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Switzerland Thwarts Major Islamic State Terror Attack
Today's Headlines
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5 20:24 SteveS [336110] 
14 22:38 Lex [336125] 
6 17:59 Anomalous Sources [336077] 
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12 20:53 Thaith Elmeresing6163 [336128] 
10 18:53 Skidmark [336116] 
4 09:45 Raj [336079] 
3 12:51 ed in texas [336090] 
3 09:00 ranture [336103] 
1 11:27 ed in texas [336075] 
7 17:29 Abu Uluque [336089] 
3 08:09 b [336087] 
7 12:57 ed in texas [336073] 
1 04:44 Woodrow [336071] 
6 23:35 Lex [336107] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
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2 17:15 swksvolFF [336096]
19 16:43 Besoeker [336094]
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Teen charged with incest, rape after 11-year-old sister relative gives birth
[NYPOST] A St. Louis teen confessed to raping his 11-year-old relative about 100 times after she gave birth to his baby in a bathtub, according to a news report.

Cops were tipped off to the alleged abuse at the hands of Norvin Leonidas Lopez-Cante when his father brought an infant to St. Joseph Hospital on Tuesday and told police someone left the child on his front porch, KSDK-TV reported.

The baby still had its umbilical cord and placenta attached and a body temperature of 90 degrees, the NBC affiliate said.

On Thursday, police visited the father, Francisco Javier Gonzalez-Lopez, and he told them his 17-year-old son was the father of the child and their 11-year-old relative was the baby’s mother ‐ but claimed he had no knowledge of the abuse or the pregnancy until the girl gave birth.

Lopez-Cante later admitted to authorities that he had sex with the girl about twice a week, a total of about 100 times, the report said.

Cops arrested both the father and the son, KSDK-TV reported.

Lopez-Cante was charged with first-degree statutory rape, sodomy and incest.

Gonzalez-Lopez was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Court papers show he was in the country illegally and was previously deported.

Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336103 views] Top|| File under:

#1  God's Children's Child.
Diversity Makes Us Stronger.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 1:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Norvin Leonidas Lopez-Cante is a Somalian name?

Or

Court papers show he was in the country illegally and was previously deported.
This illegal was DNC approved.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:33 Comments || Top||

#3  MORALS OF AN ALLEY CAT?? Most all the time
Posted by: ranture || 02/16/2020 9:00 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Coronavirus on the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan’s coast has risen to 355
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336090 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How good is the test?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/16/2020 2:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Are coronavirus tests flawed?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/16/2020 4:39 Comments || Top||

#3  The tests are whack with false negatives; the chinese regimen is five, count 'em five, clean tests before release.
They've finally decided to fly US citizens home for quarantine. I think the real reason they waited this long was to make a visible canned experiment on transmission.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/16/2020 12:51 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Trump To Attend The Daytona 500; Will Drive Truex's Car And Do Doughnuts In The Infield
Ha - not the Babylon Bee!

When I heard about this yesterday, I was kind of hoping for a little bit of Bo & Luke Duke before the race.

[Fox News via Drudge] - President Trump’s appearance at the Daytona 500 on Sunday may feature a guest appearance from the presidential limousine known as "The Beast."

Trump is planning to take a lap around the track at Daytona International Speedway prior to the venerable NASCAR event, Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts reported on Friday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. Plans have not yet been finalized.
Posted by: Raj || 02/16/2020 10:02 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't watch Nascar but I may tune in just to see the huge welcome he gets once again here in the south
Posted by: Chris || 02/16/2020 10:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh, no! Will the Dims have time to bus in all their 'protestors'?
Posted by: Bobby || 02/16/2020 11:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Not likely. Grandstands have been sold out for weeks, and the average NASCAR fan will not take kindly to some bearded trans-lady/antifa trying to delay or stop the race
Posted by: Frank G || 02/16/2020 11:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Will the Dims have time to bus in all their 'protestors'?

I can hear it now:

"Josh - let's go protest Trump and get our asses kicked by dozens of drunk, rowdy NASCAR fans twice our size!"
Posted by: Raj || 02/16/2020 11:17 Comments || Top||

#5  He just did the low fly by with AF1. They announce he will do a lap in the beats at over 100MPH! I seem to be drawn to the top gun scene where he buzzes the tower and the guy spills his coffee. Some one needs to photoshop the clip with Trump and Pelosi!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 02/16/2020 13:23 Comments || Top||

#6  ... and the Democrat response:



Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 02/16/2020 17:59 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Homecoming: Alexandria synagogue hosts Egypt’s largest Jewish prayers in decades
[IsraelTimes] 180 members of Egyptian-Jewish Diaspora return to fete renovated Eliyahu Hanavi shul, even as country’s tiny Jewish community prepares for a Jew-free future.

This weekend marks the largest Jewish prayer gathering in Egypt for decades. From across the Diaspora, some 180 Jews of Egyptian origin have flown to the land of their fathers for a Shabbat dedicated to marking the newly restored 14th-century Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria.

“If it wasn’t for [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] el-Sissi, this would have never been done. A lot of things have changed since he’s taken over,” Mizrahi told AFP.
The weekend was closed to media and organized in part by the Nebi Daniel Association, an organization that works to preserve Jewish sites in Egypt. Only four or five septuagenarian and octogenarian Jews currently reside in Alexandria, Nebi Daniel Association board member Alec Nacamuli told The Times of Israel. The city used to house 12 synagogues, but most of them were sold over the years to support the Jewish community there, and its infrastructure and institutions, he said.

Once the largest in the Arab world, the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue was recently reopened in a festive gathering of government officials and Egyptian Jews on January 10. In cooperation with the military, Egypt’s antiquities ministry oversaw the 64 million Egyptian pound ($4 million) renovation which lasted over three years after the roof and staircase collapsed in 2016.

In January, Yolande Mizrahi, born and raised in Alexandria and now in her 80s, had one man to thank for the refurbishment. “If it wasn’t for [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] el-Sissi, this would have never been done. A lot of things have changed since he’s taken over,” Mizrahi told AFP.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That takes balls. Aso, erased fact, Egypt before Moohamhead, was almost entirely Christian.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:41 Comments || Top||

#2  ...right of return? (do I need to put a /sarc on that?)
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/16/2020 7:31 Comments || Top||

#3  At the start of the Six Day War there were less than 50 Jews in Alexandria. Some adult males were placed under arrest, and in at least one case a male was caged in the desert west of Alexandria. His captivity was so severe he died shortly after. The Six Day War, and the Nasser reaction, was the end of Alexandria the great. The international community -- Maltese, Italians, Greeks, Syrians, Lebanese, and nearly all the Jews -- left for good.
Posted by: b || 02/16/2020 8:09 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir says he is cutting the number of states from 32 to 10
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How many counties in New Jersey?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Peace will never be achieved in South Sudan until that country that passes for a nation is divided in three. Create Bahr al-Ghazal for the Dinka, East Nile for the Nuer, and Equatoria for the various tribes that inhabited the Equatoria region of the former Sudan. Salva Kiir will never see to it so the old fool must be dumped.
Posted by: b || 02/16/2020 8:02 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
2004 same Wuhan bio lab researchers: Expression cloning of functional receptor used by SARs corona virus
[Twitter]
A paper published in 2004. Note ACE2 is the main vector for infection by current corona-virus in China. This paper is about modifying corona virus to infect human ACE2 cells. Also, look at the gaming using HIV

Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336125 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Same poster has these links for other damning data:
Please look, and draw your own educated and true feelings regarding #CoronaOutbreak and #coronavirus all links contain the subject of #HIV correlation

https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14766227

https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20960282

https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18814896

https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15452254

https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18077725

Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 14:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Chinesevirologists got careless/malevolent with their studies using HIV as the pseudovirus shills get angry when you say it escaped from a lab and that it had HIV amino acid sequences.

The virus is reportedly being treated, at least in some instances, with an anti-HIV protocol and responding favorably so why the angst ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/16/2020 14:17 Comments || Top||

#3  This was a comment too:
Replying to
@ch00sn1
This was the study of the sars virus. They didn't add hiv. It was all ready in there and they where Tring to figure out how it worked. The question is how HIV got into the Sars virus in the first place back in 2003. It doesn't happen naturally.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 14:33 Comments || Top||

#4  a 2010 article Referenced here on twitter
Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 14:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Can someone clarify / simplify this for the non-microbiologists among us?
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 15:47 Comments || Top||

#6  They were modifying coronavirus to be able to infect people since 2003 at least (as the HIV aspects were already added before 2004) and trying to make it able to do airborne infection by keying on the ACE2 cells in the lungs.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 16:58 Comments || Top||

#7  problem with that is that the current corona virus was stolen from Canada who found it in the lungs of patient in Saudi Arabia who was traced back to a virus collected in Egypt.... and China stole it sometime after early 2013 but this research was going on in 2004 and in another article 2010...

Somewhere some truth reconciling everything along with why exists.

I suspect we will never see the truth.
Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 17:07 Comments || Top||

#8  location:

Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 17:09 Comments || Top||

#9  Pretty good evidence it did escape a lab via Tim Pool.

Same lab near the market brought in bats with the virus from 600 miles away. Scientists were bit and exposed to the virus by the bats. Outbreak was at the local wet market some 900 ft way.

Sounds like a bad B reel horror movie.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/16/2020 18:53 Comments || Top||

#10  The Mysterious Origin of the Wuhan Coronavirus

Long, semi-technical article regarding work done in 2007 - 2019. Scroll down to the section labelled "Track Record of Wuhan Institute of Virology on Engineering ‘Gain-of-Function’ Bat SARS-Like CoV"
Posted by: KBK || 02/16/2020 19:24 Comments || Top||

#11  Sounds like a bad B reel horror movie.

That's the Shitshow, Jake.

Why on earth did our elites think it was a good idea to tie our economy, our foreign policy and our future to China?

Why the f--- did this happen?

WHY?
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 20:45 Comments || Top||

#12  #6 They were modifying coronavirus to be able to infect people since 2003 at least (as the HIV aspects were already added before 2004) and trying to make it able to do airborne infection by keying on the ACE2 cells in the lungs.

If this is true then anyone/everyone in the West who tried to help China rise while tying our economy tightly to China's should be tarred and feathered.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 20:49 Comments || Top||

#13  Why, Lex? Because they looked at the population of China and saw consumers and converts.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/16/2020 20:52 Comments || Top||

#14  They saw $$$.
We see devastation.

f--- them
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 22:38 Comments || Top||


The death toll from China’s coronavirus epidemic jumps past 1,600 after 139 more people died in hard-hit Hubei province
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336116 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Me thinks 16,000+ Which doesn't include Apple factory workers jumping to their deaths.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:29 Comments || Top||

#2  The economy of China is grinding to a halt. These numbers are just the tip of an iceberg. High population areas will fall quickly. The sanctuary cities and homeless areas here are prime breading grounds. Their pathetic efforts so far have accomplished nothing. So media people claim when the weather turns warm the bug will die out. It has been said for many years the very cold stuns the outbreaks. We will see. I do suggest Trump offer assistance. Leadership is required. Act while others dither.
Posted by: Dale || 02/16/2020 6:35 Comments || Top||

#3  For Dale: China spurned CDC offer to send team to help contain coronavirus: US Health Secretary

Can't help if they won't accept it
Posted by: Frank G || 02/16/2020 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  China numbers probably low. More important to watch the outside China numbers. Specially places like japan and Singapore have 1st class medical institutions. Looking at those it seems the virus has been contained for now. Of course a breakout into someplace like Indonesia or Malaysia would change the whole situation but for now that probably hasn’t happened.
Posted by: Lord garth || 02/16/2020 8:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Antidote anti-corona vaccination reportedly still a year off.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/16/2020 8:33 Comments || Top||

#6  True Frank but the worm might turn. Communism total control might falter. The devil is in the details. Emotion pushes for action. Logic lacks the power to take action. In any possible business, potential opportunity must be taken. I see Trump as the only leader to seize upon this and lead.
Posted by: Dale || 02/16/2020 8:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Besoeker, who says it has to be a vaccination? You must be aging rapidly.
Posted by: Varmint Splat1454 || 02/16/2020 8:42 Comments || Top||

#8  ^ Antibody against the spike protein?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru PB || 02/16/2020 8:46 Comments || Top||

#9  Anecdotally, that Ebola drug apparently cures those with the coronavirus’s second-stage of deep lung pneumonia within hours. I yesterday that it’s in two human clinical tests in China even as we speak, so if it proves out there will be a useful treatment, even if a vaccine comes too late for the current epidemic.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/16/2020 12:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Antibody against the spike protein?

Monoclonal antibody

Posted by: Skidmark || 02/16/2020 18:53 Comments || Top||


North Korean leader Kim Jong Un makes his first public appearance in 22 days
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Posted by: Fred || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Ran out of twinkies.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Put him in a white shirt and he could double as an outdoor movie screen.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/16/2020 7:58 Comments || Top||

#3  sure its not a test flight of the Goodyear blimp? today is the Daytona 500 ya know..
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 02/16/2020 9:40 Comments || Top||

#4  I thought Groundhog Day was a few weeks ago?
Posted by: Raj || 02/16/2020 9:45 Comments || Top||


Coronavirus Hits China’s Crude Oil, Iron Ore, Coal Imports
[GCaptain] Calculating the exact impact on commodity markets from the coronavirus epidemic in China is still a fraught process, with too many unknown variables, but there are some early signs of the effect on physical shipments.

China’s imports of crude oil and iron ore so far in February are running at levels well below the preceding months, and also from the same month last year, according to vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Refinitiv.

To be clear, what the numbers show is that the rate of discharge of cargoes is considerably slower, while the queue of vessels waiting to offload at Chinese ports seems to be longer than usual.

In other words, this doesn’t necessarily mean that China’s imports of crude and iron ore are plummeting, what it does mean is that the ports seem to be struggling to get back to normal volumes of cargo movements.

The coronavirus has killed more than 1,300 people and infected more than 48,000 people in China, but has also led to significant economic disruption as work places remained closed after the Lunar New Year holidays as Beijing worked to stop the spread of the disease.

The unloading of iron ore cargoes appears to have been affected, with Refinitiv data showing 28.2 million tonnes from 211 vessels was discharged in the first 12 days of February.

This is down from the 33.4 million tonnes achieved in the same period in February 2019, and it’s also worth noting that the Lunar New Year holidays fell in February last year, which would have slowed unloading in that month.

The daily rate of iron ore being offloaded so far in February is 2.35 million tonnes, down from 2.93 million in January and 3.09 million in December.

The data also shows that 66 vessels carrying 10.3 million tonnes of iron ore are awaiting discharge, while 41 ships with 6.7 million tonnes are in the process of unloading their cargoes.

A further 192 vessels carrying 31.8 million tonnes are en route to China and expected to reach port by the end of the month.

All up, this gives a potential of about 77.6 million tonnes of iron ore arriving in China in February, down from 90.9 million in January and 95.8 million in December.

To be sure, the February numbers are still subject to revision and are likely to increase as more vessels are sighted, but the point remains that it looks like its going to be a soft month.

SLOW CRUDE DISCHARGING
It’s a similar story for crude oil, with Refinitiv data showing 80 tankers carrying 90.7 million barrels have discharged cargoes in the first 12 days of February, a daily rate of 7.58 million barrels.

This is down from the 8.88 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first 12 days of February 2019, and also lower than the 9.67 million bpd in January and the 9.79 million bpd in December.

However, for coal the story is somewhat different, with 6.8 million tonnes on 111 ships offloaded in the first 12 days of February, for a daily rate of 566,000 tonnes.

This is actually higher than the 517,000 tonnes per day recorded in the first 12 days of February 2019, but still well below the 803,000 tonnes per day in January and the 658,000 tonnes in December.

There are also 47 vessels awaiting to discharge coal, and a further 90 en route and expected to reach China before the end of the month.

But even if all these ships do arrive in time and manage to discharge their cargoes, the likelihood is that seaborne coal imports in February will come in around 20 million tonnes, still some way short of the performance of recent months.

Overall, it appears that China’s imports of major commodities may be constrained in February, but slower demand because of the coronavirus may not be the main reason, rather it’s the struggle to get ports working at full capacity once again.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Paul brings up a trend. With China's infrastructure worker collapse. Expecting starvation.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:44 Comments || Top||


Stranded Tankers and Full Storage Tanks: Coronavirus Leads to Crude Glut in China
[GCaptain] The coronavirus’s effect on energy markets is worsening, as the sharp fall in demand in China, the world’s largest importer of crude, is stranding oil cargoes off the country’s coast and prompting shippers to seek out other Asian destinations.

More than 1,360 people have died from the coronavirus in China, which has disrupted the world’s second largest economy and shaken energy markets, with international benchmark Brent crude oil down 15% since the beginning of the year.

Major international energy forecasters expect demand to fall in this quarter, the first drop in a decade, due to the outbreak.

Chinese refineries have cut output by about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) over just two weeks, causing crude stocks to pile up.

That has left numerous Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), capable of holding more than 2 million barrels of crude each, unable to unload at China’s top crude import terminal of Qingdao, Refinitiv data shows.

Other cargoes are being diverted to South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and other locales in China, while storage tanks in Shandong province – where Qingdao is located – are filling swiftly, sources said.

Oil storage tanks in China’s eastern Shandong province are nearing peaks seen last June as independent refiners slash processing rates, industry sources said.

“We are cutting runs, but we still have (crude) cargoes on the way,” said a Chinese refinery source, adding that the company was still exploring options as land storage is limited and it is costly to store on ships.

Shandong’s commercial and strategic crude oil stocks are currently at 171.5 million barrels, not far from their peak of 175 million barrels in early June last year, according to oil analytics firm Kpler.

“In theory, there is a lot of spare capacity to fill, but we have never seen this full utilization” of storage, said Kpler analyst Alexander Booth, adding that utilization rates are currently at 61% in Shandong, versus 63% at last year’s peak.

China’s overall crude storage is at 760 million barrels, versus a peak of 780 million barrels in early June last year, Kpler’s data shows.

DEMURRAGE COSTS RISE, FREIGHT RATES PLUNGE
The lack of space in tanks is prompting traders to divert cargoes scheduled to arrive in February and March until China’s demand improves, multiple trade and shipping sources said.

When vessels cannot be unloaded, their charterers have to pay what is known as demurrage costs. Those fees have climbed to more than $100,000 per day for a cargo arriving next week compared with about $90,000 per day for those loaded 40 days ago, prompting some shippers to try to transfer crude to older tankers that cost less to operate, they said.

Freight rates meanwhile, have plunged to nearly half the levels they were at as the virus has hit demand and after the U.S. partially lifted sanctions on one unit of Chinese shipping firm COSCO.

Sources at Shandong ports said while storage levels are high, they are working with refineries to move oil out and make way for more cargoes that are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

“The pace of moving crude out from tanks is slow. So if vessels are arriving at the same time, some of them might need to wait for 2-3 days,” said a source at Rizhao port in Shandong.

“We still have around 30% of space at our oil storage at this moment, which is already a lot better than the previous weeks, as truck drivers are gradually returning to work.”

Manufacturing activity was paused for the Lunar New Year last month when the virus struck, preventing workers from returning to their jobs.

State-run ChemChina has diverted some crude oil cargoes which were supposed to arrive in China to floating storage near Malaysia, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. ChemChina did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Oil traders have signed new crude oil storage leases in South Korea, the nearest storage option to Qingdao, this week, said a source familiar with the matter.

Two supertankers – Universal Winner and Aegean Dream – carrying Brazilian crude originally heading for China have been diverted to the Singapore straits, Refinitiv data showed.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336107 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Which leads to yet another ZH story about how crude prices are rising. Sort of like that blizzard caused by gerbil worming.
Posted by: Kojo Unirong5017 || 02/16/2020 0:10 Comments || Top||

#2  gerbil worming. Good hoot. But stilling thinking, North Korea heating the ChiCom cashless.

In the end, starvation, more starvation. A lot more.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Iranian exports falling?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/16/2020 9:40 Comments || Top||

#4  What we need now is a typhoon to have a total entertainment package.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/16/2020 11:40 Comments || Top||

#5  If oil is cheaper, import them to USA. build up our reserves.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 02/16/2020 23:32 Comments || Top||

#6  ^ Brilliant idea. Wonderful opportunity for us to cement the advantages of energy independence.

Hope someone's listening.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 23:35 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Funding for women's group under review after call for ban on man-woman relationships
[NationalPost] The Quebec government says it will re-evaluate the $120,000 annual public funding it gives to the province’s biggest women’s federation after its president suggested that heterosexual relationships should be banned.

Gabrielle Bouchard, president of the Federation des femmes du Quebec, made the controversial comment Tuesday on Twitter, before issuing an apology on Facebook and during televised media interviews later in the day.

Bouchard says her original tweet was in reaction to news that a man out on parole after being convicted of killing his female partner had been arrested in the slaying last week of a 22-year-old woman in Quebec City.

In it she said heterosexual relationships were violent, mostly based on religion and possibly should be banned.

Labour and Social Solidarity Minister Jean Boulet said he will analyze whether the organization still qualifies for its annual subsidy in light of Bouchard’s comments.

He said in an interview that Bouchard’s words were unacceptable and lacked respect, but that he felt her apology was also sincere.

Bouchard’s initial tweet was in response to the killing of Marylene Levesque, which prompted federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to announce an investigation Monday. Eustachio Gallese, 51, was charged last Thursday with second-degree murder in the death of the 22-year-old sex worker.

In 2006, Gallese was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 15 years after he killed his 32-year-old partner, Chantale Deschenes, by beating her with a hammer before repeatedly stabbing her.

The parole board initially concluded Gallese posed a “high risk” of committing violence against a partner. But the board later revised its evaluation to “moderate” and by 2016 had allowed him out of prison on supervised outings. He was released to a halfway house in March.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/16/2020 16:03 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I am reminded of the old saw that you can't legislate against the habits of the people. But the way things are going, I'd give this a 50/50 chance of being included in the official DNC platform.
Posted by: Matt || 02/16/2020 17:16 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Not the Onion: Mahmoud Abbas Offers China Help in Battling Coronavirus
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/16/2020 15:22 || Comments || Link || [336110 views] Top|| File under:

#1  .. by supplying martyrsvictims?
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 15:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Keep your women in burkas and bingo there goes most of your spread rate. Mohammad knew best after all.
Posted by: jpal || 02/16/2020 16:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Ploy to setup a pali virus shop?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/16/2020 18:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Abbas will volunteer his very own alternative to this.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 02/16/2020 18:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Keep your women in burkas and bingo there goes most of your spread rate.

If you could combine the burka with the zip-lock sandwich bag, you could keep your women both non-contagious and fresh.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/16/2020 20:24 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
This Is How The Air Force Gets Its New Survival Rifle To Fit Under An Ejection Seat
[The Drive] The U.S. Air Force has offered the first good look at how its new-ish GAU-5/A carbines squeeze in with other items inside a survival kit that the service's pilots are now flying with under their ejection seats. The guns are converted standard M4 carbines with various new features, most notably a special locking system that allows users to break it down into two halves in 30 seconds or less and reassemble when necessary just as fast.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center released the picture of the carbine broken down inside its kit, along with four tan-colored 30-round magazines and other items, along with additional images of the gun assembled and disassembled on Feb. 14, 2020. Air Force gunsmiths at the Air Force Security Forces Center, situated at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, assembled 2,700 of these GAU-5/As, also known as Aircrew Self Defense Weapons (ASDW), to units across the service between February 2018 and January 2020, when it reportedly completed all of the planned deliveries. It's interesting to note that this is 600 more guns than the Air Force expected to produce as of June 2018.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336075 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like the folding grip.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/16/2020 11:27 Comments || Top||


A tasty delight for the eyes!
[Twitter]
Auto Pr0n for the day.

Posted by: 3dc || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336073 views] Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life,

#1  Please
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ reminds me of a McClaren or Aventador from the front and a Batmobile from the back
Posted by: Warthog || 02/16/2020 6:10 Comments || Top||

#3  I don't know what that bolted on ductwork is about, but is that a 20 pound propane tank back there?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 6:33 Comments || Top||

#4  This
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/16/2020 6:40 Comments || Top||

#5  but is that a 20 pound propane tank back there?

It's one of those fusion generators that runs on banana peels and coffee grounds.
Posted by: gorb || 02/16/2020 8:24 Comments || Top||

#6  nope. just another ipad controlled head on collision waiting.
but its zero emissions(spit)
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 02/16/2020 9:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Marty McFly could not be reached for comment (because he doesn't know who he is).
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/16/2020 12:57 Comments || Top||


Science
Robot Nurses Will Make Shortages Obsolete
[DailyBeast] For years, the U.S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than the supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then.

Those aged 65 or over comprise a bigger percentage of the U.S. population than ever, and by 2030, 20 percent of the U.S. population, or roughly 69 million people, will be senior citizens. While enrollment at nursing schools is up, these programs aren’t big enough to accept the number of applicants required to fill these positions.

So what’s the solution?

Robots.

Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend, given that its elderly population is the highest of any country. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. Terapio isn’t humanoid, but it does have expressive eyes that change shape and make it seem responsive. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact, works with staff, and has a benign appearance.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336128 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Do not want a sponge bath from anything plugged into 110.
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Do not want a sponge bath from anything plugged into 110.

No worries, mate! We use 220.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/16/2020 4:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh geez, is that twice as worse?
Posted by: Woodrow || 02/16/2020 4:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Sponge baths are out. Now your gurney will be locked into the tracks of the automated shower that looks remarkably like something from a car wash. Waxing optional.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/16/2020 7:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Robots? There's no TLC in that. Robots might be useful to assist in patient lifting and handling to prevent strain injuries.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/16/2020 9:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe sexy robot nurses?
Posted by: gorb || 02/16/2020 11:29 Comments || Top||

#7  It’s better to exit quickly. Yea shorted robots.
Posted by: Phomble Jeager4592 || 02/16/2020 11:37 Comments || Top||

#8  #6 - Don't google or bing that. NSFW!
Posted by: Frank G || 02/16/2020 11:52 Comments || Top||

#9  This is how the insurance companies will lower hospital expenses. One way or the other...
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/16/2020 12:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Maybe sexy robot nurses?

That article was just yesterday.
Coincidence? I think not.

Just remember Herb - don't have your temperature taken at the same time base feelings are being taken care of.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/16/2020 15:03 Comments || Top||

#11  Thanks for your research Frank.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/16/2020 17:32 Comments || Top||

#12  With a sexy robot nurse I could at least die happy.
Posted by: Thaith Elmeresing6163 || 02/16/2020 20:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Pro-Israel groups enhance efforts against Pink Floyd's Roger Waters for BDS stance, demand his removal from SXSW


Posted by: Herb McCoy || 02/16/2020 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336089 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Turnabout is fair play — in addition to the nastiness at Pink Floyd concerts (pig balloons with Jewish stars on them —really?) Mr. Waters has for years been contacting performers to strongly urge them to cancel bookings in Israel as well as pushing BDS in general. He should be grateful they let him go this long without response.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/16/2020 4:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Problem is, SXSW is just about the last group I would expect to get any sympathy on BDS from.
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/16/2020 11:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Certainly the comments at the video are nasty enough, ed. Still, articles about this will now show up when his name or SXSW are searched. And some people will rethink their support and acceptance, as I did once I found out, though Pink Floyd is part of the soundtrack of my youth.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/16/2020 13:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Waters is a feckless clown who's been ignored for years.

Most of his music sounded edgy and exciting at the time but has since swirled down the terlet of forgettable junk that's painful to listen to today.

The only people who pay attention to him are aging maroons who confuse drug-addled pseudo-intellectual 1970s lyrics with real poetry.
Posted by: Lex || 02/16/2020 15:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Remember a second rate painter, Lex.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/16/2020 15:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Gilmour was the genius
Posted by: Frank G || 02/16/2020 15:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Roger Waters goes on Russian TV to blame Israel because Palestinians refuse to make peace, refuse to behave like civilized human beings. That's the kind of bullshit we're used to hearing from RT, Pravda or any other Russian media (read propaganda) outlet.

Well, he played a mean bass and his band mates were brilliant. But his lyrics dealt primarily with war and madness. It really is sad that his father died in WWII. It was sad that Pink Floyd's first songwriter and Water's mentor Syd Barrett went over the rainbow after dropping too much acid. But Water's lyrics became increasingly tedious. There was never any romance or even rock'n'roll lust. You certainly couldn't dance to it. It was just a lot of psuedo-intellectual gloom.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 02/16/2020 17:29 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Steve White
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2020-02-16
  Switzerland Thwarts Major Islamic State Terror Attack
Sat 2020-02-15
  Six Cartel Kidnappers Busted with Mexican Border City Victim in Trunk
Fri 2020-02-14
  US navy ship seizes 150 Iranian-manufactured anti-tank guided missiles after boarding a vessel in the Arabian Sea
Thu 2020-02-13
  Hafiz Saeed sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for terror financing
Wed 2020-02-12
  Sudan will hand over Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court
Tue 2020-02-11
  Russians bomb a joint Turkish & Jihadi column
Mon 2020-02-10
  Ehsanullah Ehsan sends greetings from Turkey, thumbs nose
Sun 2020-02-09
  Multiple US troops killed during shootout in eastern Afghanistan
Sat 2020-02-08
  Khalid Haqqani and Qari Saifullah banged in Kabul
Fri 2020-02-07
  Syria says its troops enter the strategic city of Saraqib in Idlib and begins ‘combing’ its neighborhoods
Thu 2020-02-06
  Hazim Al-Halafi, a senior commander of Saraya Al-Salam dead
Wed 2020-02-05
  Trump acquitted by Senate on articles of impeachment for abuse of power
Tue 2020-02-04
  8 Turkish personnel, 13 #Syrian troops killed in north Syria festivities
Mon 2020-02-03
  Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula claims December shooting at Florida naval base
Sun 2020-02-02
  Iraq’s President Barham Saleh assigns Mouhammed Tawfiq Allawi with forming a new government

Better than the average link...



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