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Showing posts from October, 2018

Dark week for America stirs emotions locally

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Source: https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/featured/dark-week-for-america-stirs-emotions-locally/

I used to be a 911 dispatcher. I had to respond to racist calls every day.

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Several stories showing racial profiling of black Americans by police and white Americans continue to go viral — in one video, a white woman calls the cops on a black man babysitting two white children in Georgia. In another, a white student calls 911 when she sees a black classmate sleeping in a dormitory common room . In this essay, a former police dispatcher remembers the racist calls she used to take every day and law enforcement’s rules that forced her to respond to every caller, regardless of the incident. It was the end of an 18-hour shift. My butt hurt from sitting in one place with only a couple of five-minute bathroom breaks. My brain hurt from staying awake that long, and my stomach ached from all the coffee I’d drunk to keep myself alert. But the phones rarely stopped. “911, what’s the address of your emergency?” I said into the headset. The man gave me his address and then said, “There’s a woman pushing a shopping cart in front of my house.” This one stumped me. I work

Ivory ban: Law flouting "rampant" as government mulls legality

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When Melbourne wildlife campaigner Donalea Patman walked into an antique store on Chapel Street and saw cabinets full of ivory trinkets for sale she was shocked. “I was thinking that can’t possibly be legal, given everything that is trying to be done to protect elephants,” Ms Patman told nine.com.au. But Ms Patman soon discovered she was wrong. Ivory displayed for sale at a Gold Coast antiques store. Photo: For the Love of Wildlife. (Supplied) Items made of elephant ivory are regularly, and legally, sold in Australia. Environment minister Melissa Price is considering whether Australia should ban ivory and rhinoceros horn trade - as the UK, China and the US have already done. Under current regulations, ivory and horn items made before 1975 can be sold freely in Australia, with no legal requirement to prove their age or provenance. The items can also be imported or exported, with evidence of provenance, but that evidence can be as limited as a statutory declaration from the owner. Donale

Horror Daily Double: Tales of Halloween, Ernest Scared Stupid

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Rotten Tomatoes is celebrating Halloween with 31 days of horror double feature recommendations. Each day of the week had its own theme, with today’s being Weird Wednesday! And if you want see what you missed, check out  the Daily Double schedule . (Photo by Epic Pictures Group/Buena Vista Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.) On Weird Wednesdays we’ll walk with the movies that go off the beaten path…as though machete-wielding hockey mask killer zombies were ‘normal’ anyways. For this last Daily Double, a light-hearted finale in the spirit of Halloween. Eleven quickfire short films from 10 different directors, all set within the same suburban town on their most chaotic Halloween night ever. By the end of their shift, the cops and paramedics will have seen babysitter guts ripped inside out, killer organic pumpkins, devils and demons in disguise, and a Jason Voorhees-like who gets the script flipped on him and ends up being the final girl on the run. As the thermodynamic laws tha

What would you do if a superhuman serial killer was after you?

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Earlier this month, there was an incredibly stupid story in the news cycle, invented and promoted by Fox News : “Jamie Lee Curtis wields firearms in new ‘Halloween’ movie despite advocating for gun control.” In response, Curtis gave an interview to USA Today in which she espoused her support for the Second Amendment and “common-sense gun safety and gun laws,” because I guess you have to play this game when dealing with these kind of smooth-brained provocateurs instead of simply saying “Jesus, you are too stupid for words.” Any faction in the culture wars is prone to pre-judging a piece of art before it’s released, but Fox News’ suggestion was particularly dumb: Curtis is an actress portraying a fictional character, and this fictional character happens to need a lot of guns in order to stave off the supernatural-ish serial killer who’s haunted her for 40 years. But Halloween itself is also fairly pro-gun, by the logic of those “common-sense gun safety” laws that Curtis supports, and

Businesses miss grants due to "stupid complexity"

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Source: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/businesses-miss-grants-due-to-stupid-complexity/news-story/637c5a40e504f55b0ef0ee6144c81ec7

Why Are Men Still Voting Republican?

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In the month or so that"s led up to the midterm elections , here"s a snapshot of just a few things that made headlines: The President of the United States called Stormy Daniels “horseface.” An ex–Trump campaign staffer slammed Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, as a “ beta male ." Almost the entire Republican establishment banded together to nominate a man accused of sexual assault to the highest court in the land. After that, the President publicly mocked the woman who testified under oath against him. That man was confirmed , by the way. And an NPR-Ipsos poll released this week showed that over 40 percent of Americans believe the Me Too movement has "gone too far," with a full 77 percent of Republicans responding that false accusations are "common." (Not true.) Which of course comes after the President of the United States came out with this gem: “It’s a very scary time for young men,” Trump said in an address to report

Simon says: Stevenson brings playwright"s "Fools" to stage

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Brad Kadrich Hometownlife.com Published 4:22 PM EDT Oct 31, 2018 Michael Corliss has directed several productions of Neil Simon"s work in his time at Stevenson High School, a reflection of his admiration for the late playwright"s work. So after Simon died Aug. 26, it seemed fitting that Corliss would choose one of his plays for the first production of the new school year. "When he passed away, I thought, "We should do a tribute,"" Corliss said. "I ordered the copyright the very same day." The play he chose was "Fools," a comic fable set in the small village of Kulyenchikov, Ukraine, during the late 19th century. The story follows Leon Tolchinsky, a school teacher who takes a new job educating Sophia, the daughter of Dr. Zubritsky and his wife Lenya. The town has been rendered stupid by a curse and Tolchinsky is hired to come in and teach Sophia. Corliss said the basic message of the play is what attracted him to

Dumb Internet Person Jacob Wohl Unsuccessfully Framing Robert Mueller Is the Comic Relief We Need Right Now

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To us internet folk, this is a truly mind-bending story. I’m not sure it’s possible to fully articulate to you normal people whose brains haven’t been broken by Twitter how bizarre, yet wholly appropriate for 2018 this story is. The best description I’ve seen comes from BuzzFeed News ’ opinion editor, Tom Gara. Today was truly hallucinatory, seeing Jacob Wohl and the Krassensteins somehow become part of the Mueller thing was like seeing the girl in The Ring burst out of the screen and crawl around the living room — Tom Gara (@tomgara) October 30, 2018 Let"s start with the star of the show. Jacob Wohl First off, I"d just like to state on behalf of all Jacobs that this jackass doesn"t represent us and I am taking it upon me to denounce him on behalf of all Jacobs around the world. Wohl was already a certified buffoon, but because his lunacy was confined largely to Twitter, he was like a great indie band who hasn"t made it big yet. Wohl gained notoriety amongst

Clive Palmer again denies Mensink whereabouts

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Clive Palmer has again denied knowing the whereabouts of his wanted nephew even though he had dinner with him in Bulgaria a few weeks ago. During an explosive cross-examination in the Federal Court in Brisbane on Wednesday, the former federal MP said he was more interested in learning about Clive Mensink"s girlfriend than quizzing him on his address. "I"ve really got no concerns where he is," he said. Clive Palmer outside court. (9NEWS) The mining magnate"s latest testimony was part of his ongoing dispute with special purpose liquidators over the collapse of Queensland Nickel (QN). While being questioned about Mr Mensink"s potential role in the building of Titanic II, Mr Palmer claimed it did not relate to QN. In what became a fiery exchange, liquidators" barrister Robert Newlinds SC asked if he understood he was required to answer anything asked of him. "Are you a particularly stupid man Mr Palmer?" he asked. Related Articles "Well I f

Best Halloween jokes from bad puns to one liners

It"s Halloween , which means everyone is preparing to trick or treat and scare the hell out of people. If you"re looking for some light relief, then a few jokes might help. When all the horror and terror gets too much have a look at our best (or worst) Halloween jokes. There"s plenty of puns, one liners and terrible observations. Share your own jokes in the comments! Here are some of the best Halloween jokes. Why do ghosts like to ride in elevators? Because it raises their spirits! Why did the skeleton skip the Halloween party? He had nobody to go with Why are graveyards noisy? Because of all the coffin! Why did the ghost go into the bar? For the Boos. What is a vampires favourite type of ship? A blood vessel. Which ghost is the best dancer? The Boogie Man! Why are vampires stupid? A: Because they are all suckers. What do you call a dancing ghost? Polka-haunt-us What"s a ghost"s favorite desert? I-Scream! Why didn"t the vampire bite Taylor Sw

The Time Bandits of Southern California

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Illustrations by Johnny Dombrowski Long Reads 6 hours ago The true story of a ring of thieves who stole millions of dollars" worth of luxury watches—and the special agent who brought them down. On a quiet Monday around noon, two men dressed in black stepped onto an ascending escalator in the underground parking lot of an open-air mall in Century City in Los Angeles. By the time they had reached the top, they"d pulled on ski masks and they were sprinting. “They"re coming, they"re coming!” yelled Damian Dupre, a security guard at a Gearys luxury-watch boutique, when he saw the men running toward the store. Dupre is a solid six feet three inches, but as he rushed to lock the front door, the men were already pushing their way in. The first intruder, a short, stocky man carrying a rifle, burst in and his gun went off, shattering a glass case. “Get on the ground!” he yelled, and the guard and three other Gearys employees dropped to the floor. “Hurry up!” the man shouted