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Alt-media honors deceased journalist Robert Parry with outpouring of support

Nat Parry
Consortium News
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:53 UTC
Robert Parry
© Caitlin Johnstone
A drawing of Robert Parry by Caitlin Johnstone posted at Medium.com
In appreciation for the flood of condolences and tributes to Consortiumnews.com founder Robert Parry, we publish a sampling here.

Robert Parry's family has been deeply touched by the flood of messages mourning his loss. As a father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, brother, husband, and yes, as a journalist, Bob touched so many lives and we will be processing and coming to terms with his loss for a long time to come.

In appreciation for the outpouring of support we have received, we're collecting here some of the many articles, radio segments and YouTube videos that have appeared in recent days. To read the hundreds of reader comments left following his passing, please visit my article, "Robert Parry's Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews."

My apologies to those who have penned tributes that haven't made it into this compilation.
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Red Flag

Hunter knocked unconscious after dead goose falls from sky and hits him


CBS Baltimore
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 20:46 UTC
hunter goose
© iStock
An Eastern Shore waterfowl hunter was flown to Shock Trauma Thursday, according to the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

Investigators say 51-year-old Robert Meilhammer was hunting with others in Easton near the Miles River shortly before 5 p.m. when a dead goose fell from the sky, knocked unconscious and caused him head and facial injuries.

Maryland Natural Resources Police, Talbot County Sheriff's Office deputies and local EMS responded to the scene.

Out of an abundance of caution, it was decided to drive the victim by ambulance to Easton Airport, where he was airlifted to Shock Trauma for treatment.

He has been listed in stable condition, according to officials.

Comment: What could have caused the goose to be killed in apparent mid-flight? One possibility is an exploding bolide could cause the goose to be killed.

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Snowflake

Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter


PhysOrg
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 20:29 UTC
Punxsutawney Phil

Punxsutawney Phil being held by his handler after the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day, considered a prediction of six more weeks of winter.
Bundle up America, the world's furriest weather forecaster says six more weeks of winter are in store.

In an annual February 2 tradition, a groundhog named "Punxsutawney Phil" emerged from winter hibernation in his burrow to test the weather.

According to his handlers at the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, established in 1887, the rodent saw his shadow on Friday and scurried back inside, auguring six more weeks of winter.

No shadow and it would have been an early spring.
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Recycle

PC culture gone mad: Formula 1 'grid girls' hit back against sacking - Dumped for being 'at odds with societal norms'


RT
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 16:24 UTC
formula one grid girls
© Zoltan Okolicsanyi / Global Look Press
Formula 1 has decided to end its tradition of using 'grid girls', saying it was at odds with modern "societal norms." However, some of the women are now protesting on social media, saying their role was grossly misrepresented.

F1 announced the demise of the tradition in a short statement on Wednesday. "While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula 1 Grands Prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern day societal norms. We don't believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world," said Sean Bratches, managing director of commercial operations.

The possibility of an F1 change of policy was announced in December. The move came just days after a similar decision was taken by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) to end its practice of using 'walk-on girls'.

Comment: Another former grid girl, Giorgia Davies, has hit back against the feminist outcry over grid girls and pointed out the real truth why so-called feminists went on the offensive to eliminate her well-paying job. It's worth reposting in full as it reveals a lot of what is so wrong with the feminist ideology at this point in time:
I am proud of my job.. I am respected.. I am paid well.. and I have managed to gain a professional reputation that has enabled me to make a career out of something I love.. and since falling pregnant with my first child the thought of not having such a flexible income to go back to after my maternity leave worries me.

"Feminists".. You're not defending women.. you're actually defending women who are threatened by other women who are in a career that you know absolutely nothing about other than what you see on the exterior.. and a career that we have as a woman by rights chosen to uptake. You're eradicating a career that has taken years to get to the top of believe it or not and leaving women in a position of financial loss.

That is not the true definition of what feminism stands for surely?

If I am happy to put a classy dress on, do my hair and make up, feel confident in myself and work with a team that treat me as a part of the family... why is that such a problem to you all?

You may work in an office.. you wake up and put a dress on for work because it makes you feel good about yourself also correct? And choose to go to work and enjoy your job?

Why is it any different? I'm educated.. I have a degree.. I have represented 2 counties I have lived in successfully and promoted charities and fundraising in my own time all of which a person shouldn't need to justify.. but because I stand and smile for a camera I don't deserve to have my job any more and I shouldn't be a role model to young women? We promote a healthy lifestyle we look after our bodies? Is that something to be ashamed of. Should we wear a scuba suit daily so we don't offend you because of your insecurities?

Why do you deserve to have your job still? That is your industry this is mine.. respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Oh and let's not forget the reason we are here right now.... because of some actions at an event treating women with disrespect. So why are we the ones being persecuted and penalised? Maybe educate men AND women the level of respect that HUMANS should receive and the fact that just because someone is deemed attractive and wearing a dress that doesn't mean they deserve to be treated any differently to another.

What will come next? Will you be telling rape victims it's their fault for the actions they have endured for wearing a provocative dress also.. "they brought it on themselves if you didn't wear that dress and that make up then they wouldn't have touched you." Although they are two extremely different levels.. the analogy is relevant because we would never tell someone in such an awful circumstance it was their fault because of the way they looked at the time of the incident.

So why should the incident at the presidents club be any different. They didn't ask to be touched and groped and have derogatory comments thrown at them because they chose to go to work and wear a tight dress.. the problem is not the women.. it's the individuals who feel it's acceptable to treat women in a certain manner in the first place based upon their exterior.


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Target

WADA hasn't had a good week - Overturned decision on banning Russians and found in violation of 'presumption of innocence'


RT
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 20:10 UTC
Dick Pound
© Michael Dalder / Reuters
WADA former president, Dick Pound
WADA has seen a series of setbacks lately. Following a fine for violating the presumption of innocence, the CAS cleared 28 Russian athletes of the lifetime bans imposed by the anti-doping agency.

On January 31, the High Court of Paris ruled that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) violated the presumption of innocence of Habib Cisse, former legal adviser to the ex-head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Lamine Diack, who was put under investigation over corruption allegations, as France 24 reported citing AFP.

On January 14, 2016, Richard Pound, who led a WADA-commissioned investigation into alleged money laundering and doping cover-ups in the IAAF, published his report describing Cisse as a "co-conspirator in the extortion of athletes to cover up, delay or eliminate disciplinary sanctions of Russian athletes."

Comment: When an organization becomes enmeshed within Western geopolitical intrigue and a tool of the state, it's practically inevitable that it will turn corrupt and incompetent, just as we have seen with WADA.

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Cult

Fmr Olympic gymnast and Larry Nassar abuse victim Rachael Denhollander: The church is one of the worst places to go for help

Brad Reed
Raw Story
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 19:54 UTC
Rachael Denhollander Larry Nassar

Rachael Denhollander, left, and Larry Nassar, right
Former Olympic gymnast Rachael Denhollander gave a riveting victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing of Larry Nassar, the disgraced former physician who has pleaded guilty to multiple accounts of sexually abusing underage girls.

During her statement, Denhollander said that one consequence of being abused by Nassar - and her subsequent advocacy of other sexual abuse victims - was that she "lost her church." In a new an interview with Christianity Today, she elaborates about what she meant by that remark.

In particular, Denhollander, who considers herself to be a conservative evangelical Christian, says that evangelical churches have been failing in their duties to stand up for victims of abuse.

"Church is one of the least safe places to acknowledge abuse because the way it is counseled is, more often than not, damaging to the victim," she says. "There is an abhorrent lack of knowledge for the damage and devastation that sexual assault brings. It is with deep regret that I say the church is one of the worst places to go for help."
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Arrow Down

Millions of followers disappear from prominent Twitter users amid inquiry into fake accounts

Nicholas Confessore, Gabriel J.X. Dance and Rich Harris
New York Times
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 19:29 UTC
twitter
© Getty Images
More than a million followers have disappeared from the accounts of dozens of prominent Twitter users in recent days as the company faces growing criticism over the proliferation of fake accounts and scrutiny from federal and state inquiries into the shadowy firms that sell fake followers.

The people losing followers include an array of entertainers, entrepreneurs, athletes and media figures, many of whom bought Twitter followers or artificial engagement from a company called Devumi. Its business practices were detailed in a New York Times article on Saturday describing a vast trade in fake followers and fraudulent engagement on Twitter and other social media sites, often using personal information taken from real users. Twitter said on Saturday that it would take action against Devumi's practices. A Twitter spokeswoman on Tuesday declined to comment about whether the company was purging fake accounts.

The singer Clay Aiken, the actor John Leguizamo and the reality TV star Lisa Rinna have each lost a substantial number of followers, according to a review of their accounts. So has Martha Lane Fox, a British businesswoman and Twitter board member. Other well-known users have taken to Twitter in recent days to complain of lost followers, suggesting that a broad swath of people may be affected, not just Devumi customers.

Comment: An interesting expose into the shady underworld of twitter bots, in this case, homegrown ones. Although in the original NYT investigation it states:
Former employees said the company's security team for many years was more focused on abuse by real users, including racist and sexist content and orchestrated harassment campaigns. Only recently, they said, after revelations that Russia-aligned hackers had deployed networks of Twitter bots to spread divisive content and junk news, has Twitter turned more attention to weeding out fake accounts.
They state it as fact but so far, no evidence has yet to surface that proves without doubt the "Russian bots" narrative. If the Times were able to reveal so much about Devumi's tactics through their investigation, then surely they'd be able find some "proof" of Russian Twitter bots? Or perhaps they can't because there isn't any.

Previously:

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Christmas Tree

Buy a bottle of juice, get a weed 'gift': Retail marijuana stores exploiting loophole to sell marijuana

Philip Marcelo
AP
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 19:20 UTC
marijuana
© AP Photo/Steven Senne
That ordinary bottle of juice delivered to your doorstep will set you back at least $55. But the bag of marijuana that comes with it? On the house.

Retail marijuana stores are months away from opening in Massachusetts, but some companies have been quietly operating for more than a year, selling and delivering marijuana via a legal loophole that exists in nearly every state that has legalized recreational marijuana use.

Companies like HighSpeed, which describes itself as a juice delivery service, are exploiting so-called "gifting" provisions that allow for the exchange of small amounts of the drug, so long as it's given away - "gifted" - from one adult to another.

The legal language makes it permissible to pass a joint at a party or drop a bud in your brother's Christmas stocking, but some entrepreneurs see it as an opportunity to get ahead of the regulated market, planting an early stake in what could become a crowded and lucrative industry.
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Black Cat

Tiger defies instincts to 'seek out human help' in Russian village after suffering painful gum problems

Will Stewart
Daily Mail
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 18:59 UTC
An endangered tigress defied all its normal instincts and walked out of the wild into a village to seek human help over a severe teeth and gum problem

An endangered tigress defied all its normal instincts and walked out of the wild into a village to seek human help over a severe teeth and gum problem
An endangered tigress defied all its normal instincts and walked out of the wild into a village to seek human help over a severe teeth and gum problem.

The rare predator - one of only 500 or so Siberian tigers living in their snowy natural habitat in eastern Russia - found a remote house and quietly lay down on the porch.

The big cats - the largest in the world - normally shun all human contact, but it was clear the exhausted and emaciated animal could no longer eat and needed urgent dental assistance.

Galina Tsimano, who lives in far-flung Solontsovy - 3,915 miles east of Moscow - explained how her neighbour on the outskirts of the village found the unexpected big cat on his doormat in the early morning.
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Attention

Body parts of missing Mexican woman found in her ex-husband's cooking pots

Lucia I. Suarez Sang
Fox News
Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:10 UTC
Magdalena Aguilar Romero

The dismembered remains of Magdalena Aguilar Romero, 25, were discovered at her ex-husband's home.
The dismembered remains of a woman who vanished from a town in southern Mexico were discovered inside pots atop a stove in her ex-husband's home.

Magdalena Aguilar Romero, 25, was last seen leaving her home in the city of Taxco the morning of Jan. 13, after saying she was going to pick up her children from her ex-husband's home, police said.

State security spokesman Roberto Alvarez said the woman's remains were found Monday in the home of her ex-husband, who local media identified as Cesar Gomez Arciniega.

"It is presumed that she was cooked," he said.

Police said Romero's legs and arms were found inside a pot on the stove, while her already cooked pelvis was found in a bag near the stove, El Milenio reported. In a nearby refrigerator, the rest of the body was found.
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