burundi and began purging his government and arresting opposition leaders.  Protests continued however, and over 100,000 people had fled the country by late May, triggering a humanitarian emergency.

Despite objections by the UN, AU, U.S., France, South Africa, Belgium and various other governments, Nkurunziza and the ruling party prevailed in parliamentary elections in June, but these were boycotted by the opposition. 

Sunday, December 6, 2015

As If The Star Wars Prequels Weren't Bad Enough


Chicago City Council members approved MAD Architects' controversial design for the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art just south of Soldier Field on the shore of Lake Michigan.  Yuck.  More details here.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Wake Up Every Day To A Mass Shooting


We've had more mass shootings this year than we have had actual days! 

Update:  Don't believe me? Take it from a Texan-- details here.