The OOTIKOF, an internationally renowned society of flamers since 1998, invites you to join in the fun. Clicking on Casual Banter will get you to all the sections.
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:50 am
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:39 pm
Scary Dark Clouds Appear Over New York, Brooklyn Disappears Inside the Storm Jun 8, 2021
Temple Regular Member
Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Fri Jun 11, 2021 2:14 am
6-11-2021
Pennsylvania's Republican House leadership cut the microphone of a state Democrat on Wednesday.
A Pennsylvania Democrat had his speech cut short on Wednesday after he said the state's Republican lawmakers were "100% white."
Sims accused the Pennsylvania GOP of pursuing a "grossly, predictably misogynistic agenda."
The heated moment came during a debate over a Republican proposal to regulate the disposal of fetal remains, one that Democratic lawmakers argued would force women to bury or cremate a miscarried fetus.
"This is just another act in a political theater that has plagued this chamber for far too long," Sims said. "We are a legislature that has met more to remove mask mandates, strip executive emergency powers, and overturn free and fair elections than we have to make strategic investments in Pennsylvania's women, children, and families."
Sims punctuated his remarks with an attack on his Republican colleagues and the demographic makeup of their caucus. The bill, he said, was just another line item in "a grossly, predictably misogynistic agenda — an agenda pursued by a party that is 100% white, in a chamber that is 70% male."
House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler, a Republican, then cut Sims' microphone. "That's enough," he said amid booing from other GOP lawmakers.
Sims was unrepentant.
"Your boos mean nothing to me," he said. "I've seen what you cheer for."
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:35 pm
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Sat Jun 26, 2021 11:20 pm
6-26-2021
Scientology chief's father has cancer — and is raising money on GoFundMe for his funeral:
The father of the leader of the Church of Scientology is turning to strangers to raise money to pay for his funeral, according to a new report.
"In 2012, Ron Miscavige made a clever and daring escape with his wife Becky Bigelow from Scientology's secretive 'Int Base,' where the two of them had been living as 'Sea Org' workers," veteran journalist Tony Ortega reports.
"What made Ron's escape more notable than the others from the base was that his own son, David Miscavige, was Scientology's leader. Ron had run away from his own son's 'church' compound."
Ron Miscavige went on to write the 2016 book, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me.
Ortega, who has been reporting on Scientology since 1995, reports he has been communicating with Ron Miscavige for years, broke news about the Scientology chief's father.
"And now, it's time for more surprising news from Ron. He's been battling cancer, and he's recently taken a turn for the worse. To the point that he and Becky are preparing for what comes next. Namely, that even with their insurance accounts, Ron is concerned that Becky won't have enough to cover a funeral. So, they are turning to the public for help. And that's where we come in," he explained.
"Ron's close friend Rick Shaw wanted us to know that he had collaborated with Ron on a new song, and that Geoff Levin helped with guitars and mixing. 'I called it 'Ron's theme,' Rick says, 'but he calls it 'I'm happy.''
Rick set up a GoFundMe account yesterday, and asked us to post a link to it and this video of the song, which contains some wonderful scenes from Ron's life, particularly since he escaped Scientology and reunited with good friends," Ortega reported.
As of publication, the effort had raised over $7,500 towards a goal of $15,000.
Ortega explained why Ron Miscavige can't go to his son for help.
"After Ron ditched Scientology in 2012, and knowing how much Ron knew about Scientology and Dave's authority over it, the church leader unleashed a years long and vicious campaign of "Fair Game" against his own father.
Besides setting up anonymous websites to smear his dad, David Miscavige also set private investigators on him," Ortega reported. "A couple of PIs were being paid $10,000 a week to stalk Ron on behalf of Scientology when they were arrested in 2013 on unrelated charges and ended up spilling their guts about the operation.
They had placed tracking devices on Ron's car, had followed him wherever he went, and tried always to keep out of sight so Ron wouldn't know he was being followed."
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Mon Jun 28, 2021 4:38 am
Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive renamed to honor Black settler
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Tue Jun 29, 2021 6:24 pm
6-29-2021
Trump denied permit for July 4th weekend rally.
According to a report from AL.com, Donald Trump's plan to hold a July 4th weekend rally at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park on the western shore of Mobile Bay has been shot down by park commissioners over concerns about its possible content.
In a statement chairman of the commission, Bill Tunnell explained the board thought Trump's rally "...was going to be a partisan political event, rather than just a patriotic event planned for that evening," which is why they denied the permit.
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Wed Jul 14, 2021 4:02 pm
Lightning Strike Destroys George Floyd Mural
Witnesses say lightning struck a mural for George Floyd in Toledo, Ohio, leading to its collapse and destroying the structure.
Authorities assert that the mural collapsed on Tuesday around 5:17 p.m. While the city building inspector, Hugh Koogan, is attributing the collapse to the age of the structure, the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department is listing it as a lightning strike based on witness reports:
UPDATE: Witnesses have told authorities that the George Floyd mural was struck by lightning before it collapsed.
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:09 am
7-19-2021
Tommy Chong fumes over MAGA rioter's paltry jail sentence: 'I got nine months for selling bongs!'
Actor and comedian Tommy Chong expressed shock after Trump supporter Paul Alan Hodgkins only received eight months in prison for his role in the January 6th Capitol breach.
"Damn, I got 9 months for selling bongs," Chong tweeted with a face-palm emoji.
Chong also pointed to a new poll showing a third of Republicans believe Donald Trump was responsible for the January 6th insurrection.
The New York Daily News noted Chong's "cellmate was stock market swindler Jordan Belfort, who became known as 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' thanks to a tell-all Chong reportedly encouraged him to write. Martin Scorsese turned that book into a 2013 movie."
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:26 pm
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Tue Jul 27, 2021 6:44 pm
7-27-2021
Julian Assange stripped of citizenship by Ecuador.
Ecuador has revoked the citizenship of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is currently in a British prison.
Ecuador’s justice system formally notified the Australian of the nullity of his naturalisation in a letter that came in response to a claim filed by the South American country’s foreign ministry.
A naturalisation is reconsidered when it is granted based on the concealment of relevant facts, false documents or fraud. Ecuadorian authorities said Assange’s naturalisation letter had multiple inconsistencies, different signatures, the possible alteration of documents and unpaid fees, among other issues.
Carlos Poveda, Assange’s lawyer, said the decision was made without due process and Assange was not allowed to appear in the case.
“On the date [Assange] was cited he was deprived of his liberty and with a health crisis inside the deprivation of liberty centre where he was being held,” Poveda said.
Poveda said he will file appeals asking for an amplification and clarification of the decision. “More than the importance of nationality, it is a matter of respecting rights and following due process in withdrawing nationality.”
Assange received Ecuadorian citizenship in January 2018 as part of a failed attempt by the government of then-President Lenín Moreno to turn him into a diplomat to get him out of its embassy in London.
On Monday, the Pichincha court for contentious administrative matters revoked this decision.
Ecuador’s foreign ministry said the court had “acted independently and followed due process in a case that took place during the previous government and that was raised by the same previous government”.
Assange, 50, has been in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since he was arrested in April 2019 for skipping bail seven years earlier during a separate legal battle.
Assange spent seven years holed up inside Ecuador’s London embassy, where he fled in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denied. Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed.
US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of leaked military and diplomatic documents. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
Earlier this month, Britain’s high court granted the US government permission to appeal against a decision that the WikiLeaks founder cannot be sent to the United States to face espionage charges.
In January, a lower court judge had refused an American request to send Assange to the US
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:23 pm
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:36 pm
Fully vaccinated people make up quarter of new COVID-19 infections in Los Angeles County Kaelan Deese, Washington Examiner Thu, July 29, 2021, 2:50 PM
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:35 pm
WHOOPIE!
8-5-2021
‘South Park’ creators ink massive deal through ‘unprecedented 30th season’ that also includes 14 movies.
The boys are back in South Park, and they’ll be there for awhile.
“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have signed a 6-year deal with ViacomCBS through 2027, giving cable’s longest-running scripted show “ an unprecedented 30th season,” Comedy Central announced Thursday.
In addition to the new seasons, the deal also includes 14 spinoff movies for ViacomCBS’ Paramount+ streamer.
“Comedy Central has been our home for 25 years and we’re really happy that they’ve made a commitment to us for the next 75 years,” Parker and Stone said in a statement.
The “Book of Mormon” co-creators skipped a new season of the animated series, which premiered 24 years ago next week, amid the pandemic in 2020 but did release “The Pandemic Special,” and this year, the “South ParQ Vaccination Special.”
“Matt and Trey are world-class creatives who brilliantly use their outrageous humor to skewer the absurdities of our culture and we are excited to expand and deepen our long relationship with them to help fuel Paramount+ and Comedy Central,” Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of MTV Entertainment and CCO of Adult Animation at Paramount+, said in the release.
McCarthy noted that “franchising marquee content ... is at the heart of our strategy to continue growing Paramount+.”
The $900 million deal is one of television’s largest-ever deals, Bloomberg reports.
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Sat Aug 07, 2021 3:31 pm
Hackers Hit Illinois Police Database Of Gun Owners
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Tue Aug 10, 2021 3:08 pm
Denver baseball mascot accused of having a racist name.
Temple Regular Member
Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:39 pm
8-2021
UK judge backs US appeal in Julian Assange extradition case.
A British judge on Wednesday gave the US government extra grounds to appeal a refusal to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, after it argued the initial ruling relied on a witness who misled court.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser in January refused to grant a request by Washington for Assange to face trial in the United States on spying charges, ruling he was at serious risk of suicide.
But lawyer Clair Dobbin, representing the US government which is appealing the decision, said the judge "didn't appreciate the weight" of expert evidence that concluded Assange was not a suicide risk.
Instead, the judge relied on evidence presented by Assange's psychiatric expert Michael Kopelman, Dobbin told the High Court in London.
She said that Kopelman had admitted to misleading the court by "concealing" that his client had fathered children while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
"She really needed to interrogate why he was willing to mislead her," Dobbin told judges Timothy Holroyde and Judith Farbey during a preliminary appeal hearing.
"Experts aren't allowed to mislead for any reason."
Holroyde ruled that the United States' claims gave them two more grounds for appeal, making five in total.
Cause celebre The full hearing in the case, which is seen by Assange's backers as a cause celebre for press freedom, will take place on October 27 and 28, he added.
Assange himself was remanded in custody until then.
Judge Baraitser initially concluded that Assange's mental health would deteriorate when faced with the "harsh conditions" likely to await him in the US jail system, "causing him to commit suicide".
Assange, who is currently being held at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison, is wanted on 18 charges in the US relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The 50-year-old Australian followed court proceedings via a video link from prison, sporting long white hair and an unbuttoned white shirt with an untied tie draped around his neck.
Stella Moris, Assange's fiancee and the mother of his two young children, was tearful after the ruling was handed down, saying he had faced "sustained threats to his life for the past 10 years".
"These are not just items of law, this is our lives. We have the right to exist and we have a right to live and we have a right for this nightmare to come to an end once and for all," she told reporters.
The Wise And Powerful Admin
Posts : 111040 Join date : 2014-07-29 Age : 101 Location : A Mile High
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:59 pm
At least 227 people were killed and hundreds were injured and missing after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Saturday. (Aug. 14)
Temple Regular Member
Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Sat Aug 14, 2021 6:41 pm
8-12-2021
Bill Gates pledges $1.5B for climate projects in infrastructure bill.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has pledged $1.5 billion from his climate investment fund to collaborate with the federal government on clean energy projects if the White House-backed infrastructure package becomes law.
The package, which passed the Senate 69-30 this week, includes funding to boost the deployment of clean energy, clean transportation and more.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Gates said it would be “critical” for any clean-energy initiatives to “get the costs down and to be able to scale them up to a pretty gigantic level.”
“You’ll never get that scale up unless the government’s coming in with the right policies, and the right policy is exactly what’s in that infrastructure bill,” he added.
Projects sponsored by Gates’ Breakthrough Energy would still have to beat out other applicants for project funding. Gates told the Journal that the organization would likely redirect the bulk of the funds to Asian and European efforts if the infrastructure package fails to pass.
Temple Regular Member
Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Mon Aug 23, 2021 5:36 pm
8-23-2021
California cops went on wild goose chase for purported 'Antifa bus' after falling for right-wing hoax.
Newly unearthed government documents show that police in northern California expended resources chasing down a phantom "Antifa bus" after falling for a right-wing internet hoax.
The Guardian reports that officials in Shasta and Humboldt counties in northern California picked up on social media posts claiming that Antifa was bussing hundreds of supporters into rural parts of the state with the intent to spark civil unrest in the area.
While there were no actual Antifa busses, that didn't stop local officials from asking the California Highway Patrol to do everything in their power to track them down.
The Highway Patrol proceeded to launch aircraft surveillance in the hopes of finding the nonexistent busses, but could not find any.
Nonetheless, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal warned residents of the supposed Antifa busses roaming the country side.
"At a press conference on 4 June, Honsal publicly raised concerns about antifa threats, saying his agency had 'substantiated law enforcement reports' that 'Antifa did have people in buses' and suggesting the groups 'want to disrupt things and want to cause violence,'" writes The Guardian.
Honsal kept up the ruse one week later despite the fact that no Antifa busses had been located, as he again falsely claimed that the California Highway Patrol "confirmed the reports of an Antifa bus or buses."
Ryan Shapiro, the executive director of government transparency watchdog Property of the People, tells The Guardian that the wild Antifa bus chase simply shows that many officials in the counties lack "basic news and social media information literacy."
Temple Regular Member
Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29
Subject: Re: News You Might Have Missed Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:41 pm
8-24-2021
Man who pleaded guilty in Florida election scam will now implicate former GOP state senator:
A man who served as a shell candidate in a Florida state senate race is set to plead guilty to receiving illegal campaign donations and lying on campaign documents -- and now he's going to implicate the former Republican lawmaker who allegedly ran the operation.
Orlando reports that Alex Rodríguez, a 55-year-old auto parts salesman, will get a three-year probation sentence after accepting money from Artiles to run as a spoiler candidate with the aim of confusing voters who might have otherwise voted for then-incumbent Democratic Sen. Jose [/b]Javier Rodríguez.[/b
Alex Rodríguez pulled in around 6,000 votes in a race in which Republican Ileana García defeated Democrat Jose Javier Rodríguez by just 32 votes.
"I am deeply sorry for my actions and I want to apologize to my family, my loved ones and my friends," Alex Rodríguez told the court during his guilty plea. "I would like to publicly offer a sincere apology to the residents of Florida District Senate 37 including Sen. Jose Javier Rodríguez, the people of Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida, and anyone else who was affected by my actions."
Artiles has denied doing anything illegal, although he has a long history of ethically questionable behavior.
"In 2017, he resigned from the Senate after using racial slurs in a conversation with two Black legislators in a Tallahassee bar," the website notes. "Then it was revealed that Artiles used money from his political committee to hire a former Playboy model and Hooters girl as a consultant."
Home 
