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Oh, The Irony

A Kenyan anti-vax doctor, who only weeks ago said the jab was 'totally unnecessary' has died from covid19.

Dr Stephen Karanja, chairman of the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, advocated steam inhalation and hydroxychloroquine tablets.

He clashed with the Catholic church over the safety of the Covid jabs.

Health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) rejected his claims.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56922517

Good.
 
I like 2CV's. I myself would consider driving one even now if a) they still were sensible prices and b) I didn't need to use motorways much.

If you do cause accidents in a 2CV then the high likelihood is that you will not hurt other people in modern cars too much. But as Mikefule points out there are other vulnerable road users. As I said there are numerous defects in the approach, not least that in the modern world if some repeat offender did manage to exterminate himself in one no doubt the 'uman Rites' folk would be on it like a lion on an antelope.

But sometimes it's just a pleasant amusement to ponder what punishment is appropriate for the dickhead who provoked the first post in this subtopic :evil: .
I too have a soft spot for 2CVs and almost bought one years ago. I took it for a spin & fairly soon got used to the gearstick on the dash though I was mystified by another large lever/knob protruding from the dash. Took me a while to figure out it was to dip the headlights for when you had passengers in the back & the rear suspension compressed, raising the headlight angle.

I reckon they'd be good in summer - the roof going all the way back is a great idea but probably draughty as feck & cold in winter.

Amazing to think they're close to a 90 year old design.

As to what you can do with a persistent driving offender, not much. You can bang him up for a while but he'll probably come out & carry on as previously. With the fuckwit in question with a string of previous who got a 21 month sentence, he'll likely be out in 10 months. As escargot said, he'll probably eventually kill himself or someone else.
 
if you are THAT bad a driver you will cause accidents in a 2CX anyway.
Sounds like this guy is such a bad driver he could cause accidents on a tricycle. :(
 
...driving bans don't seem much help in dealing with persistent offenders until you remember they can be imprisoned for breaking them.

Most people do observe driving bans and change their ways. There will always be exceptions.

The catch is the word “can” in that first sentence. Most aren’t.

Roughly 12,000 people per year in the UK are prosecuted for driving while disqualified. About 1% are sent to prison.

As in so many cases, the law works for the kind of people who respect the law. On the other hand, the kind of people who don’t give a shit - the ones we really want to hammer - are quite capable of doing a simple cost/benefit analysis:

“Chance of being caught: Low. Chance of any meaningful punishment even if l am caught: Almost non-existent. Game on!

maximus otter
 
Some crack heads stole my car from the carpark outside the Dielectric rave club in Leicester one morning (probably about 7:30 am). I'd wandered off because I was wasted (so definitely shouldn't have been driving) to buy some orange juice or maybe milk or something, I can't remember but I'd invited two 'young men of colour' I worked with because the youngest was a wicked M.C. .. neither of them had ever been to a hardcore rave before so I felt responsible for them .. then my 'mates' tried to blame them but they'd been ambushed so it clearly wasn't their fault. The only witness was some 17 year old who told me he couldn't make a police statement because he had a warrant out for an arrest so the older brother of my guests agreed we should bullshit that it was him that witnessed the event instead. The police picked us up, took us to the station, asked if we used drugs. I lied. Then they chucked us into a car that was doing about 70 to drive us to the scene of the capture of the culprits which they aren't supposed to do .. we got there and there was 4 crack heads trying to do a back to back circle thing to fight off about 30 coppers so that was never going to work for them. My car was there but all the windows had been kicked out or by some other method I'll never know about. Me and older brother were in the back of the jam sandwich so we locked ourselves in because the police obviously quickly got these junkies and marched them past us, one by one and saying "Do you recognise him!!?" "Do you recognise this one!!?"

I got the point. I drove us all home with the police stopping us to take the piss with all smashed out windows .. the 17 year tried to get cocky with them and I told him to shut up because we'd all I'd had enough at that point and we just wanted to go home. Insurance paid for my windows though.
 
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"In the fiat world when asset prices drop 23% in one day you call that Black Monday. In the crypto world you call that Monday." @VitalikButerin
 
From Twitter: @outsideness

Moving on from "how dead is Western Civilization?" to "How badly are we going to fuck up the funeral?"
 
The Copa America Tournament will not be held in Argentina two weeks from now because of "the huge surge of COVID cases there." Instead, it will be held in (get ready for it!)—Brazil, where the average daily cases is 60,685 (as of May 31, 2021 according to the NYTimes.) The rate of new COVID cases and deaths in Brazil is (gently) going down, however.
 
Richard Dawkins tweets about literature:
Screenshot_20210606-080930_Twitter.jpg
Kafka’s Metamorphosis is called a major work of literature. Why? If it’s SF it’s bad SF. If, like Animal Farm, it’s an allegory, an allegory of what? Scholarly answers range from pretentious Freudian to far-fetched feminist. I don’t get it. Where are the Emperor’s clothes?

And the internet has a pre-made ironic anwer ready :)
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Conditions are so dangerous in Arizona that firefighters fighting wildfires are igniting new wildfires themselves.
The area around Arizona's wildfires is so dry, firefighters' heavy equipment is causing small flareups

The area near where two large wildfires have been growing for days in eastern Arizona is so dry that firefighters trying to tame the blaze have started fires sparked by their own equipment, officials said Tuesday.

The Telegraph Fire has burned more than 76,000 acres and the Mescal Fire has scorched more than 65,000 acres, according to the Interagency Incident Information Center. ...

"Even our own fire equipment is starting fires," said Dean McAlister, a fire information officer. "The blades and the tracks of the (heavy equipment) sparking against the fuels have actually created some fires along the fire line." ...
FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/09/us/arizona-wildfires-telegraph-mescal-wednesday/index.html
 
Lisbon Mayor Fernando Medina is facing calls for his resignation as a result of his government's decision to share the personal information of at least three Lisbon-based Russian dissidents with Russian authorities.

Municipal authorities obtained the personal data when the dissidents applied to hold a rally to protest the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in January. City ordinances require protest organizers to submit their names, identification numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers so that Portugal's Public Security Police (PSP) can contact them if anything goes wrong during the event.

Protest organizer Ksenia Ashrafullina, a 36-year-old Russian-Portuguese dual citizen, told POLITICO that when she reviewed her email exchanges with city hall she found evidence that municipal employees had forwarded the data to both the Russian embassy in Lisbon and Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.

https://www.politico.eu/article/fernando-medina-lisbon-russia-dissidents-personal-data-sharing/
 
I find this highly ironic. After almost 2 centuries of being derided as utterly worthless, it turns out "fool's gold" can contain harvestable trace amounts of actual gold.
Fool's gold not completely worthless. There's real gold inside.

Scientists figure out how to squeeze real gold out of pyrite. ...

It turns out that fool's gold may not be so useless after all. New research finds that the mineral, also known as pyrite, sometimes contains miniscule amounts of actual gold.

Alas, the gold hidden inside the shiny yellow mineral isn't enough to make you a millionaire, but it could be enough to extract by industrial mining in a relatively environmentally friendly way. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/pyrite-real-gold.html
 
Copied from 9gag:

Had that on my Property, a small workshop. Dude opend the gate, drove in and parked in front of the garage door, because there was some big festival going on and no place to park. Took the forklift and placed his car in the middle of the road (No witnesses around, it´s an industrial sector in my town, and it was sunday) and called the cops.
Box was that funny, ecause he told the police that he parked on my property, but i told them that is not possible, because i chain the gate every day when i leave.
Guy hat some dope in his system after the party and cops found some weed in his car afterwards......lost his license and his car.
Best day in my life
 
Many cold cases remain unsolved - with the mystery often proving simply too vast to crack.

However, sometimes, a new piece of evidence suddenly comes to light, in turn steering the investigation back on track at the most unexpected time.

This is exactly what happened with the case of little Carolee Ashby, a four-year-old girl who was killed on Halloween night back in 1968 - and it involved a bit of help from a post on Facebook.


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She had been walking home from the shops with her sister and cousin in Fulton, upstate New York, when she was hit by a car - which did not stop after it struck her.

While her sister and cousin were unhurt in the incident, Carolee sadly later died from her injuries.

At the time, police received a tip that 18-year-old Douglas Parkhurst had apparently crashed his tan 1962 Buick the same night.

He confirmed a crash had happened, but claimed his accident had taken place in the neighbouring town of Volney.

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Parkhurst

Despite police checking hundreds of leads over the years, and even reopening the case in 2000, the young girl's killer was never found - until 2012, when the power of social media helped officers find a new lead.

After his retirement, former Fulton police lieutenant Russ Johnson came across a Facebook page about the town, and decided to post a description of the case to see if anyone had any information.

A woman from Florida got in touch, explaining that a member of the the Parkhurst family approached her soon after the hit-and-run, asking her to say she'd been with Parkhurst and his brother that night.

The woman - who had refused to help, although no one ended up approaching her on the matter - was never told why they needed her as an alibi, but police said she had assumed it was related to the accident.

Her information guided investigators to Parkhurt's home to question him once again in 2013.

Parkhurst, who was 62 by this time, admitted he had been drinking beer that night and had hit something as he drove through Fulton.

Lunn said Parkhurst told investigators he believed he had hit an animal at the time, but then knew it was Carolee, also admitting he had initially lied when questioned about the accident.

Despite confessing, Parkhurst couldn't be charged because the statute of limitations had expired, police said.

However, the story grew stranger still years later - when Parkhurst was killed in exactly the same way as Carolee.

In 2018, a 68-year-old Parkhurst died after a woman named Carol Sharrow drove across a Little League field in Sanford, Maine, striking him as he stood near the main gate.

According to Sanford Maine Police Department, Sharrow - who, reportedly, suffered with mental illness - then sped from the scene.

After Parkhurst's unfortunate death, Carolee Ashby's sister, Darlene Ashby McCann, said she felt like she finally had closure.

"I feel like it's over now," she said, "He's paid the ultimate price."

https://apple.news/AZAywU8t5RVmPIApLoo3oLw

maximus otter
 
Cigarette maker Philip Morris to buy UK producer of respiratory treatments
 
The Cross Keys Coaching Inn in Princes Risborough became a Surgery (as on the hanging sign) with currently at least 6 doctors in residence (which is more than my local Health Centre). The irony is that for the rest of Bucks, the response to the pandemic has been to close the surgeries and open the pubs.

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Woman comments on police ‘Most Wanted’ post about her, gets arrested

She’s a criminal oversharer.

Oklahoma police tracked down a suspect on their “Most Wanted” list — after she asked about reward money in a reply to their Facebook post about her alleged crime, authorities said.

Lorraine-Graves.jpg


Lorraine Graves was busted on a charge of accessory to murder after she commented on a Tulsa Police Department post on Wednesday that listed her as the force’s “Weekly Most Wanted.”

Graves replied to the post, saying, “where’s the reward money at?,” a screenshot of her post shows.

Her comment had some Facebook users confused.

“Giiiiirl you better stay off social media they can track you !!” one person commented.

“Aint gonna be as funny when you get processed,” said another.

Detectives arrested her Thursday in north Tulsa, according to the department. Her bond is set at $500,000, cops said.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/18/woman-comments-on-police-most-wanted-post-about-her-is-arrested/

maximus otter
 

Woman comments on police ‘Most Wanted’ post about her, gets arrested

She’s a criminal oversharer.

Oklahoma police tracked down a suspect on their “Most Wanted” list — after she asked about reward money in a reply to their Facebook post about her alleged crime, authorities said.

Lorraine-Graves.jpg


Lorraine Graves was busted on a charge of accessory to murder after she commented on a Tulsa Police Department post on Wednesday that listed her as the force’s “Weekly Most Wanted.”

Graves replied to the post, saying, “where’s the reward money at?,” a screenshot of her post shows.

Her comment had some Facebook users confused.

“Giiiiirl you better stay off social media they can track you !!” one person commented.

“Aint gonna be as funny when you get processed,” said another.

Detectives arrested her Thursday in north Tulsa, according to the department. Her bond is set at $500,000, cops said.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/18/woman-comments-on-police-most-wanted-post-about-her-is-arrested/

maximus otter
Could easily go on the 'worlds dumbest criminals' thread :p
 
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Tennessee radio host doubted and mocked vaccines – now he has Covid​


In a blog post in December, days after doses of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine was first authorized for emergency use in the United States, Valentine said he was simply following the logic in deciding not to get vaccinated.

“I’m not an anti-vaxxer,” he wrote. “I’m just using common sense. What are my odds of getting Covid? They’re pretty low. What are my odds of dying from Covid if I do get it? Probably way less than 1 percent. I’m doing what everyone should do and that’s my own personal health risk assessment. If you have underlying health issues, you probably need to get the vaccine. If you’re not at high risk of dying from Covid then you’re probably safer not getting it.”

After confirming rumors of his diagnosis on July 11, Valentine was initially well enough to report to listeners about his condition.

“I think I’m on the other side of it,” he said of the virus on one occasion, according to WIAT, while describing painful coughing, congestion, and fatigue.

“I’m certainly moving forward, it appears, but not in a straight line,” he added.

Valentine defended his decision not to get vaccinated as he began wrestling with the virus, insisting that he had thought the disease wouldn’t kill him.

Before he was hospitalized, Valentine also announced on air that he was “taking the vitamin D like crazy” and had found a doctor who agreed to prescribe ivermectin. The drug, often used to treat parasites in animals, has been touted in right-wing media circles as a promising COVID treatment but the Food and Drug Administration has cautioned against its use for COVID-19.

But in the days that followed, Valentine’s family shared with the radio station that his battle against the virus had become more dire and he was being hospitalized in critical care.

His brother, Mark Valentine, posted an impassioned message to Facebook on Wednesday, suggesting that Valentine’s fight for his life “has persuaded me to go get vaccinated when I was previously not inclined to do so.”

“Having seen this up close and personal I'd encourage ALL of you to put politics and other concerns aside and get it,” he added, noting that he wouldn’t wish his brother’s condition on his worst enemies.

A day later, during an appearance on WWTN-FM in Nashville, Mark Valentine said his brother was regretful that he wasn’t a more vocal advocate for getting vaccinated.

“For those listening, I know if he were able to tell you this, he would tell you, ‘Go get vaccinated. Quit worrying about the politics. Quit worrying about all the conspiracy theories,” he said.




https://www.thedailybeast.com/im-at...ets-mocking-vaccines-is-fighting-for-his-life




https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...doubted-mocked-vaccines-covid-hospital-vaxman
 
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