July 6, 2021

Man who built pool for Portland homeless fatally stabbed

PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) — A man whose ingenious pop-up swimming pool kept the homeless cool during the recent heat wave was fatally stabbed in the same spot just one day later, according to Portland police. Officers identified Tyson L. Morlock as the man who was found stabbed in the inner eastside Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood at Division Street and Southeast Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard around 3:37 a.m. on Thursday, July 1.

Despite life-saving efforts from paramedics, he died shortly thereafter in a nearby hospital, according to authorities. Morlock, 27, had been interviewed the previous day, June 30, by a reporter on assignment for the Reuters news agency.

“There’s not a lot of places you can go in the community where you can be safe,” Morlock said, according to a tweet from the reporter, Sergio Olmos.

According to Olmos, Morlock hooked up the pool to a fire hydrant at the Division Street underpass of Highway 99E, which is also known as Martin Luther King Boulevard.

https://www.koin.com/news/crime/se-portland-stabbing-victim-idd-no-arrest-yet/

July 2, 2021

Anyone having problems with the price of food increasing?

Particularly for those on a fixed income, it's getting bad.

June 30, 2021

French woman arrested for causing worst Tour De France crash

The clueless fan who caused a bloody crash during the Tour de France has been arrested after surrendering at a police station, a source said Wednesday.

The 30-year-old French woman, who has not been identified, was in custody Wednesday at a police station in Brittany near where the world’s biggest cycling competition held its first four stages, a source close to the investigation told Reuters.

She is accused of involuntarily causing injury and putting the lives of others at risk — which is punishable with a fine of around $1,700, French news network RTL reported. She also faced up to a year in jail, the Daily Mail reported.

The spectator — who was seen in pictures holding up cardboard that read “Go! Gran, Grandad” in French and German — sent cyclist Tony Martin flying when he clipped her sign on Saturday, causing others to crash around him. French authorities previously said the woman fled before investigators could reach her.

https://nypost.com/2021/06/30/french-police-arrest-woman-over-tour-de-france-crash/

June 28, 2021

British, Canadian and US embassies fly Pride flag in Russia, where 'gay propaganda' is illegal

The UK, Canadian and US embassies have flown the Pride flag in Russia, defying the country’s “gay propaganda” law.

On Friday (25 June), which marks 43 years since the rainbow flag was first used as a symbol of LGBT+ Pride at the 1978 Pride parade in San Francisco, the embassies of Canada, the UK and the US raised the flag in Russia.

Russia’s so-called “gay propaganda law” was signed by Vladimir Putin in 2013, after the start of this third presidential term, banning any “promotion” of “non-traditional sexual relationships”. Anyone found guilty under the law can be sentenced to heavy fines or up to 15 years in prison.

But the countries’ ambassadors each signed an open letter on the day, alongside the ambassadors of Iceland, New Zealand and Australia, “affirming the inherent human rights of each individual… including members of the LGBT+ community”.

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/06/26/russia-pride-flag-embassies-uk-us-canada-australia-new-zealand-iceland-gay-propaganda/

June 23, 2021

Article: When will Harriet Tubman adorn the $20 bill?

President Biden’s White House basked in praise from allies in its early days when it pledged to look for ways to “speed up” the process of putting abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill, replacing President Andrew Jackson, who owned enslaved people and forcibly relocated Native Americans.

But four months after taking office, there is little evidence that the administration has taken any steps to accelerate the schedule set out years ago by a small agency within the Treasury Department.

Despite the growing national push to honor the contributions of women and people of color — and Biden’s personal promise to do so — Tubman is still not set to appear on the $20 by the end of Biden’s first term, or even a hypothetical second term. If the current timeline holds, it will have taken a full 16 years to realize the suggestion of a 9-year-old girl whose 2014 letter to then-President Barack Obama publicly launched the process.

That strikes some as an embarrassment.

“If we can put a helicopter on Mars, we ought to be able to design a $20 bill in less than 20 years,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said in an interview. “It’s all about commitment.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/harriet-tubman-20-bill/2021/06/03/62443b5c-bcd1-11eb-9c90-731aff7d9a0d_story.html

June 23, 2021

Philippine President Duterte threatens to jail those who refuse Covid-19 vaccine

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to jail people who refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as his country battles one of Asia's worst outbreaks, with more than 1.3 million cases and 23,000 deaths.

"You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed," Duterte said in a televised address on Monday following reports of low turnouts at several vaccination sites in the capital, Manila.
Duterte's remarks contradict those of his health officials, who have said that while people are urged to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, it was voluntary.
"Don't get me wrong, there is a crisis in this country," Duterte said. "I'm just exasperated by Filipinos not heeding the government."
As of June 20, Philippine authorities had fully vaccinated 2.1 million people, making slow progress toward the government's target to immunize up to 70 million people in the country of 110 million this year.
Duterte, who has been criticized for his tough approach to containing the virus, also stood by his decision not to let schools reopen.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/21/asia/philippines-duterte-covid-vaccine-jail-intl-hnk/index.html

June 21, 2021

Well I guess the Afghanistan war is finally over, Taliban scores major victories

https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1406259682088456195

What an absolute fucking waste of lives and money, 20 years all for nothing.

June 21, 2021

California to Pay off all Past Due Rent Accrued During COVID, Giving Renters Clean Slate

California is paying off residents' past due rent that was accrued during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving renters a clean slate, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced recently.

The state's $5.2 billion in funds from Congressionally-approved aid packages is enough to pay off overdue rent, according to Newsom's senior counselor on housing and homelessness, Jason Elliott, the Associated Press reported. However, just $32 million out of $490 million in requests for rental assistance through May 31 have been covered so far, according to a California Department Housing and Community Development report.

"We should do our best to get back to the starting point where we were in December of 2019. Anything other than that is taking advantage of a crisis," said Keith Becker, a property manager in Sonoma County. He revealed that 14 tenants have not paid $100,000 worth of rent.

https://www.newsweek.com/california-pay-off-all-past-due-rent-accrued-during-covid-giving-renters-clean-slate-1602556

June 20, 2021

No solution in sight as renters, landlords face 'eviction cliff' on June 30

With a moratorium on U.S. evictions set to expire at month’s end, families across the country find themselves in limbo, as legal challenges multiply in a bid to protect struggling renters.

For the millions of Americans who have fallen behind on their rent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, June 30 — when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s moratorium will sunset — will be a critical date. The looming deadline has prompted a wave of advocates to push lawmakers for more permanent protections.

The moratorium, which has been in place since September, has been defined by landlords pushing for a return to normal payments, even as nearly 11 million people remain behind in rent. Experts say the trickle of evictions could soon become a flood of renters who owe about $19 billion to landlords.

“This is solvable, but there seems to be a rush by certain property managers, owners and their lawyers to move towards an eviction cliff,” Doug Ryan, a senior fellow at Prosperity Now, told Yahoo Finance in an interview. “I think that's really quite worrisome.”

About 15% of adult renters are having difficulty in paying rent, according to analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/no-solution-in-sight-as-renters-landlords-face-eviction-cliff-on-june-30-163036876.html

June 18, 2021

Just listened to NPR, a german was complaining about how americans use too much AC

And how it was consuming too much electricity and was unnecessary in Germany where ACs are rare. What do you think, do the germans have a point about americans and air conditioning?