Category Archives: Fail!

David Leyonhjelm, Malcolm Roberts push for Section 18C of Racial Discrimination Act to be removed – Australian Broadcasting Corporation – “Racists just wanna be racist and never have to change, even if they are less humane than those they wish to insult and hold down!”

New One Nation senator-elect Malcolm Roberts also reiterated his similar stance on the race discrimination laws.”It is very important to the country because at the moment a lot of people are afraid to speak up,” he told Insiders. Mr Roberts had told reporters on Friday that Section 18C “needs to be addressed because [it is] curbing free speech”.Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act makes it illegal to carry out an act if: “(a) the act is reasonably likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people; and (b) the act is done because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the other person or of some or all of the people in the group”.Section 18D of the Act outlines some exceptions — for example, an offence isn’t illegal if it is a fair and accurate report or comment.

Source: David Leyonhjelm, Malcolm Roberts push for Section 18C of Racial Discrimination Act to be removed – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

ISIS Affiliate in Egypt Warns of Attack Against Israel in Rare Direct Threat — Egyptian Streets

In a rare direct threat, the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video warning Israel that it will soon “pay a high price.” “Oh Jews, wait for us. The punishment [we’ve prepared for you] is severe,” the narrator of the video reportedly says, adding that “this is only the beginning.” The video,…

via ISIS Affiliate in Egypt Warns of Attack Against Israel in Rare Direct Threat — Egyptian Streets

Under-reporting of catches threatens Caribbean marine life — Repeating Islands

When factoring in tourist and resident consumption of locally sourced seafood, the number of fish removed from waters is almost three times as high as previously thought, Stephen Fellers reports for UPI. In order to prevent the destruction of fisheries, regulations limit the amount of fish that can be caught in Caribbean islands, but researchers […]

via Under-reporting of catches threatens Caribbean marine life — Repeating Islands

Dangers lurking in the permafrost | Environment | DW.COM | 05.08.2016

Zombie bacteria

After the death of a young boy and more than 20 other illnesses from anthrax in Siberia this past week, it has been speculated that a recent heat wave has awoken anthrax bacteria that had been lying dormant within the carcasses of long-deceased reindeer buried in the permafrost. Anthrax bacteria can survive in the form of spores for decades”The anthrax spores lay in wait in the permafrost for more than a century,” an agriculture watchdog was quoted in the newswires as saying.And indeed, anthrax bacteria do form spores in asexual reproduction. These spores are highly resilient, and can survive temperature extremes over decades and even centuries. They come back to life when conditions become amenable for them – like in thawing permafrost.Other bacteria form spores as well. Many of those bacteria are also pathogens, or produce deadly toxins – like the tetanus bacterium or Clostridium botulinum.

Source: Dangers lurking in the permafrost | Environment | DW.COM | 05.08.2016

Black Lives Matter Activists Stage Protests Across Britain – The New York Times

LONDON — Black activists, responding to calls for a nationwide protest against racial injustice, staged demonstrations in London and several other cities across Britain on Friday, in their boldest show of support to date for the emerging Black Lives Matter movement here.Black Lives Matter U.K. had called for a nationwide “shutdown” to protest an array of injustices, including police brutality; racial disparities in arrests, convictions and sentencing; the treatment of immigrants in detention; inadequate mental health services; and a reported increase in hate crimes since Britain’s decision, in a June 23 referendum, to leave the European Union.“We are here because we have no choice,” Wail Qasim, an activist and journalist who took part in a protest near Heathrow Airport, which serves London, wrote on Twitter. “We are here because this is a crisis.”The Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged in the United States in 2013, has spread to several countries, including Britain, Canada and France.

Source: Black Lives Matter Activists Stage Protests Across Britain – The New York Times

Meet Jess Rizkallah: The Lebanese-American Whose Poem On Being Torn Between Being Arab & American Will Blow You Away | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

 

I’ve been into slam poetry for more than two years now and Button Poetry is one of my favorite YouTube channels. I love it so much that it’s the only YouTube channel for which I’ve enabled notifications.Late last night, Lebanon-time, I get a notification that a new poem by Jess Rizkallah has been uploaded. Intrigued by the name, I open the YouTube video to find one of the most enriching, gut-wrenching poems I’ve listened to on that website in months.In three short minutes, Jess Rizkallah was able to convey the struggles that she, a Lebanese-Arab-American woman in the United States goes through trying to juggle her Arab side with her American side, in a culture that is increasingly putting both of her components at odds. I mean just look at a creature like Donald Trump existing and at people, many of whom are Lebanese unfortunately, applauding him.

Source: Meet Jess Rizkallah: The Lebanese-American Whose Poem On Being Torn Between Being Arab & American Will Blow You Away | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Daughter of murdered Guatemala journalist shot dead – IFEX

The daughter of a veteran Guatemalan radio journalist gunned down on June 25 by unidentified attackers was herself fatally shot on Tuesday, prompting the International Press Institute (IPI) to call on authorities to do more to protect journalists and bring their killers to justice. Lindaura Aceituno, daughter of Álvaro Alfredo Aceituno López and a manager at a local mall, was in her car with her young daughter in the south-eastern city of Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango department, when unidentified assailants on a motorbike shot her several times. Aceituno, 36, died after being taken to a hospital. Her daughter was also shot, but is reportedly in stable condition. The motive for the killing was not immediately known and police did not say whether it might be linked to her father’s murder. Álvaro Alfredo Aceituno López, director of local station Radio Ilusión, was gunned down while walking in a street close to his home in Coatepeque. The gunmen shot Aceituno López, 65, several times at close range, at least once in the head, before escaping in a car. The journalist was rushed to a hospital, where he died the same day. According to colleagues, he had not mentioned receiving any threats and the motive for his killing remains unknown.

Source: Daughter of murdered Guatemala journalist shot dead – IFEX

Video: Israeli soldier assaults child playing on Jews-only road | The Electronic Intifada

 

Eight-year-old Anwar Burqan was playing with her young sister and brothers in al-Ibrahimi Street, near their home in Hebron’s al-Salaima neighborhood on 25 July when their games were interrupted by Israel’s pervasive military occupation.The video above, filmed by local resident Raed Abu Ramileh and published by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, shows some of what happened.According to Anwar’s account, she was riding a bicycle belonging to one of her brothers when an Israeli Border Police combatant ran over, stepped on the bicycle and took it away from her.

Source: Video: Israeli soldier assaults child playing on Jews-only road | The Electronic Intifada

Mother of service member booed over Khan question at Pence rally – POLITICO

Barbara Weisenthal, 56, said she was among those booing and that Khizr Khan did not have the “right” to say what he did about Trump at the DNC. His speech “was almost like slander,” she said.Of the woman who asked the question, Weisenthal said it was “probably not the best place to do that.”Jack Christenson, himself a veteran, said the questioner may have had the right to ask her question of Pence, but not “to violate everyone else’s rights,” which he said she did by speaking out at the event.“She was claiming that Trump was somehow insulting the veterans,” said Roen Horn, 29. He called that idea “a bunch of crap.”“She was politicizing the veterans,” she said. “She had an agenda.”

Source: Mother of service member booed over Khan question at Pence rally – POLITICO