September 26, 2020

Argentinian politician quits after kissing partner's breasts in online legislative session

A legislator in Argentina’s lower house of congress has been forced to resign after he was seen kissing his girlfriend’s bare breasts during an online congressional debate.

The scandalous moment, during a debate about pension fund investments, was transmitted live on the lower house’s YouTube channel and on a giant screen set up in congress for online debates during the pandemic.

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Juan Emilio Ameri claimed that he thought he was offline during the incident, but resigned on Thursday after he was called to order by the president of the lower house, Sergio Massa.

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Despite his claim that he thought he was offline, footage that promptly went viral shows the legislator looking directly into his computer’s camera before pulling down his partner’s blouse, all in full view of the other members of congress and online viewers.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/argentina-politician-breasts-online-debate

September 26, 2020

Coalminer's daughter comes out top in Afghanistan's university entrance exam

The daughter of an Afghan coalminer has come top in the country’s university entrance exam and is setting her sights on becoming a doctor.

Shamsia Alizada, 18, came first out of more than 170,000 students, the education ministry said, prompting congratulations from former president Hamid Karzai and foreign envoys including the US charge d’affaires.

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But Alizada said she would not let politics get in the way of her studies. “I have some fears about the Taliban’s comeback … but I don’t want to lose my hope, because my dreams are bigger than my fear.“

She said her father, who works in a mine in the north, had moved the family to Kabul to make sure she got an education.

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The Taliban say they have changed and will let girls be educated, though many fear that women’s rights will deteriorate if the group regains influence.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/afghanistan-shamsia-alizada-university-entrance-exam

September 23, 2020

Eric Holder speaks with Dems Abroad

Join Eric Holder as he speaks to Democrats Abroad in a call on Monday, October 5th at 1:00pm Eastern time. RSVP now.

About our speaker: Eric Holder served as President Obama's Attorney General from 2009 to 2015. He is now extensively involved in efforts to reform gerrymandering through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

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When: Monday, October 5, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern time (Washington, DC time).
Where: Zoom Call

September 20, 2020

Hackers Leak Personal Data Of 1,000 Belarusian Police Officers Involved In Protest Repression

MINSK -- Hackers leaked the personal data of 1,000 members of the Belarusian police force in retaliation for a crackdown on street demonstrations against strongman President Alyaksandr Lukashenka ahead of another mass rally scheduled on September 20.

"As the arrests continue, we will continue to publish data on a massive scale," said a statement that was distributed by the opposition news channel Nexta Live on the messaging app Telegram. "No one will remain anonymous even under a balaclava."

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The published list contains information on 1,003 police officers, including their surnames, names, patronymics, dates of birth, the units in which they serve, their ranks, and positions.

The development came after several thousand women marched in central Minsk on September 19 to demand Lukashenka's resignation, briefly scuffling with riot police who then blocked their path.

Black uniformed riot police swiftly forced hundreds of women, who had stood with linked hands, into police vans.

https://www.rferl.org/a/hackers-leak-personal-data-of-1-000-belarusian-police-officers-involved-in-protest-repression/30848345.html

September 18, 2020

The words of Tommy Tuberville on the Voting Rights Act

“You know, the thing about the Voting Rights Act it’s, you know ― there’s a lot of different things you can look at it as, you know, who’s it going to help? What direction do we need to go with it? I think it’s important that everything we do we keep secure. We keep an eye on it. It’s run by our government. And it’s run to the, to the point that we, it’s got structure to it. It’s like education. I mean, it’s got to have structure. Now for some reason, we look at things to change, to think we’re gonna make it better, but we better do a lot of work on it before we make a change.”

And this useless scam artist is leading

September 16, 2020

A Young Woman Fights Back Against Uzbekistan's Strong Patriarchal Culture

Assault charges have been dropped against 23-year-old Uzbek Gulsanam Alijonova, who could have received a five-year prison sentence if she had been convicted of beating up two men who she said sexually harassed her.

Many people wonder if Alijonova was criminally charged for punching the men or if it was for being so brazen to stand up to a man in the conservative, patriarchal society of Uzbekistan.


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The Interior Ministry's website said in its statement that on June 25 at 5:30 p.m. local time, "G.A. deliberately disregarding the rules of conduct of society…without cause beat 33-year-old U.A., inflicting physical harm on him…and further, G.A. continued her criminal activity, striking 30-year-old A.N., who was trying to calm the situation, several times in the face."

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She caught up with her antagonists and confronted one of them. He reportedly hurled insults at her and grabbed her shirt, at which point she started hitting him. When the other man tried to intervene, Alijonova fought him off.

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It turns out that Alijonova is a tae kwon do champion in Namangan and competes internationally. She also boxes and knows karate.

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Nowhere in the tale of Gulsanam Alijonova is there any mention of the two men who started the problem being questioned by police, lectured about stopping their vehicle to insult someone, about treating women with more respect, or apologizing for making inappropriate comments.

https://www.rferl.org/a/a-young-woman-fights-back-against-uzbekistan-s-strong-patriarchal-culture-/30840628.html

September 14, 2020

This is the best/funniest tweet from the opening of the football season

During next commercial break Baltimore should reposition a bunch of their cardboard fans onto the stairs like they're leaving to try and beat traffic.

September 12, 2020

5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

1. Khabarovsk Protest Held For 64th Straight Day In Russia's Far East

Hundreds of people in the Far Eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk have taken to the streets for the 64th consecutive day to protest the arrest in July of the region’s popular former governor.

Protest organizers estimated the crowd on September 12 at about 2,000 people, while the city administration said about 700 people participated.

Former Khabarovsk Krai Governor Sergei Furgal was arrested on July 9 and taken to Moscow. He faces charges in connection with several killings that happened in the mid-2000s.

Many of the protesters in Khabarovsk on September 12 held up posters reading "Furgal – Our Choice," "Freedom for Furgal," and "I/We are Sergei Furgal."

https://www.rferl.org/a/khabarovsk-protest-held-for-64th-straight-day-in-russia-s-far-east/30835042.html


2. Italy reels as hundreds attend funeral of young black man brutally beaten to death

Hundreds of people in Italy walked in a funeral procession on Saturday for a young Black man whose brutal beating death has shaken up the country and drawn condemnation from the highest levels of government.

Premier Giuseppe Conte and Italy’s interior minister attended the funeral of 21-year-old Willy Monteiro Duarte, who was killed during a fight in Colleferro, a city on the outskirts of Rome, in the early hours of September 6.

Four Italians have been arrested, including a pair of brothers with police records, but to date, prosecutors haven’t indicated if the slaying was racially motivated.

Italian news reports have quoted witnesses as saying Monteiro Duarte, who was born in Rome and whose family is from the African island nation of Cape Verde, intervened while seeing a friend get beaten up in the fight and was then fatally beaten himself.

The funeral procession featured hundreds of people, most wearing white shirts and facemasks, walking toward the sporting stadium where Monteiro Duarte was honored and then clapping in respect as his casket was carried out. It was a strong show of solidarity for the young man, who was described as hard-working and upstanding by those who knew him.

Italy's prime minister was dismayed by Monteiro Duarte's death, calling the family to express his condolences. In a statement, Conte demanded justice and asked rhetorically what it means that someone could be killed in Italy for having tried to help a friend.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/12/italy-reels-as-hundreds-attend-funeral-of-young-black-man-brutally-beaten-to-death

3.Akhmed Zakayev, Former Member Of Chechen Separatist Government, Says His Relatives Detained In Chechnya

A former top official in Chechnya's separatist government, Akhmed Zakayev, who resides in London, says his relatives have been detained in Chechnya after a video statement he posted online condemning the humiliation of a teenage activist.

Zakayev told RFE/RL on September 10 that his two brothers and two sisters, as well as their children residing in Chechnya, had been detained and taken away by men belonging to unknown organizations.

Zakayev linked the detainments with his September 8 online video statement condemning the torture and humiliation of a 19-year-old Chechen activist, who criticized Chechen police and the region's authoritarian leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, on the opposition 1ADAT Telegram channel.

https://www.rferl.org/a/former-chechen-separatist-government-member-zakayev-says-relatives-detained-in-chechnya/30833258.html

4. Serbian Court Overturns Convictions In 1999 Murder Of Milosevic Critic

An appeals court in Serbia has overturned four convictions linked to the 1999 murder of news publisher Slavko Curuvija and ordered a retrial, local media reported on September 7.

Four former intelligence officers had been given lengthy prison terms over the killing of Curuvija, a prominent critic of Yugoslavia's president at the time, Slobodan Milosevic.

In a ruling handed down on July 15 but only reported this week, the court cited "significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure." It reportedly concluded that the convictions from April 2019 went beyond the indictment and were not based on evidence.

Two of the men, Rade Markovic, the former head of state security, and Milan Radonjic, who was in charge of Belgrade's intelligence branch, received 30-year prison sentences each for instigating the murder. Markovic is already serving a 40-year sentence for other political killings.

https://www.rferl.org/a/serbian-court-overturns-convictions-in-1999-murder-of-milosevic-critic/30826664.html

5. Four men arrested in southern Italy after two British teenagers sexually assaulted

Police in southern Italy have arrested four men and are investigating another four on suspicion of sexually assaulting two British girls at a villa where a party was being held, authorities said on Friday.

The 15-year-old girls, who spoke no Italian, met one of the male suspects after arriving with one of their older sisters at the party in the southern province of Matera, according to public prosecutor Pietro Argentino.

The male suspects, whose ages range from 19-23, won their trust by acting in a friendly manner before taking advantage of the girls' altered states due to alcohol, police said.

As the party went on inside the villa, the adult sister lost sight of the girls, investigators said.

Private surveillance video released by police showed one of the minors, stumbling and appearing to protest, being pushed by one male toward a dark corner behind the villa after midnight on September 7, joined by three others.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/09/12/four-men-arrested-in-southern-italy-after-two-british-teenagers-sexually-assaulted

September 11, 2020

I don't think FDR, Truman or Churchill liked Stalin that much

From everything I've ever read FDR, Truman and Churchill didn't like Stalin and they didn't trust him. They were not friends.
But, the larger picture was beating the Fascists (Hitler, Mussolini) in Europe and Asia (Japan)
Stalin was an ally. That is all he was.
Victory demanded that they tolerate and work with the Soviets (and vice versa)
I've run into and read about people who voted for Trump in 2016, that now, have decided they are voting against him and will vote Biden in 2020.
I know full well that most of these people will return to being the Republicans that they were in the 2000s and early 2010s; people who held their love of small government and policies that blamed the poor for societies problems.
Maybe they won't be that way and I'll be wrong (happily wrong)
But, I'll deal with whatever when it happens.
First, the goal is to get il douche out of office and their vote is necessary, and their active support is too.
People who voted Trump in 2016 speak the language of former and current Trump supporters, "He was a businessman," and "He was going to shake things up," and whatever else.
I know some of these people, and they are much better at talking to il douche supporters who are on the fence than people (Republican or Democrat) who voted for Clinton are (sorry, but it's true)
If FDR, Truman and Churchill can make nice with Stalin for 5 years, I can make nice with Kasich and that crowd for two more months

September 10, 2020

Disney's Mulan likely to bomb in China. Hit by coronavirus, boycotts and controversy, Liu Yifei film

Disney’s Mulan likely to bomb in China. Hit by coronavirus, boycotts and controversy, Liu Yifei film fails to inspire audiences

Disney’s Mulan has racked up dismal advance ticket sales for its opening day in China, making it likely that the live-action remake will bomb at mainland box office.

According to China’s largest film ticketing app Maoyan, as of this morning, advance ticket sales for the opening day (September 11) of Mulan amounted to only 2.1 million yuan (US$307,000) after one day of presale. Maoyan estimates the eventual opening-day box office for the film to be 2.3 million yuan.

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According to Maoyan, Love You Forever racked up 140 million yuan for advance ticket sales for the opening day. The film took in 250 million yuan its opening day, which coincided with Chinese Valentine’s Day.

Disney’s Mulan has been swamped with bad press and poor reviews from Chinese audiences
who have watched the movie online overseas, or a pirated version online. The film currently scores 4.7 out of 10 on the rating site Douban.

They accuse the film of being bland and mishandling Chinese culture. Calls to boycott the film grew after some scenes were found to have been filmed in Xinjiang , where widespread rights abuses against the region’s Muslim population have been documented.


https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3100799/disneys-mulan-likely-bomb-china-hit-coronavirus-boycotts