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Green Light

Hawaii bill would legalize prostitution industry

Hawaii Prostitution Bill
Tracy Ryan, a transgender activist, talked today at the Hawaii Capitol about why she’s pushing a bill to legalize prostitution.
Hawaii lawmakers are considering decriminalizing prostitution in the state after the speaker of the House introduced a bill that would also legalize buying sex and acting as a pimp.

The proposal also would end a state law that says police officers cannot have sex with prostitutes in the course of investigations.

Transgender activist Tracy Ryan said she is trying to convince state lawmakers to pass the bill because transgender women are overrepresented in the sex trade and therefore disproportionately affected by criminalization laws.

House Speaker Joseph Souki said in an interview that he does not have a position on the bill and he introduced it as a favor for Ryan.

"I don't like seeing people sent to jail that don't belong there," Ryan said.

But longtime anti-sex-trafficking advocate Kathryn Xian said that legalizing the selling, promoting or buying of sex would make it harder to policethe industry.

Attention

Emergency declared in Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Oversupply of fluoride and a water main break

Water emergency
© Toby Melville / Reuters
An oversupply of fluoride and a water main break in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has resulted in a declared emergency. Without safe drinking water, restaurants, a state university and other schools may be closed until Sunday, officials estimate.

Chapel Hill residents would be ordered not to use their water or would be without water altogether for at least 24 hours, perhaps even until Sunday, Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) executive director Ed Kerwin told reporters Friday.

"This is essentially a worst case scenario," Kerwin said, WRAL reported.

Dollars

Baltimore coffee shop goes cashless in wake of robberies

Coffee and cell phone
© bluestonelaneny.com
After being robbed a handful of times in the past few months, one Baltimore coffee shop is no longer accepting cash to stop the robberies and keep their staff safe.

Nowadays, many people don't carry cash in their wallets day-to-day, and at Park Cafe in Bolton Hill, cash payments are no longer on the menu. "We're not going to accept cash anymore," said Park Cafe & Coffee owner David Hart. "I'm going to take that out of the equation."

Park Cafe was robbed five times from October to January. While the armed suspect is now behind bars, those crimes pushed Hart to ditch the cash drawer altogether. Most patrons are on board.

"I would say virtually 90 percent of them have said, 'Listen, you needed to do what you needed to do to protect yourself and protect your staff. We will continue to support you,'" said Hart. Hart said cash normally makes up 22 percent of Park Cafe's revenue, but so far, they haven't seen any change in their income since going cashless.

Red Flag

Secretive anti-Trump protests planned for Super Bowl weekend in Houston, Texas

Melanie Villela and her children
© Josh Peter/USA Today
They gathered after nightfall at an undisclosed location downtown.

People representing more than a half-dozen protest groups that are set to march and rally here Super Bowl weekend met to coordinate their efforts — in a way New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick would have appreciated. That is to say, the protesters discussed using encrypted communication that would keep opponents from intercepting their messages.

It was so secretive Tuesday night, not all of the group representatives got the full game plan, said Blake Stroud, who created a group called #ResistHouston to connect the protesters and provided USA TODAY Sports with an account of the meeting.

"I guess they're going for the element of surprise,'' he said.

The goal: Present a large, loud, peaceful and, in the end, united front, mostly targeting President Trump and his policies on immigration. No fewer than five marches and rallies are scheduled across Houston for Friday through Sunday, and the protests will culminate on game day outside NRG Stadium, site of Super Bowl LI.

Brian Harrison, a local attorney who has provided support for the protesters, said, "Meanwhile, there's a game being played on Sunday. I haven't had any time to pay attention to it.''

Play

Locals in Donetsk clear debris left from days of shelling

The eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk is dealing with extensive damage done by days-long shelling. RT travelled to the city to find out about the plight of the locals.

"We first heard a huge explosion. Half of the windows were blown out," one man says.

"Within an hour we heard a second explosion, which broke the rest of windows. We rushed out into the corridor. When we returned later we found several bits of shrapnel in our rooms," he adds.

RT's Murad Gazdiev, who is in the embattled Donetsk, says that "you can literally feel the explosions through vibrations and tremors they cause every few seconds." A particularly large blast caused all the car alarms to go off in the city.

The scale of damage is harrowing: five schools, two kindergartens, shops, a lot of homes were hit, Gazdiev says, citing local authorities.
Donetsk civilian rubble
© Sergey AverinCivilian resident of Donetsk in her home destroyed by shelling.
"Everything is broken... I was so lucky not to be home at the time of the shelling... My bed was here..." an elderly woman says.

Reconstruction and repairs are underway in Donetsk, and OSCE monitors are at the scene, cataloging the damage.

The humanitarian plight of the locals is not the only thing that worries the monitors.

Pistol

"Grave public security incident"- French soldier shoots attacker outside Louvre, Paris - Update: suspect identified as Egyptian national

louvre shooting
© Jacky Naegelen / ReutersAn armed French soldier patrols near the Louvre Museum
The Louvre museum in Paris has been cordoned off, after a French soldier opened fire on an attacker, wounding him, local media report.

The attacker armed with a knife reportedly cried out "Allahu Akbar."

The French Interior Ministry reported that there has been a "grave public security incident" in the vicinity of the Louvre museum.

The attacker tried to assault the soldier with a knife, according to Reuters. The man was also carrying a suitcase and tried to enter the Louvre museum with it through the Carrousel du Louvre area, the agency said citing police sources.

Comment: Update: Louvre attacker identified as '29yo Egyptian tourist'
Initial investigations into the Louvre attack have identified the suspect as an Egyptian national who arrived in Paris on a tourist visa from the UAE. The alleged terrorist wielded a pair of quite expensive 'machetes,' according to French officials.

One French soldier suffered a head injury in the attack. The machete-wielding suspect was shot and wounded and was later identified as a 29-year-old Egyptian national, according to Paris Prosecutor François Molins. He did not, however, disclose the name of the suspect.

Yet, according to AP, citing an interior ministry official, the perpetrator is a 28-year-old Egyptian-born man named Abdullah Reda Refaie al-Hamahmy. The source told the news agency that investigators have so far found no evidence of the man being involved in political activism, criminal activity, or any particular militant group.

In a Saturday interview with Dubai-based TV channel al-Hadath, the suspect's father said he was shocked by the attack, AP reports. He told the TV channel that his son has a wife and a seven-month-old child. Al-Hamahmy apparently wanted to make a tour of Paris before departing from France.

The attack was "obviously of a terrorist nature" according to the French PM Bernard Cazeneuve. It is impossible to determine at the moment, if the suspect "acted on instructions" from abroad or if he acted "alone and spontaneously," Molins told reporters.

There were some indications in the initial findings, though, that the attack might have been premeditated. The suspect arrived in France from Dubai on January 26 after acquiring a one-month tourist visa. On January 27, the attacker rented a car until February 5, and the next day bought two expensive machetes from an arms store near the Place de la Bastille, according to Molins.

"He bought two machetes from an arms store located near the Place de la Bastille of more than €600," Molins said.

The suspect did not have anything else with him besides the pair of 40cm machetes, a "bag of paint cans" and a mobile phone when searched after being shot. Police traced his activity back to an apartment, presumably rented by the suspect, and the flat did not contain much either, according to Molins.

Investigators uncovered a sum of €965, the invoice of the two machetes, a number of prepaid sim cards, some clothes and an Egyptian passport stamped with visas for Saudi Arabia and Turkey in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The suspect also had a resident permit from the United Arab Emirates.

The attack at the Louvre occurred early on Friday when four soldiers prevented the suspect from entering Louvre shopping area with two bags. The suspect attacked them, bruising one soldier with the machete and was subsequently shot and wounded. The soldiers fired five shots in total. The attacker's condition was described as "life-threatening," but stable, and the injured soldier has been advised to take 10 days leave.

The group of soldiers belonging to the 1st Paratrooper Regiment was patrolling the Louvre as a part of 'Opération Sentinelle' - a nationwide security endeavor aimed at "protecting against and dissuading" attacks in France.
Paris Machete Attacker Said To Be In Critical Condition
Authorities in France say that the machete-wielding man who was shot by a security guard at Paris's Louvre Museum is in critical, life-threatening condition.

Officials say the man was shot five times during the February 3 incident.



Bad Guys

New Arkansas law allows rapists to force victims to have their children and sue doctors who carry out abortions

pro-life pro-choice activists
© Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters Pro-life and pro-choice activists at National March for Life rally, Washington.
A pregnant woman's husband will be able to sue to prevent his wife from having an abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, under a new law that could come into effect as early as spring.

The new law, Act 45 - the Unborn Child Protection From Dismemberment Abortion Act, will also allow husbands to sue doctors who carry out abortions for civil damages, as well as block terminations using injunctions.

Parents and legal guardians would also be able to sue to prevent minors from having abortions, raising concerns for victims of sexual abuse and incest.

The pro-life Act 45 was sped through in only two months by the Republican-led state government.

It would also see dilation and evacuation (D&E) terminations, the safest and most common form of second trimester abortions, become a felony with offenders facing six years in prison or a $10,000 fine.

The state of Arkansas carried out more than 680 D&E procedures in 2015.

The bill's co-sponsor, Andy Mayberry, a father of four girls, is the president of Arkansas Right to Life and member of the Missionary Baptist church.

Comment: What's barbaric is saying that a man can rape a woman and legally force her to have his baby. No civil society should embrace such a backwards policy.


Bad Guys

UN reports 'mass exodus' of Syrians fleeing Al Bab during Anti-Daesh operations

Syrian refugees
© Rodi Said / Reuters
Amid anti-Daesh military operation in Aleppo province, the United Nations has registered a mass exodus of civilians from the town of al Bab, who fled to other districts of the province.

Around 30,000 Syrians fled al Bab town where the campaign against Daesh is underway for other districts of Aleppo province, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said Friday.

"It is estimated that about around 30,000 civilians have fled al Bab city and surroundings since late December, heading mainly towards other districts in Aleppo. The UN and partners are providing assistance to those who are displaced, including through setting up reception and transit centres to receive and provide basic assistance to those in need," Dujarric said.

Gold Coins

Utah bill would set stage for state gold and silver depository, further encourage use of metals as money

US gold eagle coin
A bill introduced in the Utah legislature would build on the state's Legal Tender Act, creating a foundation for further action to encourage the use of gold and silver as money, and take another step toward breaking the Federal Reserve's monopoly on money.

Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan) introduced House Bill 224 (HB224) on Jan. 27. The legislation would add several provisions to state law designed to encourage the use of gold and silver as legal tender. Passage would set the stage for expansion of gold repositories in the state and authorize further study on several sound money policies.

Specifically, HB224 would authorize the investment of public funds in specie legal tender held in a commercial specie repository. Under existing code, "specie legal tender" means gold or silver coin and bullion. "Commercial specie repository" means an institution that holds or receives deposits of specie legal tender that is located within the state. Practically speaking, passage would give the state the option to hold funds in gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve notes.

The legislation would also direct the State Money Management Council to make rules governing quality criteria for a commercial specie repository, in consultation with the state auditor.

Bomb

The final moments of child suicide bomber Fatima, who blew up the Damascus police station

destroyed Damascus Police Station
© UnknownDamascus Police Station Child Suicide Bomber 'Blurred'
We all remember the young child of 7 years old whose father wrapped her with an explosive belt and sent her to 'liberate' al-Midan Police Station in Damascus, the last to see Fatima before the horrific crime was Police Major Muhammad Batous, CID chief in the police station.

Nobody knows exactly whether she was 7, 8 or 9 years old, it's not easy to tell by eye witnesses and it's not that matter of importance, the girl when asked said she was 7, other stories told she was 8 or 9. What really matters is she was a young child killed by her own father.

Major Batous told Syrian Al-Thawra Newspaper about the child's last moments (don't try to look the newspaper up on if you're in a 'free speech' promoting western country, Syrian based media are banned in most of the western countries to keep only the terrorists narrative fed to their citizens):