[CA.NEWS.YAHOO] A jury awarded Erin Andrews $55 million on Monday in her lawsuit against a stalker who bought a hotel room next to her and secretly recorded a nude video, finding that the hotel companies and the stalker shared in the blame.
After a full day of deliberations, the panel said the stalker was responsible for 51 per cent of the blame and the two hotel companies would share the rest, which comes out to nearly $27 million.
Andrews, a Fox Sports news hound and co-host of the TV show "Dancing with the Stars," wept as jurors announced the verdict. She hugged her attorneys and family, who have supported her inside the courtroom throughout the emotional trial.
Jurors heard directly from Andrews, who testified that she was humiliated, shamed and suffers from depression as a result of the video, which has been viewed by millions of people online.
Andrews' parents described for jurors the terror they and their daughter felt after learning of the video but not knowing who took it, where it was shot and if someone was still watching their daughter.
An FBI investigation would later reveal that Michael David Barrett shot videos in hotels in Nashville and Columbus, Ohio, and posted them online. The trial focused on the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt and video.
On Friday, Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Hamilton Gayden found Barrett at fault. It was only up to jurors to decide if the hotel owner, West End Hotel Partners, and former operator, Windsor Capital Group, should share in the blame. The hotel is a franchise and Marriott is not part of the trial.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2016 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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[Breitbart] The production of guns has more than doubled since President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, amid his frequent demands for more gun-control and fewer guns.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has released its annual Firearms Manufacturing and Export Report, which shows that nine million firearms were built and sold in 2014, that’s up from 4.3 million firearms in 2008.
The March 7 report covers production figures from 2014, and shows that 3,633,454 pistols, 744,047 revolvers, 3,379,549 rifles, 935,411 shotguns, and 358,165 miscellaneous firearms were manufactured that year. That adds up to a total of 9,050,626 firearms.
#2
And 'they' think they can just pass a 'law' or 'regulation' to turn them in? How about a practice banning the sale of any automobile that can exceed 75mph. We'll just call any such conveyance an 'assault' vehicle. Remember, it's for your own good and safety, cause we all know that speed kills.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] All three courts in Afghanistan have finalized the trial of suspects involved in brutal murder of Farkhunda who was lynched over false Koran burning ...One of the basic tenets of Islam is that once a Koran has been printed it is expected to last for all time, no matter how old, ratty, and smelly other, lesser holy books may become. Should it actually become necessary to put a Koran out of its misery there is a ritual that includes extensive charivari, featuring long drawn-wailing and head bonking, ritual wife beating, and the sacrifice of dozens of women's noses and pubic lips. When the actual disposal has been completed there is a prescribed period of celebratory gun sex with the expectation of a minimum of two hundred casualties. Should actual infidels dispose of a Koran, Islamic custom calls for three weeks of rioting and a minimum of three dozen dead, which is a holdover from the days of Moloch worship... The trial of the suspects has been finalized almost a year after Farkhunda was lynched after she was accused of burning Koran in Shah do Shamshera shrine, an accusation that was later proved false.
According to the Attorney General Office, at least 17 suspects have been awarded jail terms, which include 20 years term for 3 of the perpetrators, 16 years tem for 13 perpetrators and another perpetrator has been incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! for 10 years.
Abdul Basir Azizi, front man for the Attorney General Office, told news hounds in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... today that all three courts have submitted their final verdicts into the case.
He said the Attorney General Office has been instructed to execute the verdicts of the three courts into the brutal murder of Farkhunda.
Farkhunda was brutally beaten, murdered and her body was set on fire by angry mob after she was accused of burning Koran.
At least 48 people including the custodian and the servant of the shrine were tossed in the calaboose You have the right to remain silent... by police after investigations revealed the accusations were false and no proof was found to prove the holy Koran was torched.
She was reportedly murdered after she spoke out against the superstitious practices she had witnessed with mullahs selling good-luck charms.
Her brutal murder also sparked several unprecedented protests in Kabul and other major cities of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2016 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
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#1
Seems like Farkhunda's treatment is a lot like some lefties would like to see for climate change deniers.
It also seems it's OK for crybullies to use the Holy Crayon for unholy purposes.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
An unidentified intelligence unit with the Ukrainian defense ministry said on Sunday it has identified several Russian Federation commanders currently operating in Donetsk, commanding formations for the rebels there, according to a news account in vesti-ukr.com
Among the identified commanders and formations is Russian Federation army Colonel Evgeny Chirkov, commander of 2nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, currently operating in Lugansk.
Included also in the list are Russian Federation colonel Andrei Yurevich Ruzinskiy (no field command listed) and Russian Federation colonel Dmitri Evgenevich Bondarev, commander of the 9th Separate Naval Infantry Regiment based in Novoazovsk in extreme southern Donetsk.
Commanding the rebel 1st Army Korps is Major General Valeriy Grigorevich Asapov.
Commanding the rebel 3rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (Gorlovka) is Russian Federation Major General Igor Borisovich Timofeyev. According to the news account, Gen. Timofeyev previously held command of the Russian Federation 33rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade.
Gen. Timofeyev has come up in reports before as the Russian Federation's main liaison with the leadership in Donetsk. His call sign is "Sokolov", a name mentioned last year as the main contact who ordered Donetsk president Aleksandr Zakharcheko to make an attack on Marinka near southern Donetsk.
That attack the rebels claimed was actually a counterattack on Ukrainian forces. Rebel forces at the time managed to take a small buffer zone which they have held since.
Russia long has claimed that it does not have army formations inside Ukraine, but Ukrainian media have claimed that it does, making the fighting in southeastern Ukraine a de facto invasion.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraine by clicking here.
For a map, click here. You can enlarge the map, if you open it separately.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Ukrainian forces began shelling a key road between northern Donetsk city and the city of Gorlovka after advancing into a buffer zone Monday morning, according to Russian language news accounts.
According to the Donetsk ministry of defense website, Ukrainian forces started shelling the Gorlovka-Donetsk road after moving into an area near Yasinovataya, which was previously unoccupied by either side.
According to available maps, Yasinovataya is a locality just on the south side of Highway E50, which turns into M04. According to descriptions by rebel media, the area immediately north of that road was a buffer zone between combatants, but now is occupied by Ukrainian forces.
According to Russian reserve FSB Colonel Igor Girkin's VKontakte page, the fighting near the road began at 1945 hrs and included tank gun, mortar and small arms fire, which hit rebel checkpoints on the road. Rebel media claimed Ukrainian forces were firing on civilian vehicles until the road was closed.
So far, Ukrainian military media are silent on the operation. Ukrainian military officials quoted in tsensor.net.ua did report artillery fire on Avdievka when a group of rebel soldiers attacked, but the attack took place at 1100 hrs in morning.
Avdievka is only a kilometer from the contested area near Yasinovataya. Rebel forces used 82mm and 120mm mortar fire on Ukrainian positions defending the road.
On the previous day another attack took place on Avdievka and, according to the report, four Russian soldiers were killed in the attack and another six were wounded. The attacking unit was identified as elements of the 11th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment (Makiyevka) of the 1st Army Corps.
According to the same report three rebel soldiers, identified as being with the 1st Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (Komsomol), were wounded in a minefield on Sunday.
The unidentified militiaman in the VKontakte report said that Ukrainian mortar fire hit Spartak, which is adjacent to the Donetsk airport.
The report also said that a Ukrainian battalion, identified only as the "Lvov" Battalion had moved into the town of Konstantinovka on Sunday with orders to begin "cleansing" operations.
It was reported in rebel media that Ukrainian SBU police unit was deployed to Artemovsk two weeks ago to begin cleansing the town of families who were considered pro Russian. Artemovsk is a key supply and command node for Ukrainian operations in the area.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com and on Twitter. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraine by clicking here.
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. civic group said Friday two ships have arrived in Kobe to transport the massive plutonium stash Japan agreed in 2014 to return to the United States.
The British-flagged ships will pick up the cargo in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, and take it during a 52-day voyage to the Savannah River Site, a U.S. government nuclear facility in South Carolina, according to Savannah River Site Watch.
The Pacific Heron and the Pacific Egret, anchored in Kobe, will transport 331 kg of the highly toxic material, including weapons-grade versions, from the Fast Critical Assembly run by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Tokai.
It will be the largest shipment of plutonium to be transported by sea since 1993, when Japan’s Akatsuki Maru carried 1 ton of the material from France to Japan, said Tom Clements, head of the civic group monitoring nuclear issues. It is believed that much plutonium is enough to make 50 nuclear bombs.
Where's Japan hiding the other kiloton?
The U.S. provided the plutonium, including some from Britain and France, to Japan for research during the Cold War.
In March 2014, at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with U.S. President Barack Obama to return the plutonium, and to also send highly enriched uranium kept at the FCA. Once it arrives in the U.S., the plutonium will be disposed of, according to the bilateral agreement.
Posted by: Steven ||
03/08/2016 1:39 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Once it arrives in the U.S., the plutonium will be disposed of
How does one dispose of plutonium? Bury it under some Nevada mountain? The Yucca Mountain site wasn't deemed safe enough for even low-level waste.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/08/2016 7:54 Comments ||
Top||
#6
At one time they had enough to make 50k nuke bombs. 331 kg is just a drop in the bucket.
#7
If you stack it up nice and compact you could get it all on one ship, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/08/2016 10:32 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Where's Japan hiding the other kiloton?
That's what I wanted to know.
So I found a web site that purports to convert from metric and it says 331kg = 0.3649 tons. So lets see, I'm not good at math but Windows has a little calculator and it says 1 - 0.3649 = 0.6351 as in 0.6351 tons or 576.15kg out of the original shipment of one ton from France to Japan. I'm no nuclear physicist either but that sounds like a lotta plutonium for which this article does not account. Gotta wonder if some of it is aimed at Pudgy or maybe the Chicoms.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2016 13:24 Comments ||
Top||
#9
This missing stuff's not in munitions:
Grab geiger and gaff and go fishin'.
The nuclear creatures
Peculiar new features
Outshine any fisherman's fiction.
#10
The Bammer = OWG Co-Superpower USA must decide whether a MilPol-resurgent/assertive, Nukulaar-armed Japan is what it nominally or de facto needs or requires for counterbalance agz Co-Superpower China.
Again, BEIJING = sees China-n-Only-China as the "US-style/par" Leader in East Asia-WESTPAC + any OWG Global Federal Union(s) developed therein.
IN ROUGHT PARITY OR EQUALITY WID THE US, NOT INFERIOR TO THE US, WHICH IS WHY CHINA IS DOING WHATS DOING IN THE EAST, SOUTH CHINA SEAS, TAIWAN, + IOR.
'TIS WHY CHINA WANTS THE US TO GIVE UP 1/2 OF THE PACIFIC + PULL BACK TOWARDS HAWAII-EASTPAC ASAP AMAP BY 2020 NLT 2025. However imperfect the merits or outcome, Beijing's policies are oriented or geared to this end.
* BIGNEWSNETWORK, TOPIX > [Reuters] CHINA SEES LITTLE TO CHEER ABOUT IN IMPROVING TIES WID "TWO-FACED" [double-dealing/crossing, duplicitous] JAPAN.
* JAPAN TIMES > OPINION/COMMENTARY: DAVID BANDOW: SHOULD SEOUL [South Korea] GO NUCLEAR?
US THAAD + Putin'S S-400 BMAADS in Siberia + Nuke-armed NOKOR, SOKOR?, + JAPAN?, ... ... Etc. to come = CHINA FEELING SURROUNDED LIKE CUSTER???
China's OWG Co-Superpower siblings RUSSIA + IRAN to get their newfound "Spheres of Influence" BUT NOT CHINA PER SE - SORRY, BUT I DON'T THINK BEIJING [or Other Wannabes] IS GONNA STAND FOR THAT.
* GLOBALNATION.PH > CHINA WON'T BUDGE ON SOUTH SEA SOVEREIGNTY.
You knew China wouldn't.
* TOPIX > [Washington Times] CHINA AMBITIONS MAKE BARACK OBAMA KNUCKLE UNDER.
Again, as a Anti-US US OWG-NWO Globalist the Bammer is doing it INTENTIONALLY.
WILL THE BAMMER = USA ACCEPT A POST-COLLAPSE NOKOR TAKEN OVER OR FORMALLY ANNEXED BY CHINA, PEACEFULLY OR FORCEFULLY???
DITTO ACCEPTING A JAPAN + SOKOR, ETAL. IN EAST ASIA-WESTPAC SUBORNED UNDER OWG B-U-T UNDER CHINA'S DOMINATION???
These are important questions which the Globies have NOT answered but are covertly still proceeding with in dedicated agendum, ULTIMATELY PUTTING OR EXPOSING THE US-WORLD TO A LOT OF POTEN EXISTENTIAL DANGER.
Link is to an industry blog; they cribbed it from the Mercury News, which requires registration.
The California Metropolitan Transportation Commission decided last month to trim the state's transportation improvement plan by $754 million, in advance of the expectation that lower gas taxes and lower oil prices would have a severe effect on state tax-derived revenue. The loss was estimated to be $1.1 billion.
As a result, it is now clear that many high-profile projects are at risk of being severely delayed or cancelled outright. It is being characterized by state officials as potentially "catastrophic" to the state's highway and bridge system. And the poor get poorer.
About 225 shovel-ready transportation projects across the state are threatened this year alone. "We're taking another whacking," a spokesman said, which marks the largest scaling-back in nearly 20 years, with a further $328.3 million likely to be cut next year. "Big projects will be pushed back, but everybody is going to feel this, especially when the big potholes in front your house don't get filled."
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/08/2016 11:15 ||
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#1
As I understand it, California has highest taxes in USA---why not use some for road renovation?
#2
...more direct graft at the polls paying the voter directly with 'free stuff' rather than the usual 'raising all boats' through the middle man.
to trim the state's transportation improvement plan
Improve, hell. Just maintain what you got which apparently can't even do.
#3
The headline is wrong. California politicians are bad for California roads. Gas prices are a convenient excuse.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2016 13:28 Comments ||
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#4
The CA upper crust can afford multi-million $ crap shacks, but can't afford to maintain the roads leading up to their driveways. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.
#5
Gas was about at least $1 less in Parump, NV (fairly remote) than it was in Barstow, CA (not so remote), the last time I went through there a few years ago (~$3.72 vs. ~$2.64).
I'm sure it's about the same 'percentage-wise' price difference today
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/08/2016 14:44 Comments ||
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#6
The CA gas tax is going from $0.36/Gal to $0.395/Gal on July 1. Note PER GALLON. If gas prices are lower, it makes driving cheaper and more affordable, which should raise revenue. The gubbamint bitch is cars are more fuel-efficient, buying less gas/mile. Striving for a mileage tax, not a fuel tax.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2016 15:01 Comments ||
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#7
Ain't that the truth Frank.
I'm expecting a law requiring GPS for all cars so the gubmint can track all our miles and send us a bill.
The Euros were putting up their own satellites to do this but I've lost track of that. Californicate will do it any day I expect.
GPS would allow them to not only set tax rates for specific roads and time of use, but anything on the road - bicycles, electric cars and carts, skateboards, your morning jog. Why, they could even figure how to tax you for simply being on the road stuck in traffic.
And all of your travel information will be e-mailed to a DOT server. It is quite safe there, sure sure.
#12
Does anybody remember the Nov 2005 Congressional hearings about how big oil was sticking it to the American consumer? Senators were shrilly grilling the oil executes. I remember one of the oil execs, tiring of the tirade, said that the industry made about a penny per gallon in profit. If Congress wanted to stop price-gouging the public then lower the gasoline tax.
The Senatorial screaming increased in volume. Sigh.
Posted by: Sven the pelter ||
03/08/2016 18:02 Comments ||
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#14
When first proposed, it was stressed that any CA gas tax would reside in its own ledger, as all of those confiscated taxes would go only to road upkeep. Once passed, those taxes were moved to the general fund so all that money could be siphoned off. And it was and continues to be to this day.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/08/2016 18:20 Comments ||
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#15
Rex, just like Social Security.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/08/2016 18:44 Comments ||
Top||
#16
#14, 15. True dat
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2016 20:25 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Illinois Toll Roads - After the main interstate system was built in Illinois, the Illinois DOT folks said they needed a 'toll' for vehicles only until the roads were paid off, which they figured to be by 1965/66.
My Dad (90 this year) still chuckles about that. I remember him telling me at the time while we were traveling on the 'I' to Chicago (1959 or so) and pulling away from a toll booth, that Illinois never would stop collecting the tolls.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/08/2016 21:50 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Lots of hybrids and electric cars aren't paying their fair share of the gas tax. California politicians have known this for some time and have tried to push for a tax by mile deal but the voters have shot them down whenever it comes up.
#19
After the main interstate system was built in Illinois, the Illinois DOT folks said they needed a 'toll' for vehicles only until the roads were paid off, which they figured to be by 1965/66.
Same story applies to the Mass. Turnpike, circa 1996.
[The Post] Switzerland has kept an application to join the European Union active for the last 24 years, however it has finally been abandoned.
Switzerland shares the same concerns with joining the EU that has Britain questioning whether to stay in it. The people of Britain believe employee wages will go up if their country leaves the EU, and are also concerned with the inevitable influx of Middle Eastern refugees that will be sent to Britain if the country stays in the EU.
Switzerland formally applied to join the EU in 1992 but the people voted 50.3-49.7 against the decision. This popular opinion against joining the EU has remained constant over the years.
On the other hand, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) has grown in popularity since this decision, becoming the #1 party since 2003 with its strongest polling results last year, influenced by the refugee crisis.
Swiss people have started to vote more like the Americans, supporting immigration but desiring a stronger control over who’s allowed into the country. They also have showed support for refugees who share the same values as the Swiss people, a quality that the Syrians do not possess.
#1
Side note, the Swiss hosted in Geneva the League of Nations and elements of its successor the United Nations for decades but wasn't a member till 2002. Let's not rush these thing people.
#4
Ahhh, but you have to put them in context, as in: "we're hate-filled intolerant assholes and this shows it"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2016 10:27 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I do believe a large number of the left are insane. Their core beliefs are often contradictory and I'm not sure how that can be managed by a sane mind.
[Guardian] Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu turned down the offer of a meeting with president Barack Obama, prompting a sharp response from the White House, in the latest evidence of the tense relations between the two leaders.
The abrupt decision by Netanyahu to cancel a visit to Washington later this month surprised US officials, who said they learned of the cancellation via the media.
The White House additionally disputed reports in the Israeli media that said Netanyahu cancelled the trip after the White House had been unable to find a date for a meeting that worked with Obama’s schedule, saying those suggestions were "false".
The latest friction between Netanyahu and Obama -- who have had a tense relationship, not least over the issue of Iran -- came ahead of a visit by vice-president Joe Biden to Israel, when the issue of US military aid to the country is expected to be on the agenda.
Netanyahu had been expected to visit the US in March on a trip coinciding with a major pro-Israeli group’s annual summit.
The White House said Israel had proposed two dates for a meeting between the leaders and the US had offered to meet on one of those days.
#1
Why not say: "Sorry Baraq, that's the date we're going to erase Iranian nuke program" (just to see how long it takes for Iran to go on high alert after the call ).
#3
Good for Bibi. This asshole is a lame duck, and his signing statement refusing to enforce anti-BDS provisions show that he hates the Juice.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2016 9:19 Comments ||
Top||
#4
He's met with the Champ on a number of occasions, the results appear unchanging and thus quite predictable. Something about an old axiom about 'repeating the same actions but expecting different outcomes' as defining insanity.
[Daily Telegraph OZ] Without a hint of irony the next 10 tweets called me a racist. An Islamophobic bigot, a liar and a whore.
It was a swarm.
Hizb ut-Tahrir fans were enraged over an opinion piece I wrote for The Daily Telegraph in 2014 that shamed the Islamist group for sending women to the back of the room at their public lecture on the war in Syria.
I wrote that it was as terrible as Mississippi blacks being sent to the back of the bus in segregated America. And it is.
People should be judged for their character, intelligence, ideas and abilities — not their skin colour or gender.
On Friday, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled the event’s organisers broke the law when they gave me no choice but to sit at the back section of the room or leave.
The Tribunal has ordered them to make sure that everyone in their organisation understands that gender segregation is not compulsory.
They have to put up signs at their venues and in all published promotional material to make this clear.
Islamists argue that gender segregation is “separate but equal”, and voluntary — a free religious choice.
But secular Muslims exposed this idea as false. Lejla Kuric, a former Bosnian refugee, is among those who have pointed out that women are subject to social coercion if they step out of line in the West — and has written about how in countries where gender segregation is enforced women are severely held back in every aspect of life.
Posted by: apples ||
03/08/2016 08:23 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hizb-ut-Tahrir
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.
...One of the basic tenets of Islam is that once a Koran has been printed it is expected to last for all time, no matter how old, ratty, and smelly other, lesser holy books may become. Should it actually become necessary to put a Koran out of its misery there is a ritual that includes extensive charivari, featuring long drawn-wailing and head bonking, ritual wife beating, and the sacrifice of dozens of women's noses and pubic lips. When the actual disposal has been completed there is a prescribed period of celebratory gun sex with the expectation of a minimum of two hundred casualties. Should actual infidels dispose of a Koran, Islamic custom calls for three weeks of rioting and a minimum of three dozen dead, which is a holdover from the days of Moloch worship...
[The Post] Switzerland has kept an application to join the European Union active for the last 24 years, however it has finally been abandoned.
