Offending video game clip can be seen here.
The family of slain Angolan rebel chief Jonas Savimbi are suing the makers of the popular video game 'Call of Duty' for representing his character as a 'barbarian'. A warlord in a poor African country? Seems accurate enough...
Three of Savimbi's children, who live in the Paris region, are seeking one million euros in damages from the French branch of game publisher Activision Blizzard.
Lawyers for both parties describe the case involving defamation over a video character as a first.
The offending clip shows Savimbi, known as the 'Black Cockerel' by his supporters, rallying his troops from the back of a tank as the MPLA advances on them, gunfire rattling all around
Savimbi was the founder and leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which fought a 27-year civil war with the government in Luanda. He gave it his best shot. Quite difficult to prevail when the entire Western world is against you.
He was killed in battle against MPLA government forces in 2002, paving the way for a peace deal that would bring an end to one of Africa's longest and bloodiest conflicts, which erupted after independence from Portugal in 1975. Sort of like the 'end of conflict' when Castro assumed leadership following the revolution.
The war left at least half a million people dead and forced some four million civilians to flee their homes in the oil-rich nation.
#2
Most were internal movements, Angola is a very big country- area is double of France with just 20 millions now, even less at war time.
We don't have a rape problem from our ex.colonies.
There are ghetto issues but it is mild compared to Europe. Most of our murder rate is related to passion, family/neighbors fights, -i think the murder rate is higher in whites than blacks- than anything to do with gangs.
I still remember a commentary from an Australian tourist in 1980's: "black people seem to be working strong like anyone else"
I have had several black friends in school and college and everyone was like each other.
Here there is nothing of the perverse incentive apartheid system that American journalists and the Left are making in USA.
It should be noted that the Portuguese relationship with Africa went for almost 500 years.
Angola Capital was founded in in 1576 at time as fortress and trading post/market.
When visitors arrived in Lisboa in XVIII century were always admired by the number of blacks and mulatoes.
[EXPRESS.CO.UK] Dr Amnon Eden said more needs to be done to look at the risks of continuing towards an AI world. Computers = toasters with keyboards
He warned that we were getting close to the point of no return in terms of AI, without a proper understanding of the consequences. In fact, now they're putting little computers into toasters. We're gonna be attacked by breakfast!
Dr Eden said: "The New Year needs to see this ill-informed controversy replaced by a better informed analysis of the potential impact of AI and of its applications. The Terminator is coming! Even worse: He'll be back!
"In 2016 expert risk analysis must gain a far greater role in the thinking of policy and decision makers, of governments and corporations." Yes. We must trust government policy and decision makers. They know best.
Dr Eden is principal of the Sapience Project, a think-tank which has been formed to look at the potential disruptive impact of artificial intelligence AI. What's Dr. Eden's doctorate in?
Science fiction has regularly explored whether robots could destroy mankind, most famously the Terminator films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Try "Colossus, The Forbin Project"... From way before the days when kilobytes were the rage.
Dr Eden's stance comes after Oxford Professor Nick Bostrom said that super intelligence AI may “advance to a point where its goals are not compatible with that of humans”. In which case it wouldn't be very intelligent, unless somebody was dumb enough to design one without a plug. I'd expect something like that from a government policy maker.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Great. That way we won't have to work so hard to destroy ourselves.
#5
"Some days, when my sector is clear,
Which it's been now for many a year,
I'll take time to go scorch
On walls, with the blowtorch,
My portrait and 'Killbot was here.'"
#9
Everyone cites The Terminator and nobody cites I Robot. Robot are a long way from self consciousness IMHO.
In short they can't have 'competing goals' because they have no goals of their own. Any goals they have are from a human.
I'd be worried about misuse of intelegent robots by other humans.
An arms depot outside the central Libyan town of Hun has been destroyed in a massive blast. It is said to have been an accident and happened when an unstable explosive at the store detonated last night setting off a chain reaction.
No one was last hurt although an eyewitness told the Libya Herald there had been substantial damage to the premises.
Local fire fighters managed to deal with the ensuing blaze.
Munitions in several arms depots across the country are poorly maintained and, as a result, extremely dangerous.
[Dhaka Tribune] Police last night recovered five of a family with throats slit in a house in Baburail area of Narayanganj sadar upazila.
The dead are Taslima, 35, her daughter Sumayia, 7, son Shanto, 10, brother Morshedul Islam, 20, and sister-in-law Lamia, 20.
According to police, the murders might have been committed sometime between Friday night and yesterday morning.
Taslima's brother-in-law Shobuj said he and his mother found the two-room apartment locked from the outside when they came to visit the family yesterday afternoon. They tried Taslima's mobile phone but found it unreachable. Even the neighbours could not give them any idea where the family could have gone.
Several hours later they informed police, who came and broke into the apartment and found the dead bodies -- three on the floor in one room and the two others in the second room, Shobuj said.
Mohammad Ali, deputy inspector general of police, who visited the scene of the crime late last night, said they were primarily suspecting that the murders might be results of family feud.
The DIG also said that they had so far locked away Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! two people in connection with the murders.
Based on primary findings, police believe that the killers were possibly acquaintances of the family and paid frequent visits. Investigators are also ruling out theft or robbery because nothing so far have been reported missing from the small apartment and there were no signs of struggle.
While talking to our Narayanganj correspondent Tanvir Hossain, Taslima's mother Morsheda Begum said the killings might be result of disputes over money matters that her son-in-law Shafiqul Islam might have had with some lenders in Dhaka.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2016 00:00 ||
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Walmart abruptly announced Friday that it was abandoning a promise to build stores in Washington's poorest neighborhoods, an agreement that had been key to the deal allowing the retailer to begin operating in the nation's capital. They don't like it when they get beat at their own game it seems.
The giant retailer cited increasing costs for the new projects and disappointing performance at the three D.C. stores it opened over the past several years. But news that Walmart would pull out of two supercenters planned for east of the Anacostia River, where its wares and jobs are wanted most, shocked D.C. leaders. In one case, the city had already committed $90 million to make a development surrounding one of the stores viable.
"I'm blood mad," D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said at a Friday news conference. As mad as you were when 0bean lied about abortion funding in order to get that holdout group of Dems to vote for 0bamacare?
"It's an outrage," said former mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), who in 2013 completed the handshake deal for the stores. "This is devastating and disrespectful to the residents of the East End of the District of Columbia." Almost as devastating and disrespectful as when the store would have been looted in the future for some imagined insult.
The decision to withdraw from the planned D.C. locations came as part of a broader strategic move by the nation's largest retailer to shutter 269 of its stores around the world -- but not the existing D.C. stores, the company confirmed -- a plan Walmart hopes will allow it to focus on becoming a more serious player in online shopping and to improve its remaining fleet of supercenters and grocery stores.
But in the nation's capital, the two stores were more than statistics. For D.C. leaders, they amounted to Walmart's breaking a promise that had allowed it to win a public relations coup at a critical point for the company. Don't take it personal, it's just business.
After saturating the nation's rural landscape with big-box stores at the turn of the decade, Walmart had been blocked by liberal politicians and unions in New York and Boston from its next frontier, remaking retail in the nation's urban core. But in the District, Walmart won the right to open stores surrounding the U.S. Capitol -- and a symbolic victory for its belief that low-price goods help its poor customers more than low-wage jobs hurt its workers.
Under the initial deal, Walmart could build stores almost anywhere in the District, as long as it opened two stores in its poorest wards and areas of the city sometimes referred to as food deserts, with few -- if any -- options for fresh produce and groceries. One was planned for Skyland Town Center in Southeast Washington and the other at Capitol Gateway Marketplace in Northeast Washington.
The deal came at significant cost, however. Pushed by labor unions, a majority of the D.C. Council at first pushed back against welcoming Walmart to the city. Opponents cited Walmart's large profits and refusal to let workers unionize, as well as its reputation for low wages. I recommend the Unions join the Chinese embassy in a joint condemnation.
But as recently as last week, all of that seemed like a distant memory. In her list of first-year accomplishments, Bowser had included a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the city's latest Walmart, at Fort Totten, in a video montage and listed a technical deal signed in the fall that cleared a final roadblock for construction at Skyland.
Then on Friday, the deal was off. Walmart officials entered the mayor's office early in the morning and apologized, saying plans and economics had changed. Large urban Walmarts were more expensive to build and less profitable to operate than expected -- especially, it turned out, in the District. Maybe if the Dems fostered a better economic environment this wouldn't have happened. But . . . HEY! LOOK OVER THERE!
Mike Moore, Walmart's executive vice president of supercenters, said in an interview that the decision to pull out of the projects at Skyland and Capital Gateway was based on obvious fresh assumptions the company was making about the potential profitability of those stores. The officials said that they did not feel confident that the planned stores would generate healthy sales volume. Their latest math suggested that construction and operating expenses were going to be higher than they had originally budgeted for. Can anyone say "higher minimum wages?"
So far, Moore added, the three stores Walmart has opened -- one blocks from Union Station in the trendy NoMa neighborhood and two in gentrifying areas along Georgia Avenue and at Fort Totten -- were underperforming and "just not anywhere close to your expectation."
Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), head of the council's finance committee, sat in on the meeting Friday morning with Walmart officials and Brian Kenner, Bowser's deputy mayor for planning and economic development.
Evans said that, behind closed doors, Walmart officials were more frank about the reasons the company was downsizing. He said the company cited the District's rising minimum wage, now at $11.50 an hour and possibly going to $15 an hour if a proposed ballot measure is successful in November. He also said a proposal for legislation requiring D.C. employers to pay into a fund for family and medical leave for employees, and another effort to require a minimum amount of hours for hourly workers were compounding costs and concerns for the retailer.
"They were saying, 'How are we going to run the three stores we have, let alone build two more?'â" Evans said.
"The optics of this are horrible; they are not going to build the stores east of the river, in largely African American neighborhoods? That's horrible; you can't do that," Evans said. "A deal's a deal." Was raising the minimum wage part of the deal?
It was immediately clear that Walmart's announcement could also reverberate in a city election year. Gray, who is considering an effort to resurrect his political career after prosecutors dropped an investigation into his first mayoral run, said he was outraged.
Gray cast blame on Bowser's team, saying he had met with the project's developers two weeks before he left office last year and "everything was on track."
"What did the administration do to stay on top of this? There is no bigger project going on than this one, maybe in all of the East End," he said of Skyland.
Gray could run this year against Ward 7 Council member Yvette M. Alexander (D) or in an at-large race. But on Friday, he sounded more like a mayoral candidate.
"If I were mayor, I'd get on a plane and go to Bentonville," to Walmart's global headquarters in Arkansas, Gray said. "They should be held accountable." Why don't you just sue them? {snicker}
Speaking to reporters, Bowser was more muted. She said she was disappointed but stressed that the District's three existing Walmarts were not on the closure list. Although they probably could be if, say, "headwinds" were to somehow get any stronger . . . .
Michael Czin, her communications director, said that Walmart had signed a lease at Skyland, but attorneys for the administration and the developer were still analyzing whether either could be entitled to legal recourse. Gee. I wonder if Walmart's attorneys ever considered this angle.
"We're assessing options and looking at everything," he said. "We continue to talk to legal counsel. It's still somewhat early; folks are looking into how everything was written."
#4
Maybe the black racist CEO of Sam's Club will step in with a few shoot and loot "membership" stores
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/17/2016 10:22 Comments ||
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#5
Walmart is a co dependent of the GIVERnment; as the EBT cards get loaded Walmart reaps the benefits. this is the real reason the Distict elite cannot understand the decision.
#6
Walmart is a co dependent of the GIVERnment; as the EBT cards get loaded Walmart reaps the benefits. this is the real reason the Distict elite cannot understand the decision.
Posted by Airandee
It's a balancing act. Shrinkage can easily trump co-dependency.
#10
When you lose a Walmart it changes the whole town. We had one that wanted to expand here in Elkin, NC, but some lawyers showed up and blocked it, something about a few Indian graves in the forest behind the store. So they closed the store and the 30 shops around it are now half vacant. They ask nicely, can write a check, but they also walk away, and they will.
#11
Riot history and black lives matter have killed any chance of protection for their stores. Media will always be against you. Politicians also. look at Deblasio of New York, now there's a piece of work.
#12
Hey - I've got an idea! Why don't Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the mayor of DC, and the BLM people hold a riot demonstration at each of the three existing stores in DC. That should convince Walmart to build the new stores, right? /sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/17/2016 17:01 Comments ||
Top||
#13
So the "local government" was putting 90 million into a project to make development around one store viable. A store that generated, what, 400 minimum wage jobs? 9*10^7 divided by 4*10^2 is $225,000 expended per $24,000 job. Yeah, that works.
#14
When you lose a Walmart it changes the whole town.
For the better.
Because adding a Walmart makes it worse - it adds a few minimum wage jobs, kills the local stores, and doesn't add anything to the local economy except more traffic at the local Dunkin Donuts.
#15
Hey - I've got an idea! Why don't Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the mayor of DC, and the BLM people hold a riot demonstration at each of the three existing stores in DC.
I see an episode of Undercover Boss, where they each clerk there for a day.
#16
"Hey - I've got an idea! Why don't Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the mayor of DC, and the BLM people hold a riot demonstration at each of the three existing stores in DC."
I've got an idea, too, Rambler.
Why don't Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the mayor of DC open their own business(es) and employ people in the areas Wal-Mart backed out of? At $15.00 an hour.
Put your money where your mouths are, jackasses, or STFU.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/17/2016 19:47 Comments ||
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#17
B, that is not how community organizers work. There MO is extortion, not production.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
01/17/2016 20:09 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV] Thousands of Greek people have once again taken to the streets in the capital, Athens, to protest against planned modifications of the country's pension system demanded by international lenders in return for rescue funds.
According to media reports, about 3,000 people took part in the peaceful protests outside parliament in Athens on Saturday.
The ADEDY public sector union said in a statement the march on Syntagma square, next to parliament, was called to say "no to the dissolution of the security system."
Holding banners reading "You cannot bargain with social security," the protesters also chanted "Your hands off our pensions!"
They also stressed that they will continue to protest till their demands are met.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] PESHAWAR: A woman and her three minor children were found murdered in the limits of Paharipura cop shoppe here on Friday.
Police said the incident took place in Islamabad Mohallah locality.
A police official told Dawn it was not immediately clear when the incident took place as they came to know about it around 11am on Friday. "When police personnel reached the house, they found a woman and three children dead," the official added. He said that the slain were killed with an axe. He identified them as Bakht Meena, 32, wife of Umara Khan, Gul Meena, 7, Ameena, 6, and Waqas, 2.
The police official said the family head, Umara Khan, was untraced so far. He said Bakht Meena's mother had nominated Umara Khan and four other people identified as Syed Wali, Akram, Amanullah and Misri Khan in the murder case.
Amanullah and Misri Khan, who have been charged for facilitating the murder of four people, are already behind bars for murder of a sister of the slain women some years back.
The remaining accused had not yet been locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! , the official said, adding a domestic dispute was probably the reason behind the murder incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] At least two people were killed and three injured after a passenger van was ambushed near Chontra on Friday, the police said.
The van carrying 15 passengers was on its way to Chontra from Rawalpindi when it was attacked by two men on cycle of violences near the Dehri Village of Chontra.
A local of the area, Chaudhry Shaukat Ali, told Dawn: "One of the attackers looked like he was in his 30s and his accomplice, who was carrying a kalashnikov, looked to be in his 40s."
The attackers are believed to have been waiting for the van in which their rivals were travelling. After stopping the vehicle, they first asked the driver to step down. They broke a window on the left side of the van and aimed at their rivals. You're driving a van and two men try to stop you, one of them carrying a Kalashnikov. Do you
a.) Stop.
b.) Turn around and go back the way you were coming.
c.) Speed up and run them down.
d.) Call a Pakistained policeman.
A police official said the men then opened fire, killing their rivals, Fazal Dad and Mohammad Ashraf, who were sitting in the front seat, on the spot
"Which spot?"
"THAT spot!"
and injured three others, including two women.
The dead and injured were moved to the District Headquarters Hospital.
"The two men who were targeted were returning to their village after sitting in on a murder trial in Rawalpindi."
A senior police official said: "The two men who were targeted were returning to their village after sitting in on a murder trial in Rawalpindi."
City Police Officer (CPO) Israr Ahmed Abbasi told Dawn the motive behind the murder was old enmity.
"The attackers have been identified and live in the same village. Police reinforcements have been sent there to avoid festivities between the two families," CPO Israr said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] LAHORE: Okara police on Saturday locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! the imam of a mosque on terror charges in relation to the incident involving a 15-year-old boy who had cut off his own hand believing he had committed blasphemy.
On Friday night a first information report (FIR No. 36/16) was registered against the prayer leader Shabbir Ahmed on behalf of the state under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and Section 324 of the Pakistain Penal Code (PPC) against.
Police officials said the holy man was arrested under the National Action Plan (NAP) for inciting violence during a speech in which he asked a controversial question.
Around five days ago, the holy man, addressing a Mehfil-e-Milad at a village mosque in Chak 3D of Hujra Shah Muqeem town in Depalpur Tehsil of Okara District, said that "those who love the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) always say their prayers".
He then asked his audience "Who does not love the Prophet (PTUI!)?" The holy man asked, "Raise your hand." The child misheard the question and raised his hand.
The imam then pointed to the youth and alleged he was a "blasphemer who was liable to be killed".
When asked, members of the crowd said they were aware the boy had not committed blasphemy as he was the victim of a misunderstanding.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... police maintain that the allegations of the holy man led to the boy's heinous act, as he felt ashamed and dejected after being called a blasphemer.
The 15-year-old maintains that the imam is blameless while his act was reportedly celebrated by his parents and neighbours.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistain, where even unproven allegations can stir mob violence and lynchings.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/17/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
the only downside i see to this is that the poor boy will have to sit out one verse of "hokey pokey"
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[EXPRESS.CO.UK] Dr Amnon Eden said more needs to be done to look at the risks of continuing towards an AI world.
[Dhaka Tribune] Police last night recovered five of a family with throats slit in a house in Baburail area of Narayanganj sadar upazila.
[Iran Press TV] Thousands of Greek people have once again taken to the streets in the capital, Athens, to protest against planned modifications of the country's pension system demanded by international lenders in return for rescue funds.
[DAWN] At least two people were killed and three injured after a passenger van was ambushed near Chontra on Friday, the police said.
[DAWN] LAHORE: Okara police on Saturday 
