Brexit: Scottish judges rule Parliament suspension is unlawful – BBC News
hmmm
Category: International Affairs,
Kenyan schoolgirl takes her own life after ‘period shaming’
Kenyan schoolgirl takes her own life after ‘period shaming’ – BBC News
Jeezus… the world is a hateful place.
Meghan McCain Lashes Trump: You’re OK With Inviting the Taliban but Not Hurricane Refugees
McCain, meanwhile, said that “the humanity seems completely removed” from Trump, adding that the “best part of America” is that we’re supposed to be the “shining beacon on the hill” and yet the president is now refusing to help people devastated by a natural disaster.
This prompted co-host Whoopi Goldberg to openly wonder how anyone can look at this and say that this isn’t a racial problem, considering the vast majority of the Bahamian survivors are black.
Meghan McCain Lashes Trump: You’re OK With Inviting the Taliban but Not Hurricane Refugees
hmmm
F-35s and F-15s bombed Iraqi island where ISIS hid out
On September 10, US and Iraqi forces dropped 80,000 pounds of munitions on Qanus Island, in Iraq’s Salah-al-Din province
…A spokesperson for OIR told Insider that ISIS casualties were still being assessed, but that there were no casualties for the coalition or the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Services. A small cache of abandoned weapons was found on the island, the spokersperson said. The spokesperson said that the number of ISIS militants on the island at the time of the strike was unknown.
F-35s and F-15s bombed Iraqi island where ISIS hid out – Business Insider
hmmmm
Hurricane Dorian:U.S. Sows Confusion Over How Bahamas Residents May Enter
Hurricane Dorian:U.S. Sows Confusion Over How Bahamas Residents May Enter : NPR
Using the bureaucracy and regulation as tool of systematic racial discrimination. How very American of us,
She fled North Korea for a better life. How her lonely, impoverished death became political
But their demands run deeper than Han’s case. They say newly arriving refugees should receive better job training and more financial and other support.
The Unification Ministry has acknowledged there have been “blind spots” and said it was examining its policies and procedures. The ministry announced last week it would conduct a wholesale survey of vulnerable North Korean refugee households across the country.
City officials also came by the memorial saying they intended to clear it because the structure wasn’t properly permitted.
The city backed off after one of the refugees doused himself with gasoline and threatened to set himself on fire.
sigh…
Russia’s Putin Offered Trump Hypersonic Weapons: ‘I Told Donald, We Can Sell You Some’
“the issue was raised as to how and in what way it would be possible to count Russian modern weapons, including the hypersonic missile systems, into the common agreements, considering that so far not a single country in the world possesses these weapons, not even the U.S.,” as quoted by the state-run Tass Russian News Agency.
“I told Donald the following: ‘If you want, we can sell you some and this way we will balance everything out. But truth be told, they are saying that they will soon produce it themselves,” Putin remarked.
Russia’s Putin Offered Trump Hypersonic Weapons: ‘I Told Donald, We Can Sell You Some’
oy…
Minnesotan’s in Bahamas comment on Hurricane Dorian relief efforts
“It’s total devastation,” said Basil Christie, a graduate of St John’s University in Minnesota who is now the hurricane relief coordinator for the Archdiocese of Nassau. “This one is going to be a serious challenge because you can’t get to the islands. Both airports are underwater, so we can’t travel there.”
Basil Christie: “That’s completely destroyed, and school was to have been opened this week. There’s no school. There’s no building there.”
Kent Erdahl: “Are those students accounted for?”
Basil Christie: “Only some of them. We’re still trying. The difficulty is we have no communication.”
…The number of confirmed deaths …[is now] 20.
“We are certain that there are considerably more than that,” he said. “There are whole families that are missing; [that] we can’t find.”
…Building code on the islands required buildings to withstand winds of 150 miles per hour, but Dorian packed 185 mile per hour winds that were sustained for a day and a half.
Minnesotan’s in Bahamas comment on Hurricane Dorian relief efforts | kare11.com
Bahamas PM laments ‘generational devastation’ as Dorian toll mounts
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis on Wednesday lamented the “generational devastation” wrought by Hurricane Dorian, as he confirmed the storm’s death toll had risen to at least 20.
…He also issued a warning to looters, saying they will be prosecuted “to the fullest extent of the law” and announced the deployment of additional police and defence force officers.
Shelter, safe drinking water, food and medicine were urgently needed for some 50,000 people on Grand Bahama and between 15,000 and 20,000 on Abaco, UN emergency relief coordinator Mark Lowcock said after a meeting with Minnis.
…People on Grand Bahama island were using jet skis and boats to pluck victims from homes flooded and pulverized by heavy rain and lashing winds from the monster storm.
US Coast Guard and Royal Navy helicopters were conducting medical evacuations, aerial assessments to help coordinate relief efforts, and reconnaissance flights to assess damage.
Bahamas PM laments ‘generational devastation’ as Dorian toll mounts – Daily Nation
Jeezus…
A rescue, a reunion and a rush to help in Dorian’s aftermath
The fearsome Category 5 storm blew out the supposedly hurricane-proof windows, turning the glass into razor-sharp shrapnel that opened a wide gash on her knee.
Then the 89-year-old woman and her caretaker settled in to wait for help, and conditions soon worsened.
…The Bahamian government sent hundreds of police and marines into the stricken islands, along with doctors, nurses and other health care workers. The U.S. Coast Guard, Britain’s Royal Navy and relief organizations including the United Nations and the Red Cross joined the burgeoning effort to rush food and medicine to survivors and lift the most desperate people to safety by helicopter.
…At Cottis’ home, the two women heard helicopters overhead and cars driving past, but the weather and massive flooding prevented any assistance.
…Help finally arrived in the form of neighbor Ben Allen, a 40-year-old construction worker and maintenance man, who showed up with a minivan to take Cottis to get medical attention. Cottis …struggled to stand up and nearly fell over when the group tried to get her into the vehicle, which had a partially collapsed roof and was filled with wet cardboard.
…All of a sudden, Cartwright screamed, “That’s my son! That’s my son!”
She hustled out of the car and swept the 29-year-old marine welder and father of two into her arms as she cried. She had not known until that moment if he was alive.
A rescue, a reunion and a rush to help in Dorian’s aftermath – ABC News
sigh…
After Dorian’s destruction in Bahamas, relief efforts start trickling in
At least 20 deaths [have been] attributed to Dorian [so far]as it battered the Bahamas for several days with winds up to 185 mph and torrential rain.
…“We are in the midst of one of the greatest national crises in our country’s history,” said Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis. “It is going to require a massive coordinated effort to rebuild.”
…“The things people need very quickly are medicines for chronic illness like diabetes, asthma and hypertension that were wiped out in the hurricane,” he said.
Initial assessments show that nearly 75,000 people may be in need of medical aid.
…Dorian wiped out much of the island’s water supply, leaving 62,000 people on Abaco and Grand Bahama islands without clean water.
…“We got a kitchen set up and ready to respond and started delivering meals for folks in clinics and shelters around the island right away,” said Nate Mook, World Central Kitchen executive director. “But the logistics are really unlike anything we’ve experienced before.”
Instead of bringing in their own food, which would take a long time to continuously ship to the island, the organization began using local sources for groceries and supplies to start as quickly as possible, he said.
…Frankel, who initiated private aid efforts in hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017, said the first phase is usually the most chaotic, but several relief organization have begun to trickle in and coordinate with one another.
“People need to now understand that is a really bad situation,” she said. “This is not crying wolf, this is the wolf and we’ve got a long way to go.”
After Dorian’s destruction in Bahamas, relief efforts start trickling in
Jeezus….
Also, why aren’t they planing on using local sources for groceries and supplies anyways? If it’s quicker, then why doesn’t every group do that, every single time???!
Trump administration, military officials at odds over CIA’s Afghanistan role
The Times reports that some White House advisers have proposed secretly expanding the agency’s presence in the nation — a move that some current and former officials have expressed skepticism about.
…Some officials told the paper they want CIA-backed forces in the country as part of a counterterrorism force. They claim it could quell worries that the U.S. will be left with little ability to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghanistan as a base of operations if the U.S. pulls troops, as [Trump] suggested will happen last week.
But others, such as Seth G. Jones, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former adviser to the commanding general of American Special Operations forces in Afghanistan, tell the Times they are skeptical of the plan, which they said could be impractical and ineffective.
Trump administration, military officials at odds over CIA’s Afghanistan role: report | TheHill
hmmm
Boris Johnson urged to apologise for ‘derogatory and racist’ letterboxes article
Addressing the prime minister, Singh said: “For those of us who from a young age have had to endure and face up to being called names such as towel-head, or Taliban, or coming from bongo-bongo land, we can fully appreciate the hurt and pain of already vulnerable Muslim women when they are described as looking like bank robbers and letterboxes.
“Rather than hide behind sham and whitewash investigations, when will the prime minister finally apologise for his derogatory and racist remarks?”
He asked when Johnson was going to order an inquiry into Islamophobia within the Conservative party, adding it was “something he and his chancellor promised on national television”.
The MP for Slough, 41, was cheered by Labour colleagues shouting: “Go on Tan” during his passionate address and applauded after his question, a rare move by MPs who by convention are not supposed to clap in the Commons.
…Earlier this week, the monitoring organisation Tell Mama found that the number of incidents of anti-Muslim hate crime rose by 375% in the week after Johnson compared Muslim women who wear burqas to letterboxes.
hmmm
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam withdraws extradition bill after months of protests
Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam has finally fully withdrawn a controversial bill that allowed extradition to mainland China and sparked three months of dramatic protests in the financial hub.
… Lam refused to give ground on protesters’ four other demands, including greater democracy for the city and an independent commission into police conduct, saying all investigations would be carried out by the existing Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC).
…In recent weeks, protesters’ tactics have become increasingly violent as young people felt the government was refusing to consider their demands.
Pro-Beijing lawmaker Michael Tien said that Lam’s withdrawal may not stem their anger. “I believe the withdrawal of the bill … may be too late because this movement has become more than the bill,” he said.
Activist Joshua Wong, who was last week arrested in a police sweep of activists and opposition politicians, wrote on Twitter: “Carrie Lam’s repeated failure in understanding the situation has made this announcement completely out of touch – She needs to address to ALL Five Demands: STOP PROSECUTION, STOP CALLING US RIOTERS, INDEPENDENT INQUIRY OF POLICE and FREE ELECTION!”
…Many will be asking why it took three months of unprecedented unrest, violence and damage to the city’s economy for the government to upgrade the bill from “suspended” to “withdrawn,” despite repeatedly insisting that it had no future and would not be reintroduced.
Lam may be hoping that the move will put a lid on the protests ahead of October 1, when China will celebrate National Day and mark 70 years of the People’s Republic.
…”She will have to take further steps, such as setting up an independent inquiry into police conduct. If she does not take further steps, then we can expect the protests to continue.”
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam withdraws extradition bill after months of protests – CNN
hmmm
Comments From The Peanut Gallery 