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Maldives seek foreign help to deal with IS fighters
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Baby cut from slain Chicago woman’s womb dies
[DAWN] An infant boy who was cut from a reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,...
woman’s womb with a butcher knife died on Friday at a hospital where he had been in grave condition since the April attack that killed his mother, family spokeswomen said.

Family spokeswoman Cecilia Garcia confirmed a family statement posted on Facebook that 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez’s baby died at Christ Medical Centre in Oak Lawn. A statement by family spokeswoman Julie Contreras expressed "great sadness" in announcing Yovanny Jadiel Lopez’s death and said he died from a severe brain injury.

The baby had been on life support for more than a month and the family had been weighing whether to remove him from life support, but Garcia said the child simply died early on Friday.

Prosecutors say Clarisa Figueroa, 46, claimed she had given birth to the baby when she took him to a hospital on April 23. Figueroa and her 24-year-old daughter, Desiree Figueroa, have been charged with murder in Ochoa-Lopez’s death. Clarisa Figueroa’s boyfriend, Piotr Bobak, is charged with concealing a homicide.

Chicago police front man Anthony Guglielmi said that he expects both women will now be charged with murder in the baby’s death. The three defendants are due back in court June 26.

Authorities contend that not long after Clarisa Figueroa’s adult son died of natural causes, she told her family she was pregnant. They say she plotted for months to acquire a newborn, and that she posted an ultrasound and photos of a room decorated for a baby on her Facebook page. In March, she and Ochoa-Lopez connected on a Facebook page for pregnant women. The two first met in person around April 1, when Ochoa-Lopez went to the Figueroas’ house and left unharmed, prosecutors allege. The teen returned on April 23 to accept Clarisa Figueroa’s offer of free baby clothes, and as Desiree Figueroa was showing Ochoa-Lopez a photo album of her late brother to distract her, Clarisa Figueroa sneaked up behind her and strangled her with a cord.
Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Figueroa’s adult son died of natural causes

I'm guessing the 'natural causes' too may have been something like a rather large arse sitting on his face. The way this family solves its problems...
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 2:27 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Upstate New York judge suffers fatal heart attack in court
[NYPOST] An upstate New York judge died after having a heart attack on the bench.

Putman County Court Judge James Reitz, 57, was in his courtroom Friday morning when he was stricken. Court officers performed CPR and used a defibrillator to try to resuscitate him before he was taken to a hospital, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported.

He died shortly after arriving at the hospital, said Lucian Chalfen, a front man for the state court system.

Reitz lived in Mahopac and was a county judge since 2007. He was also an acting justice with the state Supreme Court, the Journal News reported. He previously worked as a lawyer in private practice.

State Sen. Terrence Murphy, who represents Putnam County, called Reitz "a giant" in a Facebook post, and said his legacy will be his Drug Court Program, which "should be a model for New York State."

Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder what case he was trying when he was stricken.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 06/16/2019 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  My old home town. He seemed to have been very well respected.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/16/2019 12:24 Comments || Top||


Legendary Italian Filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli Dies at the Age of 96
[SPUTNIKNEWS] There will be a commemorative watching of Zeffirelli's Cavalleria Rusticana on my TV this evening. It's a work of art that makes von Karajan's attempt look like a high school project.

Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Humans Have Started Growing Spikes In The Back Of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones So Much
[NEWSWEEK] Oh, noze! We have spondyles growing out of the backs of our heads! We're devolving into triceratops!
Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guessed The Bee - I was wrong. Word to my brother Herb!
Posted by: Raj || 06/16/2019 0:41 Comments || Top||

#2  "Yes ! And one day they'll pop out of our heads, cracking them open !"
- Climate Change Scientist
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 2:33 Comments || Top||

#3  David Shahar, a health scientist at the University of The Sunshine Coast, Australia, told BBC.com that in the last decade of his 20 year career he has noticed more patients have the protrusion

Could it be that he's just been treating a lot of aborigines lately ?
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 2:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Horsepoop. My Neanderthal cousins had one and they didn't have smart phones. Or maybe they did . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 06/16/2019 3:00 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought it might have been the Spandex.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/16/2019 4:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Makes about as much sense as pants causing tailbone growth. File under, "if you want attention make up shit".

Skeletal System Diagrams
Posted by: Woodrow || 06/16/2019 7:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Dunno. Always thought a sagittal crest would be kind of cool.
Posted by: Mercutio || 06/16/2019 8:10 Comments || Top||

#8  A new trend in chinese head binding predict do I
Posted by: Caesar Angeamp7120 || 06/16/2019 8:40 Comments || Top||

#9  Did they correlate what political spectrum the subjects embraced?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/16/2019 8:42 Comments || Top||

#10  Someone call the Ancient Alien dude Giorgio.. pointy heads were all the rage back in ancient Egypt.
Posted by: Warthog || 06/16/2019 8:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Well, horsepuckey! I was hoping this was about growing horns out of the skull.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 06/16/2019 12:04 Comments || Top||

#12  Saggital Crests aren't all they're cracked up to be. My Aunt Edna had one before the Ice Chest People took her.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 06/16/2019 15:04 Comments || Top||

#13  I found this article and interestingly, it seems that the sagittal crest indicate strong jaw muscles, implying that talking a lot cause the crest, not the radiation.

Excerpt from the article (link above):

"A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. The presence of this ridge of bone indicates that there are exceptionally strong jaw muscles."

Bottom line, "Shut up and put the phone away!"
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 06/16/2019 16:07 Comments || Top||

#14  Few people, particularly young people, actually talk on the phone. They just read and poke it.
Posted by: KBK || 06/16/2019 16:25 Comments || Top||

#15  ...hoping a small particle of food will drop out?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/16/2019 17:06 Comments || Top||


Bishop to Exorcise Demons from Whole City While Flying Over It in Chopper
[SPUTNIKNEWS] Bishop of Buenaventura Ruben Dario Jaramillo Montoya is planning to sprinkle holy water over the Colombian city, which has been hit by a wave of violence, from a helicopter in an attempt to chase away demons. With this act, the Catholic holy man wants to stop the violence in the district capital of Valle del Cauca.

The bishop who devised the unconventional means to curb crime has gained the support of the National Navy for his plan to pour water on the entire population in order to chase out demons.

"We want to go around the whole of Buenaventura from the air and pour holy water onto it to see if we perform an exorcism [we can] get out all those demons that are destroying our port, so that God’s blessing will come and get rid of all the wickedness that is in our streets", he told the Colombian broadcaster Blu Radio.

The Catholic holy man, as cited by The Daily Star, noted that the devil should be removed to see whether locals are able to "get back the tranquillity the city has lost with all this crime, wickedness and the drug trafficking". The large-scale exorcism is planned for mid-July, when the city festival is set to take place, according to the bishop.

His announcement came about a week after the body of 10-year-old Diana Tatiana Rodriguez, allegedly abused and tortured before her death, was discovered ‐ something which shocked the city and the whole country. Buenaventura has witnessed a spike in violence over recent months, as 51 murders have been registered there from January until May, which are 20 killings more than over the same period year last year. The city was reportedly one of the municipalities that suffered the most in the military conflict in Colombia and has become a strategic spot for narcos smuggling cocaine to the US.
Should they have announced this ahead of time? What if the exorcism doesn’t take if the possessed body in question steps under a roof overhang or opens an umbrella?
Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guessed Bee.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/16/2019 1:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Tried it in NYC
Doesn't work
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/16/2019 8:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe it takes a pope and an A-10. They should keep trying.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 9:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/16/2019 12:27 Comments || Top||

#5  :Heh: I just want to see if it really is effective... (Bookmarks article and tries to remember to ask again in 6 months or so)
Posted by: magpie || 06/16/2019 16:48 Comments || Top||

#6  ^^If it works then we should set up a GoFundMe to finance this for Washington D.C.
Posted by: magpie || 06/16/2019 16:51 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Massive electrical failure cuts power to Argentina and Uruguay
Non WOT, for now
[Fox News] A large electrical failure created a blackout in Argentina and Uruguay on Sunday, leaving both countries without power.

Areas of Brazil and Paraguay were also impacted by the outage, which happened just after 7:00 a.m. according to the BBC.

"A massive failure in the electrical interconnection system left all of Argentina and Uruguay without power," electricity supply company, Edesur said in a tweet. The blackout occurred as people were getting ready to head to the polls for local elections in Argentina. It's not clear how the blackout will impact the voting process.

Alejandra Martinez, an Edesur spokeswoman, described the blackout as "unprecedented." She exclaimed, "This is the first time something like this has happened across the entire country."
Trains were out of service in Argentina; however, flight service continued in the country due to backup generators, according to Argentine news site Infobae.

Gustavo Lopetegui, Argentina's energy secretary, said that power was being restored to certain areas to the South American country. He said the cause of the massive outage was unknown at the time, while reports suggested it was due to a grid failure.

Edesur tweeted that power was being restored, starting with 34,000 initial customers and the process of normalization could take several hours
Posted by: Frank G || 06/16/2019 13:19 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Someone practicing for the bigtime?

(Sorry for the dup post, moderators - didn't see this one earlier.)
Posted by: Mercutio || 06/16/2019 14:03 Comments || Top||

#2  I’ll go delete yours from the hopper, Mercutio. Thank you for mentioning it. But there is no shame in it — when I submit something that someone else here beat me to, that tells me I was on the right track. Very comforting for a very junior, amateur trainee intelligence analyst. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 14:11 Comments || Top||

#3  "I wonder what this big red button does... (Press button.)
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance || 06/16/2019 16:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Seeking cure, that’s why Fred upgraded some of his moderator procedures. I’ve a positive (or negative!) gift for discovering exactly how foolproof the foolproof measures are.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 16:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Never forget the level of corruption and nepotism in the South. Consider it Venezuela Light elsewhere. Merit and competency are "racist" Northern European concepts don't you know.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/16/2019 17:04 Comments || Top||

#6  Re #4 - You're not alone TW. Before I retired I had a friend at work (a top-notch engineer, Army Ranger in Vietnam) who I used to (jokingly) call Mr. Beta Tester. He didn't find bugs; they found him.
Posted by: PBMcL || 06/16/2019 18:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Whew! It’s good to know I’m not as special as I thought, PBMcL. My experience here, however, has made me very glad I did not go into programming as I once thought to do. I’ve been a bit of a trial for Fred, who’s been very nice about it, but clearly I wouldn’t do at all on the other side of things.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 19:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Incidentally, it’s being repaired:


Company says power restored to 1.5 million Argentines

[IsraelTimes] Argentine energy company Edesur says that electricity has been restored to more than 1.5 million people.

President Mauricio Macri also says that 50 percent of the country had power after a massive failure in Argentina and Uruguay this morning left many in the dark.

Macri says on Twitter: “As time passes, service will be restored for all customers.”

The cause of the blackout was not immediately clear.

Edesur said that a failure in the Argentine interconnection system originated at an electricity transmission point between the power stations of Yacyretá and Salto Grande in the northeastern part of the country.

Uruguayan energy company UTE said 75% of service had been restored in its country.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 23:46 Comments || Top||


Juan Guaidó Confirms More Talks, This Time in Sweden
[BREITBART] Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó
...President of Venezuela's National Assembly, recognized as president of the nation by countries other than Russia, China, Cuba, and kindred beacons of personal liberty...
confirmed on Thursday he sent a team of diplomats to Sweden to negotiate with other world powers towards a solution to the country’s ongoing political and humanitarian crisis.

The talks, which took place in the Swedish capital of Stockholm, were attended by representatives of Russia, the Vatican, Cuba, and the Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an Union. The United States was invited but declined to attend.

None of the state actors participating recognize Guaidó as the nation’s president.

"As we have said at all times, the whole world already knows the product of that meeting, that we Venezuelans have many options for the transitional government," Guaidó said Thursday during a visit to Mérida state.

Guaidó also responded to warnings from various Venezuelan figures against participating in the talks with the regime or its international backers, claiming that "all the spaces that approximate the cessation of usurpation, transitional government, and free elections are valid for the government of Venezuela."

The 35-year-old, who the Venezuelan National Assembly swore into office in January, went on to argue that the talks were "proof that there is a worldwide consensus that there must be a free presidential election in Venezuela, and that the usurpation must stop."

Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia Fast-Tracks Passports for Eastern Ukraine
[BREITBART] Russia began issuing "fast-tracked" passports to residents of eastern Ukraine this week, in accordance with an order signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...
in April. Some sixty residents of Ukraine’s Donbas region crossed the Russian border to receive their passports in a ceremony on Friday.

The Russian Interior Ministry opened two Migration Service offices in the Rostov area in late April to fulfill Putin’s decree that "individuals permanently residing in certain areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions have the right to apply for Russian citizenship under a fast-track procedure." Donetsk and Lugansk are the areas where separatists aligned with Russia have been fighting the Ukrainian military.

"Today is the first trip. Later, it is planned to deliver citizens to the territory of the Russian Federation almost every day according to the lists we are provided with," a Migration Service official said.

The Russian government claimed this fast-track passport procedure was instituted "to protect human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
and freedoms," but the Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an Union blasted it as "another attack on Ukraine’s illusory sovereignty by Russia" that ran counter to the "spirit and objectives" of the 2015 Minsk Accords.

The Minsk Accords were a set of agreements between Ukraine and Russia that were supposed to end the civil war in eastern Ukraine, which has killed over 13,000 people. One goal of these agreements was to de-escalate the confrontation in Donbas by providing more autonomy for its residents while reinforcing Ukraine’s illusory sovereignty.

The Ukrainian government in May invalidated Russian passports issued to Ukrainian citizens in Donetsk and Luhansk. Passports issued by Russian offices in the Rostov region were specifically outlawed by the edict.

The Ukrainians said sanctions would be leveled against Russian Federation officials who participated in the expedited-passport program, while Ukrainians who accept the illegal passports might be deprived of their pensions and social benefits.

Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Hong Kong and China Give In to Protesters, Suspend Extradition Bill
[BREITBART] Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Saturday that a proposed extradition bill will be suspended, handing a stunning victory to thousands of protesters who packed the streets for a week to oppose legislation strongly desired by the mainland Chinese government.
Apparently the tanks were committed elsewhere...for now
Lam told a presser on Saturday that a growing number of pro-Beijing politicians urged her to suspend the bill after massive protests. She added that Taiwan struck a blow against the extradition law by stating it would refuse to accept the murder suspect whose case was commonly cited as a justification for changing Hong Kong’s extradition law.

Critics were deeply concerned about making extradition easier to China, which has an abysmal human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
record and a highly politicized justice system. Demonstrators feared passage of the bill would strike a mortal blow against Hong Kong’s unique autonomy and subject them to abusive prosecutions by the Chinese Communist Party.

"The urgency of passing this bill within this term has maybe disappeared," said Lam, claiming the Taiwanese murder case was the true reason she pushed so hard for the bill, not her political allegiance to Beijing.

Lam cited two occasions when the extradition bill was amended to address public concerns, but conceded opposition to the legislation was too strong to ignore. She claimed her "explanation and communication work has not been sufficient or effective."

Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Chicoms are cooling it for now. They will do it later. They are control freaks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 06/16/2019 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm surprised the ChiComs blinked. But yeah, this ain't over.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/16/2019 1:05 Comments || Top||

#3  They are control freaks.
Posted by Alaska Paul


Like you would not believe. Couple that with a almost genetic disposition to commerce and you've got quite a combination.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/16/2019 4:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Hong Kong will rejoin the mainland. It's just a matter of time. We're already almost halfway through the 50 year transition period. When all is said and done, HK will just be a southern extension of Shenzhen.

And please stop using outdated terms like "Chicom". When you say "China", there's no doubt about which country you mean. Used to be when we said "China" we meant Taiwan but that was 40 years ago.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/16/2019 8:43 Comments || Top||

#5  If Communist China is stupid enough to fully absorb Hong Kong and go after Taiwan, they will lose all benefit of having them. Without the ability to operate independently, they will quickly cease to be the economic and creative wellspring that makes them so valuable to the Communist oligarchy in Beijing.

But I do agree with Herb’s last: The Communists will be that stupid, and quickly, too, after which they will wonder in vain why the cash flow disappeared just when it was most needed. And within a generation later neglected Hong Kong will be quietly crumbling into the harbour, while Taiwan will be no more attractive to Chinese vacationers than the seedier parts of the Mexican coast.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 9:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Who said anything about invading Taiwan?

Hong Kong was scheduled to fully reunite with the Mainland after 50 years. That was 1997, 22 years ago.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/16/2019 11:55 Comments || Top||

#7  You are not aware that the Red Army has been practicing landing, Herb? How very odd. Communist China never accepted Taiwan’s continued independence under Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang, and has been trying unsuccessfully to isolate them since taking over the China seat at the UN.

As for fully reuniting with Hong Kong: scheduled or not, and accelerating the reunification or no, further reducing Hong Kong’s independence would be a really stupid move on China’s part, especially as China’s rising bourgeoisie class continues to demand cleaner air and water along with higher wages, further reducing China’s attractiveness as the West’s factory floor — from which Viet Nam and suchlike will benefit.

But again, I completely agree with you that the Party government will forge ahead, undaunted by the problems they will cause themselves.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 12:21 Comments || Top||

#8  And we'll call them Chicoms all we want. It's not to differentiate between mainland China and Taiwan. It's a deliberately derogatory term because there are those of us who despise communism. If and when the Communist Party relinquishes power in that country we may reconsider.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 06/16/2019 15:41 Comments || Top||


Cyber
Project Veritas video where whistleblower exposes Big Tech censorship re-uploaded with censored material removed
[YouTube] This video has been re-uploaded. Due to privacy complaints, some of the investigative journalism in this report has been censored. You can view the full, un-redacted version on our website: https://www.projectveritas.com/2019/06/11/tech-insider-blows-whistle-on-how-pinterest-listed-top-pro-life-site-as-porn-bible-verses-censored/

  • Insider: Search Term “Christian” Won’t Auto-Complete, Others Can’t Trend, No Notifications, or Recommendations
  • Pinterest Blacklisted Pro-Life Group LiveAction.org, Classified as “Pornography,” Cannot Link to Site
  • Leaked “Sensitive Terms List” Includes “bible verses” and “christian easter”
  • Ben Shapiro Commentary Censored in “zero tolerance moment,” Slack Messages Reveal
  • Planned Parenthood Undercover Videos Marked as “harmful” Conspiracy
  • Veritas Calls On More Silicon Valley Insiders to Come Forward



    Youtube Has Censored Tim Pool's Video About Youtube Censorship, Yes Seriously
    James O'Keefe and Project Veritas really kicked over an anthill. Silicon Valley is furious that an investigative journalist and a whistleblower exposed them.

    Alex Jones was the test. They waited a little bit. No one cared that much. Now it's game on.


  • Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  There has to come a reckoning from above. Something no senator can save from and no bargaining with judges and committees will deliver out of. I've never seen anything so ungodly go unpunished.
    Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 14:14 Comments || Top||


    Europe
    French Protesters Hang Up Their Yellow Vests
    [WSJ] Battered by leadership crisis and flagging support, movement that tested President Emmanuel Macron now faces uncertain future.
    To put it more bluntly, the yellow vest movement has fizzled. Here’s hoping the reduction of the intrusive power of the French state they tried to fight for happens anyway.
    Shops that once boarded their windows every Saturday, bracing for yellow-vest riots, are humming again. President Emmanuel Macron is rebooting the economic overhauls that once fueled yellow-vest ire. The weekly flood of protesters in Gay Paree has become a trickle.

    On Saturday, only 7,000 demonstrators erupted into the streets across the country, according to the French Interior Ministry. That is compared with a quarter million people on Nov. 17 when the movement began as a protest against fuel taxes.

    Continued on Page 49
    Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 10:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  So the money ran out when Macron didn't cave.
    Posted by: Skidmark || 06/16/2019 12:09 Comments || Top||

    #2  Now only if those Yellow Vesters had the backing of George Soros....
    Posted by: DooDahMan || 06/16/2019 13:09 Comments || Top||

    #3  Globalism defeats democracy again.
    Posted by: Herb McCoy || 06/16/2019 14:09 Comments || Top||

    #4  To put it more bluntly, the yellow vest movement has fizzled.

    Didn't they say the same thing about the Tea Party?
    Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/16/2019 17:05 Comments || Top||


    German Court Fines Two Gynecologists for Abortion Ad
    [NYT] BERLIN ‐ Two German gynecologists have been fined by a Berlin judge for promoting abortion services on their website, running afoul of a Nazi-era law that makes it a crime to advertise the procedure in detail.

    The law, known as 219a, was revised this year to allow doctors to state whether they offered abortions, but language that is considered to go beyond simply listing the service was still forbidden.

    The ruling on Friday is the first time that a fine was handed down since the law ‐ which was largely ignored for years ‐ was changed. Anti-abortion activists had brought the case to the public prosecutor, according to local news reports.

    Abortion is legal in Germany through the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy.
    Posted by: Besoeker || 06/16/2019 05:48 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Perhaps Bettina and Verena are more than just medical colleagues.
    Posted by: Besoeker || 06/16/2019 5:54 Comments || Top||

    #2  "Nazi-era" but unchanged in the 60+ years since.

    Nice slur
    Posted by: Frank G || 06/16/2019 8:02 Comments || Top||

    #3  Nice slur.

    Wikipedia on abortions in Germany. But one can’t expect those writing the first draft of history for the New York Times to actually know any.
    Posted by: trailing wife || 06/16/2019 9:49 Comments || Top||


    EU car pollution gains destroyed by a few cruise ships.


    Posted by: 3dc || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  And yet the US has reduced CO2 emissions in far greater quantities than the Euroweenies even after we pulled out of the Paris Accord; go figure...
    Posted by: Raj || 06/16/2019 0:44 Comments || Top||

    #2  How do tankers fit into this picture?
    Posted by: gorb || 06/16/2019 5:53 Comments || Top||

    #3  I have been told cruise ships operate with two - or even three tanks of fuel, of different grades, depending on where they are.
    Posted by: Glenmore || 06/16/2019 12:33 Comments || Top||

    #4  At least eurotrash are fitter for cycling.
    Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 16:30 Comments || Top||


    India-Pakistan
    'It was a reaction': Ministry responds to Sami Ibrahim's allegations against Fawad Chaudhry
    [DAWN] The Ministry of Science and Technology on Saturday issued a response to allegations that federal minister Fawad Chaudhry slapped journalist Sami Ibrahim and said that the "incident" should not be treated as a "clash between two institutions but as a conflict between two individuals".

    Ibrahim had reportedly filed a complaint at Mansoorabad cop shoppe in Faisalabad
    ...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
    , accusing Chaudhry of slapping him at a wedding. A copy of the reported complaint, that is circulating on social media and was retweeted by Ibrahim, alleged that Chaudhry had slapped and cursed the journalist without any provocation. It also accused the Science and Technology minister of threatening Ibrahim.

    The statement issued by the ministry today said that Chaudhry had "reacted after another person tried to wound his self-esteem". The response does not state the nature of the minister's reaction.

    "To term a patriotic Pak and government office holder as an agent of [enemy agencies] is contrary to moral and journalistic ethics," the statement said.

    "Along with protesting against [Chaudhry's] actions, [people must] also ask Sami Ibrahim why he trampled over a patriotic Pak's self esteem," it added.

    Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


    Uttar Pradesh police arrest third Nation Live journalist on accusations of 'defaming' chief minister
    [CPJ.ORG] On Monday, Uttar Pradesh police arrested Anshul Kaushik, an editor with privately owned TV news station Nation Live, on charges of defaming Adityanath, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. On June 8, two days before Kaushik's arrest in Noida, police arrested Kaushik's colleagues Anuj Shukla and Ishita Singh on similar charges.

    "The Uttar Pradesh government and police must immediately end their witch hunt against Nation Live journalists," said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ's program director in New York. "Jailing journalists is a disproportionate response and has a chilling effect on the press."

    The Gautam Buddh Nagar District Court in Surajpur ordered Kaushik to be held for 14 days pending police investigation, according to PTI.

    On Sunday, CPJ reported that police claimed Nation Live "conducted a panel discussion without checking facts on 'defamatory allegations' made by a woman against the [chief minister]." Police stated that the alleged defamatory statements against Adityanath could have led to "a possible law and order situation."

    On the same day as Shukla and Singh's arrests, Uttar Pradesh police also arrested freelance journalist Prashant Kanojia on related defamation charges after he posted footage from the discussion on social media. Kanojia was released on bail today after a Supreme Court order, according to Indian Express.

    Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  government and police must immediately end their witch hunt against Nation Live journalists,

    Sure. Right away.
    Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 15:38 Comments || Top||


    Pakistani Minister Turns Into 'Cat' Amid Live Presser in Viral Gaffe (PHOTO)
    [SPUTNIKNEWS] Local officials later clarified that the official press conference’s online translation had been "augmented" with filters due to a "human error".

    The administrators of the official Facebook page for the Pakistani party Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), governing the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, have managed to turn a regular local government presser into a source of unstoppable laughter as they live streamed the event with a "cat filter" on, a journalist from Associated Reporters Abroad reported, posting screenshots. As a result, the deadpan face of local Minister for Health and Information Shaukat Ali Yousafzai was "cheered up" with a cat "mask".

    Local officials later clarified that the filter was enabled due to a "human error by one hard working volunteer" and added that measures have been taken to avoid such mistakes in the future.

    The sight of the minister and his colleagues' faces altered by the filter sent many netizens into fits of non-stop laughter over the whole situation. The video of the stream, published on the Facebook page of ruling party Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has since been deleted.

    Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Even a siamese would find funny.
    Posted by: Woodrow || 06/16/2019 7:16 Comments || Top||


    SC dismisses review appeal against acquittal of accused in Mukhtaran Mai gang-rape case
    [TRIBUNE.PK] The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a review appeal filed by Mukhtaran Mai against the acquittal of 13 people accused in the gang-rape case.

    A three-member bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed announced the decision. The court also stated that the points raised in the petition may be looked at in another case.

    Justice Ahmed advised that the petition should be shortened and said: "Shorten the review petition or it will drag on for 10 years."

    Mai’s lawyer, Aitizaz Ahsan, informed the court that the Lahore High Court (LHC) in its 2005 verdict had stated that no injuries resulting from a sexual assault were visible even though witness statements said otherwise.

    In June 2002, Mai was gang-raped on orders of a ’panchayat’ as punishment after her younger brother was accused of illicit relations with a girl from a rival tribe.

    In August 2002, an anti-terrorism court awarded death penalty
    to six out of 14 identified by Mai ‐ four were sentenced for rape while two were awarded capital punishment for being part of the village council. The ATC released eight others.

    In March 2005, five convicts were acquitted by a Lahore High Court bench while one’s sentence was converted into life imprisonment.

    The acquittal was challenged in the apex court. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and comprising former CJPs Nasirul Mulk and Mian Saqib Nisar upheld LHC decision and rejected the appeal in its April 2011 verdict.

    Mai filed a review petition against the judgment in May 2011. In her review petition, Mai has pleaded that the court should review and recall the judgment and grant relief as prayed in the appeal. She had also requested the court to constitute a larger bench to hear her petition, contending that she is aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the findings of the court.

    Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

    #1  Mai means 'mother'. She was obviously a maternal figure in the village.
    Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 16:29 Comments || Top||


    No laughing matter: Pakistan’s media regulator moves to bar satire from airwaves
    "Good evening, ladies and germs! I just flew in from Lahore and boy, are my arms tired!"
    [ARABNEWS.PK] Embattled comedians have decried a notice by the Pak media regulator ’advising’ TV channels not to broadcast satire, calling it an attack on freedom of speech and a sign of growing censorship in an industry already in disarray because of state pressure.
    "Take my wives. Please!"
    Pakistain’s media was widely seen as among the region’s most vibrant after military rule ended in 2008, but newspaper and TV journalists now widely say a crackdown that began in the run-up to last year’s general election has widened into widespread censorship and self-censorship by journalists fearful of the repercussions of criticizing the government, the military or the courts.
    [Ba-dum-bum! KABOOM!]
    In a new blow to media freedom, the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) issued a notice this week advising TV channels to refrain from using "caricatures, animated characters, photo-shopped images and funny memes" that poked fun at political figures or law enforcement agencies.
    "A rabbi, a mullah, and a duck walk into a bar..."
    "Public sentiments are agonized by the trend of demeaning leadership of the country," the PEMRA notice said.
    "'Gimme a kosher wine!' sez the rabbi."
    Pak comedians say they have faced similar censure in the past but this week’s advisory felt more severe.
    "'Gimme a halal glass of lukewarm tea,' sez the mullah."
    "It has happened to media and comedians before us and it will happen after us, but this time it’s very intense because there is an atmosphere that no comedy or satire will be tolerated," Shafaat Ali, a comedian who rose to fame in 2016 for his impressions of then cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.
    ... aka The Great Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
    "'Quack!' sez the duck."
    "A society that cannot make fun of itself can’t be a healthy society," he added, saying comedy offered a light-hearted way of creating awareness about difficult political and social issues.
    "'Blashphemy! sez the mullah."
    Posted by: Fred || 06/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

    #1  they're are too busy seething all the time for comedy antway
    Posted by: chris || 06/16/2019 11:48 Comments || Top||

    #2  No, They have great satire. They lampoon their own politicians and military like we can never do. One has to know some urdu to grasp it, but it's hilarious. Very few performers and actors have that luxury though. It's maybe because they ally with certain parties or have received national awards in the past. Some awesome talents and a lot of nerve.

    Stares are mutable, one can never stop the march of art.

    Not everybody is a retarded beast in this shithole, but of course that's no redeeming quality for the State itself. Just the fact that they're doing this means the humor has started to get to the junta.
    Posted by: Dron66046 || 06/16/2019 16:10 Comments || Top||

    #3  guess i'm going too miss out then. have no desire too learn Udu
    Posted by: chris || 06/16/2019 18:12 Comments || Top||



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