Category Archives: Fail!

Men Decide that Apps are not Working to Keep Women Safe. Now it’s Knives – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

Have you taken a long hard look at today’s papers? Just this morning the recent Nagawara case, where a 23-year-old woman was molested on a main road in Bangalore, was revealed to be an elaborate plot by her brother-in-law, who wanted to portray her as a victim of assault so that no one would marry her. And a man in Shahjahanpur bit off his wife’s nose during an argument. The surreal frequency of these cases, where assault begins in the family or is pre-planned by male family members, just go to underscore the tired fact that conversations about women’s assault need to be much broader, and start with men’s attitudes.

Source: Men Decide that Apps are not Working to Keep Women Safe. Now it’s Knives – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

It’s Against My Religion to Accommodate Nazis. | Rebelle Society

 

The backlash so far is mostly vindictive, verbally violent, and devoid of insight that tables have turned on the flamethrowers. This lack of self-awareness is stunning, if not surprising. The same constituency who applauded business owners who exercised their freedom of religion by denying service to LGBTQ patrons are now howling at the injustice of being unwelcome beyond certain doors or, in this case, a door.While it’s amusing to observe the confused flailing of bullies receiving a taste of their own medicine, there’s a larger kernel of wisdom to pluck from this story. Even as they are placed firmly in the shoes of their victims, the new GOP are incapable of making the leap to empathy.They see no connection between harm they’ve done and their own outrage at being excluded from places to which they’ve denied others entrance. This is the hubris of white males who believe the myth of their superiority, but it’s also something more troubling.The GOP’s devolution escalated with the election of Barack Obama. At a secret dinner, the night of Obama’s inauguration, 15 Republicans schemed to block the new president and do everything in their power to bring down his presidency. They put party ahead of country, caring little if the downward-spiraling economy bullet-trained to the abyss.

Source: It’s Against My Religion to Accommodate Nazis. | Rebelle Society

Arctic ice melt now affects world weather | Green Prophet

Polar vortex, the term attributed to the recent frigid weather patterns that recently put much of North America, Europe and even the Middle East into the deep freeze, is now slated to become even more frequent, due to the increasing melt-down of the earth’s Arctic ice cap. This phenomena is caused by a weakening of the normal jet stream air currents that encircle the earth’s arctic regions, due to higher than average summer temperatures. As a result, these “meandering” jet stream air currents are now dipping into the more southern regions, bringing with them frigid Arctic air.Fortunately, these polar air dips usually last only a week or two; but they are intense enough to make northern American cities like Chicago, Detroit and New York City experience frigid temperatures of well below zero; often combined with heavy snowfall and strong winds. Many European cities experience intense these winter weather bouts as well. Climatologists and other scientists studying the adverse weather patterns are now tying these jet stream dips to faster than expected melting of Arctic ice, especially in the polar region.

Source: Arctic ice melt now affects world weather | Green Prophet

Martin Shkreli suspended from Twitter for alleged ‘harassment’ of Lauren Duca | US news | The Guardian “Trump-dog panderer – he is”

Brianna Wu, a video game developer and software engineer who intends to run for the US House of Representatives in 2018, tweeted that she was glad to see Twitter suspended Shkreli.“His bizarre obsession with respected journalist @laurenduca is creepy and wildly inappropriate. We need to move past this cultural idea that any woman with a successful career has to endure sexist abuse from strangers.”Duca has been under fire from Trump supporters since early December, when an opinion piece she wrote for Teen Vogue that was critical of the president-elect went viral.In the piece, titled “Donald Trump is gaslighting America”, Duca said the incoming president was attempting to “weaken and blind the American electorate” with his interchanging of facts and opinions, his self-contradictions, and his undermining of the press.“As a candidate, Trump’s gas lighting was manipulative, as President-elect it is a deliberate attempt to destabilize journalism as a check on the power of government.”Duca made a number of television appearances in the wake of the piece’s publication, including a combative exchange with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, in which he suggested she “stick to [covering] the thigh-high boots”.Both the piece and the interview with Carlson made Duca a target online, she said.

Source: Martin Shkreli suspended from Twitter for alleged ‘harassment’ of Lauren Duca | US news | The Guardian

Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups | World news | The Guardian

An Israeli embassy official who plotted to “take down” MPs regarded as hostile has also set up a number of political organisations in the UK that operated as though entirely independent.Shai Masot was filmed covertly as he boasted about establishing several groups, at least one of which was intended to influence Labour party policy, while appearing to obscure their links to Israel.The disclosure comes as Labour demanded the government launch an immediate inquiry into “improper interference in our democratic politics”. A former Tory government minister also called for an inquiry into the Israeli embassy’s links with two organisations, Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and Labour Friends of Israel (LFI).

Source: Israeli diplomat who plotted against MPs also set up political groups | World news | The Guardian

Russia spreading fake news and forged docs in Sweden: report – The Local

Sweden’s most respected foreign policy institute has accused Russia of using underhand methods, including fake news, counterfeit documents, and other disinformation, to influence Swedish decision-making.The report by Martin Kragh, a Russia expert at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, is the first empirical study detailing Russia’s use of ‘active measures’ in its information war against Sweden, which is largely directed at steering the country away from joining Nato.

Source: Russia spreading fake news and forged docs in Sweden: report – The Local

Coachella owner denies donating to anti-LGBT groups amid outrage | Music | The Guardian “Talking from both sides of mouth – he uses funds from Coachilla to fund Trump supporters!”

A major Republican donor, Anschutz gave more than $1m to conservative candidates and political fundraising groups in 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog. Employees of the Anschutz Corporation also leaned heavily toward Republican candidates. The businessman has attended political events hosted by the Koch brothers, the billionaire scions of an oil fortune and also Republican donors, and Anschutz has donated to their political group Americans for Prosperity, which opposes climate change research and regulations. Anschutz’s natural gas company has also sued small towns in pursuit of fracking rights, and the businessman has invested heavily in a gigantic Wyoming wind farm.

Source: Coachella owner denies donating to anti-LGBT groups amid outrage | Music | The Guardian

White spot disease: prawn farmers say import ban too late | Australia news | The Guardian “Was it a Trump Company?”

A prawn importer suspected of deliberately evading biosecurity controls to bring infected produce into the country is expected to face criminal charges as authorities try to contain a white spot disease outbreak in Australia.But prawn producers say the indefinite import ban has come too late: the government’s own agricultural quarantine agency, Biosecurity Australia, warned six years ago that the risk of the disease being introduced to Australia by the importation of green (raw) prawns was high.

Source: White spot disease: prawn farmers say import ban too late | Australia news | The Guardian

WATCH: Palestinian women prevent West Bank home demolition | +972 Magazine

The women of Budrus, a Palestinian village in the West Bank, sent a powerful message on Wednesday when they physically blocked Israeli forces from carrying out a home demolition. Video of the incident, shot by photojournalist Issam Rimawi, shows dozens of Palestinian women standing on the porch and roof of the home, as Israeli army jeeps and Border Police officers idle out front. To the side stands a group of men from the village, observing the proceedings.

Source: WATCH: Palestinian women prevent West Bank home demolition | +972 Magazine

‘I’m an American and I was racially profiled in Berlin 23 times’ – The Local

Nine months later and she had been stopped and checked by police a total of 23 times – while going to a museum, going to the U-Bahn station, or while out to socialize, being picked out of a group of white friends.“It really makes you feel like an outsider. I have never felt so much like an outsider as I have in Germany,” Kambhampati says.“I don’t feel welcome and that bothers me the most because I think about especially the large number of refugees that are coming in and being welcomed into the country… I’ve heard from some that have said they were racially profiled and don’t feel at home. They should feel at home.”But since she’s a journalist who came to Berlin to work for investigative news initiative Correctiv, Kambhampati didn’t let her feelings of frustration stop there.She met with Berlin police department’s press spokesman, who apologized and said the checks could be seen as illegal. But he also noted that officers wouldn’t search a “blond, German-looking person,” before later saying this wasn’t what he meant.Kambhampati first wrote about her experiences in an in-depth article for Vox last month, which can be read here. And now she’s working on an investigation with her colleagues at Correctiv, looking to find others who have had similar experiences.Different histories, different discussionsGrowing up in New Jersey and studying in Ohio, Kambhampati said she had encountered discrimination in the US as well, and similar issues of racism exist in both places. But the different immigration histories of the two countries also seems to have affected how people act today.“In Germany, many people assume I’m from India based on my skin colour rather than considering that I could be from somewhere like the US,” she explained.“I’ve gotten that before in the US, but not as much. Maybe it has to do with the way that different people have come to the US for generations now.“Some people that I’ve spoken to who have experienced racial profiling have been living in Germany their whole lives… and they still don’t feel like they are welcomed into the German society. And that’s largely in part because they’re stopped and asked questions like this.”

Source: ‘I’m an American and I was racially profiled in Berlin 23 times’ – The Local