SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Peaceful Toronto Van Suspect Arrest "Stuns" U.S.
Toronto van attack: Calm actions of police stun US
The calm actions of a police officer who arrested the Toronto van suspect without firing a shot have prompted praise and, in some quarters, astonishment.
Video from the scene shows suspect Alek Minassian pointing an object at the officer and shouting: "Kill me!" The officer tells the man to "get down" and when the suspect says he has a gun, the officer repeats: "I don't care. Get down." Videos on social media show Mr Minassian lying down as the officer arrests him.
Many in North America are asking how the suspect did not end up dead in a hail of police gunfire. It contrasts with incidents in the US where police have shot and killed unarmed people.
"Research has shown that Canadian police are reluctant users of deadly force," says Rick Parent, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada's British Columbia. "An analysis of police shooting data over many years revealed, that in comparison to their American counterparts, Canadian police officers discharge their firearms far less, per capita than US police. However, like American police officers they take many risks in protecting the public."
One US-based academic told the BBC that the officer would have had a "duty" to kill the suspect, if the object he was pointing was a gun.
Mitt Rmoney Forced to Participate in Utah Primary
Mitt Romney Fails to Bypass Utah Primary for U.S. Senate
Mitt Romney was forced on Saturday into a Republican primary for a United States Senate seat in Utah as he looks to restart his political career by replacing Orrin G. Hatch, a longtime senator who is retiring.
Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and the Republican candidate for president in 2012, remains the heavy favorite to win the Senate seat in November. But he could have bypassed a primary altogether by earning a majority of votes on Saturday at the state’s G.O.P. convention.
Instead, the far-right party delegates preferred State Representative Mike Kennedy, who got 51 percent of the vote to Mr. Romney’s 49 percent.
Voters will decide between the candidates in a June 26 primary. Mr. Romney had previously secured his spot on the ballot by collecting 28,000 voter signatures, but he said on Saturday that the choice was partly to blame for his loss.
Gathering signatures is unpopular among many conservative delegates in the state who say it dilutes their ability to choose a candidate. The issue prompted hours of debate, shouting and booing at the convention.
[...] At the convention, Mr. Romney faced 11 other candidates, mostly political newcomers who questioned his criticism of President Trump and the depth of his ties to Utah. He had spent two months on the campaign trail visiting dairy farms, taking photos with college students and making stump speeches in small towns.
Smallville Actress Charged Over Cult Sex Trafficking
"NXIVM is a multi-level marketing organization that offers personal and professional development seminars. Based in Albany County, New York, NXIVM was founded in 1998 by Keith Raniere. News reports and former members have described NXIVM as a cult."
Allison Mack, Smallville actress, charged over Nxivm sex trafficking
So! You refuse to shake hands with me, eh?
NASA Kilopower News Conference on May 2
NASA to Discuss Demonstration of New Space Exploration Power System
Media are invited to attend a news conference at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland at 9:15 a.m. EDT Wednesday, May 2, to discuss a recent experiment to demonstrate a new nuclear reactor power system designed for space.
News conference audio and presentation slides will stream live on NASA’s website.
Kilopower could provide safe, efficient and plentiful energy for future robotic and human space exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and destinations beyond. The experiment was conducted November 2017 through March 2018 at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).
Previously: NASA's Kilopower Project Testing a Nuclear Stirling Engine
NASA Kilopower News Conference on Jan. 18
Initial Tests of NASA's Kilopower Nuclear System Successful
Slayer on TV
When I was a kid I used to really hate all the "old" people droning on and on about how wonderful the 1960s were. The TV was full of nostalgia programmes, especially music, and even the radio had seemingly endless programmes of tinny and inane pop songs. Then there were the hippies. They had sideburns and flared trousers! Argh! What's more, adverts on TV all seemed to have 1960s pop songs as soundtracks. There was no escape.
At about that time in the 1980s I discovered Bay Area Thrash. That was my thing. One of my favourite bands of all time is Slayer who are doing their farewell tour this year. A couple of years ago, I had my hair cut short. I still love the music. Mrs Turgid and I went to see Testament playing in London a couple of weeks ago.
Last week I was watching TV in the evening and I was most pleasantly surprised when an advert came on for a company (OVO Energy) which sells electricity apparently from only renewable sources which used Raining Blood by Slayer as the soundtrack! Ladies and gentlemen, Slayer are in an advert on mainstream TV in the UK for renewable energy! The advert starts with a load of clips of politicians and the like stating that they do not believe in climate change.
I am now my parents. I have short hair and my favourite music, frequently accused of being Satanic and antisocial, is now used to sell things on TV. I am the Establishment. I have arrived.
And while I'm at it, allow me to VIRTUE SIGNAL loud and clear: I just got myself a hybrid car. You should see the mileage I'm getting. My dirty old turbo diesel is off to the breakers yard.
OAN Investigation Finds No Evidence Of Chemical Weapon Attac
http://www.oann.com/oan-investigation-finds-no-evidence-of-chemical-weapon-attack-in-syria/
Sorry, folks - this is 2018, and the news is a video. I invite one and all to view the video.
I mentioned in another discussion that I'm not convinced that there WAS a chemical attack in Douma, Syria. Despite the UN investigators not making it to Douma, OAN's Pearson Sharp got into the city.
Several caveats. He was brought into the city by government troops. The city has only been recently "liberated" from the "rebels", so there are soldiers everywhere. We can't know that the presence of the soldiers did, or did not, influence either the reporter, or the people he interviewed. I'm not giving Pearson a whole LOT of credence - for all I know, he's a Russian sympathizer. I'm just saying - you need to consider the situation, and weigh the likelihood that someone, somewhere, is lying.
That said, please visit OANN, and watch the video. It's not quite 11 minutes long.
I'll oversimplify the story, briefly:
There was no chemical attack. Government troops were assaulting the area, and driving the rebels deeper into their holes. Combat, all around, and no escape for the rebels. Some rebel or another came up with an idea of staging a fake chemical attack. The plan went forward, word was spread far and wide that there was poison gas in the streets. The government advance slowed, if not halting, for awhile.
During the confusion, the rebels made like trees, and leaved.
The "allied" attack on the government of Syria only helps to keep the rebel's subterfuge, and escape, covered up.
Opinion aside, someone in this story is playing everyone for a bunch of gullible chumps. One opinion says it's the government, and Russia who are playing us for chumps. Another opinion says that the US and it's allies are guilty.
And, there is no clear, credible evidence on either side.
One of the more convincing arguments that Syria isn't messing with chemicals - Since Syria is steadily gaining ground against the "rebels" with conventional weapons, why would they risk the world's ire just to lob a chem weapon or two? They don't NEED the chemical agents.
Illegal Buttocks Injections
With the aid of cutting-edge Millennium science, in the form of orbicular breast implants and illegal buttocks injections, America's sudden favorite rapper, Cardi B, has built her body for optimal viewing at medium-to-long-distance range. This engineering foresight helps explain why, before she began making music history (a randomly chosen milestone from her tennis bracelet of success: she is the first rapper to have her first three Billboard Hot 100 entries in the Top 10 simultaneously), she was not just a successful stripper but a wildly successful one. The hills and slopes of her body are so captivating that you might not even notice the delicate beauty of her countenance until it's staring at you head-on from across a dimly lit restaurant booth while you wait to discover what it is that Cardi loves.
[...] "I love political science," says Cardi, tucking into: Brussels sprouts with bacon, mashed potatoes with lobster, macaroni and cheese with optional truffle upgrade, shrimp cocktail with lemon and salt on the side, and a Coke with extra ice. We know the West Hollywood restaurant Cardi selected for dinner is good because, a member of her team explained earlier, Drake ate here last night. "I love government. I'm obsessed with presidents. I'm obsessed to know how the system works."
[...] Cardi B booked the cover of The Fader's summer-music issue without technically having any summer music recorded. "Bodak Yellow" is not mentioned anywhere in the story; it was recorded after the press was lined up, ostensibly to give the cover a reason to exist.
You'd never know it. "Bodak Yellow" doesn't sound perfunctory; it is masterful. Her staccato flow is a minefield strewn with terrifyingly forceful plosive consonants, but her vowels are languid to the point of taunting. It's not that she doesn't fuck with you; it's that she doesn't fuuuuuck with youuuuu. The verses are quick as GIFs. The song lacks a traditional melodic hook but doesn't miss it. Each tight section is self-contained, with its own rhythm, and the excitement of jumping from one to the next propels the listener forward. This also has the curious effect of giving the song no natural finishing points. If you start spitting the lyrics to "Bodak Yellow" in your car, you've essentially signed up to rap the entire song to its conclusion, because stopping it early is like ending the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air song when a bunch of guys start making trouble in his neighborhood.
[...] "Here's the thing," begins Cardi. "I never really wanted to talk about that, because I always wanted a music deal. I always want to keep my endorsements. When I was 16 years old, I used to hang out with a lot of"—agonizing, cliff-diver pause—"Bloods. I used to pop off with my homies. And they'd say, 'Yo, you really get it poppin'. You should come home. You should turn Blood.' And I did. Yes, I did. And something that—it's not like, oh, you leave. You don't leave. Stripping," which Cardi began at 19, "changed my life. When I was a stripper, I didn't give a fuck about gangs, because I was so focused on making money.
"One thing I could say," she continues, "you could ask any gang member: Being in a gang don't make you not one dollar. And I know for a fact every gang member, he asking himself, 'Why did I turn this?' Sometimes it's almost like a fraternity, a sorority. Sometimes it's like that. And sometimes I see people that's in the same gang kill each other. So sometimes there is no loyalty. Sometimes you gotta do certain things to get higher, to get higher and higher. You're doing all of that and you not making money off of it. That's why I don't talk about it much. Because I wouldn't want a young person, a young girl, to think it's okay to join it. You could talk to somebody that is considered Big Homie and they will tell you: 'Don't join a gang.' The person that I'm under, she would tell you, 'Don't join a gang.' It's not about violence. It's just like—it doesn't make your money. It doesn't make your money. I rep it, because I been repping it for such a long time."
Cardi B’s ‘GQ’ Profile Slammed For “Objectification” And “Fetishization”
Creepy Christian Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A’s Creepy Infiltration of New York City
'Creepy' Chick-fil-A slammed by 'New Yorker' writer from Brooklyn
Chick-fil-A is known for being closed on Sundays and its involvement in the culture wars - against gay marriage (briefly). It is apparently close to becoming the third largest fast food franchise in the U.S., leads the industry in average sales per location, and requires a very small initial investment ($10,000) to open a franchise.
Why Can't aristarchus Submit This Story?
Do I have to do everything around here?
-----
FDA Launches Criminal Investigation Into Unauthorized Herpes Vaccine Research
By Marisa Taylor, Kaiser Health News
The Food and Drug Administration has launched a criminal investigation into research by a Southern Illinois University professor who injected people with his unauthorized herpes vaccine, Kaiser Health News has learned. SIU professor William Halford, who died in June, injected participants with his experimental herpes vaccine in St. Kitts and Nevis in 2016 and in Illinois hotel rooms in 2013 without safety oversight that is routinely performed by the FDA or an institutional review board.
According to four people with knowledge about the inquiry, the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations is looking into whether anyone from SIU or Halford’s former company, Rational Vaccines, violated FDA regulations by helping Halford conduct unauthorized research. The probe is also looking at anyone else outside the company or university who might have been complicit, according to the sources who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The FDA rarely prosecutes research violations, usually choosing to administratively sanction or ban researchers or companies from future clinical trials, legal experts said. Even so, the agency is empowered to pursue as a crime the unauthorized development of vaccines and drugs—and sometimes goes after such cases to send a message.
[...] Rational Vaccines was co-founded with Hollywood filmmaker Agustín Fernández III, and the company received millions of dollars in private investment from investors after the Caribbean trial, including from billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel, who for months has refused to respond to questions from KHN, contributed to President Donald Trump’s campaign and is a high-profile critic of the FDA. Thiel is part of a larger libertarian movement to roll back FDA regulations to speed up medical innovation.
Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
Full article licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Three people have sued Rational Vaccines over the experimental injections.
Also at STLtoday.com.
Previously: University Could Lose Millions From “Unethical” Research Backed by Peter Thiel
