What's in the news?

[Regina Minx]

Sweden hasn't been openly at war for two hundred years, so instructions like those read a bit exotic to most of the natives here.

???

https://www.thelocal.se/20160713/sweden-set-to-double-anti-isis-troops-in-iraq

[gaggedLouise]

???

https://www.thelocal.se/20160713/sweden-set-to-double-anti-isis-troops-in-iraq

I think that one's defined as a "peace-keeping operation", much like the UN troops in Congo in the 60s or in Bosnia in the 1990s. Sweden contributed army units in both places, sometimes involved in combat, but while there, they were not really part of the Swedish army at the time; ultimately they stood under UN command. The Swedish units posted to Iraq and Afghanistan in the last dozen years or so have been there under a NATO umbrella, kind of, to help stabilize those two volatile countries and fight terrorism, and sometimes they have functioned as advisors to the native forces.

The Swedish troops arrived in Iraq in August last year to join the anti-Isis coalition of around 60 countries. They have been helping to educate Kurdish soldiers on a range of measures, from urban warfare to healthcare and protection against chemical weapons.

Hultqvist /the minister of defence/ and Foreign Minister Margot Wallström are expected to tell a summit of the coalition in Washington DC next week that Sweden is willing to step up its mission.

It's a fluid border between "peacekeeping operations" and being at war with a definite enemy, and it could definitely be argued that Sweden has been involved in a low-intensity war in at least Afghanistan, since 2006. Sweden and Finland (traditionally our closest ally) manned an armed camp at Mazar-e-Sharif in the north of the country, under the aegis of something called ISAF (up till 2014) which was mostly a NATO-led command (though neither Sweden nor Finland are NATO members; we're just "friendly hangarounds"). ;) Somewhere between six and ten Swedish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2006; several of them fell fighting. I think the feeling among most people here has been that the mission in Afghanistan is about ledning a hand to NATO and the local government, not much about protecting Sweden. Though everyone recognizes that ISIS and al-Qaeda are also *our* enemy.

I guess that sounded a bit fiddly... :D

[Lustful Bride]

Though everyone recognizes that ISIS and al-Qaeda are also *our* enemy.

Given their love of killing civilians as much as possible and indiscriminately I say its safe to say they are enemies of humanity :P

[gaggedLouise]

The prosecutors at Copenhagen are about to give an outline of their charges for the upcoming trial of Peter Madsen, regarding murder, rape and dismemberment/intrusion on the right to a proper burial of the journalist Kim Wall, on board Madsen's submarine last summer. If Madsen is found guilty he might spend the rest of his life in jail.

[Sara Nilsson]

So Pence decided in a rather unwise move to go to a black church for MLK.

https://www.theroot.com/mike-pence-turned-beet-red-during-mlk-service-as-black-1822114596

It didn't go well. And I think the article say it best..

Pastor Maurice Watson, fresh out of fucks to give, noted that some of his parishioners were from Africa and Haiti and said he felt “led by God” to address the subject, which was clue No. 2 for Pence (he should’ve left then; whenever anyone in a black church says they have been “led by God” or “moved by the Spirit,” the shit is about to go down).

[Oniya]

So Pence decided in a rather unwise move to go to a black church for MLK.

https://www.theroot.com/mike-pence-turned-beet-red-during-mlk-service-as-black-1822114596

It didn't go well. And I think the article say it best..

Not just any church.  A Baptist church.  Baptists are some of the most intense preachers out there.  My sister-in-law is Baptist, and the stories she's told me about services... whoa, Nelly. 

[Iniquitous]

So Pence decided in a rather unwise move to go to a black church for MLK.

https://www.theroot.com/mike-pence-turned-beet-red-during-mlk-service-as-black-1822114596

It didn't go well. And I think the article say it best..

oh LORD!!! I would have LOVED to have been there and seen it!

[lustfulintentions]

oh LORD!!! I would have LOVED to have been there and seen it!

In my cold, dark heart, I want there to be a cell phone video of this moment. I don't care how grainy, just, Jeebus, make it happen.

[Arianna]

In my cold, dark heart, I want there to be a cell phone video of this moment. I don't care how grainy, just, Jeebus, make it happen.

+2 I so wish I could have seen this.

[eBadger]

Considering how offended he was that plebeian actors in a play about politics dared address remarks to him about politics, I can only imagine. 

[Regina Minx]

Considering how offended he was that plebeian actors in a play about politics dared address remarks to him about politics, I can only imagine.

Fun fact: in the ancient Roman social order, to be an actor meant you had to occupy a degree of status equivalent to that of prostitutes. Plebeians enjoyed basic protections and civil rights under the law. To be an actor, you had to give those up.  You couldn’t marry, for instance, you could not initiate legal proceedings and your value as a witness was lessened.

Just pointing out that actors were beneath plebeians in Ancient Rome. #pedantic

[Lustful Bride]

So Pence decided in a rather unwise move to go to a black church for MLK.

https://www.theroot.com/mike-pence-turned-beet-red-during-mlk-service-as-black-1822114596

It didn't go well. And I think the article say it best..

I so want to make an Exorcist joke, but i cant think of one. >_<

[gaggedLouise]

Not just any church.  A Baptist church.  Baptists are some of the most intense preachers out there.  My sister-in-law is Baptist, and the stories she's told me about services... whoa, Nelly.

Loved this scene from The Apostle (a really good and understanding movie about people frpom the Bible Belt, by the way). :)

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

[Oniya]

I so want to make an Exorcist joke, but i cant think of one. >_<

I suspect that if Pence had visited a church any farther south - say, Fredricksburg (about 90 minutes south of DC if you don't hit traffic) - there would have been news of a freak lightning bolt coming through the church roof, somehow leaving no damage other than the smoking remains of Mike Pence.

[WindFish]

YouTube is once again screwing over smaller channels by demonetizing ones that don't meet certain thresholds:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/01/17/fury-youtube-slashes-advertising-thousands-channels/

All in the name of "weeding out spammers and bad actors". Yet Logan Paul can show a dead body and still has his videos monetized and his channel unaffected. Fucking hypocrites.

They need to stop showing favoritism like this. It's not fair for them to punish smaller channels because of their incompetence and their broken moderation system.

[Lustful Bride]

YouTube is once again screwing over smaller channels by demonetizing ones that don't meet certain thresholds:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/01/17/fury-youtube-slashes-advertising-thousands-channels/

All in the name of "weeding out spammers and bad actors". Yet Logan Paul can show a dead body and still has his videos monetized and his channel unaffected. Fucking hypocrites.

They need to stop showing favoritism like this. It's not fair for them to punish smaller channels because of their incompetence and their broken moderation system.

The only reason they can get away with this is that they are a monopoly and no other good video sharing site exists.

[WindFish]

The only reason they can get away with this is that they are a monopoly and no other good video sharing site exists.

Agreed. There's Twitch, but that's mostly for gaming content and that doesn't cover most of YouTube.

YouTube went to shit as soon as they were bought out by Google. It has ceased being a platform for anyone to post content. Not when YouTube only cares about the select few channels that bring them millions of views.

I feel bad for the people who make their living off of YouTube who will be unjustly impacted because of this.

[Oniya]

Twitch is actually expanding as far as content goes.  They have an 'IRL' channel which is devoted to vlogs, and I've seen notices for other types of non-computer-game content (like poker tournaments - almost told Mr. Oniya about that.)

[Lilias]

Go on, tell me again how Big Pharma has the interest of patients in mind. >:(

https://www.sciencealert.com/one-world-s-biggest-drug-companies-abandoned-alzheimer-s-parkinson-s-disease-pfizer

[Regina Minx]

Go on, tell me again how Big Pharma has the interest of patients in mind. >:(

https://www.sciencealert.com/one-world-s-biggest-drug-companies-abandoned-alzheimer-s-parkinson-s-disease-pfizer

I kind of have to argue in favor of the drug company here. Finding better treatments, not to mention cures, for brain diseases has proved difficult. Neurological research requires large investments of time and money, talent, patience, and resolve before any potential success, and thus profit, can be found. In other words, this kind of research comes with a lot of risk, and Pfizer, it seems, is risk-averse when it comes to neurological diseases. As someone who is herself risk-averse when it comes to investment, it is at least refreshing to see someone avoid the sunk cost fallacy..

That being said, I can understand how this decision can sipsignal great disappointment to people suffering from Parkinson’s and other forms of DBD. I have tremendous sympathy for them and their families.

[Trieste]

This is why it sucks having so much of current research tied to businesses or the government. If the government is fucking scientists over - which it is, in the US - and pharma businesses don't see a profit, we're left with untreated diseases and more suffering.

What happens to a dementia patient who doesn't have family to care for them and who can't afford care or housing?

[TheVillain]

This is why it sucks having so much of current research tied to businesses or the government. If the government is fucking scientists over - which it is, in the US - and pharma businesses don't see a profit, we're left with untreated diseases and more suffering.

What happens to a dementia patient who doesn't have family to care for them and who can't afford care or housing?

This, so much this. We're supposed to be the most scientifically advanced nation on the planet and yet we're currently led by the only major political party on the planet that flat out denies human influenced climate change.

[Oniya]

What happens to a dementia patient who doesn't have family to care for them and who can't afford care or housing?

Even if they have family to care for them, it's a significant financial and emotional drain on the carers - who then have to be concerned about affording additional care for themselves as well.  If they have to resort to home care, then there's essentially another full-time (and I mean at least 16 hours a day, 7 days a week) job that has to be worked out (caring for the patient) between the people living there, which will result in corresponding loss of income to the family.  The carers may end up with stress-related issues, including depression, anxiety, etc. and have to somehow afford care for that.  Depending on the patient's condition and abilities, additional equipment may be needed in the house - more expense - assuming that they are in a housing situation where they can make changes like that (and not a rental.)

But no.  Corp profits are the important thing.

[Lilias]

Historical geekery made even the early morning news.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-42741206

[elone]

What happens to a dementia patient who doesn't have family to care for them and who can't afford care or housing?

Good question. We had a neighbor a couple houses away who was the nicest woman in the world. She started getting worse and worse, thinking people were looking in her windows and all kinds of strange things. My wife and I went over there and cleaned her house, did her dishes and tried to look after her. Other neighbors did the same, went to the store to make sure she had something to eat. She had children and family that lived nearby, but they just were not equipped or something. Then she was taken away, then died. In retrospect, maybe we should have tried to find help for her, but we really did not know her that well and were kind of new to the neighborhood, and her family was in the area.

So what happens in this great nation that can spend billions on defense, unending wars, and bombs, but can not provide any help for those unable to help themselves. I guess if no one had been around she would just have died at home of starvation because she could not get to the store. Sad.