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12th Century church gutted by fire in Norfolk, UK

Chris Caulfield
Metro
Wed, 04 Sep 2019 10:47 UTC
Norfolk church
© Geoff Robinson Photography
The fire gutted the medieval Norfolk church
The roof of 12th Century St Mary the Virgin Church in Wimbotsham, near Downham Market, collapsed and the majority of the building has been damaged, according to the fire service.

The huge blaze was reported at 6.07am and when firefighters from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service arrived they found the roof in flames.

Nine fire crews, including 50 firefighters, helped managed to save some of the historical documents kept in the church, which dates from 1175 and had some late 13th century work.

Comment: See also:

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Cow Skull

Give up, get used to it, Brexiteers: There will be no leaving the EU

Iain Davis
The Disillusioned Blogger
Wed, 04 Sep 2019 18:27 UTC
brexit flags EU UK
© Luis Manuel Tapia Bolivar/Dreamstime
With last night's Parliamentary defeat of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's alleged plans to honour the referendum result, to leave the EU on October 31st with or without a deal, it seems likely that UK citizens can practically wave goodbye to ever leaving the EU in any sort of meaningful way. Unless the UK leaves with No Deal, it won't leave at all. However, a general election could yet save the day.

The only deal the EU will consider is the one they told Remainer Prime Minister Theresa May to foist upon the nation. A deal so bad even fervent Remainers like Gina Miller think it little more than total capitulation to the demands of the EU. It is Brexit In Name Only (BRINO.) Yet some version of this horrific Remain 'deal' now seems the most likely outcome, unless the country goes to the polls.

Johnson's announced prorogation of Parliament appeared to place a No Deal Brexit on the cards. That was until Parliament used Standing Order 24 to call an emergency debate. Remainer MP's used it to propose legislation to delay Brexit.
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Dominoes

2020-2025: Change may be 'all' or 'nothing'!

Charles Hugh Smith
oftwominds.com
Wed, 04 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
dominoes
© Liquid Blog
Any domino-like expanding crisis will unfold in a status quo lacking any coherent response.

Longtime readers know I've often referenced The Fourth Turning, the book that makes the case for an 80-year cycle of existential crisis in U.S. history. The first crisis was the constitutional process (1781) following the end of the Revolutionary War, whether the states could agree on a federal structure; the 2nd crisis was the Civil War (1861) and the 3rd crisis was global war-- World War II (1941). According to this proposition, we're fast approaching an existential crisis that could upend the status quo in a fundamental fashion.

While there is a great deal of historical evidence for cycles, predicting a major transition based on previous cycles is obviously a guess rather than a certainty. So will everything change in 2020-25, or will the present simply extend another five years?

We have to start by defining what qualifies as fundamental change. In my view, if the current distribution of income, power and ownership of capital remains unchanged, nothing of import has changed. There might be dramas playing out in the political theater, but if the asymmetrical distribution of income, power and wealth doesn't change, then the dramas are merely another form of distraction/entertainment.

Comment: See also: The Three Ds of Doom: Debt, Default, Depression

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Star of David

Hebron: Netanyahu's visit incites Palestinian anger, calls for annexation from Israeli ministers

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Wed, 04 Sep 2019 00:00 UTC
NetanyahuHebron
© AP
Israeli PM Netanyahu speaks in occupied Hebron, West Bank
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unprecedented visit to the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday, sparking angry reactions from Palestinian leaders and citizens, who called his visit a "dangerous escalation."

Marking the first time a sitting Israeli Prime Minister gave an address in the flashpoint city, Netanyahu participated in a ceremony commemorating a 1929 riot in Hebron that resulted in the death of 67 Jews.

During his speech, the PM referred to Palestinians as "blood-thirsty terrorists" who "carried out this horrible massacre 90 years ago," reinforcing the Israeli narrative that the deadly riots were motivated by Palestinian hatred of Jews.

"They were certain that with that they were uprooting us from this place for good. They were wrong," Netanyahu said, adding "we returned to Hebron" and praising settlement expansion in the city, particularly the notoriously violent settlement of Kiryat Arba.

The ceremony took place in the plaza in front of the Ibrahimi Mosque, or Tomb of the Patriarchs, a holy place for both Muslims and Jews, and the site of a 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinian worshipers by an American-Israeli settler.
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Sherlock

Ukraine's Nazis: Who are they, why are they so influential — and why have media ignored them?


RT
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:59 UTC
ukraine nazis
A recent festival in Kiev proudly displayed Nazi symbols and even advertised 'White Pride' - yet received almost no attention from Western media, who still steadfastly pretend there are no Nazis in Ukraine, neo- or otherwise.

Officially, the 'Young Flame' festival celebrated Ukrainian "traditions" such as martial arts, shooting and horseback riding. The event's website (now deleted), indicated something far more sinister than another get together popularizing a healthy lifestyle.

It features one promotional video of men marching with torches that would "kindle the flames of righteous anger that will burn until dawn."
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Cult

'It's an honor when Americans attack me,' Pope Francis jokes


RT
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:55 UTC
pope francis
© Reuters / New York Times / Eric Thayer
The Pope didn't seem too put out when faced with a long list of accusations against him from American Catholics as he was flying from Rome to Mozambique. He said he was honored to be attacked by them.

The book 'How America Wanted to Change the Pope' explores the supposed efforts of the conservative Catholic opposition in the US to launch a "coup d'état" against Francis. A copy was given to the pontiff by the author Nicolas Seneze, a journalist from France's Catholic newspaper La Croix, who was on board the papal plane Wednesday.

"For me it is an honor that Americans attack me," the pope quipped as he received the book, which he had apparently heard about and wanted to procure.He joked that the book about his critics "will be a bombshell."

But Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni attempted to deflate tensions, clarifying that the comments were made informally. He said Francis "always considers it an honor to be criticized,"especially when it comes from "authoritative voices" or, as in this case, "an important nation."

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis has gained a reputation as a more 'liberal' pope, compared to his predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. This led to criticism from some church officials and right-wing thinkers. Seneze's book describes, among other things, how a former papal envoy to the US, Archbishop Carlo Vigano, had written a highly-publicized letter last year, calling for Francis to resign for allegedly mishandling the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandals.
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NPC

YouTube vegans earned millions. But when they quit all hell broke loose. Should we pity them?

Igor Ogorodnev
RT
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:42 UTC
Yovana Mendoza

Yovana Mendoza AKA Rawvana, who officially quit veganism, after being caught eating fish
Former vegan stars on social media complain they have been harassed for daring to eat eggs and meat again. Perhaps they should have thought ahead when they were "influencing" millions into their restrictive and unbalanced diets.

You promised weight loss, acne-free skin, firmer buttock tone, improved moods, benefits for the environment, and the moral glow of walking the superior path. In fact each one of you proselytized not better diets but entire life overhauls.

You sold ads on your videos, diet books, retreats and T-shirts.

You took people on a spiritual journey, persuaded them to spend hours in the kitchen hollowing out avocados and soaking lentils, and hours on the internet buying the best organic make-up with your personalized discount codes.

And then you quit. What did you think was going to happen?
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Laptop

Facebook launches online dating service for the US


Yahoo! News
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 18:26 UTC
Mark Zuckerberg
© AFP/Josh Edelson
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled plans in 2018 for the social network's dating service, which is now available in the United States.
Facebook rolled out its online dating service for the United States on Thursday, a move taking on rivals such as smartphone app Tinder.

The free "Facebook Dating" site which was announced last year and already available in other countries will allow users to link their Facebook and Instagram post to a separate dating profile.

It will seek to facilitate connections among the more than two billion users of the social network worldwide.

"Facebook Dating allows you to match with friends of friends and/or people not in your friend circle," said a blog post from Nathan Sharp, head of the project.

One of the features, "secret crush" which allows people to connect if they both secretly express interest in each other.

Comment: See also:

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Megaphone

Libertarian students sue public college for making them get permission to share views

Connor Ellington
The College Fix
Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:19 UTC
permission required
Asking students to write on a beach ball and talk about marijuana got Mike Brown in trouble with his public college.

Requiring students to get advance permission before sharing their opinions got Jones County Junior College in trouble with a civil liberties group.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Mississippi college on behalf of Brown and his Young Americans for Liberty chapter.

They claim that student handbook policies constitute a prior restraint on student speech and fail to provide constitutionally required "narrow, objective, and definite standards," as articulated by the Supreme Court.
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Alarm Clock

Paul Gosar: Go into debt to get a STEM degree, then watch foreigners take your job

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
Breitbart
Mon, 02 Sep 2019 16:24 UTC
college graduates graduation
© Associated Press/Butch Dill
For years it has been federal policy to encourage students to focus on science, technology, engineering and math (referred to as STEM). There are no fewer than 12 federal grant programs related to this, covering everything from minority science scholarships to magnet school assistance. There is even a STEM Education Advisory Panel.

However, graduates currently outnumber jobs in all STEM fields except for computer science, which is about equal. As a New York Times graph noted in 2017, "So many degrees, so little demand."

These degrees cost money. The U.S. has over 44 million people who owe an average of $29,000 in student loans, exceeding $1.5 trillion in combined student loan debt.

Comment: It's all about the bottom line. Foreign hires will work for less, and as pointed out by Rep. Gosar, the companies are off the hook for a myriad of taxes.

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