What's in the news?

[gaggedLouise]

I get your point, but by now I feel anyone who needs warning probably wouldn't pay attention to it anyway.

Of course there are some people who wouldn't be reached by either the general news or her warning - senile people for example, or some families with kids in impoverished areas. But it would have been irresponsible by the public health officer not to try to reach out to the wider public with this.

[Lustful Bride]

Of course there are some people who wouldn't be reached by either the general news or her warning - senile people for example, or some families with kids in impoverished areas. But it would have been irresponsible by the public health officer not to try to reach out to the wider public with this.

+1. Better to take every precaution. It could even be something as simple as a person who has been following the news, but doesn't know what to do if they run into a situation such as this.

[Oniya]

+1. Better to take every precaution. It could even be something as simple as a person who has been following the news, but doesn't know what to do if they run into a situation such as this.

Or doesn't know what form a 'nerve agent' might take.

[gaggedLouise]

Or doesn't know what form a 'nerve agent' might take.

*sings* "I'm Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas, gas, gaaaas..." 

[Oniya]

*sings* "I'm Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas, gas, gaaaas..." 

Sarin (the nerve agent that more people are familiar with) would be typically deployed as a gas.  From the announcement, though, it sounds as if Novo is a topical/ingestable.

[Orval Wintermute]

PayPal told customer her death breached its rules https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44783779
Unfortunately not as uncommon as you'd hope it would be. *remembers getting very shouty at some low level office grunt after a bereavement in the family, where letters threatening bailiffs were received after a utility company were informed of the death*

[Lustful Bride]

The US Senate shows its support of NATO.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senate-votes-to-support-nato-ahead-of-trump-summit/ar-AAzTOf8?ocid=spartandhp

Oh thank you God! Hopefully our allies know we support them, even if our mouthpiece may say otherwise. Even if its nonbinding, the gesture must still speak.

[gaggedLouise]

The US Senate shows its support of NATO.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senate-votes-to-support-nato-ahead-of-trump-summit/ar-AAzTOf8?ocid=spartandhp

Oh thank you God! Hopefully our allies know we support them, even if our mouthpiece may say otherwise. Even if its nonbinding, the gesture must still speak.

Agree, I think they will notice and that's good, because trump is less than likely to voice a whole-hearted commitment to NATO.

[Lustful Bride]

….I feel genuinely conflicted. Some of the antifa are absolutely insane and go after anyone who is even slightly to the right of their ideals. But I have grown to like their way of disrupting other hate groups.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/‘unmasking-antifa-act-includes-15-year-prison-term-proposal/ar-AAzTJzI?ocid=spartandhp

[gaggedLouise]

….I feel genuinely conflicted. Some of the antifa are absolutely insane and go after anyone who is even slightly to the right of their ideals. But I have grown to like their way of disrupting other hate groups.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/‘unmasking-antifa-act-includes-15-year-prison-term-proposal/ar-AAzTJzI?ocid=spartandhp

Yeah, the trouble is some of them making a lifestyle out of showing up at other people's demonstrations, party conferences or at all kinds of summit meetings, and going there just to throw stones and bottles, destroy shop windows (all of this wearing masks and different kinds of hand-to.hand combat arms) and harassing other people - even people who really don't merit to be disrupted quite that way. The rioting in Hamburg last summer, around the G20 meeting, was that kind of thing - ostensibly they came to protest against Trump, but in reality the hardcore people just came to throw stones and fight in the streets. And they wrecked substantial parts of the city: utter vandalism.  Hundreds of cops went into hospital efter trying to keep up order. That kind of thing has zero to do with serious political discussions, and being masked is a key part of the whole "lifestyle": it makes them feel invincible and protects them against identification.

We used to have that kind of ritual rioting in my hometown once a year, on the last of November, because of the memory of a king who had lived in town three huindred years ago, waged war on Russia (and others) and who has become a heavily weighted symbol for far-right people and white supremacists, The left-wing anarchists and Antifa people were as responsible as the far-right-wing guys for keeping the ritual fighting and annual standoffs going. If they had chosen a more dignified way of protesting the whole thing would have cooled down much sooner.

[TheVillain]

I respectfully disagree. History pretty clearly shows that Fascists and their historical counterparts don't really respond to non-violent, dignified forms of protest. It's ugly, and philosophically you are right - but history shows that occasionally your only option is to punch the Richard Spencers of the world in the mouth until they shut the fuck up and go back to their slimy holes.



On a more pleasant note, the most recent issue of The Amazing Spider-Man has hinted that Marvel may be bringing Peter and MJ back together. For those of you who weren't reading comics at the time, at one point Pete and MJ were married and considering having kids but the then Editor-In-Chief of Marvel decided that Pete is more relatable to comic book fans if he's a 30 year old virgin who lives in his aunt's basement. [Not Exaggeration.] So in the resulting story-line, Aunt May was shot and to heal her Pete and MJ sold their marriage to the literal Devil. [Again, Not Exaggeration. Mephisto Bong and Everything.]

This move was widely considered one of the dumbest storylines of Spider-Man's history but unfortunately it stuck. [I don't even mind that they broke up Pete and MJ, I just wish they'd done it in a way that wasn't so pants-on-head stupid. I mean even I can do better. Watch - *a-hem* Pete discovers that he might have a weaker, male version of Spider-Woman's pheromones and as such deduces that his surprisingly successful romantic history including MJ's feelings for him might be the result of an unintended and accidental form of pheromone-based mind control, so he breaks up with her to give her a chance to be free of his influence while he figures out what's going on. Boom.]

[gaggedLouise]

The US Senate shows its support of NATO.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senate-votes-to-support-nato-ahead-of-trump-summit/ar-AAzTOf8?ocid=spartandhp

Oh thank you God! Hopefully our allies know we support them, even if our mouthpiece may say otherwise. Even if its nonbinding, the gesture must still speak.

If anyone thought Trump was going to resist picking an internal NATO fight, you were wrong. Ever the bad loser he's going after Angela Merkel again, and tosses out the angry slur that she and Germany are "totally controlled by Russia" because of the import of Russian gas.

Now those gas pipelines are a quandary, but talking as if Germany had become a hostage of Russia is a huge overstatement. Also a funny one when coming from a president who has boasted of being able to make "great deals with Putin" and who is under investigation for the Russian assistance to his own election campaign - and those rumours that he is *literally* held by the balls by an incident involving Russian escorts.

And picking a fight with Germany right now, days before he is to meet May and then Putin, is extremely bad timing.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44780489

[RedPhoenix]

The school-to-prison pipeline had been expanding recently.

https://theappeal.org/california-county-law-enforcement-puts-kids-on-probation-for-bad-grades/

[TheGlyphstone]

The school-to-prison pipeline had been expanding recently.

https://theappeal.org/california-county-law-enforcement-puts-kids-on-probation-for-bad-grades/

Wat.

[Sara Nilsson]

The school-to-prison pipeline had been expanding recently.

https://theappeal.org/california-county-law-enforcement-puts-kids-on-probation-for-bad-grades/

How the fuck is that even legal? USA, land of the free.

[Deamonbane]

How the fuck is that even legal? USA, land of the free.*

*Terms and conditions may apply.

[TheGlyphstone]

How the fuck is that even legal? USA, land of the free.

Remember the whole thing with minors in immigration court? The laws get REALLY fuzzy some times with what is and isnt permissible for minors in the legal arena, and people abuse the heck out of that grey area.

[Beorning]

Moving to somewhat lighter news...

Wild snake on the loose! Wild snake on the loose!

https://www.tvn24.pl/tvn24-news-in-english,157,m/poland-search-for-a-dangerous-python-continues,852966.html

A few days ago, a five-meters long moult of an Indian python was found in the Warsaw suburbs. Nearby, real snake tracks were noticed - so, it's not just a case of some snake hobbyist throwing the old skin away... it seems that a true, big Indian python is on the loose in the area. How it got there, it's still a mystery... Anyway, the police and the animal rescue specialists are looking for the creature. The search has been going for four days now...

[gaggedLouise]

While Trump is in Europe, trying to alienate key NATO allies and taking potshots at Angela Merkel, a united Senate hand slaps his policies for the second time in two days.

Senators voted overwhelmingly Wednesday calling on Trump to get congressional approval before using national security as a reason for imposing tariffs on other nations, as he did recently with steel and aluminum levies against Mexico, Canada and the European Union.

The bipartisan 88-to-11 tally on the non-binding resolution sends a message to the White House about how frustrated senators are over Trump's disruptive moves on tariffs.

However, future efforts to pass enforceable legislation likely face an uphill battle over Trump's objections.

"Let's be clear, this is a rebuke of the President's abuse of trade authority," said Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican and a frequent and vocal critic of Trump's policies. "Can you imagine being Canada and being told your steel and aluminum exports to the United States (are) a national security threat?"

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/11/politics/senate-trump-tariff-vote/index.html

Hope we'll see more of this in the next few months.

[Sara Nilsson]

https://www.engadget.com/2018/07/11/fcc-complaints-rule-change/

Until now, people have been able to make informal complaints to the FCC, which has to at least attempt to deal with their concerns. The concern with the rule change is that now, these issues would simply be forwarded on to the provider in question.

That is, unless you make a formal complaint at the cost of $225, at which point the FCC will handle your issue on your behalf. As both Gizmodo and the Verge point out, the implication is that the rule changes will mean that you'll need to pay the FCC, in cash, to do its job.

[gaggedLouise]

A man walks into a Karaoke bar and sees two sunburnt men singing "Wonderwall" by Oasis; he loses it. steps forward and throws the mike into the floor for them.

Speaking to the police, he explained that "Wonderwall is a trigger for me" 

Hmmm, this is even stranger than when Liam Gallagher explained how tired he had become of being associated with the song. "You arrive in a foreign town and two guys ask you: "Are you Mr. Wonderwall?" - man, you just wanna punch their noses..."

Source (in Swedish): https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2018-07-11/atal-blev-sur-pa-oasis-slog-sonder-mikrofon-pa-karaokebar

[RedPhoenix]

https://globalvoices.org/2018/06/25/iranian-lawyer-nasrin-sotoudeh-charged-with-national-security-crimes-for-representing-hijab-protesters/

An Iranian lawyer who defended women accused of removing headscarves was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison. For what? Colluding with her own clients. By meeting with them to discuss defending them against charges of removing their hijabs in public. Such a farce.

She's previously spent three years in prison for speaking out against the government. It's nice that there are heroes like her still in the world, just a shame so few people want to help.

[Orval Wintermute]

Violence of the streets of Northern Ireland for the sixth night running. Apparently this is an escalation of violence that's been going on for the last few weeks, firebombs getting thrown through windows etc.
Only in Northern Ireland could a political say this with a straight face

This has gone beyond recreational rioting...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-44816025

[HairyHeretic]

Somehow that really doesn't surprise me :)

[AmberStarfire]

I found this an enjoyable article (as I'm Australian) and it's true. We have a knack for telling things straight.
https://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/north-america/aussie-speech-is-helping-us-get-ahead/news-story/c6813d1b56be670c1482256d02321ad7