Things in the news

Borla · Feb 8, 2014

This may not be the smartest thing this kid ever did, but it was incredibly brave and might hit you in the feels.

Boy risks life to save baby deer from drowning | GrindTV.com

Taliesin · Feb 10, 2014

BBC News - Iraq militants 'killed by own bomb'

At least 21 insurgents have been killed in central Iraq after a car bomb was detonated accidentally, officials say.The explosion occurred in the early afternoon on a desert road, about 20km (12 miles) from the city of Samarra, security sources told the BBC.The explosives-filled vehicle was being escorted from the insurgents' compound to a main road when it blew up.
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Taliesin · Feb 11, 2014

BBC News - Cover up or be locked up: Naked justice in Hainan

The tropical island of Hainan has long been a popular getaway for winter-weary Chinese tourists seeking some sun.Now the island's nudist sunbathers are causing a stir - and facing a crackdown.The island's Communist party boss has denounced nudism as "uncivilised" and "un-Chinese"."No normal person would swim or sunbathe naked in public," he said.And so a crackdown is underway.According to state media, the police have been ordered to carry out round-the-clock patrols.Using loudspeakers, they are warning nude sunbathers that if they don't cover up they could face up to 10 days of "education through detention".
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chinese crested · Feb 11, 2014

(Crack down on a nudist beach - snigger snigger) (In a previous life, I may have been a small school boy)

chinese crested · Feb 11, 2014

Night night

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1LI8lZALPM

Borla · Feb 15, 2014

Heartwarming Exchange Between Trash Collector and Autistic Boy Goes Viral | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo

Random act of kindness ftw.

Borla · Feb 19, 2014

Men accused of flooding Trump Tower after being denied service at bar - chicagotribune.com

To be that drunk before dinner time, in a relatively swanky bar no less, takes dedication.

Apparently $100k bond dedication. Oops.

Taliesin · Feb 27, 2014

AN elderly indigenous man who was recorded being attacked by two women on a Gold Coast bus will make an official complaint, police say.The incident, recorded by a commuter on a bus in Kirra on Tuesday, went viral after being posted to social media.It shows two young women apparently dressed for a races meet punching, kicking and spitting at an elderly indigenous man.One of the women is heard saying to the cowering victim: "Oh bro, we're in Abo land."Police said on Friday they had found the 77-year-old victim.
The attack follows a string of similar incidents on public transport in Australia, including a racial attack on an Asian schoolboy in NSW last year and a French woman on a Melbourne bus being told to "speak English or die" in November 2012.
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No Cookies | Herald Sun

Taliesin · Feb 27, 2014

An Adelaide man has been wounded after agreeing his FRIEND could SHOOT him as a DARE. The Brahma Lodge man arrived at hospital with a gunshot wound to his arm just after midnight (CDT) on Thursday, police say.He told staff he had agreed his friend could shoot him as a dare.
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SA man shot in 'stupid' dare | SBS News

hamsterball · Mar 4, 2014

This is the kind of stuff that I find fascinating.

Camera lowered into deep ocean trench finds unexpected creatures | The Verge

...and yes, I know I'm a science dork......

Taliesin · Mar 11, 2014

Anne Rice Announces New Vampire Chronicles Novel

Anne Rice Announces New Vampire Chronicles Novel | Advocate.com

Apparently it'll be called Prince Lestat
I'm excited!
I'll have to reread the series now to prepare

that fans can look forward to a new installment due out Oct. 28.
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Anne Rice Announces New ‘Vampire Chronicles’ Book | Variety

snowy · Mar 11, 2014

I can't believe it's been three years. I have a few friends who live in Tokyo, and I was very glad for Facebook that day. Everyone was fine in the end, thankfully.

Namie (Japan) (AFP) - Japan observed a moment of silence Tuesday to mark the third anniversary of the quake-tsunami disaster which swept away thousands of victims, destroyed coastal communities, and sparked the nuclear emergency that forced a re-think on atomic power.
Survivors bowed deeply and joined hands at remembrance ceremonies in towns and cities around the disaster zone and in Tokyo, where Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko led tributes to those who died in Japan's worst peace-time disaster.
A national moment of silence followed the cry of tsunami alarm sirens which were set off at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT), the moment a 9.0-magnitude undersea quake hit.
Its raw force unleashed a towering wall of water that travelled at the speed of a jet plane to the coast. Within minutes, communities were turned to matchwood, and whole families drowned.
Giant waves also crashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant, sparking reactor meltdowns and explosions, and setting off the worst atomic crisis in a generation.
The crippled plant remains volatile and the complicated decommissioning process is expected to last for decades, as fears persist over the health effects of leaked radiation. Tens of thousands were evacuated from the stricken area.
As night fell, an event in a Fukushima park saw about 2,000 lit candles arranged to read "Fukushima 3/11".

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A man offers prayers in front of the main entrance of Okawa Elementary School where 74 of the 108 st …
"We must sincerely regret the accident and tackle the reconstruction by keeping the hardships faced by Fukushima people in mind," Naomi Hirose, head of embattled plant operator Tokyo Electric Power, told employees at the wrecked site.
In Tokyo, Emperor Akihito paid tribute to victims killed in the tragedy, and those struggling in its aftermath.
"Many still lead difficult lives in devastated areas and places that were evacuated," he said.
"I pray for a return of peaceful times."
- 'I don't think we'll ever find them' -
Although no one died as a direct result of Fukushima, about 1,650 area residents passed away from complications related to stress and other problems following the accident.

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FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 file aerial photo, the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is see …
A total of 15,884 people are confirmed to have died in the tsunami with another 2,633 still listed as missing. Human remains are sometimes still found years later.
In the shattered town of Namie, just eight kilometres (five miles) from the stricken plant, about 200 former residents, police and firefighters searched for remains. They raked a beach where broken timber and cars pulled by the waves once lay half buried.
"Our parents are still missing," said 25-year-old former resident Miho Suzuki, joined by her sister.
"I don't think we'll ever find them, but we came here to take part because we felt like doing something to help."
For another former Namie resident, Morihisa Kadoya, returning to a town that remains uninhabitable due to health concerns seems like a distant dream.
"It's impossible to come back -- the decommissioning at the plant is going to take years," he said.

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Fact file on the 2011 March 11 quake and tsunami that killed 15,884 people, with 2,633 people still …
Despite the government pledging billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, progress in disaster-hit regions has been slow, some communities remain ghost towns, and thousands of disaster refugees struggle to cope.
- Nuclear fears still raw -
Among almost 270,000 evacuees from the tsunami and Fukushima, about 100,000 are in temporary housing while others found shelter in new cities or with relatives.
Japan has so far built only 3.5 percent of the new homes promised to disaster refugees in heavily affected Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.
"I'm determined to accelerate the recovery and not let this disaster fade from memory," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament Monday.
"Japan's revival won't come without the restoration of devastated areas."
On Sunday, tens of thousands came to an anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo, voicing anger at Abe's plan to switch on shuttered nuclear reactors, which had supplied more than a quarter of the resource-poor nation's power.
"Prime Minister Abe and the nuclear industry are hoping the Japanese people and the world will forget the victims and the terrible lessons of Fukushima, hoping that they will allow the restart of old, risky reactors," said Junichi Sato, executive director of Greenpeace Japan.
All of Japan's reactors were switched off after the accident, forcing the country to turn to pricey fossil-fuel alternatives to plug the energy gap.
Despite Tokyo's push to boost renewable energy, power sourced from wind farms and solar energy remains a fraction of Japan's needs. Concerns have also been raised about meeting greenhouse-gas reduction targets without atomic power.
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snowy · Mar 23, 2014

Holy shit, this is not far from where I grew up: Three dead, about 18 still missing after Washington mudslide - Chicago Sun-Times

SEATTLE — About 18 people are still unaccounted for after a massive mudslide in rural northwest Washington state killed at least three people and forced evacuations because of fears of flooding, authorities said Sunday.
Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said at a news briefing that “we suspect that people are out there, but it’s far too dangerous to get responders out there on that mudflow.”
Searchers in helicopters will be flying over the area of the square-mile mudslide Sunday to find people who may have been able to get out on their own, as well as look for other signs of life.
Authorities are also trying to determine how to get responders on the ground safely, Hots said, calling it as “like quicksand.”
Officials described the deadly slide as “a big wall of mud and debris” that blocked about one mile of State Route 530 near the town of Oso, about 55 miles north of Seattle. It was reported about 60 feet deep in some areas.
Several people — including an infant — were critically injured and as many as 30 houses were destroyed. The slide wiped out one neighborhood, where there were about 28 to 30 homes, authorities said.
Hots said the number of missing is fluid and could change because some people may have been in cars and on roads when the slide hit just before 11 a.m. Saturday.
The mud was so thick and deep that searchers turned back late Saturday after attempting to reach an area where voices were heard crying for help.
Rescuers couldn’t hear any signs of life once they got closer, and the decision was made to back out due to safety reasons, Hots said.
The slide blocked the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, which prompted an evacuation notice because water was rising rapidly behind the debris. Authorities worried about severe downstream flooding if water suddenly broke through the debris.
Authorities said Sunday that residents could return home during daylight hours.
The Snohomish County sheriff’s office reported that two people had been killed at the scene. Authorities later said one of the people who had been resecued died at a hospital.
A 6-month-old boy and an 81-year-old man remained in critical condition Sunday morning at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg said two men, ages 37 and 58, were in serious condition, while a 25-year-old woman was upgraded to satisfactory condition.
Five of the injured were taken to Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington, and one has been treated and released, hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Egger said She didn’t know the condition of the others.
The American Red Cross set up at the hospital, and evacuation shelters were created at Post Middle School in Arlington and the Darrington Community Center.
One eyewitness told the Daily Herald that he was driving on the roadway and had to quickly brake to avoid the mudslide.
“I just saw the darkness coming across the road. Everything was gone in three seconds,” Paulo Falcao told the newspaper.
Search-and-rescue help came from around the region, plus the Washington State Patrol and the Army Corps of Engineers. More than 100 were at the scene.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for Snohomish County through Sunday afternoon.
People who live in the North Fork’s flood plain, from the small communities of Oso to Stanwood, were urged to flee to higher ground.
Forecasters warned that flooding was also possible north of the slide area. The Weather Service said “catastrophic flooding” was unlikely downstream, but authorities were taking no chances and urged people to leave.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee also proclaimed a state of emergency. He planned to visit the scene Sunday.
Bart Treece, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation, said he didn’t know how long the two-lane rural road would be closed. Drivers were advised to find another way to get between Darrington and Arlington, he said.
Authorities believe the slide was caused by groundwater saturation from recent heavy rainfall. Pennington said the area has a history of unstable land. He said a slide also happened there in 2006.
Pennington said Saturday’s slide happened without warning.
“This slide came out of nowhere,” he said.
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The river in question flows right through the town I grew up in. I hope the Weather Service is right--most of town is in the floodplain.

Taliesin · Mar 24, 2014

Attorney-General George Brandis has defended the Government's plan to amend a key part of the nation's racial discrimination laws, saying people have "a right to be bigots".
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George Brandis defends 'right to be a bigot' amid Government plan to amend Racial Discrimination Act - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Chris Noyb · Mar 25, 2014

Snowy, I hope that the folks in your your old stomping grounds made it through OK.

snowy · Mar 25, 2014

Chris Noyb said: ↑

Snowy, I hope that the folks in your your old stomping grounds made it through OK.
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The issue now is that the river is rising behind a dam of mud across the Stillaguamish, and if it breaks, there could be flash flooding downstream. A large part of my hometown is in the floodplain.

Taliesin · Mar 25, 2014

Water buffalo on the loose in Newtown | smh.com.au

Of all the unusual sights to have graced Newtown's King Street, the vision of two runaway buffalo competing with cars for right of way is surely unique.Having escaped from a film set for a commercial at Sydney Park, the pair of buffalo ran two kilometres down King Street, before taking a turn up Missenden Road and ending up in front of the University of Sydney.
There, students of Moore College were granted the sight of a fully dressed cowboy, complete with lasso, out in their front yard capturing the beasts, who weren't going without a fight.
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott has brought back the titles of knights and dames for "pre-eminent" Australians, nearly three decades after the honour was abolished by the Hawke Labor government.The honour will be known as a knight or dame in the Order of Australia and will be the nation's highest award.It will be automatically bestowed on the serving governor-general with up to four created per year by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the prime minister.
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'Pre-eminent' Australians to be made knights or dames under a new award, PM Tony Abbott says - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Street Pattern · Mar 25, 2014

On Friday, Bernard Friedman, a federal district judge in Detroit struck down Michigan's prohibition on same-sex marriage. That decision took effect immediately.

On Saturday, in four Michigan counties, about 300 LGBT couples were married.

On Saturday evening, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals put a temporary "stay" on Judge Friedman's ruling, reinstating the prohibition on same-sex marriage.

Tonight, a 3-judge panel decided, by a 2-1 vote, to continue the stay during the pendency of the appeal.

Which is to say: indefinitely.

:-(

DamnitAll · Mar 25, 2014

Street Pattern said: ↑

On Friday, Bernard Friedman, a federal district judge in Detroit struck down Michigan's prohibition on same-sex marriage. That decision took effect immediately.

On Saturday, in four Michigan counties, about 300 LGBT couples were married.

On Saturday evening, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals put a temporary "stay" on Judge Friedman's ruling, reinstating the prohibition on same-sex marriage.

Tonight, a 3-judge panel decided, by a 2-1 vote, to continue the stay during the pendency of the appeal.

Which is to say: indefinitely.

:-(
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Did this ruling speak to whether the couples that had gotten married before the stay went into effect will retain their marriage licenses?

Street Pattern · Apr 1, 2014

DamnitAll said: ↑

Did this ruling speak to whether the couples that had gotten married before the stay went into effect will retain their marriage licenses?
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Not a word.

As far as I'm concerned, every one of those licenses is completely valid.
--- merged: Mar 25, 2014 at 10:19 PM ---

Split Appeals Court Rules No More Michigan Same-Sex Marriages During Appeal

I just re-read the opinion, and it makes me angrier than ever.

The two judges in the majority applied the traditional test for an injunction, and decided that the state's motion PASSED that test.

Likelihood of success on the merits? Really? When the state was unable to produce ANY credible testimony to support a rational basis for prohibiting same-sex marriage?

Irreparable harm? Who exactly is being HARMED by people getting married to each other?

What absolute, total horseshit.

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