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Israelis arrest Palestinian over mistranslated Facebook greeting


RT
Sun, 22 Oct 2017 07:16 UTC
Arabic Dictionary
© Justin Sullivan / AFP
Should have checked here first!
An erroneous automatic translation has triggered Israeli police in the West Bank, leading them to believe that an innocuous Facebook greeting written in Arabic by a Palestinian man was a call to launch an attack. The man was briefly arrested.

The bizarre incident occurred last week in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Ilit, 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) south of Jerusalem, Haaretz reported on Sunday.

The source of Halawim Halawi's troubles with the law became a photo of him leaning against a bulldozer with a "good morning" caption in Arabic which he posted on Facebook. Halawi, a worker at a construction site, could hardly imagine that Facebook's automated translation system would twist his words in such a way as to mean "attack them" in Hebrew and "hurt them" in English.

The translation mistake would have been instantly spotted by an Arabic speaker, though the Israeli police apparently preferred to jump to a conclusion rather than double-check, rushing to arrest the man on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack. The presence of the bulldozer in the image had only strengthened their suspicions, as exactly the same type of vehicle had been used to carry out deadly terrorist acts on more than one occasion.

Comment: Israel's pathological profile does not allow for alternate thinking, hence all Palestinians are terrorists and unreasonable assumptions/actions against them are standard protocol.

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Horse

Stable owners in Denmark in 6-month queue to donate dead horses to feed zoo lions

Christian W.
The Copenhagen Post
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 10:17 UTC
Lion
© Iris/Scanpix
"A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse," Shakespeare's Richard III cried out in vain - in the carpark of a pub in Leicester it transpired.

Yes, there was a time when horses were a precious commodity, but not anymore at Copenhagen Zoo where they are queuing up around the block to be fed to the lions.

It's become so popular among the pony club brigade to give up their hoofed pals to the zoo as lion feed, that there is a six-month waiting list. Autumn is a particularly busy time.

"It's often due to the old horses being given a last summer in pasture, but when they need to return to the stables again, the owners evaluate the time has come for the horses to be put down. And then they call us," Jacob Munkholm Hoeck, the head of communications for Copenhagen Zoo, told NetAvisen.
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Attention

Cutting-edge market researcher says GOP in for 'rude awakening' In 2018 elections

Ginni Thomas
The Daily Caller
Sat, 21 Oct 2017 18:18 UTC
Congress hearing
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
A cutting-edge market researcher has a passionate rebuttal for Republican critics of President Donald Trump, be they former President George W. Bush, Peggy Noonan, or Sen. John McCain.

"Don't you understand what happened in 2016?" asks Anne Sorock, executive director of The Frontier Labs, who was at Judicial Watch in Washington, D.C. in October.

Trump's success against the Washington "swamp" is viewed through the lens of the Republican Congress, which is often now seen as obstructionist.

Speaking to Washington elites, Sorock says, American voters have totally rejected a minutiae, maneuvering and a piecemeal approach to stopping the decline of America. As an example, she said that voters aren't asking for a tax cut, although that can be a part of it.

"They are asking for you [Congress] to say, through your work, that you love America and that you want it to survive," Sorock said.
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Info

Child rape survivor tells story of how legal system delays caused his abuser to go free - despite being found guilty

Sean Fine
The Globe and Mail
Sat, 21 Oct 2017 17:32 UTC
Byron Ruttan
© FRED LUM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Above: Byron Ruttan, 50, has stayed silent for years about his childhood sexual abuse. ‘I thought, “Leave it buried and eventually it will go away.” But it didn’t.’
When he was 12, Byron Ruttan was repeatedly raped by a court-appointed mentor, who was later found guilty - only to have his conviction thrown out by the Supreme Court for 'unreasonable delay.' In his first public comments about the case, Mr. Ruttan talks to Sean Fine about his abuse and the life he built afterward

Byron Ruttan never had much luck with fathers or father figures.

His own father left town when he was three. His mother took up with a new man, but he would commit an armed robbery and land in Joyceville Institution, a federal prison just outside Kingston.

Byron never had much luck with courts, either. It was a court that assigned him a mentor - another paternal figure - when he was 12 years old, in 1979.

He had been cutting class. Living with his mother and three sisters in a rented townhouse in Kingston's tough north end, where all the families he knew lived on mothers' allowance or welfare, he would spend school days hiding out in a quarry. Sometimes he would steal $5 from his mother's purse. Eventually, the authorities brought him into court. (Whether it was police or child-protection workers is not clear, after all these years.) He was a handsome boy, blond, with strong cheekbones.
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Handcuffs

Puerto Rico police struggle to cope as crime rages after Hurricane Maria

David Ovally
Miami Herald
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:00 UTC
Puerto rico crime
© AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Puerto Rico Police Officer Heriberto Soto shouts commands to passenger and driver after high speed chase through San Juan on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 after Hurricane Maria struck the island.
Hurricane Maria ripped apart daily life in Puerto Rico but it hasn't brought a halt to the crime that has long plagued the poverty-stricken island.

In the hard-scrabble neighborhood of Rio Piedras, Jessica Rojas was at work this week making sandwiches at a Subway restaurant - a cash-only operation because of the limited power supply - when two young gunmen dressed in black burst through the door demanding money.

"Esto es un asalto," one yelled. "This is a robbery!"

Rojas alerted an off-duty cop working security in a back room. A gunfight erupted. Rojas cowered on the ground as one gunman was gravely wounded and the other escaped. Also wounded in the crossfire: a local prosecutor and his wife who happened to be dining inside

"Things here are hot," said Rojas, 42, a former Hollywood resident. "It's not easy living without water and electricity, and it's giving a lot of people [opportunity] to rob us. It's getting worse. We need more police."
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Smoking

New York governor to approve e-cigarette ban in bars, restaurants, workplaces

Glenn Bain
New York Daily News
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 05:00 UTC
E-cigarettes in NY bar
© Julia Xanthos/New York Daily News
Gov. Cuomo on Monday plans to sign into law new restrictions on electronic cigarettes that effectively ban their use in most restaurants, bars and workplaces, the Daily News has learned.

The measure, adopted by the Legislature in June, extends the provisions of New York's Clean Indoor Air Act to include e-cigarettes and has been a top priority of anti-smoking advocates.

"These products are marketed as a healthier alternative to cigarettes, but the reality is they also carry long-term risks to the health of users and those around them," Cuomo said.

"This measure closes another dangerous loophole in the law, creating a stronger, healthier New York for all."

Comment: Indeed. Nicotine can be highly beneficial for some people. See:

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Eye 1

Man stabs leading Russian journalist at radio station Echo of Moscow


RT
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 17:02 UTC
Tatyana Feldenhauer stabbing
© Oliver Carroll/The Independent
Police lead away suspect in stabbing of Tatyana Feldenhauer at the Echo of Moscow offices
A man armed with a knife attacked and injured a female journalist after forcing his way in the Echo of Moscow radio station in the Russian capital, its editor-in-chief reported. The woman was taken to hospital.

Tatiana Felgengauer was stabbed in the throat by the assailant, Aleksey Venediktov reported. The attacker was subdued by the station's security guards, he added. Felgengauer, 32, is the deputy editor-in-chief and host of one of the station's talk shows. She first appeared on-air in 2005 as an intern correspondent and has been working for Echo of Moscow ever since.

Venediktov later said Felgengauer's life is not in danger. Her injury required surgery, after which she was placed in an intensive care ward for recovery, he said.
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Blackbox

Catalonian independence & the disintegration of European order


RT
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 17:02 UTC
italy autonomy veneto referendum
© Manuel Silvestri / Reuters
A woman casts her vote for Veneto's autonomy referendum at a polling station in Venice, Italy, October 22, 2017
Catalonian independence would cause a domino effect, says Marco Bassani, professor of Politics, at the University of Milan. The current European order may be replaced by a confederation in 10-15 years with dozens of new countries appearing, he adds.

Two major regions in the north of Italy, Lombardy, and Veneto, overwhelmingly voted on Sunday for greater autonomy. According to the leaders of the areas, more than 90 percent of the electorate voted "yes."

Despite the fact the referendums were non-binding, the two regions may now request greater economic independence from Rome. Both Lombardy President Roberto Maroni and Luca Zaia are members of the Northern League and say that the north is subsidizing the southern regions. Veneto and Lombardy are two of Italy's economic powerhouses, accounting for about 30 percent of the country's GDP.

Comment: Further reading: Two of Italy's richest regions, Veneto and Lombardy, vote for greater autonomy

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People

Catalan spokesman: Officials won't follow Madrid's orders, but will of the people


RT
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 17:02 UTC
Catalan independence
© Enrique Calvo / Reuters
Catalan authorities will not follow orders from Madrid, but will only listen to the will of the Catalan people, Catalonia's Foreign Affairs spokesman told BBC Radio.

All institutions, including police, need to follow instructions from the democratically-elected Catalan government, the region's foreign affairs spokesman, Raul Romeva, told BBC radio.

According to the official, EU democracy cannot be trusted if it allows Madrid to impose direct rule on Catalonia.
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Target

Let the purge begin: First big Hollywood agent fired for sexually abusing child actors

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Mon, 23 Oct 2017 16:33 UTC
Tyler Grasham
As The Free Thought Project has predicted on numerous occasions, Harvey Weinstein's demise is allowing for the era of secrecy and silence involving pedophilia in Hollywood to finally be exposed - forcing change.

On Friday, youth talent agent Tyler Grasham was fired from APA talent agency following sexual abuse allegations from many of the actors he represented. According to the Daily Mail, the allegations first surfaced on social media and expanded to include many high-profile actors. Grasham is a veteran of the industry and has represented child actors for decades.

Former child star Blaise Godbe Lipman posted a "#MeToo" open letter on Instagram and Facebook accusing Grasham of abusing him and leveling allegations that the APA knew about it, yet chose to do nothing. Following Lipman's revelation, the allegation ran its own course, a route that has now led to Grasham's firing.

Lipman said that he was a minor when, while attempting to get him to sign with APA, the talent agent got him drunk and then sexually assaulted him:
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