Final Word from Thursday, May 7, 2020

A Russian intelligence agent arrived at Prague Airport with ricin poison in his briefcase, according to Respekt, but the Czech foreign ministry won't expel the nefarious bastard, because there isn't any direct evidence that he broke the law. There was enough evidence, though, to alert the press that the lives of three municipal politicians were in danger. It sounds like the silly plot of a James Bond film, said Culture Min. Lubomír Zaorálek on Czech TV. As a matter of fact, the remake of "Casino Royale" did indeed start out at the Danube House in Prague 8 and soon took Bond to Montenegro, where he nearly met his maker in the form of a beautiful Russian. Valenka, the girlfriend and assassin of the bad guy, slipped some digitalis into Bond's martini. He survived only because he had an antidote handy for just the right poison (as in Amesbury). The lesson from Prague's ricin affair: Those who don't remember the silly plots of Bond movies are doomed to repeat them. [ Czech Republic spy ]