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Fanning the flames: Pope Francis urges young people to 'keep shouting' over gun control

Teri Webster
The Blaze
Sun, 25 Mar 2018 18:20 UTC
Pope Francis gun control
© Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Pope Francis on Sunday opened Holy Week services leading up to Easter by urging young people to "keep shouting" and not let "older generations" silence them.

His comments came one day after hundreds of thousands of students and others across the nation marched in support of stricter gun control laws. The movement is being led by survivors from the mass killing in February that left 17 dead at a Florida high school.


Comment: Who are being used as tools to further a political agenda by a network of activist organizations, millionaire donors, Democratic politicians, and public relations firms:

Astro-turfing gun control: How did kids from Parkland 'magically' form a movement in just 2 weeks? They had lots of help


A key leader of the movement is Marjory Stoneman Douglas High student David Hogg. Hogg, a founder of the group Never Again MSD, has led and inspired the speeches and actions by other young people. Some of his comments have been riddled with profanity, and he has referred to adults as "old a** parents," "pathetic f***ers" and "sh***y" people.

Comment: Our Kids Are Not Alright: Millenials are skipping school to denounce a Constitution they know nothing about

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Pistol

Switzerland has a stunningly high rate of gun ownership - but no mass shootings

Hilary Brueck
Business INsider
Sat, 24 Mar 2018 16:36 UTC
swiss army honor guard
© Reuters/Thomas Hodel
Members of the Swiss federal army's honor guard in October 2012.
Switzerland hasn't had a mass shooting since 2001, when a man stormed the local parliament in Zug, killing 14 people and then himself.

The country has about 2 million privately owned guns in a nation of 8.3 million people. In 2016, the country had 47 attempted homicides with firearms. The country's overall murder rate is near zero.

The National Rifle Association often points to Switzerland to argue that more rules on gun ownership aren't necessary. In 2016, the NRA said on its blog that the European country had one of the lowest murder rates in the world while still having millions of privately owned guns and a few hunting weapons that don't even require a permit.

But the Swiss have some specific rules and regulations for gun use.
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Bullseye

The disappearing male

Eileen F. Toplansky
American Thinker
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 17:11 UTC
Trials and errors
© trialsanderrors via Flickr
There is a "gender crisis" in America today, and it has nothing to do with the alleged 63 varieties of genders espoused by leftists. Nor does it have to do with women's marches. Quite simply it deals with the "expendable male," where, "in the space of just a few decades[,] American women have managed to demote men from respected providers and protectors to being unnecessary, irrelevant, and expendable " (Venker & Schlafly, The Flipside of Feminism).

It is apparent by attitudes from well known women - e.g., Pamela Paul, who authored Are Fathers Necessary and wrote, "The bad news for Dad is that despite common perception, there's nothing objectively essential about his contribution." Then there is actress Jennifer Aniston, who once stated, "Women are realizing they don't have to settle with a man just to have a child."
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Handcuffs

Investigation Reveals Kemerovo Shopping Mall Blaze Result of Gross Negligence - Putin: 'Those Responsible Will Face Justice'

Harrison Koehli
Sott.net
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 14:09 UTC
Kemerovo shopping mall
© Alexandr Kryazhev / Sputnik
While the West freaks out about an imaginary Russia hellbent on destroying their civilization and killing their spies, Russia has her own problems to deal with. On Sunday a major fire broke out in a shopping mall in Kemerovo, Siberia. An estimated 64 people died in the blaze, including up to 40 children. Dozens were injured or suffered from smoke inhalation. The town is in mourning, residents are protesting the corruption that enabled the tragedy to occur, and Putin has visited the town to express his condolences and make sure justice is served.

A preliminary investigation has so far determined that the mall was riddled with "flagrant violations" in code and security:
"It turned out that the fire exits were blocked," spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. She added that the investigators already "received evidence of flagrant violations which led to such grave consequences" both during the commissioning of the building and while it was in use.

Authorities are also looking into a security guard, hired by a private company, who allegedly turned off the fire alarm system when the blaze started. The motive behind the move is unknown but his actions qualify for violation of fire safety requirements and the guard may face up to 7 years in prison, experts estimate.

The guard may become the fifth detainee in connection with the tragedy. Four suspects, namely one executive of the company, which owns the building, a tenant of the mall section, where the fire is believed to have started, and the director and an employee of the company which operated the fire alarm have been questioned already.
Hundreds are rallying for regional authorities to take responsibility and resign.
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Snowflake

Hofstra University students want statue of 'white supremacist' Thomas Jefferson taken down

Mitchell Gunter
Campus Reform
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 16:54 UTC
jefferson protest
A statue of Thomas Jefferson has raised the ire of student activists at Hofstra University, who are demanding that administrators remove his visage from campus.

JaLoni Amor, a Hofstra student and Black Lives Matter activist, released a petition calling for the statue's removal on March 17, proclaiming that Jefferson has been embraced as an "icon" by "white supremacist and neo-nazi organizations" like the Ku Klux Klan.

"The Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center is one of the central points for on-campus life and student activities," the petition reads. "It is unfortunate then that a bronze sculpture of a 71-year-old Thomas Jefferson, gifted to the university by Hofstra Trustee David Mack, is right in front of the Student Center."

"Jefferson has been embraced as an icon by white supremacist and neo-nazi organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan," the petition continues, calling attention to Jefferson's past as a slave owner who committed rape.
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Dominoes

Cambridge Analytica's Christopher Wylie testifies to UK Parliament that company helped fix Brexit vote


RT
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 16:36 UTC
Christopher Wylie
© Toby Melville / Reuters
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie
A whistleblower who blew the lid off Cambridge Analytica's (CA) links to Facebook, and the sharing of millions of people's data, has opened up about the company, appearing in front of British MPs at the DCMS committee.

Accusations of fake offices, suspicious deaths, and collusion have emerged in the explosive questioning of the whistleblower, Christopher Wylie. Former CA director Wylie spent a year working with the British press over how the company obtained people's personal information from Facebook.

Speaking to MPs in Parliament, Wylie faced questions on the inner workings of the company and their connections to the Brexit campaign group Vote Leave. Wylie says BeLeave campaigners, and fellow whistle blowers, Shahmir Sanni and Darren Grimes were manipulated and told what to do by the Vote Leave lawyers. Under UK law BeLeave and Vote Leave should not have been combining campaigns or sharing finances. Wylie accused Vote Leave, BeLeave, the DUP and Veterans for Britain of working together in the EU referendum campaign.
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Document

Pope accepts resignation of Irish Bishop McAreavey criticized for handling of abuse report

Hannah Brockhaus
Catholic News Agency
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 16:47 UTC
Pope hat
© Antonio Gravante via Shutterstock
On Monday, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore, Ireland, who had asked to step down earlier this month following media claims that he mishandled an abuse report in the early '90s.

Pope Francis accepted McAreavey's request to resign as bishop March 26 and appointed an apostolic administrator, retired Bishop Philip Boyce of Raphoe, 78, until the appointment of a successor.
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Attention

British Paralympian slams 'EasyJet' airline after being told 'to prove she has cerebral palsy'


RT
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 16:25 UTC
Sophia Warner
© AI Project / Reuters
Sophia Warner
Former track and field Paralympian Sophia Warner says she was mistreated by staff of the British low-cost carrier airline EasyJet, who asked her to prove that she has cerebral palsy.

The 43-year-old participant of the 2012 Summer Paralympics took to social media on Tuesday, to share her emotions after her latest trip with EasyJet.

"I've not complained on twitter before. The order to publicly prove my disability incident by @easyJet yesterday was beyond devastating," she tweeted.

She then gave more details, when replying to a comment from one of her followers, who, according to his words also had a traumatic experience with the EasyJet company.
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Attention

Thousands with disabilities losing right to vote during guardianship proceedings

Matt Vasilogambros
Pew Charitable Trust / Stateline
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Greg Demer, voting rights lost autism
© Linda Demer
When he turned 18, Greg Demer lost his right to vote because of his autism, joining thousands of other people with mental disabilities who were stripped of the right during guardianship proceedings. More than a decade later, a different judge returned to him the right to vote.
Like many people with autism, Greg Demer is bright but has difficulty communicating. He has a passion for the history of military aircraft, but he can't quite keep up a conversation with new people. When he meets someone, he'll quote from movies or ask them about their favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

His mother, Linda Demer, worried that he wouldn't be able to make complicated decisions about his finances and health care once he turned 18. So, in 2005, a judge in Los Angeles, where they live, granted her conservatorship over Greg.

"I wanted to protect him," she said of her son, who is now 31.

But in the conservatorship process, the judge also stripped away Greg's right to vote. He was not only unfit to make decisions about his health care and finances, the judge ruled, but he also was unfit to participate in the democratic process.

In being declared "mentally incapacitated," he joined tens of thousands of Americans with disabilities who every year lose their right to vote during guardianship proceedings, according to the California-based Spectrum Institute, an advocacy group for people with disabilities.
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Arrow Down

Thai drag queens want more prominent role in society

Patpicha Tanakasempipat
Reuters
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 16:34 UTC
Thai drag
© REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
"Drag Race Thailand" contestants Thanisorn Hengsoontorn 'Annee Maywong' (L) and Supattarapon Kasikam 'Dearis Doll' pose at a studio in Bangkok, Thailand March 23, 2018. Picture taken March 23, 2018.
Before his shows at a jazz club in Bangkok, Pan Pan Narkprasert, 29, slathers layers of makeup on his face, emerging after two hours transformed into Pangina Heals, a larger-than-life, purple-lipped lady with a mass of blonde hair.

A professional drag queen, Pan Pan performs a weekly show at the 1930s Shanghai-inspired venue in this capital's Silom nightlife area.

"This is not the White House. We're just having fun here," Pangina tells the cheering audience.

"We make fun of everybody. If you feel offended, you know where the door is."

Pan Pan is also co-host of "Drag Race Thailand", the first international edition of the U.S. reality television show "RuPaul's Drag Race", which pits drag queens against each other in various weekly challenges and runway performances to find "America's next drag superstar".

Comment: Draq queens are a caricature. In years past they would present provocative acts as a means of entertaining a subculture. Today, the LGBT movement has utilized such measures as a means of demanding acceptance by the larger society. It shouldn't be difficult to understand, but demanding acceptance of provocation is a pretty futile battle.

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