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Today: 61 articles and 143 comments as of 4:57.
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New Jersey Man Charged With Attempting to Support ISIS, Planning NYC Bombing
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Mob attacks two men transporting cows near Noida
[The Hindu] Two contract workers were attacked by alleged right-wing goons while transporting cows in Jewar here on Thursday.

The victims were identified as Jaibeer Singh (33) and Bhoop Singh (45), residents of Sirsa Manjhipur.

The incident happened when the duo was returning from Mehndipur after buying a cow and a calf. They got tired on the way and sat down under a tree.

"Some people spotted them and suspected them to be Moslems. They called some more people, who attacked them without any questions," said Mr. Jaibeer Singh’s cousin, Fateh Singh.

He added that the accused kept thrashing the two even though they told them that they were Hindus and were transporting the animals for personal use. Both the victims received internal injuries and fractures in shoulder and ribs.

Locals informed their families about the incident, after which they approached the police.

"The police lodged an FIR into the matter only after a lot of pressure," Mr. Fateh Singh alleged.

Jewar cop shoppe in-charge Ajay Kumar Sharma said an FIR had been registered against Mahesh, Ashish, Ompal and five others under Sections 147, 323, 504 and 506 of the IPC.

"The accused fled from the spot after the incident. We are looking for them," he said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, the pilot and the copilot had both hit the silk.

Jack! Cynthia exclaimed. Do you know how to drive one of these things?

Jack wiped some of the blood from his knuckles.

No, he said. Do you?...

the incident has triggered tension in the area. Locals have demanded stringent action against right-wing goons for beating innocent people in the name of cow protection.

Gautam Budh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police and District Magistrate have ordered the police personnel concerned to pacify the people and arrest the accused soon.

Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Locals have demanded stringent action against right-wing goons for beating innocent people in the name of cow protection.

Another Hilarity protest?
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Nah. Just a lynch moob.
Posted by: gorb || 05/06/2017 6:39 Comments || Top||

#3  gorb, that was simply appalling. To your room, now. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2017 11:57 Comments || Top||

#4  were transporting the animals for personal use.

I could see how they were mistaken for Mooslims
Posted by: Frank G || 05/06/2017 12:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Mission accomplished! :-)

I cleaned the garage. Can I come out now?
Posted by: gorb || 05/06/2017 14:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Can I come out now?

You are as delightfully incorrigible as the rest of the Rantburg crew, gorb. Yes, of course.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2017 20:18 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Ferguson Molotov Cocktail Protester Edward Crawford Tango Uniform
[NBC] Edward Crawford, a St. Louis resident who was the subject of an iconic photo epitomizing the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri, is dead.

Crawford was photographed throwing a flaming tear gas canister in an image broadcast widely during the months of unrest that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown Jr. by a police officer.

His death was confirmed to NBC News by the St. Louis Office of the Medical Examiner. Investigator Rose Psara said Crawford was pronounced deceased shortly before midnight on Thursday at 1435 Salisbury Street in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department told NBC News that Crawford shot himself in the backseat of a car while it was moving, according to two witnesses who were seated in the front of the car.

"The victim began expressing he was distraught over personal matters to the witnesses," said the police department's Public Information Officer Leah Freeman. "The witnesses heard the victim rummaging in the backseat, then heard a gunshot and observed the victim had sustained a gunshot wound to the head."

Crawford was pronounced dead on the scene. Police said an investigation is ongoing and, while initially declared a suicide, the official cause of death will be determined by an autopsy.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  darwin
Posted by: 746 || 05/06/2017 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  It seems there is a string of 'lead head' events. Wonder if they pushed for more payola?
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 1:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Congratulations Mr. Crawford. You now qualify for an honorary Bach. Sci. degree in a field you can't even pronounce.
Posted by: Thereth and Company9872 || 05/06/2017 3:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Brains UP! Don't Shoot Yourself
Brains UP! Don't Shoot Yourself
Posted by: Airandee || 05/06/2017 6:47 Comments || Top||

#5  distraught over personal matters

Justice Dept. circa 2017 isn't handing out stipends to his sort. Bound to cause distress...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/06/2017 8:41 Comments || Top||

#6  The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department told NBC News that Crawford shot himself in the backseat of a car while it was moving, according to two witnesses who were seated in the front of the car

"Call Mr. Wolf"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/06/2017 10:54 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Komodo dragon attacks tourist taking photograph
[SCMP] A Komodo dragon attacked a tourist in Indonesia who was trying to photograph the giant creatures eating a goat. Singaporean Loh Lee Aik, 67, was rushed to hospital with leg injuries after being pounced on by the venomous creature. "He was probably very excited taking pictures of the dragon, he didn’t realise another dragon was approaching him and then he was bitten," said local police front man Jules Abraham Abast. "Luckily it was a small dragon that bit him."

What next? The attack happened during the dragons’ mating season, which runs from May to August and is a time when the lizards are more aggressive. Abast said Loh failed to report his visit to authorities or take a park ranger with him, something visitors are advised to do. Thirty people have been bitten by Komodo dragons since 1974, with five of the victims dying, according to Komodo National Park authorities. Recent research has found that the dragons’ jaws have highly sophisticated venom glands that can cause paralysis, spasms and shock through haemorrhaging. They can grow up to three metres long and weigh up to 70kg.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Loh Lee Aik

Possibly a short guy, or of a lesser caste.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 3:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Nihon, where they run the komodos
To Benny Hill's themesong on kotos,
But pixelate no-nos
That wink from kimonos
In all those notorious photos.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 05/06/2017 14:13 Comments || Top||

#3  :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2017 20:24 Comments || Top||


Twitter, Bloomberg Team Up for Streaming News Channel
[An Nahar] Twitter is launching a 24-hour streaming news channel in partnership with the Bloomberg Media, in a major expansion of the social media firm's video operations, the two firms announced Monday.

The new streaming channel "will combine the vast global editorial and newsgathering capabilities of Bloomberg with the digital power of Twitter," a joint statement.

Michael Nanny Bloomberg, the founder of the financial news and information service and a former New York mayor, joined Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey at a New York media conference to make the announcement.

The streaming channel set to launch later this year will include user-generated content from Twitter which will be verified by Bloomberg editors, along with live video reporting from journalists at the news organization.

"Today's global news consumer wants and needs more than what's currently available," said Justin Smith, CEO of Bloomberg Media, in a statement.

"With this new network, we are setting out to reinvent the digital breaking news experience."

Smith told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the tie-up, that the new network would "be focused on the most important news for an intelligent audience around the globe and it's going to be broader in focus than our existing network."

Twitter chief operating officer Anthony Noto said in a statement, "Twitter's speed and vast global network of content and commentary combined with the high quality, editorial rigor of Bloomberg is a unique and powerful combination."

Financial details of the new venture were not disclosed.

Twitter shares jumped 6.4 percent on the news to close at $17.53, the highest since February.

The service could help Twitter expand its user base, which has been growing at a slower pace than its social media rivals.

Twitter has been seeking to broaden its appeal beyond its core user base of celebrities, politicians and journalists, ramping up efforts in video and live sports.

But in its quarterly results last week, Twitter reported a drop in revenue, despite boosting its monthly user base to 328 million, up 14 percent from a year ago.

Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Up to the moment Fake News!'
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 1:32 Comments || Top||

#2  On the down side, how much video can you fit into 140 bytes?
Posted by: Thereth and Company9872 || 05/06/2017 4:08 Comments || Top||

#3  That's a down side?
Posted by: Pappy || 05/06/2017 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  This means you can ignore Both At Once!
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/06/2017 15:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Twitter has an new and improved strategy on 'How to become Irrelevant even Faster!' Double down on Stupid.
Posted by: magpie || 05/06/2017 16:05 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Algeria Ruling Coalition Wins Legislative Elections
[An Nahar] The party of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
... 10th president-for-life of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term. Maybe it's the fifth....
and its coalition ally have won a clear majority of the seats in parliament, results released by the interior ministry on Friday showed.

His National Liberation Front (FLN), which has dominated the North African nation's politics since independence in 1962, won 164 of the 462 seats. Its ally, the Rally for National Democracy (RND), won 97.

Two Islamist lists won 44 seats between them.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi Arabia eases control on women as King Salman revises guardianship law
More on this story from yesterday.
[DAWN] Saudi women no longer need a man's consent to carry out certain activities, local media reported on Friday.

The Arab News said a royal decree issued by King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Cutodian of the Two Holy Mosquesand Lord of Most of the Arabians....
ordered that women are no longer required to obtain a guardian's consent for official services "unless there is a legal basis for this request" under Islamic law.

Government agencies were advised of this directive, the report said.

Though the new royal decree provides some relief, activists say the order does not go far enough.

Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women, and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.

Under the guardianship system a male family member, normally the father, husband or brother, must grant permission for a woman's study, travel and other activities.

Sahar Hassan Nasief, a women's rights activist in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, welcomed royal attention to the issue but said it remained unclear what will change under the decree.

"We still need more. We still need to get rid of the guardianship completely," she told AFP.

Nassima al-Sadah, an activist in the Gulf coast city of Qatif, said she does not think the government is about to end guardianship.

"Maybe they will just reduce it," she said.

Last year thousands of people signed a petition calling for an end to guardianship.

United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
special rapporteur Philip Alston, on a visit to Saudi Arabia in January, said the guardianship system needs reform.

Activists say that even female prisoners have to be received by the guardian upon their release, meaning some have to languish in jail or a shelter beyond their sentences if the man does not want to accept them.

Although the government no longer requires guardian permission for women to work, Human Rights Watch said in an earlier report that many employers still demand guardian consent in order to hire a woman.

Some hospitals also require a guardian's approval before carrying out medical procedures, it said.

Activists say that if they have open-minded male family members, getting their consent is not a problem.

Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  Some hospitals also require a guardian's approval before carrying out medical procedures, it said.

A sad anecdote, personally observed,...
A woman in full garb with mask (black) attended by husband and brother (tshirts, shorts, sand skimmer flipflops) during entry interview at a (wonderful) cancer treatment center was asked to bare her arm for the blood pressure cuff, then asked to remove her headgear so they could take her temp, check her eyes, etc. This little bit of cultural intrusion caused agitation in all three parties. When they were handed a cup and she was asked for a urine sample, the guys went nuts and had to be removed by Security.

True story.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 3:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Their leashes are now 4' instead of 3' and can be grey as well as black.


Posted by: AlanC || 05/06/2017 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  I think they're almost ready to progress to the tenth century.
Posted by: Matt || 05/06/2017 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  "unless there is a legal basis for this request" under Islamic law.

I'm pretty sure they'll find one.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/06/2017 14:52 Comments || Top||


Britain
Conservatives make strong gains in UK local votes
[AlAhram] Britannia's governing Conservative Party made strong gains in local elections on Friday, suggesting that Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit strategy is winning over voters who should hand her an easy victory in a parliamentary election on June 8.

Early results in the polls, which voters often use as an opportunity to protest against the ruling party, showed May's Conservatives had gained more than 100 council seats and secured victory for their candidate as mayor for the West of England.

The main opposition Labour Party lost control of councils in Wales, but the biggest losses were suffered by the anti-EU UK Independence Party, which has struggled to find a new footing since the vote to leave the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
last June.

By calling an early national election for next month, May has made the local votes a gauge of her leadership, and many of her Conservative candidates have campaigned in recent days using her campaign mantra of "strong and stable leadership".

But turnout was low and the Conservatives were careful not to overplay their expected victory next month, which could reshape the British political landscape for years to come.

"(They are) encouraging results but I am cautious about predicating the general election on them," Defence Minister Michael Fallon told BBC radio.

The opposition Labour Party also played down its losses, with Labour finance front man John McDonnell saying that despite it being "tough ... it hasn't been the wipe-out that some people predicted or the polls predicted".

The early results suggested that May's Conservatives had taken votes from both Labour and UKIP, signalling that her bid to position her party in the political centre ground and take a strong stance on Brexit may be paying dividends.

Opinion polls give May a runaway lead in the national election on June 8 of around 20 percentage points, which could hand her more than 100 more seats in parliament and bolster her hand in divorce negotiations with the EU.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Kim "just a regular guy"
sez Space Alien Dennis Rodman. A few choice insights:
With the free world on eggshells over North Korea's nukes, Dennis Rodman insists in a new interview that his "little guy" pal Kim Jong Un is "just like anybody else," and even told him, "I don't want to bomb anyone."

He adds that the kooky, missile-parading despot loves the US so much he listens to the "Rocky" and "Dallas" theme songs for hours on end. "When he's around his people, he's just like anybody else," he adds of Kim.
"except for the AA and mortar executions and shit..."
"He jokes and loves playing basketball, table tennis, pool. They love American '80s music. They do karaoke . . . He has this 13-piece girls' band with violins . . . He loves the Doors and Jimi Hendrix . . . When I first went, the live band only played two songs for four hours: the theme songs from ‘Rocky' and ‘Dallas.'"
Doesn't get more fun than that
"When I first went there it was so . . . communist. Dry and dreary . . . like ‘The Walking Dead.' But the third time I went there, wow. [Pyongyang] changed a lot . . . [Kim] is building all these new condos and hotels. He built the largest slave labor camps and water park in the world, a ski resort and this big bowling alley."
"The malnutrition, executions, and oppression are sooo over-hyped"
Posted by: Frank G || 05/06/2017 12:16 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  With stick figures representing family members "educated with extreme prejudice" plastered on his 50mm's.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 05/06/2017 13:52 Comments || Top||

#2  I think it's about time Rodman went there again.
Posted by: gorb || 05/06/2017 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Just a regular guy? Yeah, maybe in Crazyworld.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/06/2017 14:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Come on, guys, consider the source.
Rodman says he's a regular guy.
Endorsements are based on confidence in the source.

Posted by: ed in texas || 05/06/2017 14:54 Comments || Top||

#5  What does a walking freak show know about regular guys?
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 05/06/2017 17:51 Comments || Top||

#6 
Posted by: 3dc || 05/06/2017 20:33 Comments || Top||


N. Korea Accuses CIA of Plot to Assassinate Kim Jong-Un
[An Nahar] North Korea on Friday accused the CIA of plotting with South Korea to assassinate leader Kim Jong-Un, amid soaring tensions in the flashpoint region.

The CIA and Seoul's Intelligence Services have "hatched a vicious plot" involving unspecified "biochemical substances" to kill the hermit state's young leader during public ceremonial events in Pyongyang, the Ministry of State Security said.

For the CIA "liquidation by use of biochemical substances including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance is the best method that does not require access to the target, their lethal results will appear after six or twelve months," the Ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

The accusation comes as Pyongyang issues increasingly belligerent rhetoric in a tense stand off with the administration of US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
over its rogue weapons programme.

The war of words between the West and the reclusive regime has spiked in recent weeks, and Pyongyang has threatened to carry out a sixth nuclear test that would further inflame tensions.

The CIA and Seoul's Intelligence Services (IS) have "ideologically corrupted and bribed a DPRK citizen surnamed Kim" to carry out the attack on Jong-Un, the statement said.

"We will ferret out and mercilessly destroy to the last one the murderous Moslems of the US CIA and the puppet IS of South Korea," the statement said, adding that the plot was tantamount to "the declaration of a war".

"The heinous crime, which was recently uncovered and smashed in the DPRK, is a kind of terrorism against not only the DPRK but the justice and conscience of humankind and an act of mangling the future of humankind."

The statement did not give any information on how the plot was foiled or what happened to the alleged spy.

Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  I think they are taking The Interview way too seriously.
Posted by: gorb || 05/06/2017 6:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Now some cabal of generals can bump him off and blame the CIA.

As if the CIA had the wherewithal. And stones.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/06/2017 12:07 Comments || Top||

#3  The CIA will have to go to the back of a very long line, Pudgy. Just sayin'.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/06/2017 12:32 Comments || Top||


China's abandoned future
[BBC] The eerie cities where nobody lives

Vast cities in China's new industrial zones sit waiting for a workforce yet to arrive. Photographers like Raphael Olivier and Kai Caemmerer have documented them in haunting images.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Centralized planning will do that. Oh, and the need to generate busy work to keep the population from unemployment and revolution.
Posted by: Hupeamp Bluetooth6024 || 05/06/2017 20:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm guessing the rent is still too high. Who can afford them?
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 05/06/2017 22:01 Comments || Top||


Economy
Energy Firms Dive in Asia after Oil Collapse
[An Nahar] Oil prices extended the previous day's sharp losses on Friday, dragging energy firms and Asian markets with them as investors are snaggled by fresh global supply glut concerns.

While traders are looking ahead to the release of crucial US jobs data later in the day, the collapse in crude prices has dented optimism on trading floors, with analysts warning about the possible effects on the economy.

Both main contracts tumbled around two percent in Asia -- following losses of almost five percent Thursday -- on fears about increased production from the US, Libya and Nigeria and the OPEC cartel's commitment to extending an output cut beyond a six-month agreement.

Renewed weakness in China, an expected hike in US interest rates -- which could make dollar-denominated oil more expensive to holders of other currencies -- and signs of slowing demand have also contributed to the dive.

"OPEC has been looking down the barrel so to speak, of resurgent supply from Nigeria and Libya amongst OPEC and of course, American shale which combined have completely offset the 1.8 million barrel per day production cut agreement," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, in a note.

Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Jean-Claude Juncker: ‘English is losing importance'
Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president,
yeah, that was a real nail biter of an election
opted to deliver a speech in French on Friday morning because he said "English is losing importance" in Europe.
It's quickly being replaced by Austrian. Or Hebrew. Or just possibly Arabic.
He gave the comments, which are unlikely to mend fences after a war of words between Brussels and London over Brexit negotiations, at the "State of the Union" conference in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio -- an annual event for European dignitaries.
*spit*
Juncker said he was opting for French because "slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe and France has elections this Sunday and I want the French people to understand what I am saying about the importance of the EU."
And I will also speak loudly and use small words.
In Florence, Juncker said, "[Brexit] is no small event. Of course we will negotiate with our British friends in full transparency. But there should be no doubt whatsoever about the idea that it is the EU that is abandoning the U.K. It is the opposite in fact. It is the U.K. that is abandoning the EU."
I think "full transparency" means "the heathen Brits are going to leak everything we say."
Posted by: Matt || 05/06/2017 08:32 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  opted to deliver a speech in French on Friday morning because he said “English is losing importance” in Europe.

Of course he would do and say this.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/06/2017 9:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Juncker: "Nous avons besoin de plus de subventions, vous porcs anglo-américaine."

Trump: "Eh? No capisce..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/06/2017 10:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Then he said "Neener neener".

The Ruling Class is made up of bitchy sixteen year old girls.
Posted by: charger || 05/06/2017 11:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Pissy little bimbo, ain't he?
Posted by: Pappy || 05/06/2017 11:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Yep, the universal second language is losing importance.

When a Romanian and a Brazilian get together at a conference what language will they speak? French? Mandarin?

When I went to school in the '60s German was considered the language of Science, French of diplomacy and English of business. Now it's pretty much English all the way around.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/06/2017 12:00 Comments || Top||

#6  English is only third but French is not even in the top 10 most common languages spoken on this planet. Perhaps Monsieur Le President should learn Mandarin.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/06/2017 12:23 Comments || Top||

#7  Something closer to home, like Arabic.
Posted by: Thereth and Company9872 || 05/06/2017 12:31 Comments || Top||

#8  How do you say, "Don't hurt me, I surrender!" in Arabic?
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/06/2017 13:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Abu, you're correct about Mandarin, but it is not a common Second Language that makes it easy for people with many different original languages.

The British empire spread it widely and it has become the most common language.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/06/2017 13:54 Comments || Top||

#10  When I went to school in the '60s German was considered the language of Science, French of diplomacy and English of business. Now it's pretty much English all the way around.

Because there is no longer any Science or Diplomacy. Its all business.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 13:58 Comments || Top||

#11  The French look back to the Bourbon Dynasty when French was the international language. Was. Get over it.
Posted by: magpie || 05/06/2017 15:53 Comments || Top||

#12  If Le Pen looses, France will be Pepe Le Pew trying to get a date from now on. So second class.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 05/06/2017 19:11 Comments || Top||

#13  Translation: My english is not very good!
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 05/06/2017 22:06 Comments || Top||


EU Official Angers Hungary with 'Anti-Semitism' Charge
[An Nahar] Hungary told European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans to quit on Friday after he was quoted suggesting Prime Minister Viktor Orban's animosity towards George Soros
...the secretive Hungarian born Ernst Stavro Blofeld-like billionaire who seems to fund every horrible progressive organization you can think of...
was driven by anti-Semitism.

Hungary's foreign ministry said Timmermans "should resign from his post after having accused Hungary's Prime Minister and the country's government of anti-Semitism".

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the comments were an "unfounded accusation" and that Hungary "has done more than anyone in Europe to combat anti-Semitism," a statement said.

It added that Budapest "has major issues" with the Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist but that "these disputes have absolutely nothing to do with George Soros' origins or religion."

Orban on Wednesday told the European Parliament that Soros was an "American financial speculator attacking Hungary" and that the Hungarian-born financier has "destroyed the lives of millions of Europeans."

Asked in an interview with Germany weekly Die Zeit published on Thursday whether he thought the comments sounded anti-Semitic, Timmermans said: "I understood that in exactly the same way as you and was appalled."

Orban was in Brussels to defend education legislation that the Central European University in Budapest, a highly respected institution founded by Soros, believes is aimed at forcing it to close.

Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't doubt there are Jew-haters who hate Mr. Soros because he is Jewish. They are fools; Mr. Soros is an equal opportunity despoiler of lives, having started in childhood by gleefully sending his Jewish neighbours to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis for material gain, and deserves to be hated for himself alone -- a generic category cannot encompass him.

But since the purpose of the accusation is to emasculate PM Orban and force him to comply with Brussel's demands for accepting Muslim colonists, it is a convenient stick to beat him with.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/06/2017 12:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Consider the source.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2017 12:39 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
IHC summons Tayyaba's parents to verify statement exonerating accused abusers
[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed the parents of Taiba, a 10-year-old girl who was reportedly tortured while working as a maid at a judge's residence in Islamabad, to be produced before court so it could verify their statement exonerating the accused judge and his wife from all charges.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Raja Khurram Ali Khan, and his wife, Maheen Zafar, are facing an inquiry for their alleged involvement in keeping juvenile housemaid Taiba in wrongful confinement, burning her hand over a missing broom, beating her with a ladle, detaining her in a storeroom, and threatening her with dire consequences.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
directed the authorities to produce Taiba's parents on May 10 so that their statements could be recorded and verified in light of the affidavits that were submitted earlier, in which they had pardoned the accused in the case.
Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


India's top court upholds death sentences for 2012 Delhi gang rape convicts
[DAWN] India's top court on Friday upheld the death sentences of four men who were convicted in the fatal gang-rape and torture of a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.

The court held that the nature of the crime, which triggered massive protests across India, made it a fit case for the death penalty. It described the assault as "most brutal, barbaric and diabolical," according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The victim's father said he was happy with the court judgement and demanded that the convicts be hanged quickly.

"The court heard our voice and gave justice," he said.

Prosecutors said the four Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh took their victim to the back of a private bus in New Delhi, raping her and then damaging her internal organs with an iron rod.

Posted by: Fred || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'd rather they were hung slowly.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 1:41 Comments || Top||

#2  I'd rather they were hung slowly.

...then drawn and quartered.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/06/2017 7:57 Comments || Top||

#3  the four Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh took their victim to the back of a private bus in New Delhi, raping her and then damaging her internal organs with an iron rod.

She died two weeks later of injuries in a hospital in Singapore, where she was taken for treatment.


Hanging results in no recidivism for these four. The fifth perp was found hanging in his cell. The names sound Indian and the perps are probably Hindu if they have a religion. Were this Pakistain, the perps would probably get off for lack of enough witnesses.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/06/2017 9:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Ima thinkrn that an iron bar should play a part in each of their executions.
Posted by: Frank G || 05/06/2017 11:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Ima thinkrn that an iron bar should play a part in each of their executions

....a very hot one.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/06/2017 12:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Re #1: Short drop hanging - put them on a stool with the rope around their neck. Then kick the stool out from under them. They strangle rather than die from a broken neck, like i a long drop hanging.

Oh, the victim's family meant hang them SOON. Yeah, I can go with that.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/06/2017 12:46 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
How Crispr Could Snip Away (or deploy) Some of Humanity's Worst Diseases
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Stem cell therapy is at the forefront of medicine for a host of genetic diseases. Interesting article.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/06/2017 9:20 Comments || Top||


The risk from permafrost pathogens is inherently unknowable
[BBC Earth] Throughout history, humans have existed side-by-side with bacteria and viruses. From the bubonic plague to smallpox, we have evolved to resist them, and in response they have developed new ways of infecting us.

We have had antibiotics for almost a century, ever since Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. In response, bacteria have responded by evolving antibiotic resistance. The battle is endless: because we spend so much time with pathogens, we sometimes develop a kind of natural stalemate.

However, what would happen if we were suddenly exposed to deadly bacteria and viruses that have been absent for thousands of years, or that we have never met before?
We may be about to find out. Climate change is melting permafrost soils that have been frozen for thousands of years, and as the soils melt they are releasing ancient viruses and bacteria that, having lain dormant, are springing back to life.
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  About as likely as being hit by a meteorite and then struck by lightning.

Utter nonsense.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/06/2017 3:52 Comments || Top||

#2  So these ancient bacteria have no antibiotic resistance. Bring the fake global warming on, bitch.
Posted by: Thereth and Company9872 || 05/06/2017 4:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Not to be confused with the collision of anti-vaccination populations with uncontrolled illegal immigration. Who needs real science when social virtues collide?
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 05/06/2017 6:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Right on P2K. I wonder if a virus could make a guy virile?. Well anyway the study of virology is quite depressing. It's just a matter of time for something to come along.
Posted by: Dale || 05/06/2017 8:41 Comments || Top||

#5  It would seem to that a bacilli or virus from the past should be several steps behind in the development loop.
The problem we have are with emerging diseases (those coming out of previously inacessable areas) and species jumpers (that hop from species to species) in target rich area.
Of course, one coud ride a meteor in (ala Andromeda Strain) just any old time.
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/06/2017 8:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Nothing is as terrifying as leftists and moslems running the world.
Posted by: newc || 05/06/2017 11:11 Comments || Top||

#7  @#6: The leftists will not last long...
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 05/06/2017 13:48 Comments || Top||

#8  This year I have seen many new odd things. Hand infections requiring antibiotics with repeated treatments.lasting several months. Then a fungus lung infection. These among healthy active people. Elevated white blood cell counts with resulting heart issues. Having left healthcare to work among healthy people seems the healthy are not so healthy.
Posted by: Dale || 05/06/2017 19:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
FBI report finds officers ‘de-policing' as anti-cop hostility becomes ‘new norm'
Meter just came back from the shop.
h/t Instapundit
[WashingtonTimes] An unclassified FBI study on last year’s cop-killing spree found officers are "de-policing" amid concerns that anti-police defiance fueled in part by movements like Black Lives Matter has become the "new norm."

"Departments -- and individual officers -- have increasingly made the decision to stop engaging in proactive policing," said the report by the FBI Office of Partner Engagement obtained by The Washington Times.
Unexpectedly
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2017 06:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Here we go again
[Jpost] A suburban Dallas police officer was charged with murder on Friday for shooting a rifle into a car of unarmed teenagers driving away from him, killing a 15-year-old boy, a lawyer for the child's family said, after the incident sparked national outrage.

A judge signed the murder warrant for former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, the Dallas Morning News reported, citing law enforcement sources. Family lawyer S. Lee Merritt did not provide further details.

...Jordan Edwards, a black high school student described by family and friends as a stand-out student and athlete, was struck by a bullet to the head on Saturday and died. Two of his brothers were in the car with him and watched him die, Merritt has said.

The killing that took place in a primarily black and Hispanic neighborhood stoked simmering tensions of perceived racial bias in US policing.

Oliver, 37, has not been taken into custody, the Dallas Morning News said.
Prior to being a police officer, Oliver enlisted in the Army from March 2004- March 2010
Oliver was sworn in to the Balch Springs Police Department on July 25, 2011 after passing the Peace Officer Licensing exam with a score of 90
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2017 04:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Getting closer to August.
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 05/06/2017 13:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Odd how they forgot (again) to meantion what led up to the shooting. Almost as if it doesn't matter since the victim was a member of a protected class.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/06/2017 13:58 Comments || Top||


Florida university to award Trayvon Martin a posthumous honorary degree
[TampaBayTimes]. The private university announced Wednesday that Martin's parents, Sabrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, will accept a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical science with a concentration in flight education on behalf of their son.

The degree is in "honor of the steps he took during his young life toward becoming a pilot,"
Flying high on drugs, oh yeah. But you simply must read what Wikipedia says about the angelic young man now, dear Reader, in order to understand this apparently daft action.
the school said in a Facebook post. Florida Memorial's Department of Aviation and Safety has a designated Cessna pilot training center, and the school also houses the Trayvon Martin Foundation. It is based in Miami Gardens, where Trayvon Martin lived with his father.
I hear Delta may be hiring.
Per university on-line stats (which could not be copied w/o written permission), student diversity is '72.3% black or African American.' This might have something to do with the decision to award an honorary degree.
This article starring:
Trayvon Martin
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 05/06/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What? No Nobel Peace Prize? RACIST!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/06/2017 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Why not Mathematical Physics?
Posted by: Skidmark || 05/06/2017 1:29 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm sure the rest of the graduates in aeronautical science are ecstatic about their job prospects.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/06/2017 5:00 Comments || Top||

#4  A degree in criminal behavior would have been way more believable.
Posted by: gorb || 05/06/2017 6:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Ought to sell big with SJW HR departments for job applicants. Others, which will more likely still be in business for years, the circular file. Though I recommend applying to those who do private jet maintenance for celebrates, to show their social virtue creds.
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 05/06/2017 6:46 Comments || Top||

#6  ooops...celebrities
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 05/06/2017 6:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Our cards and letters to Florida University have finally produced results.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/06/2017 7:56 Comments || Top||

#8  The Cartels are hiring?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/06/2017 10:46 Comments || Top||

#9  Run, Trayvon! A cravenly cracker
Annoys an angelic young snacker,
Who hastens to smite him
While kneeling astride him
In flight from his flattened attacker.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 05/06/2017 13:34 Comments || Top||

#10  His degree in Planes N Shit
Posted by: Frank G || 05/06/2017 13:39 Comments || Top||

#11  After all, his honorary degree a BS degree.
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/06/2017 14:19 Comments || Top||

#12  They'd also like to award some honorary student load payments, but they can't get anybody to sign.
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/06/2017 14:56 Comments || Top||

#13  If he hadn't been suspended from high school he would not have been shot. Today, socialist reeducation camps are the universities, and Trayvon is their poster boy.
Posted by: Nero White 3083 || 05/06/2017 19:30 Comments || Top||

#14  What unfettered bullshit.
Posted by: Crusader || 05/06/2017 20:29 Comments || Top||

#15  One wonders if they gave honorary degrees to the terrorists who flew into the towers....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/06/2017 23:44 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2017-05-06
  New Jersey Man Charged With Attempting to Support ISIS, Planning NYC Bombing
Fri 2017-05-05
  US drone strike leaves 7 ISIS-K militants dead in East of Afghanistan
Thu 2017-05-04
  Kurd, Turkish army troops fighting near Rojava
Wed 2017-05-03
  Taliban kill 27 ISIS militants in East of Afghanistan
Tue 2017-05-02
  FBI translator married ISIS terrorist she was supposed to investigate: report
Mon 2017-05-01
  Al-Qaeda ready to join forces with Saudi-led groups to fight ‘Houthi Shia’ in Yemen
Sun 2017-04-30
  Jaish Al-Islam executes Al-Qaeda commander as rival jihadists slaughter each other in Damascus
Sat 2017-04-29
  ISIS on its last legs as the Syrian Army imposes full control over gas field in east Homs
Fri 2017-04-28
  Fighting between Kurds and Turkish troops continue in Northern Syria
Thu 2017-04-27
  Damascus airport rocked after 'Israel air strike' on arms depot
Wed 2017-04-26
  Abu Sayyaf beheads captive Philippine soldier
Tue 2017-04-25
  Sweden arrests second suspect over deadly truck attack
Mon 2017-04-24
  Drone strike kills 5 Qaeda suspects in Yemen
Sun 2017-04-23
  5 terrorist suspects arrested in Brussels after arms, ammo & drugs seized in police raids
Sat 2017-04-22
  Dozens of About 140 Afghan troops dead in Taliban base attack


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