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oldsoftie

oldsoftie's Journal
oldsoftie's Journal
April 22, 2019

U.S., India Warned Sri Lanka Weeks Before Easter Terror Attacks

Source: WSJ

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—U.S. and Indian security services warned the Sri Lankan government of a planned attack weeks before a devastating series of bombings killed at least 290 people at churches and tourist hotels on Easter Sunday.

Sri Lanka government officials said some of the suicide bombers and others arrested were linked to an obscure radical Islamist group known as National Thowheeth Jamath, a group the government singled out to police for monitoring as a possible threat after the foreign security services issued their warning.

The sophistication of the Easter-morning attacks indicated to Sri Lankan and international terror experts that whoever carried them out likely had help from experienced international terrorists, perhaps even al Qaeda or Islamic State, Sri Lankan officials said.

“We have found that NTJ was involved in the attacks,” said Rajitha Senaratne, a government spokesman and the country’s health commissioner, using an abbreviation for what he called “a local organization.”

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sri-lanka-makes-arrests-in-easter-bombing-attacks-11555918580

March 29, 2019

Venezuela returns to 'Middle Ages' during power outages

Source: Yahoo News

Caracas (AFP) - Walking for hours, making oil lamps, bearing water. For Venezuelans today, suffering under a new nationwide blackout that has lasted days, it's like being thrown back to life centuries ago.

El Avila, a mountain that towers over Caracas, has become a place where families gather with buckets and jugs to fill up with water, wash dishes and scrub clothes. The taps in their homes are dry from lack of electricity to the city's water pumps.

"We're forced to get water from sources that obviously aren't completely hygienic. But it's enough for washing or doing the dishes," said one resident, Manuel Almeida.

Because of the long lines of people, the activity can take hours of waiting.
Elsewhere, locals make use of cracked water pipes. But they still need to boil the water, or otherwise purify it.

"We're going to bed without washing ourselves," said one man, Pedro Jose, a 30-year-old living in a poorer neighborhood in the west of the capital.

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-returns-middle-ages-during-power-outages-143506671.html



Meanwhile, the fat dictator transfers the country's wealth to Russia
March 28, 2019

Person With Sword Shot by Police at Church of Scientology in Inglewood; 2 Officers Struck by Gunfire

Source: KTLA News

A sword-wielding suspect was shot and critically injured by police and two officers were injured during a shooting at a Church of Scientology in Inglewood Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The incident was reported at the church about 3:30 p.m. at 315 Market St., Inglewood Police Lt. Neal Cochran told KTLA.

The person entered the location with a sword and possibly a gun, Cochran said. As police responded, two officers were shot, one in the hand and one in the arm, and the person with the sword was shot in the head, police said.

The person, described only as an Asian male, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Scott Elliott told KTLA.

Read more: https://ktla.com/2019/03/27/person-with-sword-killed-2-officers-shot-after-incident-at-church-of-scientology-in-inglewood/

March 21, 2019

Venezuelan opposition aide is seized, US and allies protest

Source: AP

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido’s top aide was taken away in the middle of the night by masked intelligence agents who broke down his door early Thursday, drawing condemnation from the United States and other countries pushing to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

Washington demanded the immediate release of Guaido chief of staff Roberto Marrero, whose whereabouts after the raid on his Caracas home were not immediately disclosed.
Marrero was detained as part of an operation against a “terrorist” cell conspiring against the Venezuelan government, Interior Minister Nestor Luis Reverol said on national television. Weapons were confiscated from Marrero and a bodyguard was also arrested, according to Reverol.

The arrest represented a sharp increase in police pressure on the opposition after a period of relative calm. Guaido, however, characterized the operation as a sign that Maduro is losing his grip on power in a country suffering from years of economic hardship and political polarization.

“Either he doesn’t dare to jail me, or he’s not in charge,” Guaido, the leader of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, said during an appearance at a school. He also said some Venezuelan intelligence chiefs called him to say they weren’t involved, in what would suggest a split in their ranks.

Read more: https://www.apnews.com/dc2c5f751aa04454b79769d17748ee94



Such a shame. The weakness of a failed dictator
March 10, 2019

Venezuela's Guaido calls for massive protest as blackout drags on

Source: Reuters

CARACAS, March 9 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Saturday called on citizens nationwide to travel to the capital Caracas for a protest against socialist President Nicolas Maduro, as the country's worst blackout in decades dragged on for a third day.

Addressing supporters in southwestern Caracas, Guaido - the leader of the opposition-run congress who invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency in January - said Maduro's government "has no way to solve the electricity crisis that they themselves created."
"All of Venezuela, to Caracas!" Guaido yelled while standing atop a bridge, without saying when the planned protest would be held. "The days ahead will be difficult, thanks to the regime."

Activists had scuffled with police and troops ahead of the rally, meant to pressure Maduro amid the blackout, which the governing Socialist Party called an act of U.S.-sponsored sabotage but opposition critics derided as the result of two decades of mismanagement and corruption.

Dozens of demonstrators attempted to walk along an avenue in Caracas but were moved onto the sidewalk by police in riot gear, leading them to shout at the officers and push on their riot shields. One woman was sprayed with pepper spray, according to a local broadcaster.

Read more: http://news.trust.org/item/20190309205620-dfuso



The "Revolution" continues its downward slide that everyone years ago knew would happen
March 1, 2019

Translation site lashed for 'shocking' racist explanations

Source: MalayMail

PARIS, March 1 — A major translation website was lashed today for offering up anti-Semitic and racist explanations of words.

Users who typed “nicer” into Reverso looking for a French equivalent were offered the example: “Hitler was a lot nicer to the Jews than they deserved.”

A search of “much nicer” produced the result “Dachau was much nicer than Auschwitz.”

The French-based service used by more than 45 million people a month threw up equally hateful results for the word “Jew”.
“There are too many Jews here”, “Here is the ultimate example of how the Jews control America” and “This is why the Jews are so dangerous” it offered as examples of how the word is used.

Read more: https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2019/03/01/translation-site-lashed-for-shocking-racist-explanations/1728261



This doesnt happen by accident. Someone programmed the site to work this way
February 26, 2019

Attacked and powerless, Venezuela soldiers choose desertion

Source: AP

CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) — The simple house on a street ridden with potholes in this town on Colombia’s restive border with Venezuela has become a refuge for the newly homeless: 40 Venezuelan soldiers who abandoned their posts and ran for their lives.

The young National Guard troops sleep on thin mats on the floor. In one room, several flak jackets rest along a wall. On a balcony, boots that got wet crossing the muddy Tachira River are set out to dry.

“I was tired of people seeing me as just one more of them,” Sgt. Jorge Torres said, referring to President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government. “I’m not.”
A high-stakes plan by the Venezuelan opposition to bring humanitarian aid into the country floundered Saturday when troops loyal to Maduro refused to let the trucks carrying food and medical supplies cross, but it did set off a wave of military defections unlike any seen yet amid the country’s mounting crisis. Over 320 mostly low-ranking soldiers fled in a span of four days, Colombian immigration officials said Tuesday.

Read more: https://www.apnews.com/5047b6d203bb473ea3ca704ad630b898

February 19, 2019

Anti-Semitic Attacks Fuel Continuing Rise in Hate Crimes in New York

Source: NYT

One video showed a 51-year-old Jewish man being beaten to the ground by three young men, who seemed to select him at random. Another showed an Orthodox Jewish man being chased across the street by a man wielding a tree branch. A third showed an Orthodox Jewish man hanging on to a fence as an assailant jumped and choked him.

The three incidents, all of which took place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in the past year, have raised alarms in the neighborhood and in the city’s large Orthodox Jewish community as a whole. Hate crimes are up citywide, but in Crown Heights, they have taken a particularly violent turn.

There were 55 hate crimes reported in New York City this year as of Feb. 17, an increase of 72 percent over the same period last year, the police said. Anti-Semitic crimes made up almost two-thirds of that, for a total of 36 crimes reported so far this year, compared with 21 last year.

The steep rise comes after a year when hate crimes were already increasing. Anti-Semitic crimes in 2018 were up 22 percent compared with 2017.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/nyregion/anti-semitism-brooklyn-new-york.html



I will never understand this fear of Jews, who do nothing to anyone. They dont demand laws be changed for them. They'll even volunteer to work for people on Christian holidays. Ridiculous. Worse in Europe by far, but this is still ridiculous.
Ignorant assed people.
February 12, 2019

Photo of two boys pausing in road to honor US flag goes viral

https://www.13wmaz.com/article/life/heartwarming/photo-of-two-boys-pausing-in-road-to-honor-us-flag-goes-viral/285-161d6562-0c2f-492c-ac15-d214e58f060e?fbclid=IwAR2W1psKoltxytQDNJ6QHNMGOQWHHw13J8RPfjAN6__9FVnylp3w2FRAr4w

An act of patriotism was captured on camera outside a North Carolina fire station, and the internet is loving it.

Two unnamed children are shown saluting the flag in a Facebook post made by The Roseboro Fire Department. The department’s chief said the boys were also reciting the pledge of allegiance.

It happened as the fire station’s Champlain was raising the flag to full staff.



*What a nice story for us*
February 5, 2019

My example of how broken the medical system is.

I need to get some surgery done. Its my sinuses; remove polyps, open he cavities better, etc. Since I have sleep apnea, my surgeon said we have to do it in the hospital instead of their surgical center.
So my surgeon is giving me a discount since I have no insurance & do self pay. His bill started at 9400. With the discount, I'll pay 3340. The Anesthesiologist will bill me a bit under 2k.
So I go to the hospital for their check in. They tell me that their "facilities charge" is 41000. But they'll give me a 70% "discount" bringing it down to 12000. I asked what does that cover? They still haven't provided me with a breakdown.
So the man doing the work charges 3340, anesthesiologist 2000. These are the 2 guys who are doing the major work. Its outpatient. They told me that the procedure takes about an hour.
And the hospital wants 4x what the SURGEON wants. For what?

And is there any way that anyone knows to get this ridiculous number reduced to something reasonable?

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