September 13, 2021

This is an example of why they ought to kick out the anti-vaxxers from hospitals

The family of a Cullman antique dealer is urging people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after medical workers were forced to transport him to a free hospital bed nearly 200 miles away from his home.

Ray Martin DeMonia died Sept. 1 after suffering a cardiac event on Aug. 23. He was three days shy of celebrating his 74th birthday.

In his obituary, DeMonia’s family says hospitals across the South swelled with COVID-19 patients meant that medical staff at Cullman Regional Medical Center had to look elsewhere.

https://crooksandliars.com/2021/09/alabama-man-dies-after-43-hospitals-full

A man quite likely needlessly died because a bunch of useless oxygen thieves refused to get vaccinated because Bill Gates, mRNA, arrogance and the Donald Trump cult

September 11, 2021

Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

1. Bulgaria Schedules Third Parliamentary Elections Of 2021

SOFIA -- Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has announced that he is scheduling the country's third parliamentary election of 2021 to coincide with the next presidential election on November 14.

"In this way we will save both the treasury's money and people's time in particular Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has announced that he is scheduling the country's third parliamentary election of 2021 to coincide with the next presidential election on November 14.," Radev said during a visit to the Bulgarian town of Pleven on September 11.

"It is obvious that the two campaigns for the National Assembly and for president and vice president will run simultaneously and merge."

Bulgaria held parliamentary elections on April 4 and July 11. But no party in the divided legislature managed to put together a majority coalition needed to form a cabinet after either vote.

https://www.rferl.org/a/31455343.html

2. France’s former health minister charged over handling of Covid crisis

France’s former health minister Agnès Buzyn has been charged over her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic after investigators at a special court in Paris concluded there were grounds to prosecute her.

Buzyn has been charged with “endangering the lives of others”, according to the prosecutor in a special court that deals with ministerial accountability. A second possible offence of “failure to stop a disaster” was not brought.

The former doctor, who will be able to appeal against the charge, attended a hearing at the court on Friday, saying she welcomed “an excellent opportunity for me to explain myself and to establish the truth”.

She said she would not “let the action of the government be discredited, or my action as a minister, when we did so much to prepare our country for a global health crisis that is still ongoing”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/10/frances-former-health-minister-charged-over-handling-of-covid-crisis

3. State Pollster Predicts Five Parties To Enter Duma, Headed By United Russia

State polling agency VTsIOM has published survey results suggesting the ruling United Russia party would receive 35.3 percent of the ballots cast by voters who say they are likely to go to the polls in the September 17-19 State Duma elections.

snip

Polling has been severely limited during the current election campaign, in part because the respected, independent polling outfit Levada Center has been labeled a "foreign agent" organization. The numbers from VTsIOM could not be verified, and their release may serve as a way to create expectations of election results that will roughly correspond to the poll results.

The VTsIOM results track closely with information recently revealed in leaked audio of an official in the Moscow suburb of Korolyov purportedly coaching election workers on how to falsify the vote. The official said "we are interested in seeing a certain figure and a certain party -- 42 to 45 percent on the party-list voting," an apparent reference to the expected result for United Russia.

The VTsIOM poll found 20.5 percent of likely voters will cast ballots for the Communist Party, while 8.5 percent prefer the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and 6.9 percent will vote for the A Just Russia party. The New People party -- which was created in 2020 and has been accused of being a Kremlin-sponsored project aimed at attracting supporters of imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny -- was polling 4.6 percent.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-duma-survey-voting/31454132.html

4. Moscow Court Arrests Suspected Owner Of Dark-Net Site For Hiring Assassins

MOSCOW -- A court in Moscow has ordered the arrest of a man suspected of being behind a website that offered a marketplace for hiring hitmen.

The Basmanny district court on September 9 ruled that Sergei Magdanov, a 38-year-old resident of Izhevsk, a city located 1,200 kilometers east of Moscow, must stay in pretrial detention for at least two months.

The Investigative Committee said in a statement on September 9 that Magdanov was detained amid an ongoing investigation into the murder of a married couple in the Vladimir region, which borders the Moscow region.

The unidentified couple was assassinated by a hitman allegedly hired via Magdanov's website, which operated on the dark net.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-hitmen-for-hire-darknet/31454299.html


5. Romania lurches into another political crisis as Florin Citu clings to power

It has been just nine months since the elections that saw the National Liberal Party (PNL) narrowly cling to power in Romania by forging a coalition with political newcomers and kingmakers, USR-Plus.

That election saw the end of the tenure as prime minister of Ludovic Orban and his replacement by his finance minister, Florin Citu. The PNL won 41 seats to the Socialist Party’s 47, but the 25 seats won by USR-Plus and its willingness to support Citu made the difference.

Now Citu’s government is on the verge of collapse after his decision to fire his justice minister. The dismissal of Stelian Ion, a member of the USR-Plus, led to the withdrawal of the smaller party from his coalition.

It not only cost Citu his slim majority but a strong rebuke from his predecessor, Orban, whose supporters want him to make a political comeback and take back the parliamentary reins of the PNL.

https://www.euronews.com/2021/09/10/romania-lurches-into-another-political-crisis-as-florin-citu-clings-to-power

September 11, 2021

How mass killings by US forces after 9/11 boosted support for the Taliban

The men of Zangabad village, Panjwai district lined up on the eve of 11 September to count and remember their dead, the dozens of relatives who they say were killed at the hands of the foreign forces that first appeared in their midst nearly 20 years ago.

Their cluster of mud houses, fields and pomegranate orchards was the site of perhaps the most notorious massacre of the war, when US SSgt Robert Bales walked out of a nearby base to slaughter local families in cold blood. He killed 16 people, nine of them children.

snip

Haji Muhammad Wazir lost almost all his immediate family, apart from his four-year-old son in the early hours of 11 March 2012. It was more than a decade after the twin towers came down, but they were the reason the US military was on his doorstep.

snip

The Taliban commander for Panjwai district, Faizani Mawlawi Sahab, said each mass killing drove more people into their arms, and the slaughter of 2012 provoked particular grief and horror. “Although some people were supporting us before, after this incident everyone joined or helped us in some way,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/10/how-mass-killings-by-us-forces-after-911-boosted-support-for-the-taliban

September 5, 2021

Sarah Harding, singer with Girls Aloud, dies aged 39 from breast cancer

The pop singer and TV personality Sarah Harding, who had 21 UK Top 10 singles as a member of Girls Aloud, has died aged 39 from breast cancer.

In a post on Instagram, Harding’s mother Marie said: “It’s with deep heartbreak that today I’m sharing the news that my beautiful daughter Sarah has sadly passed away.

“Many of you will know of Sarah’s battle with cancer and that she fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day. She slipped away peacefully this morning.

“I’d like to thank everyone for their kind support over the past year. It meant the world to Sarah and it gave her great strength and comfort to know she was loved.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/05/sarah-harding-singer-with-girls-aloud-dies-aged-39-from-breast-cancer

September 2, 2021

Bob Boone resigns from the Nationals front office

Poor guy... to keep his job he has to get the Covid vaccination and he doesn't want to do that
Don't let the door hit you.
If you get sick... oh well

August 23, 2021

I do hope Troy Nehls (R-TX) recovers from Covid

Troy Nehls (R-TX) has Covid. He is staying at home for ten days. He has his Covid shots and, according to two articles I've seen, he has been encouraging people to get vaccinated for awhile now.
He's a douche and an ass-circus. But, he is vaccinated.

August 23, 2021

Takeharu Yamanaka wins Yokohama mayoral election

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is from Yokohama saw his candidate choice Hachiro Okonogi defeated.

Observations:
Suga has watched his popularity in Japan crumble with each stumble. For a man who has always been good at personality politics (first politician in Japan to hold impromptu public campaign rallies) and was widely respected for his work as the person in charge of Covid response in 2020, it is a shock at how badly he has faltered as the Prime Minister.

To be fair, part of the reason why Takeharu Yamanaka won the mayor's race was likely due to a large number of people on the ballot. But this is not the first time the ballot had so many candidates, and the LDP won the Mayor's race.

Also, the resort casino was a very large issue in the Mmayor's race. Yamanaka opposed a casino resort being built in Yokohama. Okonogi supported it (as did 4 other candidates). Most of the public in Yokohama oppose it. Everyone I know in Yokohama opposes it. The man known as the “Don of Yokohama”, the former Yokohama Harbor Transportation Association chairman, 90-year-old Yukio Fujiki opposed the resort and threw his support behind Yamanaka

The Japanese government's pitiful handling of Covid is an albatross around the neck of many LDP politicians

So, the issues behind why Okonogi lost are varied. Still, for someone so close to a sitting Prime Minister, who is from the same city, to lose an important election is really rare in Japan. More-and-more people are talking about Suga no longer being the Prime Minister. Already 3 members of the party hae announced they are running for the party presidency next month; two of these are influential party members, internal affairs minister Sanae Takaichi, a close ally of Abe, and LDP policy chief Hakubun Shimomura.
Kishida and Kono will likely run as well. Though, former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba has said he will not run (which is odd, given how power-hungry he is and the high likelihood he would win)

August 23, 2021

"Sorry for your easily avoidable loss."

Steve Walsh, husband of MO state Rep Sara Walsh died of Covid -- Unvaxxed
To Sara "Sorry for your easily avoidable loss."

Dr Jimmy DeYoung Sr Minister, Radio Host and Conspiracy Nutjob-- Unvaxxed
To his family "Sorry for your easily avoidable loss."

Radio Host Phil Valentine -- Unvaxxed
"Sorry for your easily avoidable loss."

Greenville County Republican Party Leader Pressley Stutts -- Unvaxxed
"Sorry for your easily avoidable loss."

Waiting on
Cardinal Burke
Andre Jacque
Rep Barry Moore
and others

August 21, 2021

Five Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

1. Dutch journalist targeted in Molotov cocktail attack

A Dutch journalist has been targeted in a Molotov cocktail attack in the northern city of Groningen.

Police said that "burning material" had been thrown through the window of the home of Willem Groeneveld, who writes for the Groningen blog "Sikkom".

Groeneveld and his partner were woken by breaking glass on Wednesday night and managed to extinguish the flames and throw the material outside.

Police officers later found flammable material in front of their upstairs flat in the Tuinwijk neighbourhood of the city.

https://www.euronews.com/2021/08/19/dutch-journalist-targeted-in-molotov-cocktail-attack-at-groningen-home


2. Merkel Makes Farewell Trip To Meet Putin Amid 'Deep Disagreements'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a long list of contentious topics to discuss during Merkel's last official visit to Russia before retiring from politics after next month's general elections.

The controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, the Iranian nuclear deal, and the stalled peace process to end the conflict in Ukraine were just some of the headline issues discussed by the two leaders during their nearly three-hour talk in Moscow on August 20.

Also up for discussion in the Grand Kremlin Palace were upcoming elections both in Russia and Germany and the continuing postelection crisis in Belarus, with Merkel stressing at the beginning of the meeting that Moscow and Berlin need to maintain dialogue despite “deep disagreements."

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-merkel-last-visit/31419645.html


3. Levelling up Pompeii: grave shows how a former slave went far

The inscription on the gravestone proudly attests to how far Marcus Venerius Secundio, a former slave of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, went in life. In order of importance, he lists his achievements after being liberated. The first was his role as custodian of the Temple of Venus, built soon after the creation of Pompeii as a Roman colony.

He also joined the ranks of the Augustales, a college of priests who were in charge of a form of emperor worship. But perhaps the most telling indication of his eventual status was that he financed entertainment events in Greek and Latin.

“Being a slave is humiliating, you are in the possession of someone else,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii’s archaeological park. “So here we see evidence of a transformation in social ranking … he is showing that he became a different person, that he made it in life.”

snip

Secundio, who was first identified as a public slave in archives belonging to Caecilius Iucundus, a rich banker who lived in the city, is believed to have died at around the age of 60 in the decades before Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. Two urns were also found in the tomb, one with the name Novia Amabilis, possibly Secundio’s wife, along with a coin celebrating Greek athletic games organised by Emperor Nero.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/21/levelling-up-pompeii-grave-at-site-shows-how-a-former-slave-went-far


4. Bulgaria Moves Closer To Third Election This Year After GERB Party Fails To Form Cabinet

Bulgaria's political crisis has deepened, moving the country closer to its third parliamentary elections this year, after GERB became the second political party to give up efforts to form a new government since last month's inconclusive vote.

The center-right GERB party's choice for prime minister, Daniel Mitov, returned a mandate to the president on August 20, prolonging the crisis and leaving few options to avoid fresh elections.

The prolonged political uncertainty could hamper the European Union's poorest member state's ability to effectively deal with a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and tap the bloc’s multibillion-euro coronavirus-recovery fund.

President Rumen Radev had asked GERB, the party of former long-serving Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, to try and lead the country after an antiestablishment party that narrowly won the July 11 polls gave up efforts to form a minority government.

https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-third-parliamentary-elections/31419951.html


5. Rain falls on peak of Greenland ice cap for first time on record

Rain has fallen on the summit of Greenland’s huge ice cap for the first time on record. Temperatures are normally well below freezing on the 3,216-metre (10,551ft) peak, and the precipitation is a stark sign of the climate crisis.

Scientists at the US National Science Foundation’s summit station saw rain falling throughout 14 August but had no gauges to measure the fall because the precipitation was so unexpected. Across Greenland, an estimated 7bn tonnes of water was released from the clouds.

The rain fell during an exceptionally hot three days in Greenland when temperatures were 18C higher than average in places. As a result, melting was seen in most of Greenland, across an area about four times the size of the UK.

The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded it was “unequivocal” that carbon emissions from human activities were heating the planet and causing impacts such as melting ice and rising sea level.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/20/rain-falls-peak-greenland-ice-cap-first-time-on-record-climate-crisis

August 20, 2021

Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn's grandchildren cover 'Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man'.

I think they're really good