Random News Stories

[Junkenstein]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/video-shows-uc-santa-cruz-police-confiscating-2-po/nXSTq/

Drugs&Gonads&drugs #9000000000/B

Words fail at the idiocy of this.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22232304

Tens of thousands of people in the Netherlands have objected to an official King's Song marking the 30 April investiture of Willem-Alexander.

The song, composed by Dutch-British producer John Ewbank and performed by 51 Dutch artists, was released on Friday morning.

By Saturday, an online petition entitled No to the King's Song had attracted 37,000 signatures.

Mr Ewbank has now withdrawn it as the official anthem.

Many had objected to the lyrics as well as the mix of rap with traditional music.

While the lyrics were based on words submitted by Dutch citizens, they were put together by four writers.

Some critics complained about lines such as: "I build a dyke with my bare hands and keep the water away" and "through wind and rain I'll stand beside you... I'll keep you safe as long as I live".

One signatory to the petition said the song "spontaneously turns you into a republican, if you weren't one already".

No comment.

[Cain]

"It sounds like a lot of fun, but it's a nasty, tough job," said Charlie Fuller, a retired Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent who now runs the International Association of Undercover Officers. "The prostitutes have a better intelligence system than any agency in the world. You have to disrobe or they won't talk to you."

Oh no, you have to undress?  How horrible!  The Cosa Nostra merely required you had to kill someone to prove you were not a cop.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22105916

Five people have been killed in a shooting at an apartment complex south of the US city of Seattle, police say.

A man and a woman were found dead in separate apartments during a search of the building in Federal Way on Sunday.

One of two men lying injured in a car park died from gunfire after producing a weapon when police approached him, though it is not clear whether he was killed by a police bullet.

The other injured man and another were also later found dead in the car park.

"When we arrived, there was a lot of gunfire already being fired and multiple calls, 911 calls of gunfire," Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock said.

It is not clear how the shooting incident at the complex began.

``We're gonna continue to go door to door in hopes that we can find some additional witnesses, and hopefully we won't be finding any more victims,'' Ms Schrock told AP.

Police carried out extensive searches but said they did not think there were any more gunmen at large in the district.

Bomb guy caught, Guns guys continue as normal.

While not good, it does continue to highlight the relevant dangers of guns against domestic terrorism. No mention of the gun, but I would suspect a handgun from the "produced a gun" line the guy possibly being killed by a police bullet.

[Junkenstein]

A poster has been put up in New Scotland Yard with a personal message from Sir Bernard.

It reads: "Twenty years ago the Lawrence family lost their loved son, Stephen.

"We let them down by not catching his murderers. Then last year we finally brought two of his killers to justice. The Met won't forget Stephen Lawrence."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22244598

Over the past 20 years this has been a classic case of incompetence and institutional racism.

Within the past 5 years it's quite easy to name a number of Met police cases that have gone nowhere due to incompetence and institutionalised racism.

The conclusion I come to is that while they may not forget, they don't care either.

[Junkenstein]

Shitbags&shitbags&shitbags #929295/Q

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22244494

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has told a court his brother, Liam Adams, admitted sexually abusing his daughter.

Liam Adams is charged with 10 counts of sexually abusing his daughter Aine, who has waived her right to anonymity. He denies all the charges.

Giving evidence at the trial in Belfast, Gerry Adams said that he had several walks with his brother.

He said during one of them, Liam Adams acknowledged he had abused Aine, but said that it had only happened once.

The Sinn Fein president said that Liam Adams made the alleged admission during a long walk in the rain in Dundalk, County Louth, in 2000

"I had a long walk with Liam. We had a number of conversations," Mr Adams said.

"During the course of that he acknowledged that he had sexually abused Aine. He said it only happened the once."

Mr Adams was asked what Liam Adams had said he had done.

Gerry Adams replied: "To the best of my recollection the terms that he used were that he had molested her or that he had interfered with her, that he had sexually assaulted her."

Mr Adams said he had first confronted his brother about the alleged abuse during a meeting in Buncrana, County Donegal, in 1987. He told the court that at that time Liam Adams denied the allegations.

[Junkenstein]

Russians joining in the shooting people fun:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22251836

A gunman has shot dead five people - including a 14-year-old girl - in the western Russian city of Belgorod, local officials say.

The attacker killed three people inside a hunting shop and two passers-by on the street, and then fled in a car.

The abandoned vehicle - a BMW - was later found by the police.

The officials believe the shooting was an attempted robbery. Latest reports in the Russian media suggest there may have been two gunmen.


The shooting began at about 14:00 local time (10:00 GMT) in the shop in the city centre.

Russian news agencies later posted photos of the bodies lying on the street near the Okhota (Hunt) shop and a crowd of onlookers gathered nearby.

Local media are also quoting Belgorod police as saying the gunman is a 31-year-old city resident who was released from prison last year.

The suspect is currently being hunted by the police, amid reports that he may be hiding at a local car market.

Oddly familiar in some ways. I wonder if he's Chechen too.

[Cain]

No.  Belgorod is too far north.  It's old Cossack land, if anything, though most people there are Russian.

[Junkenstein]

Ah.

Well. Cossacks were friendly fellows. Makes more sense now. The Chechen speculation was more incidental to the timing of the event.

[Cain]

http://www.jamestown.org/programs/nca/

For all your Chechen insurgent needs.

[Junkenstein]

Development in Syria fuckery:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22254996

EU member states have agreed to ease an oil embargo on Syria to allow the purchase of crude from the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg said they had made the decision "so as to help the civilian population".

European companies will now be able to import crude oil and petroleum products from opposition-held areas.

Each transaction will have to be approved by the main opposition alliance, the National Coalition.

Experts have warned that buying Syrian crude will be complicated because of security concerns and damaged infrastructure. It is believed oil will have to be transported by tanker to Turkey and Iraq.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that Syria's daily oil production has since slipped from 400,000 barrels to 130,000. An official report published in April that has been cited by state media said oil exports had dropped to almost nothing. The government has also been forced to import refined fuel supplies to keep up with demand.

Syria's main oilfields are in the eastern provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hassakeh, which both border Iraq.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, believes most of the oil fields there are now controlled by rebel groups

That's a pretty big nail in the coffin as I see it. The bullshit about it being "for the people" is nice as always. I think that'll be going away within the next decade.

[Pergamos]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22232304

Tens of thousands of people in the Netherlands have objected to an official King's Song marking the 30 April investiture of Willem-Alexander.

The song, composed by Dutch-British producer John Ewbank and performed by 51 Dutch artists, was released on Friday morning.

By Saturday, an online petition entitled No to the King's Song had attracted 37,000 signatures.

Mr Ewbank has now withdrawn it as the official anthem.

Many had objected to the lyrics as well as the mix of rap with traditional music.

While the lyrics were based on words submitted by Dutch citizens, they were put together by four writers.

Some critics complained about lines such as: "I build a dyke with my bare hands and keep the water away" and "through wind and rain I'll stand beside you... I'll keep you safe as long as I live".

One signatory to the petition said the song "spontaneously turns you into a republican, if you weren't one already".

No comment.

The rapping parts of the song sound like Die Antwoordt to me.  Admittedly that is only because it is in a similar language and I can't understand it.  It contrasts really weirdly with the rest of the song.

I think that each King gets his own song is kind of a cool tradition.

[Junkenstein]

Well presented piece on human trafficking

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22250772

With some luck, the presentation of the facts will get it a wider audience. Some focus on the reasons behind it towards the end was good to see too.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22266051

Millionaire businessman James McCormick, 56, has been convicted at the Old Bailey of three counts of fraud after selling fake bomb detectors.

The Advanced Detection Equipment was based on a golf ball finder device and sold for up to $40,000 (£27,000) in Iraq, Georgia, Saudi Arabia and Niger.

McCormick, of Langport, Somerset, made an estimated £50m from sales of his fake detectors.

He marketed the detectors to military, governments and police and even the UN.

The models were described by prosecutors as completely ineffectual and lacking any grounding in science.

Just reminding you that humans are scum and will profit in any way they can.

Carry on.

[Junkenstein]

More Syria:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22266212

A senior Israeli military official has said Syrian forces have used chemical weapons against rebels several times.

Brig Gen Itai Brun said military intelligence believed the nerve agent sarin had probably been used "in a number of incidents".

Syria's government and rebels have accused each other of using chemical weapons. A UN team is trying to enter Syria to investigate.

The US has said it would not tolerate the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Speaking at a security conference in Jerusalem, Gen Brun said: "To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has made use of deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the past."

He said photographs of victims foaming at the mouth and with constricted pupils and other unspecified symptoms "provide evidence that deadly chemical weapons have been used".

"Which chemical weapons? Apparently sarin. The regime is also using chemical weapons that neutralise and are not fatal," he said.

Things looking increasingly sketchy for Assad. The timing of this I'm sure has nothing to do with the oil agreements.

Taking bets about the timescale for liberation. Iran can wait it seems.