On Versace, muppets, apologies, significance of actions, cluster munitions and entertainment stuff…

Starting on a light note, since I know this post is going to be fairly heavy in content, this page features (towards the bottom) a picture of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who is a pretty good actor, with Donatella Versace. You know, the fashion icon. Now, aside from the hilariously manly shoulders on that woman (and obvious traces of plastic surgery), the picture made me laugh because of this. The only question remaining is: which was first?… I’m pretty sure it’s the muppet…

So, it turns out I am far from the first to make this comparison… eh, not like I care…

So, on to the heavy stuff…

Turns out that an ex-U.S. soldier who raped a 14-year old girl, then killed her as well as her parents and 6-year old sister while posted in Iraq, is ’sorry’ about it… Turns out, according to him, that what he did was ‘evil’ and he regrets having anything to do with the war in Iraq, as the whole thing is also ’evil’… Well, I suppose it’s good to know the kid’s thinking about  his actions, but there are times when ‘better late than never’ do not cut it.

Luckily, the guy’s getting life with no possibility of parole, so it’s not like he’s laying the groundwork for early release or anything, which it really sounded like to me. While I’m not particularly a fan of the death penalty, had this guy been sentenced to die, I don’t think It would’ve been a neccessarily bad thing. Just my view, of course…

Now, another particularly sad story; A NYPD officer was shot dead by one of his colleagues while attempting to apprehend a man he caught breaking in to his car. Now, the way things apparently unfolded, the officer had finished his shift and walked to his car, where he found a man in it going through his stuff. Needless to say, he called out and, when the man ran, gave chase. He drew his pistol whilst chasing him, which is the important thing here.

The foot chase moved across the path of a plain-clothes unit travelling down a nearby street and one of the officers in the car got out, calling for the officer (who, you must realise, was also in civillian clothing) to stop and put the gun down. The officer giving chase stopped and turned, gun in hand, to face the officer who had just called out. At this point, he was shot 3 times, the other officer percieving his motions as threatening.

To me, this story is not just sad because a man who had stepped up and vowed to uphold law and order, to be a part of the thin blue line, was shot by one of his peers, although the story itself is tragic. The thing that saddens me is the significance of each officer’s actions.

1) The officer who was shot chased a man who had broken in to his car, who had not shown any hostile intention, with his pistol drawn. His first assumption was that this run of the mill street criminal not only was carrying a gun of his own, but was willing to use it. Not living in New York, I can only assume that the officer had enough experience with people just like this to know the dangers of pursuing him, which speaks volumes not only of the number of firearms of America’s streets, but of America’s gun culture as a whole.

2) The officer who fired the shots was quite right to exit his vehicle with his own firearm drawn, as the person he was attempting to apprehend was quite obviously holding a gun. However, he opened fire when the man turned to him, presumably to identify himself as a fellow officer. It was my understanding that an officer was prohibited from using deadly force unless there was no doubt in their mind that their assailant meant them fatal harm. Again, the fact that a man with a gun turning to him translated in the officer’s mind as ‘he’s going to kill me‘ is a concern, particularly when you consider that he had been working as a police officer for over four years.

It really does make me sad to hear of the death of a Police Officer, since I have nothing but respect for those men and women.

Final piece of heavy news, thankfully less sad, is that countries around the world have begun the destruction of their stockpiles of cluster munitions. A treaty has been signed by 96 countries, declaring that they will destroy the particularly nasty weapons and not produce any more. The treaty has yet to be ratified, but some of the countries have already started to fulfill their end of it, which is quite good.

However, in a rather unsurprising turn of events, the countries with the most of them sitting around; America, Russia and Cina, have nothing to do with it, refusing to sign the treaty. Hands up those who are shocked by this… Yeah, I thought so…

So, some more light hearted stuff to finish on: Doctor Who’s new companion… Acting aside, I can’t say I’m against the casting. A teaser for ‘Toy Story 3‘ which is very cute and very cool, confirmation of the ‘Alien’ prequel, which I’m still cautious but hopeful of and some news that, not only will there be one ‘Tintin‘ movie, but three with Steven Spielberg directing numero une, Peter Jackson directing numero duex and an unannounced third director, or possible co-direct for numero trois. That should be awesome!

Last, but not least, ‘Mass Effect 2‘ looks…SEXY!