Martin World News

 

So I thought I would do a Martin World News just to keep my writing skills from withering away. Also to get away from the utter stupidity of Notre Dame throwing a baby fit for not getting in the CFB playoffs.  I guess it comes down to, you shouldn't have taken the first two games of the season off, bro.  Anyway, let's see if we can find enough similarly idiotic stuff to make this interesting.

CNN: Follow the logic here, boys and girls

Headline: Who bears accountability for the boat strikes?

In reference to the US converting illegal drug runners from Venezuela and her amazing friends into "Acme shark food".  Lets see: These people are trying to enter our waters illegally, with intent to distribute illegal drugs and make an illegal profit.  Much of it being laced with fentanyl, which is a killer.  I see "illegal" in that explanation 3 times.  I'd say it's pretty simple where the accountability lies.  As my nephew used to say, "You play with fire, you get all burnt up."

GB News: Sorry for the delay, but...

Headline: Cruise ship delayed off Isle of Wight after container drops bananas in sea 

So imagine you are about to sail that night on a lovely cruise.  You're at the bar when someone tells you, "We won't be taking off till morning, it looks like."

"But, why?", you ask.

"Bananas."

 The harbor from which the P&O Iona was to leave that night was obstructed when a cargo ship, the Baltic Klipper...

...spilled 16 cargo contauiners in apparently rough seas- ""Eight of the containers were reported as carrying bananas, two as carrying plantain, one as carrying avocados, and the remaining five as empty."  Also, multiple containers broke open, which bunches of bananas washing onshore.

Russia Today: Sorry, my bad...

Headline: Russian athletes cleared to compete under national flag

The International Sambo Federation has restored Russian and Belarusian teams’ rights

Now, maybe you knew that "sambo" is a mixed martial art, combining judo, boxing, and wrestling.  Me, when I hear "sambo", my first thought is...

And I think DEI in Russia?  NOTE:  I didn't grow up, despite my age, with LBS.  I had...

NOTE TWO:  I thought it seemed creepy, and never really looked at it.

Japan News: Extra- follow up report

A while back we did a report on the bear that disrupted an airport in Japan, and discssed the rising amount of bear contacts.  Well, if you didn't think this was a big deal, the Japan News has a dedicated page on their site...

...where you can get the latest news, graphic maps of where and when the attacks are occuring, and what to do when articles.  So yeah, on top of earthquakes, Tsunamis, North Korea, and sushi, Japan has bears to worry about.

Times of India: Thankfully, it wasn't a "plop"

Headline: Mysterious deep-sea ‘Bloop’ had scientists convinced they’d finally found the giant Megalodon

So way back in 1997 (you know, the stone ages), US hydrological mikes picked up a mysterious sound in the southern Pacific- a "bloop" that they thought at the time was similar to a whale call.  Somehow or another, this led to a theory that the sound wasn't from a whale, but a long extinct giant shark...

Megalodon tooth vs Great White

,,,so they began to try and chase the sound down southward, ever southward...

...until in 2005, they finally realized the "bloop" was the sound an iceberg made when it calved off the Antarctic shelf.  Another "Bigfoot" shot down.

So why was this article just published? Apparently the TOI was trying to make a point about 'global warming'... 

The ocean is still full of mysteries. There are certainly species we haven’t found yet. But if the Bloop taught us anything, it’s that the most unsettling noises from the deep may not be from monsters at all, but from the planet itself shifting under the strain we’ve put on it.

Okay, then.

Buenos Aires Times: Let's get childish over a game

Headline: ONE NO-SHOW DESERVES ANOTHER

Okay, let me allow the reporter to tell this rather soap-opera-y story:

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last Tuesday suspended his visit to Argentina scheduled for next week. According to some reports, US President Donald Trump has taken amiss President Javier Milei’s decision to cancel his presence at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington’s Kennedy Center, especially since the Argentine represents the current champions. Milei reportedly wished to avoid appearing alongside AFA (Argentine Football Association) President Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, whom he is currently confronting.

So why are  Milei and Tapia feuding?  The competing Buenos Aires Herald explains...

The corruption allegations put Tapia in the spotlight amid an ongoing dispute between President Javier Milei and AFA over whether to allow the country’s football clubs to become private sporting corporations, known in Spanish as SADs. 

Okay, but now, we have corruption from Tapia?  BAH continues...

Argentine Football Association (AFA) President Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia is under fire for two judicial probes investigating allegations of money laundering. While one inquiry is looking into a financial company close to him, the other is based on a complaint accusing two people of acting as figureheads for his assets.

So let's try to simplify.  The trouble starts when Milei gets mad because the AFA, in his mind arbitrarily penalizes a team for criticizing the association on a point over trophies.  Then, FIFA gets involved by supporting Tapia against Milei and the club.  So when Trump hosted the World Cup draw, Milei stays home because he doesn't want to be seen with Tapia. Trump thinks it's personal, so he tells Bessant to stay home.  

And the cherry on the cake? The head of FIFA thought Trump got screwed by the Nobel committee on the recent peace prize, so at the draw, he gives Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize!

Finally...

Helsinki Times: When ours get drunk, they just insider trade...

Headline: MP Vornanen sentenced over Helsinki nightclub shooting

So apparently the question for MP  (and former cop) Timo Vornanen is, what DIDN'T he do?  The list includes: grabbing another guy by the throat and pushing him onto a sofa, later claiming self-defense that security cameras didn't bear out; then, when bouncers took him out, another guy DID threaten him, so he pulled a gun and fired it into the pavement (which the court found no justification for); which adds more trouble for him because his gun licence expired when he left the police to become an MP; then he proceeded to point the gun again AT the other two guys before sticking it back in his pants (literally and figuratively) and staggering off down the street, where he was aprehended.  And it got worse from there...

Blood alcohol tests were not disclosed, but the court noted that Vornanen was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident.

A search of his home revealed additional violations. Police found two blank-firing revolvers and two rifle magazines acquired without licences. Legislation passed in 2019 requires permits for these items. These findings contributed to the firearms offence conviction.

Just in case you wondered what there was to do in Helsinki at 4 in the morning.

At any rate, he gets a shot (oops, poor pun) at appealing the 8 month sentence that was handed down. A Facebook post by him said he's thinking about it.  But first wants to see he can duplicate the procedure during the weekend's Independence day celebrations.