"SLAPP Suits" is a 2019 segment of HBO's news-satire television series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, focusing on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), expensive lawsuits designed to scare targets into silence. In the segment, host John Oliver (pictured) celebrated his victory in a SLAPP initiated by Robert E. Murray; the lawsuit followed Oliver's criticism of Murray and his coal-mining company in a 2017 episode that included a man in a giant squirrel costume holding up an oversized check made payable to "Eat Shit, Bob!" Murray's lawsuit sought monetary damages and a gag order on the episode. The case was dismissed in under a year. In "SLAPP Suits", Oliver highlights Murray's frivolous suits against others, including reputable newspapers and private citizens, and stages a musical number titled "Eat Shit, Bob!", in which he jokingly accuses Murray of committing outlandish acts such as spitting on the Mona Lisa and shooting puppies into outer space.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLAPP_Suits
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolution: Patrick Henry made his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, urging military action against the British Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_me_liberty,_or_give_me_death!
1905:
About 1,500 Cretans, led by Eleftherios Venizelos, met at the village of Theriso to call for the island's unification with Greece, beginning the Theriso revolt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theriso_revolt
1919:
Benito Mussolini and his supporters founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, the predecessor of the National Fascist Party. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasci_Italiani_di_Combattimento
1996:
Lee Teng-hui was elected President of the Republic of China in the first direct presidential election in Taiwan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Teng-hui
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
bulldog clip: 1. A binder clip with rigid handles. 2. (surgery) A surgical instrument with serrated jaws and a spring- loaded handle used to grip blood vessels or similar organs. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bulldog_clip
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
How many more lives must be lost? How many more bombs must fall? How many Mariupols must be destroyed? How many Ukrainians and Russians will be killed before everyone realizes that this war has no winners — only losers? How many more people will have to die in Ukraine, and how many people around the world will have to face hunger for this to stop? Continuing the war in Ukraine is morally] unacceptable, politically indefensible and militarily nonsensical. What I said from this podium almost one month ago should be even more evident today. By any measure – by even the shrewdest calculation - it is time to stop the fighting now and give peace a chance. It is time to end this absurd war. --António Guterres https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Guterres