[BBC] A man who helped establish 1,000 winter climbing routes was one of the two climbers who died in an accident on Scotland's most northerly Munro.
Aberdeen-born Andy Nisbet, along with partner Steve Perry, from Lancaster, got into difficulty on Ben Hope.
Their bodies were recovered from the mountain in Sutherland on Wednesday.
The climbing community has paid tributes to the two men, with Mr Nisbet being lauded for his "boundless enthusiasm" and "pioneering attitude".
It is believed that the men, who were regular climbing partners, had finished their ascent and fell while on the upper slopes of the 927m (3,041ft) mountain.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/07/2019 8:39 Comments ||
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#2
I thought they were already there, but clearly the day is approaching where the left has a hissyfit complaint about every god damned thing on the planet.
#4
Personally I think its' nice when questionable clothes are out there for questionable people to wear and really highlight their questionable decision-making skills.
[Denver Post] The shocking tale of survival on Larimer County's Horsetooth Mountain quickly spread far beyond Colorado, with news of Monday's attack prompting media calls from around the world, as well as suggestions of film and book deals, and even marriage proposals, Ferrell said. Gov. Jared Polis chimed in too, posting on his Facebook page: "Don't mess with Colorado trail runners."
[WaPo] The number of billion-dollar weather disasters in the United States has more than doubled in recent years, as devastating hurricanes and ferocious wildfires that experts suspect are fueled in part by climate change have ravaged swaths of the country, according to data released by the federal government Wednesday. More than doubled? From what, last year? Forecasts? Read on...
Since 1980, the United States has experienced 241 weather and climate disasters where the overall damage reached or exceeded $1 billion, when adjusted for inflation, according to data from the NOAA. Between 1980 and 2013, according to NOAA, the nation averaged roughly half a dozen such disasters a year. Over the most recent five years, that number has jumped to more than 12. Oh, so recently, the number is twice the average? My word, that's terrifying!
NOAA said 14 separate weather and climate disasters hit the United States during 2018. Climate disasters. I see what you did there.
The disasters killed at least 247 people and cost the nation an estimated $91 billion. The bulk of that damage, about $73 billion, was attributable to three events: Hurricanes Michael and Florence and the collection of wildfires that raged across the West. Storms are weather. Wildfires not so directly related to weather, more to man-made forest management practices. But the most recent numbers continue what some experts call an alarming trend toward an increasing number of billion-dollar disasters, fueled, at least in part, by the warming climate. Experts are alarmed? Top men in their field? Note we're now back to a warming climate.
Many factors contribute to the cost of any one disaster. For instance, a hurricane that hits a heavily populated area, such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012 or Hurricane Harvey in 2017, is likely to have a far higher economic impact than one that hits a less crowded part of the country. The nation's growing population, inconsistent building codes and the fact that many cities and infrastructure sit near coasts or along rivers also play a role. Good place to stop, right there.
But increasingly, experts say, so does climate change.
There are also projections that the impact of climate change should soon be making itself felt in the cost of at least some disasters. A 2014 analysis by the Rhodium Group, for instance, projected that by 2030, the average damage from hurricanes and nor'easters, to the East and Gulf coasts in particular, should be $3 billion to $7.3 billion higher each year. That's if climate change continues unabated. But if we spend $3-30 billion each year, we might be able to abate climate warming, and possibly avoid that potential damage. Newest math.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/07/2019 11:34 ||
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#1
But if we spend $3-30 billion each year, we might be able to abate climate warming, and possibly avoid that potential damage.
Just think what they could do with all that graft.
[DW] Barring radical change, Germany will not reach the goal it set itself for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Cars and buildings are to blame, the report said.
CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) ‐ The Venezuelan military barricaded a bridge at a key border crossing with Colombia, issuing a challenge Wednesday to a U.S.-backed effort by the opposition to bring humanitarian aid into a nation plagued by shortages of food and medicine.
The Tienditas International Bridge was blocked the day before with a giant orange tanker, two large blue containers and makeshift fencing near the border town of Cucuta, Colombian officials said.
The bridge is at the same site where officials plan to store humanitarian aid that opposition leader Juan Guaido is vowing to deliver to Venezuela. The Trump administration has pledged $20 million in aid and Canada has promised another $53 million.
The aid squabble is the latest front in the battle between Guaido and President Nicolas Maduro, who is vowing not to let the supplies enter the country. It is worth watching CNN, CBS, NBC, etc. cover this as they are visibly pained by Trump being on the side of humanitarian aid
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/07/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Mad Uro wants the aid delivered in gold, to a Swiss bank; he'll take care of distribution himself.
[ELUNIVERSAL] The New Granada diplomat, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, said that there are already planes in Colombia with humanitarian aid for Venezuela. He said that in Cúcuta there is a collection center for distribution
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2019 00:00 ||
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#2
So fire up the C-130s, and load the relief into them and then escort them into drop zones using the rooty-toot F-35's. Or A-10s if you want the Herky birds to survive.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia would be prepared to consider new proposals from the United States to replace a suspended Cold War-era nuclear pact with a broader treaty that includes more countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.
Russia suspended the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty at the weekend after Washington announced it would withdraw in six months unless Russia ends what it says are violations of the pact, allegations rejected by Moscow.
The 1987 treaty eliminated the medium-range missile arsenals of the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, but leaves other countries free to produce and deploy them.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he would like to hold talks aimed at creating a new arms control treaty.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a Jehovah’s Witness to six years in prison for "extremism", in the first conviction of its kind since a 2017 law that outlawed the religious group.
Danish citizen Dennis Christensen was in court in the southern Russian city of Oryol for the sentencing, front man for the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia Yaroslav Sivulskiy told AFP.
"We deeply regret the conviction of Dennis Christensen -- an innocent man who did not commit any real crime," Sivulskiy said in a statement.
"It is sad that reading the Bible, preaching, and living a moral way of life is again a criminal offence in Russia."
The Jehovah’s Witnesses, a US-based Christian evangelical movement, will appeal the verdict within 10 days, according to a statement from the organization’s head office.
An AFP photographer outside the courtroom saw Christensen, 46, being led past a mass of supporters by coppers following the verdict.
Rights groups have condemned the trial, with Amnesia Amnesty International saying it was "emblematic of the grave human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... violations" taking place in Russia.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2019 00:00 ||
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"Next on Extreme Jehovah's Witnessing: Life in the Gulag!"
Posted by: ed in texas ||
02/07/2019 7:44 Comments ||
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[AnNahar] 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... vowed Tuesday that the United States would outspend Russia on missiles without a fresh international accord after he ditched a landmark Cold War treaty.
Trump's warning during his annual State of the Union address cemented fears of an emerging arms race, with Russia hours earlier pledging to design new missiles over the next two years.
Continued on Page 49
(Reuters) - BB&T Corp will buy SunTrust Banks Inc for about $28 billion in an all-stock deal, the companies said on Thursday, creating the sixth largest U.S. lender in the biggest bank deal since the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
#3
I bank at BB&T. They kept their noses clean and stuck to their core business, so never got into a situation that would have put them in trouble during the 2007-2009 crisis. They refused to lower their standards to meet the bs the Fed was demanding, so the Obama Fed wouldn't let them expand branches in retaliation.
This may be a move to get more branches without having to go through the Fed and the Obama holdouts therein. Not sure if the suntrust people were honest stating their liabilities, in which case there may be trouble. I'm leaving my ESP where it is at to observe how things turn out, since my plan originally was to put everything under their roof.
The stadium? better than even chance the new management will let that go...
[AnNahar] The 10-billion-euro ($11.4 billion) package of measures for low earners announced by President Emmanuel Macron to try end the "yellow vest" revolt has "weakened" La Belle France's finances, state auditors warned Wednesday.
"The outlook for the public finances in 2019 is particularly risky," said the Cour des Comptes, La Belle France's independent state audit office, calling on Macron's centrist government to take corrective measures.
Three weeks after protesters began occupying traffic roundabouts and staging mass rallies over spending power, a beleaguered Macron went on national television in mid-December to announce a package of wage increases and tax cuts for low earners and retirees.
The concessions threw the government's deficit reduction drive off course.
The gap between state spending and revenue forecast is once again set to overshoot the EU's limit of three percent of GDP this year, after being on target for the past two years.
The Cour des Comptes said the knock-on effect of the measures "confirm that La Belle France, because of the incomplete nature of the stabilisation of its public finances, has little budgetary leeway to cope with an economic downturn or a crisis".
Above all, the measures showed the need for a "profound adjustment of our public finances", they added.
The auditors expressed concern over the government's failure to say where it will make the savings necessary to fund the measures announced by Macron.
These included tax cuts on overtime pay and a state top-up for minimum-wage earners.
The Cour des Comptes also warned that La Belle France risked being hit by the sharp slowdown in growth in the eurozone, creating a "serious risk" that it would miss its target of 1.7 percent GDP growth this year.
The eurozone's second-largest economy already started to sag late last year, with GDP growth falling to 1.5 percent, compared to 2.3 percent in 2017.
The slower-than-expected growth was partly blamed on a dip in consumer spending over several consecutive weekends around Christmas of violent protests as the "yellow vest" movement grew into a full-scale anti-government rebellion.
#1
The gap between state spending and revenue forecast is once again set to overshoot the EU's limit of three percent of GDP this year, after being on target for the past two years.
[DAWN] GHALANAI: Body of an 18-year-old youngster was recovered from a rainwater nullah in Olai Shah area of Ambar tehsil in the wee hours on Tuesday, residents said.
They said Lehaz Khan left home after he received a call from someone on Monday night. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... later his body was recovered from a nullah when the area people launched a search for him in Olai Shah area.
According to residents, the dear departed had his throat slit.
Lower Mohmand assistant commissioner Qaiser Khan confirmed the incident, saying five persons had been tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! and further investigation was underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Wednesday said that fellow Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... leader Aleem Khan has set a great example by tendering his resignation following his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) earlier in the day.
Khan was taken into custody by NAB officials in Lahore over allegations of owning assets beyond his known sources of income.
Sarwar, while speaking to media, said that the first thing Khan did following his arrest was to resign from his ministry, adding that according to the party's ideology everyone was equal before the law.
"This is the standard PTI wants to set," he said.
The governor noted that Khan had obliged every time he was summoned by NAB and had been very cooperative with the bureau.
He, however, made it clear that those "who have looted the country in the past 30 years should be held strictly accountable".
Governor Sarwar also chaired a meeting along with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in Lahore to discuss the situation arising from the senior minister's arrest, during which they expressed "complete solidarity" with the minister, according to Radio Pakistain.
The PTI leaders appreciated Khan's decision to resign while hailing his services for the party. They also agreed to avoid politicising the issue.
PTI's Secretary General Arshad Dad, meanwhile, said that by resigning from his ministry, Khan has laid the foundation of a strong democratic tradition.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Khairpur police have apprehended the prime suspect in the murder of a 13-year-old girl that had put the ruling Pakistain Peoples Party in an awkward position as the suspects are said to be relatives of the party’s politicians.
Police tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! 47-year-old Zulfikar Wassan, alias Zulfu, on Wednesday after tracing the location of his mobile phone with the help of a locator. He was taken into custody in the lower Sindh area of Sorah, a desert region of Khairpur district that borders Sanghar district.
"We arrested Zulfikar alias Zulfu in the early hours of Wednesday after we managed to trace his mobile phone. He had been changing his mobile number ever since the incident," said Khairpur Senior Superintendent of Police Umar Tufail.
After his arrest, Zulfu complained of hypertension, police told Dawn.
Police had first picked up Ghaffar Wassan, a relative of Zulfikar, after Ramsha’s mother had named him. Ghaffar had allegedly abetted Zulfikar in the crime as he had accompanied him to the victim's house along with two other suspects, who remain on the lam.
Ghaffar had already been remanded to police custody by a judicial magistrate on Tuesday.
According to the SSP, Ramsha had eloped with another man from the family, Izhar Wassan, on January 19. Izhar’s paternal uncle had intervened and brought her back. It was later decided that the matter would be settled amicably by an elder from the Wassan family.
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... before the matter could be deliberated upon, Ramsha was bumped off in her house allegedly by Zulfikar 'over honour'. Since then the suspect remained on the lam.
Police had picked up around three dozen suspects in their attempt to get their hands on Zulfikar. Police officers told Dawn that even two coppers ‐ who were connected closely with the politically influential Wassans ‐ were picked up under the SSP’s directives. They were kept at "some secret location" to get information regarding the whereabouts of Zulfikar.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2019 00:00 ||
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[Atlantic Firearms] American Tactical & GSG are excited to bring to the United States the very first reproduction of the original WWII MP-40 in 9mm.
Manufactured as a pistol with no stock, this replica classic firearm is the closest version of an MP-40 to be importable in decades! While maintaining a close overall appearance to the original WWII firearm, the GSG-MP40P is manufactured with all new parts to US regulation specs for importation.
[Science Daily] A new chemical conversion process could transform the world's polyolefin waste, a form of plastic, into useful products, such as clean fuels and other items. The conversion process incorporates selective extraction and hydrothermal liquefaction. Once the plastic is converted into naphtha, it can be used as a feedstock for other chemicals or further separated into specialty solvents or other products.
Wang became inspired to create this technology after reading about the plastic waste pollution of the oceans, groundwater, and the environment. Of all the plastics produced over the past 65 years (8.3 billion tons), about 12 percent have been incinerated and only 9 percent have been recycled. The remaining 79 percent have gone into landfills or the oceans. The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2050 the oceans will hold more plastic waste than fish if the waste continues to be dumped into bodies of water.
Wang said the technology could convert up to 90 percent of the polyolefin plastic.
"Plastic waste disposal, whether recycled or thrown away, does not mean the end of the story," Wang said. "These plastics degrade slowly and release toxic microplastics and chemicals into the land and the water. This is a catastrophe because once these pollutants are in the oceans, they are impossible to retrieve completely." More at the link.
h/t Instapundit
[FoxNews] How much "anal cleft" is one allow to show while at work? That’s the question one Washington court is trying to answer.
A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing an ongoing legal saga between bikini baristas and the city of Everett over the anatomical phrase "anal cleft" and whether dress codes imposed on businesses violate their civil rights.
Both sides appeared in court Monday to further argue the city’s ordinance, which was passed August 2017, that restricts what employees of "quick-service" restaurants wear by requiring that the "bottom one-half of the anal cleft" be covered, Herald Net reported.
According to the ordinance, employees who work at fast food restaurants, food trucks and coffee stands are required to wear at least a tank top and shorts while at work.
#6
How do you keep your hands "clean and sanitary for food service" when adjusting a thong bikini bottom? *Ick* You have enough trouble wearing an "Ice Cream Suit" and hitting the hand sanitizer every time you touch your face...
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.
[WaPo] The number of billion-dollar weather disasters in the United States has more than doubled in recent years, as devastating hurricanes and ferocious wildfires that experts suspect are fueled in part by climate change have ravaged swaths of the country, according to data released by the federal government Wednesday.
But the most recent numbers continue what some experts call an alarming trend toward an increasing number of billion-dollar disasters, fueled, at least in part, by the warming climate.
[AnNahar] President 
[DAWN] Khairpur police have apprehended the prime suspect in the murder of a 13-year-old girl that had put the ruling Pakistain Peoples Party in an awkward position as the suspects are said to be relatives of the party’s 
