RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?

July 2023
 Israeli parliament passes Bibi's controversial judicial reform bill. Police brutality in action: video shows thuggish cop beating the shit out of a trans man at a traffic stop.  [https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/childhood-vaccination-rates-move-slowly-in-the-right-direction/ Childhood vaccination rates (tetanus, measles, etc) dropped during COVID. Now, they are rebounding modestly.]  Belgium bans conversion therapy.  South African government commits to arresting Vladimir Putin if he sets foot in country, per International Criminal Court obligations. A warrant for his arrest is to be issued. Putin decided not to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in August, anticipating this.  Putin: Poland must be "reminded" that their land was "gifted" to them by Russia. He has also said in recent days that any "aggression" by Poland against Belarus is to be treated as an attack on Russia, and that Poland may be plotting to seize territory in western Ukraine. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/21/russia-arrests-pro-war-putin-critic-igor-girkin-reports Russia has arrested Igor Girkin, a former battlefield commander of its proxy forces in east Ukraine who was convicted by a Dutch court of ordering Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down (causing 298 fatalities). He was charged with "extremism" for allegedly calling for Putin's downfall and criticizing Russia's military incompetence].  Michigan's "fake electors"—who illegally declared themselves the state's electors—are finally being charged.  As part of a new curriculum on teaching about slavery, Florida schools will now have to teach children that black people gained beneficial skills while enslaved.  Four Floridians convicted for selling an industrial bleaching agent through their online church as a miracle cure for "95% of known diseases", including COVID-19, Alzheimer's, autism, brain cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and leukemia. See: Miracle Mineral Solution.  New anti-LGBT bill set to be tabled in Kenyan parliament. It would "see a total ban on any activities 'that promote homosexuality', such as wearing flags or emblems of the LGBTQ community. Kenya already criminalises same-sex acts with penalties of up to 14 years in prison."  [https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/the-u-s-jamaica-are-fighting-over-gay-rights/ Jamaica has refused to accredit the spouse of a gay American diplomat. In retaliation, the U.S. is sending three U.S.-based Jamaican diplomats home.]  Tennis ball-sized hail pounds Italy, injuring more than 100 people. Hope you're all ready for the future, folks.  Scientific racist and scientific fraud Doctor-and-not-Professor Richard Lynn is dead, announced in a tweet from his far-right conspiracist friend Edward Dutton. Only the good die young, so Lynn was 93. With due consideration and sensitivity to those who loved Dr-and-not-Professor Lynn, let us all solemnly declare: "RIP in piss bozo lol."  Xi Jinping hails "old friend", Henry Kissinger, at meeting. In case you hadn't heard that Kissinger is still alive. And 100 years old.  The head of the Belarusian Red Cross, Dzmitry Shautsou has admitted on Belarusian TV that the organisation has deported Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine into Belarus. This action is in fact a war crime under international law, and subsequently Ukraine's foreign minister has called for the International Criminal Court to put him under an arrest warrant. <vote poll=world30209335053530> Iraq expels Sweden's ambassador after an Iraqi refugee desecrated the Quran in Stockholm. This followed the storming of and arson in Sweden's embassy in Iraq (the 2nd such storming recently), after which Iraq threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Sweden if the planned Quran burning the storming protested proceeded. Iraq now forbids all trade with Swedish companies. <vote poll=world30209335053529> Putin will not be attending a BRICS nations summit in South Africa this August, presumably because they would be required by international law to arrest him. <vote poll=world30209335053528> Italy begins stripping parental rights from lesbian mothers. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni claims she is somehow not homophobic however but simply opposed to "gender ideology" and "LGBT lobbies". <vote poll=world30209335053527> Astronomers have discovered a star where one side is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and the other side made up of helium. <vote poll=world30209335053526> The Washington, DC city government entered into a contract with a convicted felon who hawks a device that that claims to break the laws of physics to improve the battery life of electric vehicles <vote poll=world30209335053525> A Florida family that allegedly formed a faux church called the "Church of Bleach" and made over US$1 million by falsely selling toxic industrial bleach as a miracle cure for HIV, cancer, COVID-19, and other diseases is now standing trial in Miami <vote poll=world30209335053524> Rishi Sunak is likely going to have to delay his plan to force schools to out trans students to their parents and ban them from socially transitioning, as well as using preferred pronouns and names if the parents don't consent to their kids doing so, because it likely violates the Equality Act. <vote poll=world30209335053523> Rishi Sunak [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-66242611 apologizes to LGBT veterans for their past mistreatment. It was illegal to be gay in the British armed forces until 2000.] <vote poll=world30209335053522> Greg Abbott has enforced razor wire installation into the Rio Grande on the Mexico-Texas border, and has ordered state troopers to push small children and babies back into the river, as well as deny people trying to cross any water. The White House has condemned this action. Mexico has officially filed diplomatic complaints stating that this action is a violation of a 1944 water treaty. <vote poll=world30209335053521> Collapse of Black Sea grain deal poses a massive threat: “Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the will worsen food insecurity and harm millions of vulnerable people around the world." Russia's then made their view of resuming the deal clear by attacking the grain storage infrastructure at Odesa and Chornomorsk with missiles. <vote poll=world30209335053520> China is entering an era of much slower economic growth, raising a daunting prospect: it may never get rich. <vote poll=world30209335053519> Australian state of Victoria pulls out of hosting the '26 Commonwealth Games, citing the ballooning costs becoming 'well and truly too much' to bear. Like with the Olympics, it is becoming worryingly difficult to find willing hosts due to said costs. <vote poll=world30209335053518> Explosive strikes have hit the Crimea bridge, which is a key route for supplying the Russian army currently invading Ukraine. Traffic has come to a complete halt. <vote poll=world30209335053517>Extremist-friendly tech company LBRY closes after a fine of $111,000+ for securities fraud. Their associated cryptocurrency LBRY crashed to 1/3000th of a cent. The company's founder is a paleolibertarian and part of the Free State Project. <vote poll=world30209335053516> Benjamin Netanyahu has been hospitalised for dehydration amid Israel's heatwave. <vote poll=world30209335053515> The Wall Street Journal has reported that last year, Tesla launched an internal investigation against its CEO, Elon Musk. Why? Purportedly, for using millions of dollars in company funds to build a literal glass house for himself. Yes, really. <vote poll=world30209335053514> [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-high-inflation-housing-costs-cpi-consumer-price-index/ Inflation plunges across the United States. Not in Florida though.] Two months ago, one farming CEO presciently warned that Florida's anti-immigration bill would result in higher grocery prices; Florida's service, construction and agriculture industries relied heavily on immigrant labor. <vote poll=world30209335053513> Following last months riots, France bans the sale, possession and transportation of all fireworks ahead of the Bastille Day national holiday. <vote poll=world30209335053512> Hungarian bookseller fined 12 million forints (£27,428/$35,916) for selling a book about two gay people in a section where under-18s could see it. <vote poll=world30209335053511> All forms of sex- and/or gender-changing banned in Russia. Trans people are also to be banned from adoption, and their marriages may be annulled on account of their trans status. An exception allows genital sex changes for children with intersex conditions. <vote poll=world30209335053510> [https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-prisons-civilians-torture-detainees-88b4abf2efbf383272eed9378be13c72 Thousands of Ukraine civilians are being held in Russian prisons. Russia plans to build many more] <vote poll=world30209335053509> Italian judge rules that groping someone for fewer than 10 seconds doesn't count as sexual assault. <vote poll=world30209335053508> The, an informal pro-Ukrainian trolling network of shiba inu dog memes, has been awarded the Star of Lithuanian Diplomacy medal by the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry. <vote poll=world30209335053507> Climate breakdown is causing an increase in plankton, which is in turn turning the world's ocean water greener. It's not entirely clear if this within itself is bad yet. <vote poll=world30209335053506> Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, says the currently-striking actors and writers are "not being realistic" with their demands. Keep in mind he makes over $10 million every year, and could potentially earn $27 million this year. <vote poll=world30209335053505> A brawl erupts in Kosovo's parliament after someone in opposition to the elections being redone throws water over the PM. <vote poll=world30209335053504> Senior civil servants have leaked to Vice News a proposed redrafted policy document on trans people, which would effectively institutionalise transphobia in the Civil Service. This includes only allowing trans people with a GRC to use single-sex facilities and use the phrase “adult human female” to describe women. <vote poll=world30209335053503> Obviously-climate change-caused irregular weather in India has decimated crops and forced tomato prices up by 400%. People there are struggling with affording food. <vote poll=world30209335053502> Huge phosphate rock deposits discovered in Norway could satisfy global demand for fertilizers and electric vehicles for the next 50 years. <vote poll=world30209335053501> Erdoğan has agreed to back Sweden's NATO bid. Unfortunately, the Islamist dictatorship now gets to bully Sweden into proposing religious exemptions to free speech just to keep their chances of getting let in up. <vote poll=world30209335053500>Pro-Trump Republican Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's state superintendent of public instruction, said teachers should avoid saying that "skin color" was the central factor behind the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Walters had previously railed against "woke ideology" and "critical race theory". <vote poll=world30209335053499> Dutch model Rikkie Kollé has won the 2023 Miss Nederland pageant, making her the first trans woman to have won a national beauty contest. She will now head to the Miss Universe pageant. <vote poll=world30209335053498> In another incredible win for midwestern Democrats, the Wisconsin governor, Tony Evers, used the power of the to cut a sentence in half to change the bill from increasing school funding until 2025, to make it increase school funding for the next 400 years. To quote the linked AP article: "Gov. Tony Evers struck a hyphen and “20” to change the end date for a $325 per-student spending increase from 2025 to 2425." To quote the linked Wikipedia article: "it was changed from "for the 2023–2024 school year and the 2024–2025 school year" into "for 2023–2425" ("for the 2023– 2024 school year and the 20 24 –20 25 school year ")" <vote poll=world30209335053497> Dutch government reportedly collapses after failure to reach agreement on asylum measures <vote poll=world30209335053496> Greek conservative prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said he is commited to legalizing same-sex marriage in the country. “Same-sex marriage will happen at some point and it’s part of our strategy.” he says in a TV interview for Bloomberg. <vote poll=world30209335053495>In a competition to see who is the most malign and petty member of the British government, the Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick orders the destruction of a welcoming mural for child asylum-seekers on the grounds 'it gives the impression that they are welcome to the UK'. <vote poll=world30209335053494> Meta launched Threads, likely the first 'serious' Twitter competitor. It heavily piggybacks Instagram, which has ~2 billion users, compared to Twitter's ~230 million. Threads received 30 million signups in the first 7 hours. Twitter responded with legal threats. As a side note, Threads may boost Mastodon's reach, too. Update: Threads hit 55 million users after about a day. <vote poll=world30209335053493> Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been voted out of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus days after hurling insults at fellow conservative Rep. Lauren Boebert on the House floor.! <vote poll=world30209335053492> [https://archive.ph/ErVQf US public schools are censoring the plays that theater programs perform, to prevent controversy or legal trouble. Some avoid plays with gay characters, girls playing male characters, mentions of bullying, mild swearing, or depictions of racial issues.] <vote poll=world30209335053491> July 3, was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Update: the record was broken a mere day later. July 4 was the hottest day on Earth in recorded history, and estimated to be the hottest in over 100,000 years. <vote poll=world30209335053490> Greece Migrant ship: [https://archive.is/20230704023951/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/world/europe/greece-migrant-ship.html Everyone Knew the Migrant Ship Was Doomed. No One Helped.] <vote poll=world30209335053489> Ugandan government raises taxes on diapers after parliament members claim they are mainly used by homosexuals. <vote poll=world30209335053488> Indiana Supreme Court ruled near-total abortion ban can take effect. <vote poll=world30209335053487> Twitter blocked non-users from viewing tweets, DDoSed itself, and restricted the amount of tweets that registered users can view per day. The API also broke for the developers that are now forced to pay for it. <vote poll=world30209335053486> [https://archive.is/avHNc Recreational marijuana is now legal in Maryland. ‘Expect a lot of fun.’] <vote poll=world30209335053485> Florida's trans bathroom ban has been passed. Here's how it'll affect trans (and cis) Floridians. <vote poll=world30209335053484> "An analysis of foraging societies from around the world has found that women hunt in the vast majority of those looked at, confirming that the idea of gender division in providing food is a myth".

June 2023
<vote poll=world30209335053483> Just-passed Iowa law "will ban school books with descriptions or depictions of sex acts; prohibit instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation before seventh grade; require schools to notify parents if a student requests to use new pronouns; and enshrine the "constitutionally protected right" for parents to make decisions for their children." <vote poll=world30209335053482> Same-sex marriage now legal in Nepal <vote poll=world30209335053481> Biden has announced he'll invoke another law, the Higher Education Act, to bypass the right-wing Supreme Court majority decision on his last student loan relief plan in order to get the policy passed. <vote poll=world30209335053480> The Supreme Court has also struck down Biden's student loan relief plan, which was one of his campaign promises. <vote poll=world30209335053479> The Supreme Court is gonna take on the case of whether people accused of domestic violence can own guns. <vote poll=world30209335053478> The Supreme Court has ruled that businesses can refuse to create expressive content for queer people if it goes against the religious beliefs of the business. The fact that the woman who started this case actually made up the people who supposedly asked her to design a website for their same-sex wedding didn't actually matter. <vote poll=world30209335053477> A Brazil court has blocked Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030. <vote poll=world30209335053476> [https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/06/28/tinder-leaves-russia-with-memes-and-dashed-hopes-a81677 Dating app Tinder has swiped left on Russia and told it to f**k-off, as the service is quitting the country. Tinder's parent company Match.com has cited the need to "protect human rights".] <vote poll=world30209335053475> Tennessee and Kentucky courts both rule their states' gender-affirming care bans are unconstitutional. This is the sixth court case ruling gender-affirming care bans are unconstitutional now. <vote poll=world30209335053474>Former GOP Speaker of the Ohio state House, Larry Householder, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for overseeing a $60 million bribery scheme and using a "dirty tricks" campaign to sabotage opposition to his bills, in the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history. <vote poll=world30209335053473>[https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/1185088717/russia-general-detained-ukraine-commander Putin has arrested Russian Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who led the campaign in Ukraine from Oct. 2022 to Jan. 2023 and previously led combat operations in Syria. Surovikin was allegedly aware of Prigozhin's plans to revolt but took no action.] <vote poll=world30209335053472> Just in time to make its approval drop a little bit more, SCOTUS decides to gut affirmative actions in college admissions <vote poll=world30209335053471> Supreme Court approval rating drops to all-time low. <vote poll=world30209335053470> [https://www.npr.org/2023/06/27/1181152636/independent-state-legislature-theory-supreme-court-decision The Supreme Court has voted by 6-3 to reject the Republican-supported "independent state legislature theory", meaning that state courts can still act as safeguards against legislative efforts to limit voting rights or overturn election results. The opinion should significantly limit Republican efforts to sabotage the integrity of the 2024 election]. <vote poll=world30209335053469> The Wagner Group, a notorious mercenary group, has "declared war" in a mutiny against the Russian Ministry of Defense after alleging that they killed Wagner fighters. They also claimed their 25,000-strong forces have entered Russia and will "destroy EVERYTHING in our way. ... We are moving forward, going to the end." Update: Prigozhin changes his mind, decides no civil war for today. <vote poll=world30209335053468> AfD leader compares Ukraine with Nazi Germany. It's not clear if that means they're supporting Ukraine though. <vote poll=world30209335053467> Arkansas judge declares 311 statements of fact while ruling that the state's gender-affirming care for youth ban is unconstitutional. <vote poll=world30209335053466> Andrew Tate has been indicted on charges of rape, human trafficking, and establishing a criminal gang. <vote poll=world30209335053465> Estonia officially becomes the first ex-Soviet country to legalise same-sex marriage. <vote poll=world30209335053464> A Trump-appointed judge blocks parts of Indiana's gender-affirming care for youth ban, citing an "irreparable harm" that would be caused to trans children if it passed. (Second source) <vote poll=world30209335053463> Twitter blocks promotion of Democrat's campaign video due to ‘abortion advocacy’. <vote poll=world30209335053462> Japan raises the age of consent from 13 to 16, changes the definition of rape from "forcible sexual intercourse" to "non-consensual sexual intercourse", outlaws the secret filming of sexual acts and bans "photo voyeurism" (such as upskirting). <vote poll=world30209335053461>[https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1182205789/guatemala-convicts-journalist-jose-ruben-zamora José Rubén Zamora, one of Guatemala's most prominent investigative journalists, has been sentenced to 6 years in prison on dubious money-laundering charges after having exposed extensive government corruption. The conviction was widely condemned internationally, and Zamora's newspaper had to shut down]. <vote poll=world30209335053460>[https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1182141691/southern-baptist-convention-sbc-women-pastors-saddleback-megachurch The Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly to expel a California megachurch and another congregation for ordaining women as pastors and then amended the Southern Baptist constitution to state the Convention "affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder." An earlier version of the document, from 1963, did not exclude women from being pastors.] <vote poll=world30209335053459> Romanian prosecutors have upped the charges against Andrew Tate from human trafficking to the more serious ‘human trafficking in continued form’, meaning he is liable to up to ten years in prison. <vote poll=world30209335053458> The Bible is banned in a Utah school district after complaint that it is "sex-ridden". This occurs as a result of "a 2022 state law requiring districts to include parents in decisions over what constitutes 'sensitive material.'" The law has been used to withhold other books from schools. <vote poll=world30209335053457> NHS England announces it will stop prescribing puberty blockers to children. <vote poll=world30209335053456> "The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting." <vote poll=world30209335053455> Man in British Columbia [https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/431500/Girl-9-accused-of-being-trans-at-Kelowna-track-meet accuses 9-year-old (cis) girl competing in shot-put of being trans because she has short hair. The family were harassed throughout the event and the girl was "inconsolably crying during this whole event and continued once it was over and we were leaving".] <vote poll=world30209335053454> Trump has been arrested again. He pleads not guilty to charges in classified documents case. <vote poll=world30209335053453> Ukraine counter-offensive begins <vote poll=world30209335053452> Woman sentenced to two years in prison under a 162-year-old law in England for taking abortion pills beyond the legal limit. She had broken the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. <vote poll=world30209335053450> After six weeks, the €49/month public transport pass, the  has been considered a massive success, with a total of 10 million subscriptions. Already France is planning a similar scheme and Germany would like to link up so that both schemes would work together. <vote poll=world30209335053451> Radio New Zealand has suspended a member of staff and initiated an investigation after several Reuters newswires were altered to include pro-Russian sentiment in news stories on RNZ's website and Twitter feeds relating to the war in Ukraine. <vote poll=world30209335053449> Silvio "Il Cavaliere" Berlusconi has died, aged 86 <vote poll=world30209335053448> Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested amid an ongoing investigation into the SNP’s finances. Update: After 7 hours in custody, Sturgeon is released without charge pending further investigation. <vote poll=world30209335053447> Theodore 'Ted' Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, has died in federal prison at the age of 81. <vote poll=world30209335053446> Boris Johnson resigns as an MP with immediate effect, accusing a Parliamentary Committee of attempting to push him out of Parliament over Partygate. <vote poll=world30209335053445> Donald Trump has reportedly been indicted in the special counsel’s classified documents probe, marking the first time a former president has faced federal charges. Update: Per the unsealed indictment, the indictment includes 37 counts spread over seven charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, willful retention of national defense information, and multiple concealment charges. <vote poll=world30209335053444> Lloyds Banking Group has taken over the Telegraph and the Spectator [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/07/daily-telegraph-and-sunday-telegraph-newspapers-to-be-put-up-for-sale from its owners the Barclay family, after defaulting on the company's loans to the tune of nearly £1 billion. The bank is now planning to sell it off.] <vote poll=world30209335053443> Axios has scooped the news that Fox News is suing Tucker Carlson for breach of contract, after the former anchor has launched his show on Twitter. <vote poll=world30209335053442> Pat Robertson of The 700 Club has died at the age of 93. <vote poll=world30209335053441> In Ukraine, the Kakhovka Dam has been breached, causing heavy flooding through Kherson and prompting mass evacuations. Both Russia and Ukraine blame each other. Who could have really been the culprit, hmm? Such a mystery. <vote poll=world30209335053440> The Human Rights Campaign has declared a National State of Emergency for queer people in the U.S. <vote poll=world30209335053439> A federal judge has blocked Florida's trans healthcare for youth ban. <vote poll=world30209335053438> The Southern Poverty Law Center designates Moms for “Liberty” as an extremist group. <vote poll=world30209335053437> Brazil's Lula lays out plan to halt Amazon deforestation, make country "global reference" on climate. <vote poll=world30209335053436> Press Acquisitions, the owner of the Telegraph Media Group which owns the Telegraph and the Spectator, is in financial difficulties and may be forced into administration [bankruptcy]. <vote poll=world30209335053435> A French parliamentary inquiry finds that the National Rally party served as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin. The inquiry was initiated by the National Rally itself in an attempt to clear its name. <vote poll=world30209335053434> City authorities in the Swiss capital of Bern have voted to expand the trial of cannabis legalization, to do test controlled sales of cocaine. <vote poll=world30209335053433> India cuts periodic table and evolution from school textbooks. <vote poll=world30209335053432> Kevin McCarthy and Joe Biden have struck a deal on raising the debt ceiling. McCarthy, facing a failing mutiny, wants to sell the deal to conservatives. In doing so, he's decided to... argue the deal forces children to work? It does not do that, unless he meant adult children, which he probably did. He also suggested that they have no "worth or value" unless they work. <vote poll=world30209335053431> Chick-fil-A is accused of "going woke" by conservatives after promoting a DEI chief. He's been at the company since 2007 and in a DEI position since 2020. Nevertheless, the company faces a proposed boycott. Another casus belli is resurfaced video of the company's chairman shining a black man's shoes.

May 2023
<vote poll=world30209335053429> Latvian foreign minister Edgers Rinkēvičs has been chosen by the county's parliament the Saeima, to the country's next mostly symbolic president. This would make him the first openly gay head of state in Europe. <vote poll=world30209335053428> Minnesota legalizes recreational cannabis, becoming the 23rd state to do so <vote poll=world30209335053427> A Japanese court has ruled that not allowing same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. <vote poll=world30209335053426> Under Uganda's new laws, gay sex will get you life in prison (execution if you transmit HIV/AIDS), "promotion of homosexuality" will get you 20 years in prison, and attempting to engage in any homosexual acts will get you 10 years in prison. <vote poll=world30209335053425> Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have flared up again as Kosovo's police raided Serb-dominated areas and seized municipality buildings. <vote poll=world30209335053424> Sex Abuse in Catholic Church: Over 1,900 Minors Abused in Illinois, State Says – A new report by the attorney general of Illinois covering decades names more than 450 credibly accused sexual abusers, including priests and lay religious brothers. <vote poll=world30209335053422> Ukraine has opened a new 114 MW windfarm in Mykolaiv region of Southern Ukraine generating clean renewable energy, despite being only 100km from the conflict frontline. The fact that this windfarm has opened in warzone, and the lack of progress by the British government in developing wind power hasn't gone unnoticed by the Shadow Climate Change Secretary. <vote poll=world30209335053421> Jessica Watkins, Oath Keeper organizer and Army veteran, is sentenced to eight and half years for her actions in the January 6 debacle. Kenneth Harrelson, another Oath Keeper, whined that he “got in the wrong car at the wrong time and went to the wrong place with the wrong people” when being sentenced to four years in prison for his actions. Yeah, right. <vote poll=world30209335053420> Charles III has appointed an alternative medicine enthusiast to head the British royal family's medical affairs. Charles's stances on science and medicine have been known for a long time now, so that is perhaps not much of a shocker. <vote poll=world30209335053419> Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was unanimously recommended for impeachment by the Texas House General Investigating Committee, on the basis of multiple criminal allegations, some of them dating to the beginning of his first term in the AG office. Update: Paxton has been impeached by the Texas House of Representatives by a vote of 121-23. This is just the third impeachment in Texas history and the first in 50 years. Paxton now awaits a trial in the Senate. <vote poll=world30209335053418> Founder of Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, sentenced to 18 years for his part of the Jan 6th putsch attempt. Update: "And your little dog, too!" Another Oath Keeper gets a separate sentence of 8 and a half years. Over 500 J6ers have now received sentences. <vote poll=world30209335053417> Armenia's Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has stated that Armenia intends to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, sparking backlash from the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh and many Armenians who have long advocated for the region's independence or incorporation into Armenia. Negotiations for a peace agreement continue, and a meeting between Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Putin is expected. <vote poll=world30209335053416> Boris Johnson has now been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office, after his personal diaries revealed that he allowed friends to visit him at the prime ministerial estate of during lockdown. <vote poll=world30209335053415> [https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230523-french-short-haul-flight-ban-comes-into-force France has formally banned domestic flights on short routes that can be covered by train in less than two-and-a-half hours. This means there are no more flights between Paris, Lyon, Nantes and Bordeaux.] <vote poll=world30209335053414> In a stopped clock moment, speaker Kevin McCarthy states that he supports aid to Ukraine, a stark constrast to what other right wing republicans believe. <vote poll=world30209335053413> Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso has dissolved the country's National Assembly, triggering snap elections within 90 days. Lasso invoked a constitutional clause known as "mutual death," allowing him to rule by decree until the elections are held. The move comes amidst calls for Lasso's resignation due to a cost-of-living crisis and high rates of violence. Opposition groups and Indigenous organizations had threatened mass protests in response to the dissolution. Lasso's decision has halted ongoing impeachment proceedings against him but has been criticized as reckless by his opponents. The armed forces and police have expressed support for the constitutional order. <vote poll=world30209335053412> Florida lawmakers send bill to Governor DeSantis to pave roads in the state with radioactive waste. Update: [https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/florida-radioactive-roads-phosphogypsum-potentially-cancer-causing-mining-waste-bill-signed-ron-desantis/ The bill has been signed. This leads to a study to test its use, with it having to be finished by April of 2024.] <vote poll=world30209335053411> In a rather small but still satisfying defeat for Keir Starmer, 98% of the Islington North Branch backs Corbyn remaining their Local Member of Parliment <vote poll=world30209335053410> Same-sex marriages legally concluded outside the Southern African nation of Namibia must be recognised by the country's government, its Supreme Court has ruled. <vote poll=world30209335053409> The Estonian government is tabling a bill in parliament to legalise same-sex marriage and to allow same sex partners to adopt each others children. If passed, this would make the country the first ex-Soviet nation to legalise equal marriage. <vote poll=world30209335053408> A spokesperson from the Russian Duma has confirmed said that Belarusian autocrat Aleksandr Lukashenko is very unwell. <vote poll=world30209335053407> files for bankruptcy. <vote poll=world30209335053406> Saying the quiet bits out loud; Edwardian cosplayer Jacob Rees-Mogg admits recent Voter ID law to be a pro-Tory gerrymandering attempt which backfired while ermine-caped influence peddler Peter Cruddas goes further by complaining that a Labour government could "[make it impossible for the Conservative party to win an outright majority in the future"] through electoral reforms including allowing 16 year-olds and foreign residents to vote. <vote poll=world30209335053405> Southern Baptist Convention membership continues to decline at record pace. Perhaps helped along by the sex abuse scandal. <vote poll=world30209335053404> France's National Assembly has voted unanimously by all of its deputies, a resolution on the calling on the European Union to formally label Russian mercenary force Wagner a "terrorist group". In response to the call, the head of Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin, has responded by threatening to pull all the teeth out of French president Emmanuel Macron. <vote poll=world30209335053403>    In the background of Charles III's coronation, a number of Caribbean dominions including Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis, have reconfirmed and accelerated their plans to become Commonwealth republics. <vote poll=world30209335053402> Oh, yeah, the coronation of King Charles III happened. No one here remembered, 'cause, like, who cares. But the British Government (or more correctly, the Conservative Party) cared enough to allow the police to 'preemptively detain' anti-monarchist protestors. <vote poll=world30209335053401> Many doctors are feeling less than chuffed about their career choice these days. COVID has impacted these numbers significantly with, as an American Medical Association writer lists: "staffing shortages, anti-science aggression, incivility and new dimensions of moral distress." <vote poll=world30209335053400> Smarmy New York Rep. George Santos is charged by the Justice Department in federal probe Update: He's been arrested and charged with 13 counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. <vote poll=world3020933505399> Trump found liable by a jury for sexual abuse in civil case, jury awards $5 million to E. Jean Carroll. Trump was also found liable for defamation. <vote poll=world3020933505398> The Canadian broadcasting regulator the CRTC has opened a public consultation on whether Fox News should be pulled from the air in Canada, after receiving complaints saying the network has aired hateful content about LGBT+ people. <vote poll=world3020933505397> After at least seven million dead and forty months, the WHO declares the Covid 'global health emergency' over. <vote poll=world3020933505396> Four Proud Boys members found guilty of seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 trial The jury remains split on whether a fifth member of the group is guilty of seditious conspiracy and will continue to deliberate. <vote poll=world3020933505395> Russia alleges Ukrainians attempted to assassinate President Putin in drone attack on the Kremlin. Independent sources increasingly believe it may in fact be a false flag attack. <vote poll=world3020933505394> Bolsonaro's home raided and aides arrested in Brazil vaccine probe <vote poll=world3020933505393> Eight US states have proposed or passed measures to weaken protections against child labor in 2023. This as part of a wider push funded by conservative think tanks such as the (who also aim to undermine welfare, Medicaid, and the  <vote poll=world3020933505392> As his popularity sinks and his coalition collapses, President Gustavo Petro fires most of his cabinet and tries to push reforms "on the streets". <vote poll=world3020933505391>  The American College of Pediatricians suffers a leak of over 10,000 files, including confidential correspondence and a roster of all current and former members. Their profile on Guidestar (a nonprofit tracker) was also defaced to read "we are evil and hate gays :(((" next to an image of an Among Us video game character. <vote poll=world3020933505390> The hipster media company Vice Media Group, is said to be preparing to file for bankruptcy. <vote poll=world3020933505389> On May 1st, Germany introduced the „Deutschland-Ticket“, a €49-a-month travel pass which gives unlimited travel on local public transport throughout the country. <vote poll=world3020933505388> Petrol shortages due to supplier issues from Russia and Venezuela mean that Cuban authorities have done the unthinkable and cancelled this year's May Day parade in Havana's Plaza de la Revolución.

April 2023
The UK's Tory government has a friend in Ron DeSantis. At least as far as "anti-woke" goes. And he's a Churchill fan (The Telegraph can't get enough of it). Wondering what a Florida governor is doing buttering up British nationalists? Why, it's as though he's planning to become US President or something...  49% of Americans believe climate change is caused entirely or mostly by human activity, compared to 60% in 2018. Why? A new paper finds that ChatGPT often does better in answering patient questions than actual human doctors. Not a reason to replace your doctor with a chat-bot (indeed other recent writings make clear that's dangerous), but the authors suggest it could be used by docs to help them draft responses to patient questions. Minnesota looks set to legalize recreational marijuana soon, as it has received state House and Senate approval. A Russian "special vessel" was spotted near the Nord Stream pipeline four days before it was blown up, according to reports by media in Denmark. Richard Sharp has resigned as chairman of the BBC after a report found he had broken transparency rules over his dealings with Boris Johnson. International aid groups, including the British government, have funded an anti-LGBT+ group in Uganda that voiced support for a recent law to prohibit LGBT+ identity. The leader of a conspiracy-laden 'Christian' cult goes on trial for the deaths of at least 90 members by starvation., While another has been arrested in relation to at least 100 deaths. Most of the dead are children. Racist Karen whose false accusation lead to the 1955 murder of Emmett Till is finally dead Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, a powerful cleric on Iran's Assembly of Experts, has been killed in an attack. Bank of England "economist" to Britons: You need to accept you're poorer <vote poll=world3020933505387> Delaware legalizes recreational cannabis, becoming the 22nd state to do so <vote poll=world3020933505386> Tucker: "We'll be back on Monday!" Monday: lol, no... <vote poll=world3020933505385> Putin tries to build antiwar coalition in Germany. Marrying Germany’s far right and far left is a Kremlin goal. <vote poll=world3020933505384> Anti-abortionists want to revive the Comstock Act, an unconstitutional 1873 law named for Anthony Comstock. The intention is a national abortion ban. the Act criminalized "obscenity, contraceptives, abortifacients, sex toys, personal letters with any sexual content or information, or any information regarding the above items" sent via mail. This Act has now been cited in recent weeks by 2 federal judges as partial abortion pill ban justification. <vote poll=world3020933505383> Fox News settles defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems for US$787.5 Million. Fox says: "We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false." Smartmatic's lawsuit against Fox remains pending. <vote poll=world3020933505382> 165 civilians have been killed by Burma/Myanmar's military junta 'the State Administration Council' in the Pazigyi Massacre. <vote poll=world3020933505381> Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio has said it will stop using Twitter, however unlike CBC/Radio-Canada it is not because of its newly imposed description. While, German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF have just started tooting on Mastodon. <vote poll=world3020933505380> Public broadcaster CBC has said it's leaving Twitter, because Twitter labelled it government-funded media, implying it is not editorially independent. <vote poll=world3020933505379>  Top Chinese official vows that the country will not provide weapons to either side in the Ukraine war. At the same time, Ukraine says that it has increasingly found more Chinese components in many Russian weapons. <vote poll=world3020933505378> In Sudan, a power struggle between rival armed forces turns violent as dozens are killed. (Reuters, CNN reports) <vote poll=world3020933505377> Parler, a conservative Twitter wannabe social network, is shut down by new owner, saying "No reasonable person believes that a Twitter clone just for conservatives is a viable business any more..." (News source) <vote poll=world3020933505376> The supplement industry can dodge the FDA - but it can't dodge the FTC, who just sent 680 marketing companies notice that they will be required to back up their claims about their sugar pills. Here's the list of companies (PDF). <vote poll=world3020933505375>  Top-secret US military intelligence documents about the war in Ukraine were leaked, in part via a Minecraft Discord chatroom. (More info.) The leaks, beyond containing general US war outcome estimations, indicate the US spied on allies, which has predictably caused some noise. More:,. <vote poll=world3020933505374> Super-rich abandoning Norway at record rate as wealth tax rises slightly. Flood moving abroad has come as a shock and is costing tens of millions in lost tax receipts <vote poll=world3020933505373> Analysis of Russia's "unconventional" war against Ukraine shows that the groundwork for the invasions of 2014 and 2022 were laid in the early 2000's, and involve placing agents and symapthizers in all levels of Ukraine's government and military structure. <vote poll=world3020933505372> Silvio “Il Cavaliere” Berlusconi is currently in an intensive care unit of the San Raffaele hospital in Milan with cardiovascular problems. It is also been revealed he is suffering from leukaemia, and he is having chemotherapy. <vote poll=world3020933505371> Two Democratic lawmakers, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, were expelled from Tennessee's GOP-controlled House of Representatives for participating in a gun control protest after the recent mass shooting in Nashville. Notably, of the three representatives who were put on the chopping block, the only two who got the necessary two-thirds of a majority to get expelled were both young black men. Gloria Johnson, the 60-year-old white woman, fell one vote short of being expelled; she was also the only one who didn't use a megaphone and who apologized for her actions. <vote poll=world3020933505370> Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has regularly taken luxury vacations and gifts from GOP megadonor, billionaire Harlan Crow, for more than two decades. This has not been reported on his financial disclosure forms. Legal regulations for such disclosures have just recently been made stricter. Thomas ceased disclosing these gifts after the LA Times reported on them 20 years ago. <vote poll=world3020933505369> Study explains how primordial life survived the Cryogenian era. <vote poll=world3020933505368> Another Idaho hospital can no longer deliver babies due to staff shortages. That comes after a rural Idaho hospital further upstate announced the same, and blamed doctors fleeing the state due to a political climate that targets them over abortions and related care. <vote poll=world3020933505367> It's official: Finland is now a member of NATO. <vote poll=world3020933505366> Donald Trump has been arrested and has pleaded not guilty. He was fingerprinted, but no mug shot was taken.