What's in the news?

[Lustful Bride]

Perhaps if Palestinians were not subjected to apartheid/colonialism/racism, backed up by the United States, then there might be less violence and hate. Who in the world thought that giving the Jews of Europe, America, Russia, etc. someone else's land would lead to any kind of peaceful coexistence. Balfour/Truman, nice move.

Both sides have blood on their hands. There are no saints on their world anymore. Both the people of Israel and the Palestinians have butchered one another and fed into the system of violence that keeps the conflict going.

[elone]

Both sides have blood on their hands. There are no saints on their world anymore. Both the people of Israel and the Palestinians have butchered one another and fed into the system of violence that keeps the conflict going.

Stones vs. bullets.

Not even close, and this from the Jewish Virtual Library.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/total-casualties-arab-israeli-conflict

Try this for some more statistical news.
http://ifamericaknew.org

[Lustful Bride]

Stones vs. bullets.

A stone if used well can cave in a skull very easily, and when you get pelted by tons of stones the size of apples one of them is bound to cause real injury. Especially if one of those stones turns out to be a grenade.

Not even close, and this from the Jewish Virtual Library.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/total-casualties-arab-israeli-conflict

Try this for some more statistical news.
http://ifamericaknew.org

Yes that is indeed fucked up. What response do you want from me? I'm not changing my stance. Both sides have blood and both carry a level of fault. Do the Israelis carry more of it? Perhaps. But they aren't the sole contributor and you always seem to point the finger at them alone.

[elone]

I don't want to get into a discussion of a problem that is probably not going to get solved.

Let me point out however, that stones vs. bullets is a no brainer.

Also, I don't always point a finger at the Israelis as being the sole contributer of the dispute. As a matter of fact I have rarely commented on the conflict. It always takes two to tango, it is just that one side is the aggressor and suppressor, the other the victim.

I am glad that when faced with indisputable evidence from both sides, you will not change your stance. So be it. We are all entitled to our opinions. For me, I have always believed that 2 + 2 = 5.

[RedRose]

The thing is, stabbing or stoning or running over (or shooting, sometimes) children or moms with children is never acceptable. I'm not talking of accident or unwanted casualty here, but going out of your way to choose a stroller or whatever.

[elone]

The thing is, stabbing or stoning or running over (or shooting, sometimes) children or moms with children is never acceptable. I'm not talking of accident or unwanted casualty here, but going out of your way to choose a stroller or whatever.

You mean like kidnapping and dousing a child with gasoline and setting him on fire, gunning down people in a Mosque, razing homes, restricting movement (checkpoints, Jews only roads), bombing civilian hospitals, shooting and killing/wounding thousands of protestors (Kent State anyone), directing human waste onto farmland, taking the water and destroying wells, imprisoning people without trial, breaking into homes in the middle of the night to photograph and terrorize the inhabitants, stealing land, institutionalized discrimination, forced displacement, torture, bombings, international kidnappings and assassinations, a separate and unequal justice system, restricting access to medical care, unwarranted shootings and leaving suspects to bleed out without medical attention, complete disregard for human rights, the Geneva convention, International law, disregard of UN decisions (including those that established Israel, not defining borders, development of nuclear weapons and refusing inspections, attack on the USS Liberty. These are only a few.

You are right, these things should not be condoned or allowed by the international community and are never acceptable.

[Trieste]

So Bitcoin has made another historic move. I don't 900% understand the actual move itself, but I grok that it's significant.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/10/bitcoin-futures-are-now-tradable-on-the-cboe/

Initial Star Wars reactions are coming in, and they're cautiously positive. I, for one, can't wait to see General Organa Solo one last time.

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/star-wars-the-last-jedi-reaction-fans-1202635162/

[Lustful Bride]

UN investigator is stunned by the poverty and degradation in Alabama.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/un-official-shocked-at-poverty-in-rural-alabama/ar-BBGuVCy?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[Oniya]

I feel oddly - vindicated? - by the investigator's shock.

[Sara Nilsson]

UN investigator is stunned by the poverty and degradation in Alabama.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/un-official-shocked-at-poverty-in-rural-alabama/ar-BBGuVCy?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

Not that surprised really. Just waiting on the fake news storm to erupt

[Trieste]

UN investigator is stunned by the poverty and degradation in Alabama.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/un-official-shocked-at-poverty-in-rural-alabama/ar-BBGuVCy?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

Oh, it's bad, man. I went there for grad school because the university I went to has one of the best forensic science grad programs in the country. It blows my mind that you can have that level of prestige and then within a couple hours' drive (if that), you have raw sewage and houses falling apart.

[Beguile's Mistress]

Visitors from other countries, third world countries no less, are appalled by the conditions in the rural South which are worse than many places in the world.  This is the great Trump and his cohorts aspire to.

[Lustful Bride]

Visitors from other countries, third world countries no less, are appalled by the conditions in the rural South which are worse than many places in the world.  This is the great Trump and his cohorts aspire to.

Kind of makes his election have a sadder twinge to it...people voting for him out of desperation and only having everything get worse....now I feel sad for some of those people...

[TheGlyphstone]

Kind of makes his election have a sadder twinge to it...people voting for him out of desperation and only having everything get worse....now I feel sad for some of those people...

The saddest part is that they will vote for him again, because that same poverty and desperation is what made them susceptible to his lies in the first place. So he will be able to convince them that it was still someone else's fault and he just needs more time to make it better.

[Lustful Bride]

The saddest part is that they will vote for him again, because that same poverty and desperation is what made them susceptible to his lies in the first place. So he will be able to convince them that it was still someone else's fault and he just needs more time to make it better.

Its like an abusive relationship, always coming back for more no matter how bad it is.  :-\

[Lustful Bride]

Pipe Bomb Detonation in New York. :(

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/terror-suspect-sets-off-pipe-bomb-near-port-authority-bus-terminal/ar-BBGzyn2?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[Oniya]

Kind of makes his election have a sadder twinge to it...people voting for him out of desperation and only having everything get worse....now I feel sad for some of those people...

The saddest part is that they will vote for him again, because that same poverty and desperation is what made them susceptible to his lies in the first place. So he will be able to convince them that it was still someone else's fault and he just needs more time to make it better.

Assuming they were even able to vote in the first place.  These are the jurisdictions where 'voter ID laws' hit/would hit the hardest, when you've lost your official IDs in some storm surge and have to choose between replacement fees and feeding your family.

[Lustful Bride]

The "Facebook Four" who kidnapped a developmentally disabled teenager and proceeded to torture them (forcing the victim to drink sewage, suffer beatings, cuts and cigarette burns for five hours) are now being charged with a hate crime. That is the least that they deserve but at least they are being properly punished.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-facebook-live-beating-disabled-teen-20171208-story.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/four-arrested-facebook-live-torture-video-now-charged-hate-crimes-n703456

[Trieste]

Assuming they were even able to vote in the first place.  These are the jurisdictions where 'voter ID laws' hit/would hit the hardest, when you've lost your official IDs in some storm surge and have to choose between replacement fees and feeding your family.

That and most of the rural white south doesn't identify with being poor, per se. They're just on a downswing and need the economy to pick up so they can make their millions. That's also a Trump vote.

[Oniya]

That and most of the rural white south doesn't identify with being poor, per se. They're just on a downswing and need the economy to pick up so they can make their millions. That's also a Trump vote.

The article did note that there was a significant connection between the racial demographics of an area and what level of 'horrible' things were.  Not that the 'rural white' areas weren't also nightmarish. 

[Lustful Bride]

Judge in the international court states that North Korean Prison Camps are as bad (or possibly even worse) than the conditions that he suffered as a boy within the Auschwitz camp.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-korea%e2%80%99s-prisons-are-as-bad-as-nazi-camps-says-judge-who-survived-auschwitz/ar-BBGCTRt?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15


And a brave woman shares stories of what she suffered and witnessed within one of these camps, ranging from her being forced to have an abortion, to seeing prison dogs eating the corpses of those who fell down and died from exhaustion, and more.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-korean-defector-describes-forced-abortion/ar-BBGCXxx?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

[Beorning]

Poland's slide toward authoritarian rule continues (or are we already there?), as the KRRiTV (basically, a state commitee that oversees radio and TV broadcasters) fines the leading private TV station, TVN, for 1.5 million PLN for reporting on last winter's opposition protests in the Parliament:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/polands-autocratic-counterrevolution-draws-nearer/2017/12/11/578176e0-dea8-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html?tid=ss_tw-amp&utm_term=.5544caf7f2d6
https://www.reuters.com/article/poland-politics-tvn/poland-slaps-415000-fine-on-tvn24-over-coverage-of-protests-in-parliament-idUSL8N1OB4OZ

The rationale being that TVN, through its reporting, "promoted illegal acts". Which is nonsense.

Basically, it's a case of a PiS-controlled state committee punishing independent media for daring to show the dissenting opinions... :(

[gaggedLouise]

Most ridiculous (and unnerving) headline of the day: Malmö, Sweden. "Two men wanted to blow up the synagogue - say they "wanted to hit it off with the Jews" (ville träffa judar - the same double meaning in Swedish)

:P

This is all the more disturbing because it's only a few days since there were on-the-spot demonstrations in the same city with open and unabashed anti-semitic slogans and jeering. The local muslim council immediately distanced itself from such expressions and some of its people went to see the leading men iof the Jewísh congregation - but it does show the inflow of antisemitic ideas and thinking through immigration from some countries in the Middle East. And Malmö is a town with a huge immigrant population and high levels of crime and poverty.

[gaggedLouise]

Also , this unrest in Malmö was triggered as an mmediate reaction to Trump's Jerusalem move.

[Sara Nilsson]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/12/politics/alabama-election-latest/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12/12/alabama-senate-election-doug-jones-defeats-roy-moore-fox-news-projects.html

Dough defeats Moore. Daaaarn close but he did it :)