What's in the news?

[Cassandra LeMay]

Explain to me again how that whole 'socialised medicine' is bad thing goes  :P

Because without a healthy profit there would be no research, cause pharma companies couldn't afford that overhead. But research means better drugs, which mean better healtcare and cures for nasty diseases. Socialised healtcare takes profits away, which means people will not get the benefit of good research.

So there.  :P

(P.S.: If you try  to judge how serious I am, take into consideration that I am from the country with the world's oldest national social health insurance system and that I would also vote for Sanders if I could. So there.  ;))

[Oniya]

There's a slight difference between 'healthy' and 'excessive'.

(This coming from someone living in a country where a triple bacon cheeseburger was considered a 'good idea'.)  ;)

[Beorning]

Something small, but amazing: Polish football player, Robert Lewandowski, currently playing for Bayern in Bundesliga, scores 5 goals in 9 minutes during yesterday's game:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34317976

I'm not really into football, but... wow.

[TheGlyphstone]

Also small but somewhat noteworthy, at least locally:

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/23/happy-birthday-song-now-in-public-domain.html

[Blythe]

No words.

*headscratch* I think my state's getting crazier by the day. Allegedly, a teacher forced a four year old to write with his right hand because apparently left-handed people are evil and left-handedness is associated with the Devil. And then sent some literature home to that effect.

It's like Oklahoma is escalating trying to sink backwards in time. ;_;

[eBadger]

No words.

*headscratch* I think my state's getting crazier by the day. Allegedly, a teacher forced a four year old to write with his right hand because apparently left-handed people are evil and left-handedness is associated with the Devil. And then sent some literature home to that effect.

It's like Oklahoma is escalating trying to sink backwards in time. ;_;

Based just on that article, it sounds like a poorly written, inappropriate history discussion taken out of context.  Many cultures define the right hand as 'correct' (don't pass food in India with your left hand!) and yes, that's an archaic definition of sinister ("2. of, on, or toward the left-hand side").  It uses the past tense when mentioning 'evil' and there was nothing there saying the child should use their right hand. 

Definitely a WTF lesson, but it sounds more like an impressionable kid than an abusive instructor. 

[Blythe]

Based just on that article, it sounds like a poorly written, inappropriate history discussion taken out of context.  Many cultures define the right hand as 'correct' (don't pass food in India with your left hand!) and yes, that's an archaic definition of sinister ("2. of, on, or toward the left-hand side").  It uses the past tense when mentioning 'evil' and there was nothing there saying the child should use their right hand. 

Definitely a WTF lesson, but it sounds more like an impressionable kid than an abusive instructor.

Is why I used the word "allegedly" in my post; I had some uncertainty there--thank you for the clarification. :)

There is a bright point in there that the superintendent did say, from what I can tell after a bit of Googling, that sending the article home was completely inappropriate, which does restore some sanity to the whole thing.

Regardless, when a parent tries to engage with a teacher about something WTF about telling a kid which hand to use for writing, the correct response should...probably not be a history lesson about how left handedness is associated with wickedness and the Devil. That's just going to turn a somewhat weird situation into a really wretched one. It doesn't get across any meaningful message other than to sound condescending or way too religious to a concerned parent. >_>

[Cassandra LeMay]

... and yes, that's an archaic definition of sinister ("2. of, on, or toward the left-hand side"). ...

The other side being dexter - which always made me wonder if the character Dexter (of the eponymous TV series) got his name because he has a side to him opposed to his public face that is rather sinister.

[eBadger]

There is a bright point in there that the superintendent did say, from what I can tell after a bit of Googling, that sending the article home was completely inappropriate, which does restore some sanity to the whole thing.

Regardless, when a parent tries to engage with a teacher about something WTF about telling a kid which hand to use for writing, the correct response should...probably not be a history lesson about how left handedness is associated with wickedness and the Devil.

Hmm...I assumed it was just a copy of the lesson plan, and actually feel that letting parents know that sort of thing when they have issues with the curriculum is good.  It allows them to provide their own framing for school lessons. 

But yes, that's a completely idiotic discussion topic for a pre-K class. 

The other side being dexter - which always made me wonder if the character Dexter (of the eponymous TV series) got his name because he has a side to him opposed to his public face that is rather sinister.

I assumed it was based off poindexter, "a person who is intelligent but socially inept; a nerd"

[eBadger]

For real this time!  Putin calls Elton John and offers to meet after prank phone call. 

That should be a damned interesting conversation. 

[ShadowFox89]

 Not going to hold my breath.

[TheGlyphstone]

Yeah... I can't see anything that Putin has to gain from this. It's not like one American man, however popular his music is, will sway Russian national/cultural policy by himself. And it doesn't make any sense as a publicity stunt either, because Putin has demonstrated to enthusiastic extent that he could not care less about what non-Russians think about him or his government - or more precisely, he will not allow those opinions to have any influence on his policy decisions.

[Beorning]

Elton John is British, actually ;)

[Cycle]

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, is resigning.

This is pretty big news since it reflects the growing fractures within the Republican Party.

[gaggedLouise]

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, is resigning.

This is pretty big news since it reflects the growing fractures within the Republican Party.

Somebody commented at thehill.com several hours before this hit the news - he or she could probably see the next turn coming: "Tough times for wingnuts: Your own party has a majority and they hate you more than Democrats do." ^_^

Boehner is supposed to have a plan to avoid...ta-da...a fresh Government shutdown by October 1, and score a right-fist jab at Obama over planned parenthood funding. We'll get to see if he is able to hold his columns together.

[Lustful Bride]

Russia Unveils new Cockroach robot to be used for spying.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/russia-unveils-new-cockroach-spy-robot/ar-AAeKtow?ocid=HPCDHP

I think that's a terrible idea, its natural human instinct to step on a cockroach.

Plus im pretty sure that this is what might end up happening X3

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrHMBletjXg

[Cycle]

Darwin Award runner up.

He told authorities he spotted a spider on his gas tank and pulled out his lighter to get rid of it...

[Iniquitous]

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/09/21/sunrise-man-charged-in-rough-sex-murder/

This man... creature.... pulled parts of his girlfriend's intestines out through her vagina. Because she called her ex husband's name twice during sex.

If I ever needed another reason to not date... this would be it.

[TheGlyphstone]

What the actual ****.

[Ariel]

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/09/21/sunrise-man-charged-in-rough-sex-murder/

This man... creature.... pulled parts of his girlfriend's intestines out through her vagina. Because she called her ex husband's name twice during sex.

If I ever needed another reason to not date... this would be it.

That's so horrifying. I can't even... I just. That poor woman.

[TheGlyphstone]

Almost as horrifying is the bit where he tried to revive her after by splashing water on her face. How, exactly, is that going to help after she's been disemboweled?

If there's any silver lining, it's that she was apparently completely unconscious when he killed her. So she (probably) didn't suffer too much.

[Lustful Bride]

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/09/21/sunrise-man-charged-in-rough-sex-murder/

This man... creature.... pulled parts of his girlfriend's intestines out through her vagina. Because she called her ex husband's name twice during sex.

If I ever needed another reason to not date... this would be it.

Please tell me the death penalty is a thing where he is.

[Cycle]

It is.

[Euron Greyjoy]

German woman threatened with eviction to make room for migrants. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11891631/German-woman-threatened-with-eviction-to-make-way-for-refugees.html

In more depressing news, a 8 month baby was found dead in a vehicle having been left inside for ten hours. http://globalnews.ca/news/2240914/8-month-old-baby-found-dead-left-in-car-nearly-10-hours/?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=MostPopular&utm_campaign=2014

[Cassandra LeMay]

German woman threatened with eviction to make room for migrants. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11891631/German-woman-threatened-with-eviction-to-make-way-for-refugees.html

The real news here is that the municipality was stupid enough to terminate the contract based on grounds of "need for personal use" (Eigenbedarf) - a right usually reserved for natural persons. The time they gave the woman to move out (until May next year) should be about the same they might have had to afford her if they had just regularly terminated the contract. While renters in Germany enjoy a high level of protection against termination of their rental contracts, terminationg a contract with six months notice might very well have been perfectly legal. Using "Eigenbedarf" as grounds for the contract termination was a rather stupid move, I'd say.

That aside, I don't see why it's called an eviction in this article, except maybe that it makes for a better headline. From what I can gather the rent contract has been terminated, effective 6 months from now. It's not like that woman is being dragged from her home as we speak. But I guess "woman is evicted to make room for refugees" makes for a better headline than "rent contract terminated so other people can move into a flat in six months".