July 26, 2021

... anti-vaxxer lunatics are snatching covid defeat from the jaws of vaccinated victory ...

PIERS MORGAN: America's anti-vaxxer lunatics are snatching covid defeat from the jaws of vaccinated victory with their conspiracy-theory garbage and must be stopped from destroying everybody's freedom

Op-Ed in the Daily Fail, which makes the story all the more telling when you think about it.

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Put bluntly, a lot of deluded, ill-informed, shamefully scare-mongered, or simply complacent Americans have got it into their heads that either the covid vaccines are somehow more dangerous than covid itself, or the virus isn't serious enough to warrant protection from it.

Some of these sceptics believe the insane conspiracy-theory that the US Government is using vaccines to plant microchips in their heads to control their minds. (Don't laugh: a recent Economist/YouGov poll revealed that 20% of Americans really do suspect this.)

Many more, tens of millions of people across the United States, are hesitant to get jabbed for all manner of other reasons ranging from doubts about the vaccine's efficacy, to a fear they impair fertility, damage pregnancy, alter DNA, magnetize you, or even actively help transmit the virus.


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July 22, 2021

Mississippi asks the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade (CNN)

Mississippi asks the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade (CNN)

Mississippi's attorney general told the Supreme Court on Thursday that Roe v. Wade was "egregiously wrong" and should be overturned as she urged the justices to allow a controversial law that bars most abortions after 15 weeks to go into effect.

"The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition" state Attorney General Lynn Fitch told the justices in a new brief, launching the opening salvo in the most important abortion-related dispute the court has heard in decades.

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After years of chipping away around the edges, the frontal assault arrives.

July 20, 2021

At least he's being competent at raising money. Maybe.

Trump Is Telling His Dinner Pals He’s Planning to Run for President in 2024
Rolling Stone

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Trump has told at least three people he’s dined with in recent months that he plans to run in 2024, a former senior official at the Republican National Committee tells Rolling Stone. “I have three friends who’ve had dinner with him in the last couple of months. All three reported that his current plans are to run for president in 2024,” the former R.N.C. official says. “Now, whether he does or not is a different issue. We’ve still got three years to go. But he’s telling people that.”

The ex-R.N.C. official says the first two dinners took place in late spring. But the third dinner happened in the last two weeks, the official said. The first two dinner companions came away from their conversations convinced Trump was serious and he’s running, the official adds. The third said he left the dinner “not 100% sure Trump wants to run but he likes being in the conversation, he wants to freeze the field, and he wants his name out there,” according to the ex-R.N.C. official.

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The unnamed source strikes again!

July 16, 2021

Teen turned away from roller rink after AI wrongly identifies her as banned troublemaker

Teen turned away from roller rink after AI wrongly identifies her as banned troublemaker
The Register

A Black teenager in the US was barred from entering a roller rink after a facial-recognition system wrongly identified her as a person who had been previously banned for starting a fight there.

Lamya Robinson, 14, had been dropped off by her parents at Riverside Arena, an indoor rollerskating space in Livonia, Michigan, at the weekend to spend time with her pals. Facial-recognition cameras installed inside the premises matched her face to a photo of somebody else apparently barred following a skirmish with other skaters.

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July 16, 2021

Still OK to be an old time peacenik around here?

July 14, 2021

Hey! At least they're not deniers.

July 14, 2021

European court urges Russia to acknowledge same-sex unions (AP)

European court urges Russia to acknowledge same-sex unions (AP)

MOSCOW (AP) — A top European human rights court issued a ruling Tuesday urging Russia to recognize same-sex unions, but the Kremlin was quick to respond that same-sex marriage was “not allowed” in Russia in accordance with constitutional amendments adopted last year.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in a case that three Russian same-sex couples filed after Russian officials rejected their attempts to get married. The court found that Russia violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which outlines a right to respect for private and family life.

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Amendments to the Russian Constitution that were adopted last year emphasized the primacy of Russian law over international norms and stipulated that the “institution of marriage is a union between a man and a woman,” thereby explicitly outlawing same-sex marriages. The amendments also allowed President Vladimir Putin to stay in power for two more six-year terms after 2024.

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July 13, 2021

Turkish Islamic preacher says men without beards cause 'indecent thoughts' in other men

Turkish Islamic preacher says men without beards cause 'indecent thoughts' in other men because they look like women
Daily Fail

The Turkish preacher said that men need to grow beards to show they are male
He said that the confusion can happen because men and women dress similarly
Murat Bayaral spoke on TV show Fatih Medreseleri this weekend
Bayaral said that if a man was mistaken for a woman 'you could be possessed by indecent thoughts'

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July 13, 2021

'Heartbeat' abortion bill passes Texas House (ABC)

'Heartbeat' abortion bill passes Texas House (ABC)

Senate Bill 8, called The Texas Heartbeat Act, bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is typically at six weeks gestation and before most women know they are pregnant. The bill does not make an exception for survivors of rape or incest who become pregnant as a result of the crime against them. It only allows an exception for a woman suffering a medical emergency.

The bill also allows anyone to sue a Texas doctor who performs or has an intent to perform an abortion and recover at least $10,000. The House amended the bill Wednesday to exclude rapists and people who commit incest against a woman from being able to sue doctors.

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Key points:
No exception for rape or incest.
Will unleash a flood of lawsuits against doctors.
But at least rapists can't sue doctors (because someone noticed that possibility at the last minute).

Analysis:
The bastards!

July 6, 2021

WeChat terminates LGBT+ accounts of Chinese college students in overnight crackdown

WeChat terminates LGBT+ accounts of Chinese college students in overnight crackdown

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The LGBT+ groups found that their content had been permanently deleted, and the accounts’ main pages replaced with a notice saying that after receiving “relevant reports from users,” WeChat decided to terminate them because they “had violated regulations on the management of accounts offering public information service on the Chinese internet.” But beyond the brief note, the platform has yet to offer any further explanation.

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Speculation about an official campaign was further fueled by a photo of a government order that has been making the rounds on Chinese social media. In the unverified document, which is dated May 19, the Education Ministry of Jiangsu Province ordered Hohai University to conduct a “comprehensive inspection” of feminist and LGBT+ student organizations on its campus, which it said should include reviews of their members and presences on social media.

The large-scale termination of accounts has been met with outrage from LGBT+ individuals and others on the Chinese internet. “What saddens me the most is that we have no idea how to revolt and who we should react against,” a Weibo user wrote (in Chinese), while another one commented (in Chinese), “What a giant step backward for my country. I’m so disappointed.”

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