Category Archives: Fail!

Goanna lead singer bans use of song Solid Rock at ‘racist’ rallies

Shane Howard, the lead singer of Australian folk rock group Goanna, joins a chorus of opposition to the use of his music by Reclaim Australia, a group he says is “encouraging racism”.

 

 

 

 

via Goanna lead singer bans use of song Solid Rock at ‘racist’ rallies.

CENSORED NEWS: Ariz Rep Gosar calls cops on Apache grandmothers

Ariz Rep Gosar calls cops on Apache grandmothers

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

WASHINGTON — Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar called the cops and had Apache Stronghold grandmothers escorted out of the building by Capitol Police.

There’s nothing like a trembling white man to make Geronimo proud.

via CENSORED NEWS: Ariz Rep Gosar calls cops on Apache grandmothers.

First Draft: Donald Trump Visits Border in Laredo, ‘Despite the Great Danger’

LOL politics – remember the don’t wear hats that make you look funny rule? Trump in any hat looks odd – – Within minutes upon landing in Laredo, Tex., Donald J. Trump repeatedly cited the danger he faced in visiting the Mexican border but insisted that he had to do it, because “I love this country.”

 

via First Draft: Donald Trump Visits Border in Laredo, ‘Despite the Great Danger’.

Study: Mowing dry basins can boost mosquito activity, West Nile risk

A recent University of Illinois study on the risk of West Nile virus with “dry” water-detention basins in Central Illinois indicated that mowing these dry basins worsens mosquito problems.

The researchers said mowing wetland plants inside basins that have not properly drained can cause a rapid increase in Culex pipiens mosquito populations, which can carry and transmit West Nile virus.

“We suspect bacteria quickly colonize the waterborne debris, and mosquito larvae feed on the bacteria,” Brian Allan, a University of Illinois entomology professor and co-author of the study, said.

“After aquatic plants were mowed in the basins, we saw a large increase in the number of Culex pipiens mosquito larvae in the basins, which had relatively few before mowing,” postdoctoral researcher Andrew Mackay, another author of the study, said. “And perhaps more importantly, we caught about twice as many adult Culex mosquitoes in traps at basins after these plants were mowed, compared with basins where the aquatic vegetation was left intact.

“We had observed that these phragmites-invaded basins would become colonized by large communal roosts of birds, and we thought that was important because birds are the natural reservoir hosts of West Nile virus,” Mackay said.

“Instead, we found that the presence of a communal bird roost actually decreased West Nile virus risk,” Allan said. “That may be because these wetland roosts include a variety of bird species, many of which are not good reservoirs of the virus. They don’t amplify the virus like other bird species more associated with residential areas do — the American robin, for example.

“We measured mosquito abundance, and we measured West Nile virus prevalence in the mosquitoes we collected in this field study, and we were able to show that it’s these mowed areas where you actually get the highest West Nile virus risk to people in the surrounding landscape,” Allan said.

via Study: Mowing dry basins can boost mosquito activity, West Nile risk.

Schäuble Pushed for a Grexit and Backed Merkel into a Corner – SPIEGEL ONLINE

He then inhaled, flashing a pugnacious smile and turned his wheelchair around. He then prepared for battle of a kind he had never before fought in his long political career — a battle against the Greek government, against American economists, against large swathes of European public opinion and also, to some extent, against the chancellor herself.

Had it been up to Schäuble, Germany would have shown the Greeks the euro-zone door long ago. His problem, however, is that the chancellor doesn’t share this sentiment. Merkel rejects his insistence because she doesn’t want to go down in history as the government leader responsible for the disintegration of Europe.

If it were any other minister that had so persistently refused to endorse her line, she would likely have got rid of him long ago. But she can’t do that with Schäuble. His hard line is precisely what makes him so popular among the Germans.

via Schäuble Pushed for a Grexit and Backed Merkel into a Corner – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

77-Year-Old Polish Watchmaker Evicted From Her Greenpoint Shop After 26 Years: Gothamist

Sokol shrugged off Trzaskowska’s eviction as a byproduct of gentrification. “Is this case really so strange in Williamsburg or Greenpoint? You see that on Manhattan Avenue, the prices are going up. This is how the neighborhood is changing.”

Although Trzaskowska would like to find a new shop, she admits that rents are too high. For now, she’s preoccupied with the whereabouts and safety of her tools and supplies. “It simply means I’ve lost everything,” she said.

Recalling the chimpanzee fortune teller that now occupies her shop, Trzaskowska shook her head. “They should have killed me.”

via 77-Year-Old Polish Watchmaker Evicted From Her Greenpoint Shop After 26 Years: Gothamist.

#JusticeForGeorges: When Lebanon Is A Jungle, Not A Country | A Separate State of Mind | A Lebanese Blog

Many in Lebanon keep weapons and knives in their cars. They roam our streets, threaten our security and our lives, aware that their threats will never be faced with any repercussions. A few months ago, Yves Nawfal was the victim of such people as well (link).

One day, someone you know or maybe you could fall victim to such people. I just hope our names don’t get turned into a hashtag just because our politicians are too comfortable keeping their henchmen out of order, our security apparatuses are too comfortable not making sure that anyone with finger can pull a trigger, and that the people of this country are apparently convinced that something happening to someone on the street can never happen to them.

Lebanon is not a country; Lebanon is a jungle. Deal with it accordingly.

via #JusticeForGeorges: When Lebanon Is A Jungle, Not A Country | A Separate State of Mind | A Lebanese Blog.

Slavoj Žižek on Greece: This is a chance for Europe to awaken

I was informed that a new version of this joke is now circulating in Athens. A young Greek man visits the Australian consulate in Athens and asks for a work visa. “Why do you want to leave Greece?” asks the official.

“For two reasons,” replies the Greek. “First, I am worried that Greece will leave the EU, which will lead to new poverty and chaos in the country . . .”

“But,” interrupts the official, “this is pure nonsense: Greece will remain in the EU and submit to financial discipline!”

“Well,” responds the Greek calmly, “this is my second reason.”

Are then both choices worse, to paraphrase Stalin?

The moment has come to move beyond the irrelevant debates about the possible mistakes and misjudgements of the Greek government. The stakes are now much too high.

That a compromise formula always eludes at the last moment in the ongoing negotiations between Greece and the EU administrators is in itself deeply symptomatic, since it doesn’t really concern actual financial issues – at this level, the difference is minimal. The EU usually accuses Greeks of talking only in general terms, making vague promises without specific details, while Greeks accuse the EU of trying to control even the tiniest details and imposing on Greece conditions that are harsher than those imposed on the previous government. But what lurks behind these reproaches is another, much deeper conflict. The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, recently remarked that if he were to meet alone with Angela Merkel for dinner, they would find a formula in two hours. His point was that he and Merkel, the two politicians, would treat the disagreement as a political one, in contrast to technocratic administrators such as the Eurogroup president, Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

via Slavoj Žižek on Greece: This is a chance for Europe to awaken.