WTF Sh*t's F*cked Up and Bullsh*t - a "Who Cares" thread for news

[Jolene Benoir]

After losing Virginia and Kentucky, Trump takes his Kiss-of-Death Road Show to Louisiana. And loses again.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards wins re-election in blow to Trump

Trump failed to install yet another businessman who fancies himself worthy of political office and who happens to be a shitty person, as well. That's great. Edwards, though, isn't exactly one for rights, unless it's gun rights, having signed into law a very restrictive abortion bill, so he's not on my list of allies. I suppose that is the best that can be hoped for in Louisiana.

Edwards’ victory in a state that Trump carried in 2016 by nearly 20 percentage points highlights the limitations of nationalizing local races. Rispone, a wealthy businessman and longtime Republican donor, tied himself to Trump. He often railed against illegal immigrants on the campaign trail and portrayed Edwards as a "liberal, socialist-leaning governor."

But Edwards, a conservative Democrat, managed to remain fairly popular by frequently breaking with national Democrats. He signed into law one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country, favored gun rights, and touted his willingness to work with Republicans, including Trump.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Woman bites boyfriend's private parts during argument

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WPEC) -- A Miami Beach woman is facing criminal charges after an argument led to her biting her boyfriend's penis "out of frustration. " According to police, 33-year-old Esperanza Gomez was with her boyfriend at her apartment drinking beer. Around midnight, Gomez left her...

cbs12.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Jennifer Arcuri's interview about her relationship with Boris Johnson has now been broadcast

Jennifer Arcuri turns Johnson heartbreak into comedy horror | Marina Hyde

She says she’s kept his secrets and he’s treated her like a gremlin. Could she be dangerous to the PM?

www.theguardian.com

(It's unclear what the gremlin reference is supposed to mean -- did he refuse to feed her after midnight or allow her to take baths and showers, since that would mean she got wet?)

More background:

Jennifer Arcuri says Boris Johnson left her to be 'fed to the lions'

US businesswoman says she told PM last week she would speak out against him

www.theguardian.com

The TV presenter Lorraine Kelly didn't think much of the interview, clearly:

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Thread


Punchline is call your reps.

 

[Free]

One more data bit on how journalism is getting suckier.

New study finds journalists score far lower in moral reasoning than they did 13 years ago

A new study published in Journalism Practice suggests that professional journalists are less morally developed than they used to be. "For the last couple

www.psypost.org

 

[Innula Zenovka]

It's maybe worth noting that the study comes with a large caveat,though:

But the study — like all research — includes some limitations.

“It’s an experiment with only a relatively small amount of participants, all who self identify as digital journalists — so this could be different with a wider swath of journalists,” Ferrucci explained. A major question still remaining, he added, is whether moral development is lessening throughout society. “Because if that is true, our results might just represent all of society and have nothing do, per se, with journalism.”

“In an experiment of this kind, the results should be taken as a first step toward understanding what’s happening, not an absolute truth,” Ferrucci said.

The study, “Journalists Primed: How Professional Identity Affects Moral Decision Making“, was authored by Patrick Ferrucci, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., and Erin E. Schauster.

The question of whether it reflects changes amongst journalists specifically or changes in society more generally is one that occurred to me as soon as I started reading the details.

Also, the fact the reminding journalists of their profession before they undertook the tests made no difference to the responses left me wondering if that's a good thing or a bad thing -- that surely depends on whether they apply higher standards of behaviour to their conduct as journalist or as individuals.

Certainly I hope for their families' and friends' sakes that several reporters and columnists of whom I can think are less horrible in their personal lives than they are in their public personae.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This 16-year-old neo-Nazi has just become the youngest person ever to be convicted in the UK of planning terrorist offences

Durham neo-Nazi teenager convicted of planning terror attack

The 16-year-old boy listed a series of possible targets in his "guerrilla warfare" manual.

www.bbc.co.uk

According to police, eight terrorist plots inspired by right-wing ideologies have been stopped since March 2017. They say there is a "spectrum" of such ideologies that have the potential to generate violence, with the variant adopted by the Durham defendant regarded as perhaps the most extreme of all.

He is now the fourth teenager to be convicted of terrorism offences in the UK over the past year, in which the same set of influences - accelerationism and Satanism - have been central.

One of the many troubling aspects of this case is that a child traversed the full spectrum of right-wing extremism before he had even left school.

Durham teen neo-Nazi became 'living dead'

The 16-year-old's radicalisation and preparation for an attack involved efforts to dehumanise himself.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Romana]

This 16-year-old neo-Nazi has just become the youngest person ever to be convicted in the UK of planning terrorist offences

Durham neo-Nazi teenager convicted of planning terror attack

The 16-year-old boy listed a series of possible targets in his "guerrilla warfare" manual.

www.bbc.co.uk

Durham teen neo-Nazi became 'living dead'

The 16-year-old's radicalisation and preparation for an attack involved efforts to dehumanise himself.

www.bbc.co.uk

This sentence in the article in particular junked out at me:
""I believe there is primal enjoyment to be had in sadism," he wrote in his journal, stating: "How wonderful it is to be an amoral individual".
It seems to me this describes 45's supporters, and a disconcerting number of Congresscritters.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This sentence in the article in particular junked out at me:
""I believe there is primal enjoyment to be had in sadism," he wrote in his journal, stating: "How wonderful it is to be an amoral individual".
It seems to me this describes 45's supporters, and a disconcerting number of Congresscritters.

The bit that really worried me is the news that

The court heard the boy began drafting a "manual for practical sensible guerrilla warfare against the Jewish system in Durham City area".

The manual listed "means of attack" and "areas to attack", which listed local venues "worth attacking" such as post offices, pubs and schools.

A "things to do" list from August 2018 included the words "shed empathy" alongside a hand-drawn symbol of the Order of Nine Angles, which the court heard was a "self-consciously, explicitly malevolent" Satanic organisation.

I'm hoping that he came across these crackpots via popular culture and decided they sounded cool and edgy in a hormonal teenage boy who likes death metal kind of way -- I discovered them in a horror novel and, following the author's note that they actually do exist, I found them in Wikipedia, and a very dangerous and unpleasant bunch of lunatics they are, too.

However, it's quite possible, I guess, that he managed to make contact with them online and they groomed the poor child for their repugnant fantasies -- you can see how they must seem attractive to a certain kind of unhappy teenager:

The O9A believes civilisation must be undermined and destroyed from within, so adherents are encouraged to be as grubby and horrible as they like – committing crimes, random acts of violence, sexual assaults, and even the “culling” of human victims.

The three volumes of The Black Book of Satan are considered so extreme that they are kept is a special section of the British Library and not available to the general public. There is repeated talk of “culling”, committing acts of violence and destabilisation and even terrorism. In the The Dreccian Way, an O9A training manual written by leader Richard Moult, followers are encouraged not just to commit crime, but to “spread it, encourage it, incite it, support it”.

Order of Nine Angles - The People VS The 'Elite': State of Hate 2019

The Order of Nine Angles is a Nazi-Satanist “group” promotes a supernatural, hateful system of thought which condemns liberal, Judeo-Christian society.

www.hopenothate.org.uk

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

The mother of a dead teenager is suing the priest who spoke at her son's funeral after he used to opportunity to launch into a diatribe about the sinfulness of suicide.

The Hullibargers barely had time to process their son's December 4 death when they met with the Rev. Don LaCuesta to discuss what they wanted in the homily.

"We wanted it to be about family. We wanted him to talk about loving one another, lifting one another up and being kind to one another. That's what we wanted the homily to be about," Linda said days after the funeral.

Maison's parents never told LaCuesta how their son died. And the priest never asked, according to the lawsuit.

So they were stunned when LaCuesta started condemning suicide in front of the mourners, which included Maison's five siblings and classmates.

"People in attendance, including many of their son's classmates, had no idea as to the cause of death and became visibly and vocally upset about hearing Father Laguesta reveal and discuss it," the lawsuit says.

"Father LaCuesta repeatedly discussed suicide and how it is condemned by the Church, how it is a secular crime, and how it is a sin against God with dire eternal consequences."

In an interview last year, Linda and Jeff Hullibarger described the shock that spread through the crowd.

"I looked at Jeff and thought, 'What is he doing?' " Linda said.

"We have five other kids. Nobody could believe it," Jeff said. "I looked at the parish, and everyone had the same look on their faces."

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Utah Woman Charged With Lewdness After Being Topless In Her Own Home

The case is the latest legal battle amid a broader "free the nipple" campaign that seeks to normalize the exposure of female nipples.

www.npr.org

How I long for the days when we don't have to be ashamed of our own bodies, or have to hide them.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Utah Woman Charged With Lewdness After Being Topless In Her Own Home

The case is the latest legal battle amid a broader "free the nipple" campaign that seeks to normalize the exposure of female nipples.

www.npr.org

How I long for the days when we don't have to be ashamed of our own bodies, or have to hide them.

The charges were filed after the children's mother told that authorities she was "alarmed" by the incident, according the AP.

Something tells me the mother's "alarm" at what her ex-husbands new wife did was somewhat opportunistic.

 

[Romana]

Not directly 45- or impeachment-related, so I guess this belongs here:

 

[danielravennest]

Not directly 45- or impeachment-related, so I guess this belongs here:

Gosh, I didn't know Graham was a little gnome before.

 

[Romana]

Gosh, I didn't know Graham was a little gnome before.

The veteran is tall and Leningrad Lindsey is slouching. Or maybe the vet made him feel small (I hope so).

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Exclusive: Montco mother has apparent seizure during custody hearing, judge holds her in contempt of court

A Montgomery County mother was held in contempt of court while she apparently had a full-blown seizure during her child custody proceeding. Read the exclusive story here.

kywnewsradio.radio.com

 

[Romana]

Navy chief says he would follow Trump’s instructions on Navy SEAL

Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said Saturday he does not consider a tweet by President Trump an order.The Associated Press “I work at the pleasure of the president,” Spencer said, denying reports that he has threatened to resign. “I do not interpret what the president does. I do what...

news.google.com

 

[Brenda Archer]

Navy chief says he would follow Trump’s instructions on Navy SEAL

Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said Saturday he does not consider a tweet by President Trump an order.The Associated Press “I work at the pleasure of the president,” Spencer said, denying reports that he has threatened to resign. “I do not interpret what the president does. I do what...

news.google.com

This is really disturbing. There’s no limit on the damage that can be done if the President starts trying to create a faction loyal to himself in the military, just as he has managed to do in the Senate and in law enforcement in many places. We are well into the process of a coup. And Ginsberg has been in and out of the hospital again. Once they get the Supreme Court, it’s wrapped up.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Utah Woman Charged With Lewdness After Being Topless In Her Own Home

The case is the latest legal battle amid a broader "free the nipple" campaign that seeks to normalize the exposure of female nipples.

www.npr.org

How I long for the days when we don't have to be ashamed of our own bodies, or have to hide them.

I've been trying to think of any laws she might have been breaking had this taken place in her home in the UK, if she lived here and not Utah, and I'm struggling.

As far as I know, for it be any sort of sexual offence it would have had to involve exposure of the genitals, and even then the prosecution has to prove that this exposure was intended to cause alarm or distress. Otherwise, it could constitute a very low-level public order offence, but it would have to take place in public for that to apply. If it happened repeatedly somewhere on in her property where neighbours could be expected to see it and they'd complained about it in the past, then possibly it could be harassment, but that's not the issue here.

I could be wrong, but I can't think of anything. I saw from the report that

Ryan Robinson, West Valley City prosecutor, would not comment on the case, except to say that city prosecutors "see our role as enforcing the law of the state of Utah as enacted by our state legislature, and we're excited to see what the judge decides."

so I checked the Crown Prosecution Service guidance for prosecutors over here, and I think it can accurately be summarised as "don't waste your or the court's time": Nudity in Public - Guidance on handling cases of Naturism | The Crown Prosecution Service

 

[Brenda Archer]