The unimportant news thread

[André]

Welcome, Sam !

[Karl Henning]

Wonderful!  God give you joy!

[Turner]

It's Putin by a whisker!

Official turnout versus that counted by Reuters, at 12 election stations:


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-election-carousel-insight/identical-twins-and-carousels-russias-fairground-election-idUSKBN1GX1TC

[zamyrabyrd]

Thanks you!
This is my first child. I'm a bit of an old dad. I still can't get over the excitement. My wife and Sam came home today.

Well, kids keep us young, if not up at night.
There is a saying about children, though: "One plus one is more than two".

[milk]

Well, kids keep us young, if not up at night.
There is a saying about children, though: "One plus one is more than two".

[Karl Henning]

In other words: Medical bankruptcy probably wasn't nearly as big a problem as people thought when we were passing our giant new health-care program. And to the extent that it was a problem, Obamacare probably didn't do much to fix it.

("The Truth About Medical Bankruptcies")

[Todd]

FTC Confirms It's Investigating Facebook For Possible Privacy Violations

I downloaded the data Facebook has on me.  Since I use it close to an hour a year - since I joined in 2011, I've liked two things and sent one message - the haul was rather small, though the list of advertisers who have my data was unsurprisingly large.  I recognize a couple of the companies.

[Karl Henning]

And today, on Adventures in the Weird Trade:

Feds say self-help guru coerced followers into sex, had them branded with a cauterizing pen

[...] The self-help organization promises to introduce "a new ethical understanding" in adherents with a mix of New Age jargon and Ayn Randian self-determination. But according to federal authorities, Raniere used his position of power to lock women into a bizarre master-slave relationship.

[kishnevi]

https://forward.com/fast-forward/397634/russian-deadly-mall-fire-sparks-blood-libels-against-the-jews/

[Turner]

https://forward.com/fast-forward/397634/russian-deadly-mall-fire-sparks-blood-libels-against-the-jews/

"Vultures' And 'Self-Hype': Russian Officials See Ulterior Motives In Public Outrage Over Deadly Fire"
https://www.rferl.org/a/siberia-kermerovo-tuleyev-fire-governor-public-outrage/29128492.html

"Pushkinskaya sq in central Moscow filled with people marching in solidarity with Kemerovo following Sunday's tragic fire"
https://twitter.com/NoahSneider/status/978665607397863425

[Karl Henning]

https://forward.com/fast-forward/397634/russian-deadly-mall-fire-sparks-blood-libels-against-the-jews/

Well, since bigotry is being so successfully fostered here in the United States, why should Moscow hold back?

[Turner]

https://forward.com/fast-forward/397634/russian-deadly-mall-fire-sparks-blood-libels-against-the-jews/

An interesting, and perhaps depressingly surprising, survey of anti-semitism in the countries of the former USSR/Eastern Block etc., posted today:

https://twitter.com/pewglobal/status/979059294136971264

[kishnevi]

An interesting, and perhaps depressingly surprising, survey of anti-semitism in the countries of the former USSR/Eastern Block etc., posted today:

https://twitter.com/pewglobal/status/979059294136971264

22% in Romania? Florestan , what's going on there!

Well, since bigotry is being so successfully fostered here in the United States, why should Moscow hold back?

Reverting back. The last trial for the classic blood libel charge was 105 years ago, in Russia. And it was after all the Tsarist police who came up with Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

[André]

An interesting, and perhaps depressingly surprising, survey of anti-semitism in the countries of the former USSR/Eastern Block etc., posted today:

https://twitter.com/pewglobal/status/979059294136971264

Ukraine stands out in a positive way. It wasn't always like that...

[Turner]

Ukraine stands out in a positive way. It wasn't always like that...

yes, and it´s quite remarkable, the difference to many of the other countries.

[Baron Scarpia]

Gibson, the iconic American Guitar manufacturer, is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/business/gibson-guitars-bankruptcy.html?action=click&module=Editors%20Picks&pgtype=Homepage

Richly deserved, IMO.

[Todd]

London murder rate overtakes New York's

[Todd]

For American lefties, the stuff that dreams are made of:

Lula begins prison sentence in Brazil after giving himself up to police

[Todd]

Orban Wins Sweeping Majority, and Control of Hungary's Constitution

[kishnevi]

For American lefties, the stuff that dreams are made of:

Lula begins prison sentence in Brazil after giving himself up to police

To be fair, the Right has similar fantasies regarding Hillary...