What's in the news?

[Lustful Bride]

The Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman apparently isn't as progressive as he advertised.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/in-harsh-saudi-crackdown-famous-feminists-are-branded-as-traitors/ar-AAxwuZE?ocid=spartandhp&pfr=1&ffid=gz

[RedRose]

Sarah Ferguson was pretty much always referred to as 'Fergie'.  (To the point that I had to Google what her actual name is.)

Haha, yeh. I've noticed in England it might be acceptable to refer to a woman with a surname, like servants called "Smith" or something. To my French ears this is awful, I'd go for first name, Mrs Smith or even "you" before wanting to be called by my surname as a woman. Possible exception in a classroom if there were several Roses, and even then... Rose Smith, or Rose S please.

[gaggedLouise]

Are there any limits to what name a royal can take?

I think they can't be called either of these (anymore). Not in the UK:

Macbeth
Adolf
Sonny
Johhny
Conny/Connie
Carrie
North-West
Kim
Dallas
Tarzan
Richard/Dick (impossible due to the link to Richard III, the old villain, and to ummm...)

:P

[gaggedLouise]

A team of French forensic scientists have established that *drumroll* Adolf Hitler actually died on April 30, 1945, shooting himself in Berlin. He neither went to a secret base in Antarctica, nor flew to the moon. #sciencematters "mythbusters

:P

The team have examined remains of Hitler's jaw and skull kept in Moscow. Most of Hitler's ashes were buried in secret by the Russian troops on German soil and eventually in 1970, scattered into a tributary of the river Elbe.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180519-hitler-definitely-died-1945-new-study-teeth

An interesting new finding is that Hitler's teeth have traces of cyanide, suggesting that he bit off a suicide pill between his teeth - like Göring would do the night before he was to be hanged . just before he shot himself in the head (likely from the side)

[RedRose]

Yeah. This was what people thought before it became trendy to see conspiracies...

[Lilias]

Are there any limits to what name a royal can take?

If you mean the name they are crowned as, it has to be one of their given names (of which they usually receive three or four), not necessarily the first. If you mean what names they can choose to name their kids, the pool is rather small, as they are usually named after relatives. As today's royals tend to marry commoners, though, the pool will be replenished with new names.

[Lustful Bride]

Maduro once again runs for leadership in Venezuela.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/defying-global-pressure-maduro-seeks-re-election-in-venezuela/ar-AAxxsfE?ocid=spartandhp&pfr=1&ffid=gz

I get the feeling that even if the entire country 100% voted against him, he would go "No, imperialist plot, I win by default!"

[gaggedLouise]

If you mean the name they are crowned as, it has to be one of their given names (of which they usually receive three or four), not necessarily the first. If you mean what names they can choose to name their kids, the pool is rather small, as they are usually named after relatives. As today's royals tend to marry commoners, though, the pool will be replenished with new names.

Louise belongs to the established pool of royal names in both Britain and all three of the Nordic monarchies. :) (Sweden had a queen consort Louise, sister of Lord Mountbatten of Burma, after the war, and the name had appeared before in other queens and princesses).

[gaggedLouise]

Maduro once again runs for leadership in Venezuela.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/defying-global-pressure-maduro-seeks-re-election-in-venezuela/ar-AAxxsfE?ocid=spartandhp&pfr=1&ffid=gz

I get the feeling that even if the entire country 100% voted against him, he would go "No, imperialist plot, I win by default!"

My local daily wrote that "the chances of Maduro not winning are equal to those of the moon falling down next week".  :P

[Lilias]

Louise belongs to the established pool of royal names in both Britain and all three of the Nordic monarchies. :) (Sweden had a queen consort Louise, sister of Lord Mountbatten of Burma, after the war, and the name had appeared before in other queens and princesses).

It used to be an extremely popular name across most of Europe, especially up to the early 19th century. Its popularity is dwindling, though. :-( The only current British royal bearing it is Lady Louise Windsor, the Earl of Wessex's daughter (and Princess Anne, as her fourth name, but she's from another generation).

[RedRose]

Many people now are into American TV shows names, or made up ones. I'm not saying I regret the time of lists, but yeah.

[gaggedLouise]

It used to be an extremely popular name across most of Europe, especially up to the early 19th century. Its popularity is dwindling, though. :-( The only current British royal bearing it is Lady Louise Windsor, the Earl of Wessex's daughter (and Princess Anne, as her fourth name, but she's from another generation).

Very popular here in Sweden all through the 20th century, both as a single name and as part of a compound: Anne-Louise, Marie-Louise etc. It's passed into the background a bit since 2000, but I'm sure it will return in a few decades. :D

[Oniya]

If you mean the name they are crowned as, it has to be one of their given names (of which they usually receive three or four), not necessarily the first. If you mean what names they can choose to name their kids, the pool is rather small, as they are usually named after relatives. As today's royals tend to marry commoners, though, the pool will be replenished with new names.

I imagine that very few are naming their sons 'Albert' as a first name, simply due to the potential for crude humor.

[Sara Nilsson]

A team of French forensic scientists have established that *drumroll* Adolf Hitler actually died on April 30, 1945, shooting himself in Berlin. He neither went to a secret base in Antarctica, nor flew to the moon. #sciencematters "mythbusters

:P

The team have examined remains of Hitler's jaw and skull kept in Moscow. Most of Hitler's ashes were buried in secret by the Russian troops on German soil and eventually in 1970, scattered into a tributary of the river Elbe.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180519-hitler-definitely-died-1945-new-study-teeth

An interesting new finding is that Hitler's teeth have traces of cyanide, suggesting that he bit off a suicide pill between his teeth - like Göring would do the night before he was to be hanged . just before he shot himself in the head (likely from the side)

Pff like they will believe a science team anyway. :) "of course the russians would say that, we only have their word it is Hitler's skull. #coverup"

[Lustful Bride]

Well Maduro has 'won' the elections yet again.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/venezuelas-maduro-re-elected-amid-outcry-over-vote/ar-AAxxsfE?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

[Lustful Bride]

Big Brother is Watching, Big Brother knows what is best for you, Big Brother will do as he pleases.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/chinas-social-credit-system-has-blocked-people-from-taking-11-million-flights-and-4-million-train-trips/ar-AAxzzhv?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

[Lustful Bride]

This story is just stunning. I hope the baby will be okay.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/an-army-sergeant-overseas-was-told-his-baby-died-at-birth-it-was-a-lie-and-part-of-a-cruel-scheme/ar-AAxCAk6?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

[RampantDesires]

Florida zombie alert

I need silly stories like this to keep me going.

[Lustful Bride]

A perfect example of why Body Cameras benefit not only civilians but also Police in cases where the civilian makes false claims.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/she-said-she-was-sexually-assaulted-by-a-state-trooper-his-camera-footage-shows-otherwise/ar-AAxIEbQ?ocid=spartandhp&ffid=gz

[Hades]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-calls-off-meeting-north-koreas-kim-135250907.html

Completely unsurprising, Trump has cancelled the meeting scheduled to take place next month with North Korea.  I say unsurprising because

1) North Korea has a history of trying to get western powers to agree to meetings and then cancelling them, and

2) Because of comments by John Bolton and now Mike Pence saying that the US would push for "the Libya model" as a solution for the situation.   For those unaware of why that's such a deal breaker, it refers to when Muammar Gaddafi gave up his WMD program in exchange for relief from US-led sanctions, only to be deposed a few years later by rebels that received support from the US and France.   So telling the leader of a country that's the model you want to put in place does not provide much incentive for them to come to the negotiating table.

[gaggedLouise]

Trump's cancellation of the Kim summit is definitely the biggest news on the planet today. :) Even though, as Hades put it, it was hardly unexpected...

[Sara Nilsson]

But.. what will I do with the commemorative coin now? *snickers*

[gaggedLouise]

But.. what will I do with the commemorative coin now? *snickers*

:D

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44217116

[gaggedLouise]

The best thing about that coin is that it actually styles Kim "Supreme Leader"... :D

[Oniya]

The best thing about that coin is that it actually styles Kim "Supreme Leader"... :D

The depiction of the two isn't the best either - Trump looks like a bulldog, and Kim looks like a shar-pei.