Category Archives: Fail!

Inoreader – The ‘dossier’ and the uranium deal: A guide to the latest allegations

no uranium produced at U.S. mines may be exported, except for some uranium yellowcake which is extracted and processed in Canada before being returned to the United States for use in nuclear power plants.

Source: Inoreader – The ‘dossier’ and the uranium deal: A guide to the latest allegations

Attention Media: When Teachers Have Sex With Students It’s Actually Called “Rape” | Dame Magazine

I don’t know how to describe it other than to use the word creepy. It’s creepy. It’s creepy that, when a teacher abuses or assaults a student, so many people think of that crime as being a potential gray area — of teenagers or adolescents of being capable of consent or even pursuit — that “having sex,” the thing that consenting adults do together, becomes the standard descriptor.This is a symptom, of course, of a larger problem: We are a society steeped in rape culture. The normalization and minimization of sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual violence persists thanks to a dizzying confluence of factors, not least among them the broad cultural suspicion — among adults of both genders — that victims and survivors are asking for it, because of what they wear or don’t wear, what they say or don’t say, what they drink or don’t drink, where they go or don’t go, how fat or thin they are, whether they work late or early, how many children they have or don’t have, how many partners they have or don’t have … the list goes on and on.

Source: Attention Media: When Teachers Have Sex With Students It’s Actually Called “Rape” | Dame Magazine

Men Are Killing Thousands of Women a Year for Saying No | Dame Magazine “And who mourns for them?”

On September 10, a 32-year-old man went to his estranged wife’s Sunday cookout, reportedly the first social event she’d organized since filing for divorce. He shot her and seven other adults to death before he was killed by police. That tragedy was tied for second-deadliest mass shooting of the year with another killing spree on May 27 in Brookhaven, Mississippi, in which a 35-year-old man, also angry at his “estranged” wife, allegedly killed five of her relatives, as well as a sheriff’s deputy and two children. He told the local media on-camera that he was hoping police would kill him.Surprisingly, these two incidents, with 16 victims between them, were not the most infamous domestic violence murders to make national news in the past six months. Several other intimate partner killings received more widespread attention, likely because of their unusual nature. In July, a man stabbed his wife to death aboard a cruise ship, reportedly later telling a witness, “She would not stop laughing at me.” (The statement calls to mind the famous quote attributed to Margaret Atwood about domestic violence: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”) Six months earlier, in April 10, a 53-year-old man walked into a San Bernardino, California, elementary-school classroom and shot to death his wife, who was a special-ed teacher there, and her 8-year-old student, before turning the gun on himself. Six days later, a 37-year-old man named Steve Stephens, apparently distraught over difficulties with his “estranged” girlfriend, shot a random older man to death on the streets of Cleveland, live-streaming it on Facebook. Before killing him, Stephens made the victim say his ex’s name.

Source: Men Are Killing Thousands of Women a Year for Saying No | Dame Magazine

Violent Monks and the Buddha’s Dispensation – Groundviews – “Power corrupts absolutely – even faux-followers of the Buddha!”

above all Buddhism is purely based on nonviolence. Yet, in countries such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Tibet a group of monks (not all of them) have been behaving in a violent manner, at times even with the support of political leadership in those countries. They are unnecessarily influencing the country’s political affairs and spreading racism. In summary, they promote violence, which can be considered as deeply disrespectful to the Lord Buddha who endorsed a philosophy of non-violence.

Source: Violent Monks and the Buddha’s Dispensation – Groundviews

Donald Trump accuses NFL players of ‘total disrespect’ as protests continue | Sport | The Guardian – “But his calling the widow of a fallen soldier a liar is not disrespectful”

On Monday morning, Trump tweeted his displeasure. “Two dozen NFL players continue to kneel during the National Anthem, showing total disrespect to our Flag & Country,” he wrote. “No leadership in NFL!” The president’s viewpoint will play well in large parts of America. Surveys have shown a majority of white Americans disapprove of the protests; in contrast a majority of African Americans view the players’ stance favorably.

Source: Donald Trump accuses NFL players of ‘total disrespect’ as protests continue | Sport | The Guardian

Israeli president accuses Netanyahu and allies of endangering democracy | World news | The Guardian

Rivlin, whose position is largely ceremonial, described proposed moves against the court by Israel’s most rightwing government ever, in particular by the far-right education minister, Naftali Bennett, and his allies, as part of “a continuous attempt to weaken the gatekeepers of the Israeli democracy”.Seated at the dais opposite Netanyahu, he said: “In this climate of delegitimisation, the atmosphere of ‘everything is political’ trickles down to the public, who receive the message that there is no more statesmanship, that there is only ruling and democracy. And in this climate, democracy means that the strong decides.”He added: “Leadership in a democratic country is the art of creating agreements, not vanquishing opponents. A democratic society is based on building processes, not revolutions.”The Israeli president continued by criticising the politicisation of Israel’s state institutions, which critics claim have gradually been placed in the hands of people regarded as loyal to Netanyahu and ministers in his coalition.Advertisement“In this revolution, the ruler is also the victim. ‘We’ll show them’ is the soundtrack of the revolution. The stateliness has gone from our country. After us the deluge.”Returning to the subject of rightwing moves to remove the ability of Israel’s top court to strike down laws passed by MPs, he added: “How can a threatened, conformist and toothless court be in the interest of the state of Israel? Of Israeli democracy?”

Source: Israeli president accuses Netanyahu and allies of endangering democracy | World news | The Guardian

Trump sought dissident’s expulsion after hand-delivered letter from China – report | World news | The Guardian  #TraitorTrump!

The report said the letter had been hand-delivered to him at a private dinner by Steve Wynn, a Las Vegas casino magnate and Republican National Committee finance chairman with interests in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, for which Wynn relies on Beijing for licensing.The marketing director for Wynn Resorts Ltd, Michael Weaver, told the Journal in a written statement: “[T]hat report regarding Mr Wynn is false. Beyond that, he doesn’t have any comment.”Weaver did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian on what part of the story was false and whether Wynn had ever delivered a letter from the Chinese government to Trump.The Journal report said that aides tried to persuade Trump out of going ahead with Guo’s deportation, noting he was a member of the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The aides later ensured that the deportation would not go ahead.There was no immediate response from the White House or the state department to a request to comment on the report.

Source: Trump sought dissident’s expulsion after hand-delivered letter from China – report | World news | The Guardian

E.P.A. Cancels Talk on Climate Change by Agency Scientists – The New York Times

Scientists involved in the program said that much of the discussion at the event centers on climate change. Many said they were surprised by the E.P.A.’s last-minute cancellation, particularly since the agency helps to fund the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, which is hosting the conference. The scientists who have been barred from speaking contributed substantial material to a 400-page report to be issued on Monday.The move highlights widespread concern that the E.P.A. will silence government scientists from speaking publicly or conducting work on climate change. Scott Pruitt, the agency administrator, has said that he does not believe human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are primarily responsible for the warming of the planet.

Trump’s secretive voter fraud panel is keeping own members in the dark | US news | The Guardian

Maine’s secretary of state, Matthew Dunlap, said he was not being made aware of information pertaining to the commission and requested copies of all correspondence between its members since Trump signed the executive order creating it in May.“I am in a position where I feel compelled to inquire after the work of the commission upon which I am sworn to serve, and am yet completely uninformed as to its activities,” Dunlap wrote in his letter to Andrew Kossack, the commission’s executive director.Dunlap said he had received no information about research or activities since the last commission meeting, on 12 September. He continued to receive media inquiries about commission developments, he said, “that I as a commissioner am blind to”.A commissioner from Alabama, Jefferson County probate judge Alan L King, said he sent a similar letter late last week. He said the only information he had received since the September meeting was an email informing him of the death of another commissioner, former Arkansas state lawmaker David Dunn.“Here I am on this high-level government committee and I don’t know when the next meetings are or how many meetings there will be,” he said. “I am in the dark on what will happen from this point on, to tell you the truth.”

Source: Trump’s secretive voter fraud panel is keeping own members in the dark | US news | The Guardian

Highlighting rift between Israel and U.S. Jews, Netanyahu won’t address annual Jewish Federation confab – U.S. News – Haaretz.com – ultra-right wing everywhere cannot stand diversity and sides with bigots of worst type!

Many American Jewish leaders were livid with Netanyahu when in June, under pressure from his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, he decided to back out of his commitment to create a special area at the Western Wall where Reform and Conservative Jews could hold mixed-gender prayer services. The overwhelming majority of affiliated Jews in North America identify either as Conservative or Reform. The decision to create the egalitarian prayer space had been approved by his government in January 2016 but was never implemented.

Source: Highlighting rift between Israel and U.S. Jews, Netanyahu won’t address annual Jewish Federation confab – U.S. News – Haaretz.com