RandySF
RandySF's JournalAs ISIS Advances, Kurdish Female Fighters Take a Stand
In early 2013, Ruwayda, the commander of the first all-female brigade of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (or PYD), oversaw 53 fighters, working with the Free Syrian Army to stop Assad's forces from entering Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo.
After holding off the regime, she and her brigade returned to their home base, the predominantly Kurdish northern city of the Afrin, turning their efforts to stopping the advance of Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
"I believe in a greater cause, which is protecting our families and our cities from the extremists' brutality and dark ideas," she says. "I read Nietzsche and Marx, which they don't accept. They don't accept having women in leadership positions. They want us to cover ourselves and become housewives to attend to their needs only. They think we have no right to talk and control our lives."
Kurdish women, regarded as some of the most liberal in the region, have a decades-long history of fighting. Many have fought with the PKK, an internationally recognized terror organization that works with the YPG, in southern Turkey.
http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2014/08/5923/isis-advances-kurdish-female-fighters-stand/
Iowa GOP Senate Candidate: U.S. Troops Should Have Stayed In Iraq 'Longer'
The Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, state Sen. Joni Ernst, suggested that if additional U.S. troops had remained in Iraq for a longer period of time, the current situation of the U.S. conducting airstrikes against Islamic militants in the country wouldn't be happening.
Ernst made those comments in an interview with ABC News. In response to a question about how fighting with Islamic militants affected her thinking Ernst said "What we see going on in Iraq right now — If this current administration had followed guidance from military leaders many years ago, we would not be in this situation."
Then, when asked whether she supports airstrikes that U.S. forces have been conducting, Ernst said if U.S. troops had remained in Iraq longer this wouldn't be the current situation.
"I can say is—What I would have supported is leaving additional troops in Iraq longer, and perhaps we wouldn’t have this situation today," Ernst said.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joni-ernst-troops-iraq-militants-airstrikes
American Apparel slammed for “fueling Lolita fantasies and rampant sexism” in new ads
NOTE: I would argue that something like THIS is a greater threat to girls and women than "mainstream" pornography will ever be.
American Apparel, a company notorious for sexist advertisements and an even more sexist founder, has come under fire this week for a racy “back to school” campaign launched in the U.K., featuring young women posing provocatively in school settings. The brand is calling the campaign “School Days” and it isn’t trying to hide any intended sexual allusions: Two of the items modeled are called the “Lolita skirt” and “Lolita top,” no doubt in homage to the sexualized schoolgirl in Vladimir Nabokov’s eponymous novel.
The Los Angeles-based chain reportedly first promoted the collection on American Apparel’s U.K. Instagram account, but removed it in the face of growing backlash. The initial offending photo, of a woman in a short pleated skirt bent over with her underwear revealed, has since circulated widely on social media, where users have called the ad “sexist,” “underage porn” and even “dangerous misogyny.”
As Emilie Lawrence, who first posted a screenshot of the Instagram photo before it was deleted from American Apparel’s social media, told i100: “The way in which American Apparel objectify and sexualize female bodies is damaging and rooted in patriarchal notions about a woman’s worth. [Ads] like this reduce women down to little more than body parts to be claimed, and reinforce idea that our primary purpose is to be appealing to men.”
The campaign is consistent with American Apparel’s earlier sexualized imagery, which once reflected the artistic vision of former CEO Dov Charney, who was booted from the company in June. Charney, who has been accused of making inappropriate sexual advances on more than one occasion, allegedly created “a sexually charged, hostile environment” at American Apparel during his tenure. Perhaps the environment at the company has changed since his departure; judging by the new advertisements, though, that doesn’t seem likely.
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/07/american_apparel_slammed_for_new_ads_“fueling_lolita_fantasies_and_rampant_sexism”/
Reports: NY Cop Accidentally Shoots 3-Year-Old Son While Unloading Gun
An off-duty police officer in New York reportedly shot his young son by accident on Tuesday night while unloading his gun at home.
The New York Post reported on Wednesday that Jon Gigantiello, an officer with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, was at their home in Smithtown, N.Y. and unloading the gun when it suddenly fired, wounding his own hand and hitting his 3-year-old son.
The toddler was admitted to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center before being moved to Stony Brook University Hospital for surgery. According to Newsday, police revealed that the boy suffered "grazing bullet wounds to his belly and arm" but was expected to survive.
Gigantiello, an 11-year veteran of the force who works in its K-9 unit, was also treated at Stony Brook University Hospital for his injuries. According to an MTA spokesman, Gigantiello is currently on sick leave.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mta-officer-accidentally-shoots-son
If we needed any proof that the 2nd Amendment applies to whites only.....
Relatives of John Crawford, the man shot dead by police at a Beavercreek Walmart, say they’ve contacted civil rights organizations because they believe the shooting was not justified.
They believe he was killed possibly after he picked up a toy gun in the store.
Crawford, 22, of Ridge Drive in Fairfield, was identified as the man Beavercreek police shot and killed Tuesday night.
LeeCee Johnson, who said she is the mother of Crawford’s children, said she was on a cell phone call with Crawford when he was shot by officers. She said Crawford went to the area to visit family members.
“We was just talking. He said he was at the video games playing videos and he went over there by the toy section where the toy guns were. And the next thing I know, he said ‘It’s not real,’ and the police start shooting and they said ‘Get on the ground,’ but he was already on the ground because they had shot him,” she said, adding: “And I could hear him just crying and screaming. I feel like they shot him down like he was not even human.”
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/man-police-shot-in-walmart-killed-over-fake-gun-fa/ngw77/?nmredir=true&__federated=1
Insurance broker pays out $21K settlement to 73-year-old in buckets of small change
An unexpected delivery of loose change has a 73-year-old man in California giving his own two cents.
Andres Carrasco filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Adriana’s Insurance Service, Inc. alleging he was physically assaulted by one of the company's employees.
After agreeing to a settlement with Andres Carrasco in June, Adriana’s Insurance decided to deliver the funds in the form of a check -- and buckets and buckets of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies.
The coins amount to more than $21,000, said Carrasco’s attorney Antonio Gallo.
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/Insurance-Company-Delivers-Settlement-in-Buckets-of-Loose-Change-269896301.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_CTBrand
Corrupt Wayne County (MI) going down in flames in tonight's primary.
An ongoing grand jury probe of county government, which netted four guilty pleas and one conviction on corruption related charges, made Ficano’s name toxic in voters’ mind.
On Tuesday, they rendered their verdict, giving Ficano just 6% of the vote in an 11-person primary race with 72% of precincts reporting. In heavily Democratic Wayne County, Warren Evans held a commanding lead. The winner of the primary is expected to breeze through November’s general election.
The scandals tarnished a run of election victories stretching to 1984 and some policy successes, including the expansion of Cobo Center and converting to a regional authority. Ficano also is credited with standing up for autoworkers by supporting the 2008 government bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, even buying TV advertisements in the home state of senators who opposed the plan.
Ficano was a man who was sometimes mentioned as gubernatorial material. Now he will spend the last five months of his political career a lame duck. In appearances before the election, Ficano repeatedly used the word betrayed to describe his predicament.
http://www.freep.com/article/20140806/NEWS02/308060075/Scandals-derail-30-year-political-career-Wayne-County-s-Ficano
Town In Hungary Denounces 'Efforts of Freemason Jews to Rule the World
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The mayor of a town in eastern Hungary has held an event hanging effigies of the prime minister and former president of Israel to protest the war in Gaza.
Mihaly Zoltan Orosz, who has been mayor of Erpatak since 2005, told The Associated Press Monday that the "Jewish terror state" is trying to obliterate the Palestinians and said he opposed "the efforts of Freemason Jews to rule the world."
Hungary's foreign ministry condemned the mayor's actions, saying he was using innocent victims of the war "to spread hate-inducing propaganda."
An online video of Saturday's event shows an executioner with a black hood over his face kicking chairs out from under the puppets of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Shimon Peres, each tied to a gallows.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/town-in-hungar-hangs-netanyahu-peres-in-effigy-denounces-efforts-of-freemason-jews-to-rule-world
Natural Selection: Illinois Man Thinks Gun Isn't Loaded, Fatally Shoots Himself In The Head
An Evanston, Ill. man fatally shot himself Sunday night while showing off a shotgun he thought wasn't loaded to a group of friends, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Police were called to an Evanston home for an accidental shooting. They found Eric Zyzanski on the floor with a shotgun wound to the head, lying next to the shotgun.
He was taken to the hospital and died about two hours later, according to police.
According to witnesses, Zyzanski was in his apartment with friends, where he took out a shotgun and "began showing it off."
His friends told him to put the gun away, so he proceeded to take two or three rounds out of the gun, according to police. He then pointed the gun at his cheek, said the gun was empty and pulled the trigger, witnesses said.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/illinois-man-fatally-shoots-self
GOP Rep. Doubles Down On 'War On Whites' Comment
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) on Monday did not back away from his accusation that Democrats are waging a "war on whites" during an interview with AL.com.
On Monday morning, Brooks told radio host Laura Ingraham that Democrats have made Republicans' push for stronger border security about race.
"This is a part of the war on whites that’s being launched by the Democratic Party. And the way in which they’re launching this war is by claiming that whites hate everybody else," he said.
Ingraham told him that his comment was "a little out there."
During an interview with AL.com on Monday afternoon, Brooks defended and elaborated on his comment.
"In effect, what the Democrats are doing with their dividing America by race is they are waging a war on whites and I find that repugnant," he told AL.com.
"They're attacking, by the Democrats' opening soliciting votes of people based on skin color, they in turn are attacking whites based on skin color and that's wrong. Nobody should be attacked based on skin color," he continued.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/brooks-double-down-war-on-whites-comment
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
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