September 11, 2019

Ghenadie Valuta, a Worst Person in the World Candidate if ever there was one

https://www.rferl.org/a/call-for-moldovan-priest-to-be-charged-after-driving-with-dog-chained-to-bumper/30071274.html

Tens of thousands of Moldovans have signed a petition calling for the authorities to punish a priest after he appeared in a social-media post apparently dragging a dog on a chain hooked to his car.

Ghenadie Valuta, an Orthodox priest known in Moldova for his antigay activism and publicity stunts, was forced on July 22 to stop his car by other motorists who had him release the dog from the chain.

Valuta, from Anenii-Noi, a village some 30 kilometers southeast of Moldova's capital, Chisinau, says in a video posted on the Internet that he chained the dog to the bumper to keep the interior of the car clean, but that he drove "very slowly for less than three kilometers." Pictures show the dog collapsed on the asphalt surrounded by bloodstains.

snip

In January, Valuta prompted outrage in Moldova after posting online selfies in which he is smiling next to a dying woman.

************
The article is from July 23, and I cannot find out anything new about it. An investigation was opened end of July. Couldn't find the progress of it.

He's something. I am certain there is a hole somewhere to dump this oxygen thief in

September 11, 2019

Dis-Chord: Pro-Kremlin Rapper Removes Music Video With Record Number Of Dislikes

snip

The clip for Moscow, a track featuring Timati and fellow rapper GUF, has proven so unpopular on YouTube that Timati removed it from the video-sharing platform after just two days.

But not before it received over 1 million "dislikes," handing the two artists the record of largest negative rating in the history of Russian YouTube.

snip

The clip, versions of which have been copied and uploaded after its deletion by prescient YouTube users, is a paean to Moscow, a city that has emerged from the Soviet and tsarist eras as an architectural smorgasbord and major metropolis of over 12 million inhabitants.

But most controversially, Timati's verses include a veiled condemnation of rallies in support of free elections, which rocked the capital for weeks ahead of a September 8 city-council vote, and a shout-out to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a Kremlin ally accused of corruption and blamed for a violent crackdown on the protest movement.

https://www.rferl.org/a/pro-kremlin-rapper-removes-music-video-with-record-number-of-dislikes/30157341.html

September 11, 2019

Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

(Running behind this week. Missed posting last weekend)

1. Bacteria developing new ways to resist antibiotics, doctors warn

Bacteria are increasingly developing ways of resisting antibiotics, threatening a future in which patients could become untreatable, doctors have warned.

Over the last decade scientists in the UK studying samples from patients have identified 19 new mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.

The changes in bacteria are driven by genetics and mean they become able to repel even entire types of “last resort” antibiotics, including carbapenems and colistin.

For example, in 2016 an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonorrhoea emerged, which posed a major challenge for hospital doctors and sexual health experts seeking to treat those affected.

Over the same period no fewer than 12 new diseases and infections have been detected in England for the first time. Many have been brought into Britain by people who have picked it up abroad.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/11/bacteria-developing-new-ways-resist-antibiotics-doctors-warn


2. Bulgaria Charges Former Lawmaker With Spying For Russia

SOFIA -- Nikolai Malinov, a former parliamentary deputy from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) who now heads a pro-Russian nongovernmental organization, has been formally charged in Sofia with spying and laundering money for Russian organizations.

Bulgaria's Prosecutor-General Sotir Tsatsarov announced the charges against Malinov on September 10, saying Malinov could face a prison sentence of five to 15 years if convicted.

Malinov was released from custody on September 10 after posting bail of 25,000 euros ($27,600). He has been banned from leaving Bulgaria, Tsatsarov said.

Malinov is accused of accepting payments for transferring Bulgarian state secrets to two Russian organizations -- the Double-Headed Eagle Society and the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies.

https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-charges-former-lawmaker-with-spying-for-russia/30157289.html


3. What's the 'European way of life'? EU chief's new Commission portfolio draws criticism

Some announcements from EU incoming chief Ursula von der Leyen about her Commission raised eyebrows on Tuesday but perhaps none more so than the new portfolio for "Protecting our European Way of Life."

It's Greece's new commissioner, Margaritis Schinas, a former member of the European Parliament and a long-serving official at the Commission, who has been handed the portfolio.

But it's what falls under his purview that has raised eyebrows and seen accusations of "fascist thinking" lobbed at the Commission.

Schinas is to steer the bloc's policy-making on migration and security as well as education and employment.

https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/10/what-s-the-european-way-of-life-eu-chief-s-new-commission-portfolio-draws-criticism

4. Yerevan Court Hears Arguments On Petition To Release Ex-President

Armenia's Prosecutor-General's Office has argued that there are no grounds to drop criminal proceedings against former President Robert Kocharian, or to release him from custody, as demanded by his defense team.

The two sides presented their arguments in a Yerevan court on September 9 after Kocharian's lawyers petitioned for his release, based on a ruling by the Constitutional Court last week that the former president's July arrest was "unconstitutional."

Prosecutors argued that the constitution does not provide Kocharian immunity from prosecution related to his decision to declare emergency rule to quell protests against the results of the 2008 presidential election.

Kocharian faces charges of overthrowing the constitutional order relating to the March 2008 decision to call in troops following clashes that left at least eight people, including a police officer, dead in the worst civil violence in that country's post-Soviet history.

https://www.rferl.org/a/yerevan-court-arguments-petition-ex-president/30155320.html

5. Hungary tops EU anti-fraud investigations

The misuse of EU funds prompted protests around Central Europe from the Czech Republic to Romania in 2019.

OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud agency, has released a report saying almost 4% of development funding that went to Hungary between 2014-2018 is in question, by far the highest percentage in the EU.

snip

"Its important to look always behind the numbers. The numbers are not always telling the whole truth. That's why I am coming (visiting) Hungary too. To discuss with judicial authorities and law enforcement what is behind and if there are problems, let's find together common solutions for those," Ville Itälä, OLAF General director told Euronews.

snip

"I think what stands out most for us, is that member states simply don't seem to be taken the fight against corruption with EU funds seriously. The 36% indictment rate is unacceptable and needs to be addressed. I think the Czech case where the Czech prosecutor decided to suspend the corruption probe into Prime Minister Babis's holdings is an example how member states used to react to OLAF investigations, where they simply drag their feet, don't investigate properly and let the investigation dry up or be forgotten," Nick Aiossa, of Transparency International, told Euronews.

https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/03/hungary-tops-eu-anti-fraud-investigations

September 9, 2019

Israeli PM wrongly refers to Boris Johnson as Boris Yeltsin

tbh: I'm not sure he's that wrong. They are/were both buffoons

The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has released a video that clumsily tries to edit out a gaffe where he calls the British prime minister by the wrong name.

Netanyahu misspoke at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, referring to his UK counterpart Boris Johnson as Boris Yeltsin, the former Russian president who died in 2007.

“I’ve returned from a very pleasant visit in London, where I’ve met with Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin and the US defence secretary,” Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting.

Cabinet ministers immediately interjected, and Netanyahu gave a wry smile before correcting himself, saying he was checking to see if his colleagues were paying attention.

link
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/09/israeli-pm-wrongly-refers-to-boris-johnson-as-boris-yeltsin

September 4, 2019

Vintage Ads that are bizarre, weird and wrong. Some almost laughably so (a little pic heavy)

Uhhhh... yeah. Sugary carbonated beverage regiment




This is just weird and wrong



And, speaking of weird. Though this is laughably so.
Here you are Jenny, for your bridal shower, a meat thermometer
Aren't all bridal showers about the husband to be?



For children who want only the classiest of cigars



This child is getting his hands on his inheritance as early as possible



Santa keeping his "Ho Ho Ho"s loud and jolly. No throat scratch for him.
Maybe throat cancer



I know you're happy to find out that more doctors smoke Camels



Even dentist recommend cigarettes; though they smoke Viceroys




If you're pregnant, don't hold back: Nico Time for you



Saving the best for last
A barbituate that has, what appears to be a ghost boy for it's marketing

&f=1

September 2, 2019

Brochure Issued In Ingushetia Instructs Women To 'Defer' To Men

MAGAS, Russia -- Authorities in Russia's mostly Muslim-populated North Caucasus region of Ingushetia have issued a brochure instructing women "to be deferential" to men.

The brochure issued earlier this week by the administration in the regional capital, Magas, gives general instructions to Ingush youth on how to dress and behave in public places.

snip

"Women's beauty is shyness, politeness, a calm tone and keeping a distance from strangers. Women cannot shout and laugh loudly in public," the brochure says.

It also says that "a noble Ingush will never leave his house barefoot," and calls it "improper" "to wear tight clothes."

The instructions also say that people must step aside when a person who is at least one day older is walking toward them.

link:
https://www.rferl.org/a/ingushetia-brochure-women-defer-to-men/30138077.html

I do agree with showing respect to elders... though one day older is a bit much. In Korean culture age is everything
The barefoot thing, I'm okay with; hygiene and safety. Again, when I lived in Korea barefoot was considered a no
Adult women standing up for teenage boys... Uh... noooooooooooooooooooooooo!

August 31, 2019

Donald Trump statue baffles locals in Melania's home nation

A somewhat unflattering statue of US president Donald Trump has been unveiled in the home country of his wife Melania.

Locals in the Slovenian town of Kamnik were initially baffled as to what the eight-metre structure actually was, with some believing it was a replica of The Statue of Liberty.

Stane Supar, a local resident and the owner of the land on which the sculpture was erected, said: "We don't know exactly what it is. It was set up by the Sports and Cultural Society. Some say it's the Statue of Liberty, others say it's Donald Trump. It is similar to Trump. I would consider it a parody of Trump.

snip

Earlier this summer a "rustic" statue of First Lady Melania Trump appeared near her hometown of Sevnica.

link
https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/30/watch-donald-trump-statue-baffles-locals-in-melania-s-home-nation

August 31, 2019

The Nazi Occupation Of Prague: Then And Now (picture heavy)

link:
https://www.rferl.org/a/nazi-occupation-prague-slider-gallery-amos/30131071.html

on edit: To see the Now you have to go to the link and use the bar to see the changes



Defensive trenches being dug by Czechoslovaks under the silhouette of the Prague Castle in September 1938. Days later, the Nazi military rolled into Czechoslovakia’s mostly ethnic German border regions.



In March 1939, the Nazi military invaded what remained of Czechoslovakia and, from the Prague Castle (pictured), Hitler declared the 'Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.'




A Nazi military parade down Wenceslas Square in March 1939.




Jewish painter Robert Guttmann wearing the Star of David in Prague’s Old Town in 1941. The artist died in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland the following year. More than 77,000 Czech and Moravian Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime during the occupation.



In May 1942, Heydrich was assassinated by two Czechoslovak soldiers who had been trained in Britain and secretly parachuted into their Nazi-occupied homeland. The Nazis responded by sealing off the village of Lidice, near Prague, and executing 173 men there (above). Most of the women and children of the village were sent to concentration camps. In all, some 340 Lidice villagers were murdered. The village was then razed to the ground and all animals, including dogs, were killed.



Hitler Youth march over the cobbled street behind Prague Castle in 1943.



Ethnic Germans daubed with swastikas await transport out of Prague. In the aftermath of the Nazi occupation, some 3 million Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia. Tens of thousands were murdered by vengeful Czechs or committed suicide during the forced exodus.

August 31, 2019

5 Stories from Europe You May Not Have Seen

1. Could Italy's new coalition be stymied by Salvini's grip on parliament?

Even if Italy’s Five Star Movement (M5S) can form a new coalition government with the Democratic Party (DP), its power might be curbed by Matteo Salvini’s League which keeps control of 11 powerful legislative committees until next spring.

The far-right League heads five key committees in the Chamber of Deputies (finance; transport and telecommunications; environment and public infrastructure; industry and employment) and six in the Senate (justice; constitutional affairs; education; agriculture; finance and treasury; defence).

The presidents of these committees cannot be changed until half-way through the parliamentary term and must serve for a minimum term of two years.

Salvini's economic advisor, Claudio Borghi, is President of the Finance Committee — a decisive one for the efforts of the new government to draft Italy's budget for 2020 and freeze a hike in VAT.

link:
https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/30/could-italy-s-new-coalition-be-stymied-by-salvini-s-grip-on-parliament

2. 'Black Hole': Prosecutors Probing Allegations Of Punitive Psychiatric Treatment In Siberian Prison

TYUMEN, Russia -- On February 14, Igor Sovchuk, a prisoner at prison IK-6 in the city of Tyumen, Siberia, complained repeatedly of a headache. After being told repeatedly to shut up, the guards finally agreed to take him to the medical unit. He was given an injection and sent back to his cell.

Almost immediately, he began to feel ill. His speech was slurred, and he began drooling uncontrollably. His movements became awkward and uncoordinated. The next morning, he filed an official request to see his wife. The prison administration began taking steps to prevent such a meeting. Prison doctors admitted Sovchuk to the medical ward and gave him another injection, after which he had difficulty breathing and was unable to get out of his bunk.

snip

Sovchuk's case, activists say, is far from uncommon. "It is no secret that [prison officials] use psychotropic drugs to pacify malcontents," Irina Zaitseva, an expert with the nongovernmental organization For Prisoner Rights, told RFE/RL. "Any person in this country can be shut away, declared incompetent, and simply destroyed. I have heard of many such cases."

The difference in Sovchuk's case, however, is that local prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into his allegations, which activists say is practically a unique instance in modern Russian history.

link
https://www.rferl.org/a/black-hole-prosecutors-probing-allegations-of-punitive-psychiatric-treatment-in-siberian-prison/30128314.html

3. Sunderland school suspended more than half its pupils in a year

An English state school has suspended more than half its pupils in a single year for the first time on record, Guardian analysis has found, as national exclusion rates continue to rise.

Red House academy in Sunderland, run by the Northern Education Trust, an academy chain, recorded the highest fixed-term exclusion rate in England in the 2017-18 academic year. It handed at least one fixed-term exclusion to 254 pupils, just over half the total attending the school.

Forty-one schools excluded more than one in five pupils, or roughly 10 times the national rate of 2.3%. Two academy chains – Outwood Grange Academies Trust and the Northern Education Trust – dominated that list with nine and seven of their schools featuring respectively.

The Northern Education Trust runs 19 schools across the north of England, while Outwood Grange Academies Trust runs 31 schools in the north and the east Midlands. Rob Tarn, the trust’s chief executive, was previously the regional CEO (north) for Outwood Grange Academies Trust until March 2017. According to the Northern Education Trust’s accounts, he was paid £183,000 last year.

link:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/31/sunderland-school-suspended-more-than-half-its-pupils-in-a-year

4. German far-right invokes 1989 spirit to woo voters in the east

Two state elections this Sunday in Germany could bring big gains for the far-right and deal another blow to Chancellor Merkel's government.

In the former communist eastern states of Saxony and Brandenburg, three decades after the country's reunification, many voters still feel left behind – and the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is now invoking the spirit of the 1989 revolution to try to win them over.

AfD leaders point to what they call "political correctness" and say that Germany today is as undemocratic as the East German dictatorship.

"You have to be careful when speaking to your neighbours, your colleagues, your children because they might repeat what you say. Many people who experienced life in East Germany say it’s as bad now as it was then," said Andreas Kalbitz, AfD leader and top candidate in the state of Brandenburg.

link
https://www.euronews.com/2019/08/30/german-far-right-invokes-1989-spirit-to-woo-voters-in-the-east

5. Former Chechen Commander Gunned Down In Berlin; Eyes Turn To Moscow (And Grozny)

When Zelimkhan Khangoshvili sought refuge in Germany in 2016, he was fleeing a series of assassination attempts and seeking distance from his past life, a decade earlier, as a company commander battling Russian troops in the Second Chechen War.

He and his family settled in Berlin, where he regularly attended Friday Prayers at a local mosque. On August 23, as he left the mosque and walked along a wooded path, a man rode up to him on a bicycle and shot him twice in the head, killing him nearly instantly.

Khangoshvili was the latest victim in a series of mysterious killings over many years that have targeted Chechen exiles and Russians who have clashed with either the Kremlin or with Russian security services.

German police have arrested a Russian man, and German media have cited unnamed official sources as saying investigators are looking into whether the murder was in fact a political assassination.

link
https://www.rferl.org/a/chechen-commander-khangoshvili-berlin-assassination-moscow-(and-grozny)/30133813.html

August 29, 2019

Top court orders review of Samsung heir's bribery case, convicting him of more charges (South Korea)

South Korea's top court on Thursday ordered a lower court to reconsider its suspended jail sentence on Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong for bribery...

snip

In its final verdict, the Supreme Court asked a lower court to revisit the February 2018 ruling that suspended Lee's jail term and dismissed major charges against him in a corruption scandal that ousted former President Park Geun-hye.

hief Justice Kim Myeong-su, who read out the sentencing, said that the three horses worth 3.4 billion won (US$2.8 million) that Samsung gifted to the president's friend Choi Soon-sil, can be considered bribes, overturning an earlier court ruling that excluded them from bribery.

The top judge also noted that Samsung's 1.6 billion-won donation to a sports foundation run by the Choi family was part of bribes given in return for a government backing of Lee's plan to inherit group control from his father.

n 2017, the 51-year-old was sentenced to five years in prison on numerous charges, including bribery and embezzlement.

link
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190829003600315