[DrCaleb]

$1:

German call to ban 'Jewish star' at Covid demos




Germany's anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, has urged authorities to stop protesters using the Nazis' yellow star forced on Jews in World War Two.

Some protesters have replaced the word "Jude" (Jew) with the phrase "ungeimpft" (unvaccinated), equating Covid restrictions with the persecution of Europe's Jewish population.

The yellow Star of David has also been seen in protests in London.

Mr Klein said he hoped German cities would follow Munich in banning it.

"If people pin so-called Jewish stars on themselves in demonstrations, thereby drawing comparisons that relativise the Holocaust, then the means provided by law should be applied against them," he told Tagesspiegel newspaper.

The Nazis made wearing the yellow Star of David badge mandatory throughout territories they occupied, dehumanising Jews by marking them out as different. Anyone found without one faced a fine, prison or death.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57020697

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Texas gov knew of natural gas shortages days before blackout, blamed wind anyway

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office knew of looming natural gas shortages on February 10, days before a deep freeze plunged much of the state into blackouts, according to documents obtained by E&E News and reviewed by Ars.

Abbott’s office first learned of the likely shortfall in a phone call from then-chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas DeAnne Walker. In the days leading up to the power outages that began on February 15, Walker and the governor’s office spoke 31 more times.

Walker also spoke with regulators, politicians, and utilities dozens of times about the gas curtailments that threatened the state’s electrical grid. The PUC chair’s diary for the days before the outage shows her schedule dominated by concerns over gas curtailments and the impact they would have on electricity generation. Before and during the disaster, she was on more than 100 phone calls with various agencies and utilities regarding gas shortages.

After the blackouts began, Abbott appeared on Fox News to falsely assert that wind turbines were the driving force behind the outages.

Wind turbines were a factor, but only a small one. Wind in Texas doesn’t produce as much power in the winter, and regulators don’t typically rely on wind turbines to provide significant amounts of power. Instead, regulators anticipated that natural gas and coal power plants would meet demand.

In public, Bill Magness, then-CEO of ERCOT, the state’s electric grid regulator, didn’t seem concerned about the approaching weather. In a virtual meeting on February 9, Magness said, “As those of you in Texas know, we do have a cold front coming this way... Operations has issued an operating condition notice just to make sure everyone is up to speed with their winterization and we’re ready for the several days of pretty frigid temperatures to come our way.” During the two-and-a-half-hour public portion of the meeting, Magness devoted just 40 seconds to the unusual weather.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... nd-anyway/

[Thanos]

And speaking of abusing the yellow star and Holocaust imagery, Nashville hat store draws protesters and attracts major shit for making & selling yellow "not vaccinated" stars as part of some dim-bulb support of anti-vaxxers.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/29/us/demon ... index.html

$1:

(CNN)The owner of a Nashville hat store is being accused of anti-Semitism after announcing the sale of yellow Star of David badges, similar to the ones Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust, which read "NOT VACCINATED."

Nashville's hatWRKS posted a photo on Instagram on Friday announcing the sale of a Star of David patch that says "NOT VACCINATED," according to CNN affiliates WZTV and WSMV. The post has since been removed.

The caption on the post read: "patches are here!! they turned out great. $5ea. strong adhesive back .... we'll be offering trucker caps soon."

CNN has made several attempts to reach the store's owner, Gigi Gaskins, but has not heard back.

Jewish people in Europe were legally forced to wear badges as far back as the 13th century, according to the Holocaust Memorial Center. The Nazis resurrected this practice, which facilitated the Jews' "separation from society and subsequent ghettoization, which ultimately led to the deportation and murder of 6 million Jews," the center's website says.

After the post was removed, another hatWRKS post from Friday said, "people are so outraged by my post? but are you outraged with the tyranny the world is experiencing? if you don't understand what is happening, that is on you, not me."

Western apparel maker Stetson announced Saturday evening it was cutting ties with the store.

"As a result of the offensive content and opinions shared by hatWRKS in Nashville, Stetson and our distribution partners will cease the sale of all Stetson products," the company said on Twitter.

Stetson announced its decision to stop selling its products to hatWRKS hours after tweeting it was investigating the complaints.

"Along with our distribution partners, Stetson condemns antisemitism and discrimination of any kind," the company said.

Thumbs up to JB Stetson for pulling their product from this store in such a quick manner. And apparently there's other hat manufacturers looking into this nonsense and getting ready to follow Stetson's lead.

BTW, there's a massive homemade "Trump 2020" banner on the storefront. Given that, and the idiotic behaviour with the yellow star, it's pretty much confirmed that these are dyed-in-the-wool dipped-in-the-shit MAGA morons & firm believers in "conservative persecution". So don't feel sorry for them if their business tanks. They're total shitheads who deliberately acted in a stupid manner and effectively shot a torpedo into their own waterline. Besides, there'll no doubt be a string of sympathy tweets and FB posts from MAGA stars and Hollywood celebs like Gina Carano & Scott Baio to help confirm their already-claimed "victimhood". "Worse than Auschwitz!" can already be heard on behalf of these assholes from the stalwarts at FOX News.

Fuck them all.

[herbie]

The patches should look more like the Covid caricature with a sphincter at the center and be mandatory for the unvaccinated.

[Thanos]

Great day on Twitter as rascals get MAGAs and other right-winger dimbulbs to retweet a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald in his Marine uniform as a "thank you for your service" pandering scheme for Memorial Day:

https://twitter.com/search?q=lee%20harv ... head_click

Matt Gaetz reTweeted it even though it came to him from an account titled "MattGaetzIsAPedo".

[xerxes]

$1:

And speaking of abusing the yellow star and Holocaust imagery, Nashville hat store draws protesters and attracts major shit for making & selling yellow "not vaccinated" stars as part of some dim-bulb support of anti-vaxxers.

These assclowns wouldn't know what oppression was if a black helicopter took them away to Siberian gulag.

[Thanos]

It's ironic that the mental stress they've put themselves under with their entirely false belief that they're persecuted is actually a very terrible and life-ruining oppression of the self-inflicted variety. Never seen people actually want to be regarded as victims as much as the contemporary conservatives & right-wingers do.

[bootlegga]

Thanos Thanos:

Great day on Twitter as rascals get MAGAs and other right-winger dimbulbs to retweet a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald in his Marine uniform as a "thank you for your service" pandering scheme for Memorial Day:

https://twitter.com/search?q=lee%20harv ... head_click

Matt Gaetz reTweeted it even though it came to him from an account titled "MattGaetzIsAPedo".

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Man tries to use ‘stand your ground’ defence against Iguana after allegedly beating animal to death


A man facing animal cruelty charges for allegedly beating an iguana to death in Florida has been refused a defence of “stand your ground”.

According to an affidavit on Friday, 43-year-old PJ Nilaja Patterson asked for the defence because “the wild iguana was first to engage with physical violence”.

As the Sun Sentinel reported, a judge refused the “stand your ground” defence, which is used when an individual “reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm”.

Attorneys for Mr Patterson argued in the affidavit that during the incident, “the vicious animal got the best of Patterson and savagely bit his right arm”, requiring 22 staples and hospital treatment.

It was also alleged that he believed the iguana “could have injected poison” into him. “Thus he rushed to incapacitate the iguana the best way he could.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 58258.html

[Strutz]

$1:

A man who was out for a solo camping trip north of Campbell River made a gruesome discovery Wednesday: a dead black bear with a severed head.

Sanjay Srivastava has been staying at the Big Bay campground and was making a quick trip into Campbell River when he noticed a flock of vultures circling at the top of a berm near the side of a remote road.

"I just thought, I'd better go investigate and see what was going on, hoping for the best and prepared for the worst." Srivastava says.

What he found was a dead bear that still had its paws and body intact but was missing its head.

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/camp ... -1.5455744

Poachers are sick bastards.

[bootlegga]

Deplorables in Texas tried to cancel a bakery in Lufkin for posting a picture of cookies with rainbows on them for Pride Month.



Then word got out and the bakery has had huge sales, often selling out.

https://www.facebook.com/Confections-157581020981850

[JaredMilne]

This one is a few days late, but Boots' latest post reminded me of it:

Racism directed at Oilers' Ethan Bear sparks jump in donations to Beckie Scott's Spirit North

$1:

The racism directed at Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear has prompted a jump in donations to an Indigenous sport organization founded by Olympic cross-country ski champion Beckie Scott.

Scott, who founded Spirit North over a decade ago, says contributions rose by $10,000 in just one day this past week, with donors stating Bear was the reason.

Bear was the target of racist comments on social media after the Oilers were eliminated from the first round of NHL playoffs Monday by the Winnipeg Jets. He was raised on Saskatchewan's Ochapowace Nation.

Scott, of Canmore, Alta., is an Olympic gold and silver medallist in cross-country skiing.

Her organization, Spirit North, supports mental and physical health among Indigenous youth by bringing the chance to try different sports to their communities.

[bootlegga]

Girl donates 80,000 pennies dumped by dad in child support stunt

$1:

A Virginia dad brought out the best in his daughter by showing her the worst of himself last month, after he dumped 80,000 pennies in his estranged family’s driveway to cover his final child support payment.


The petty penny incident played out in Richmond, Va., shortly after the girl, Avery Sanford, turned 18. Video from the home shows the man backing up a trailer and depositing a huge pile of pennies in the family’s driveway before driving off.

Sanford says she and her mother were shocked and hurt by the stunt, but they found a way to turn it around by donating the $800 to a local shelter for domestic abuse victims. That gesture has since spurred more than $5,000 in additional donations from people who were moved by the story, according to the shelter.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7941345/penn ... e-charity/

[Strutz]

/\ /\

I love it when someone can turn a negative into a positive.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

AHS lawyers ask judge to find Kevin J. Johnston guilty of contempt


Wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and facemask that sat below his nose, Kevin J. Johnston watched from the Calgary Remand Centre as lawyers for Alberta Health Services asked a judge to find him guilty of contempt.

The mayoral candidate's civil contempt hearing got underway Wednesday with AHS lawyers playing video after video of Johnston threatening AHS workers and breaching public health restrictions.

Johnston is accused of breaching a court order that he respect public health orders and cease his promotion, participation and organization of large gatherings where physical distancing, attendance and masking requirements are being intentionally breached.

Johnston is in custody after being twice denied bail on criminal charges of causing a disturbance after he showed up at the Core Mall in downtown Calgary on May 22 and tried to enter stores without wearing a mask.

. . .

"This is what a terrorist looks like," said Johnston of the inspector in one of his online video posts played for Court of Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germain by AHS lawyer Mark Jackson.

Johnston went on to post images of the woman, her husband and kids, although the faces of the children were distorted.

Johnston called the inspector's husband "brain damaged" and said, "I intend to destroy this woman's life."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.6068515