News Stories

[KiraYamatoFan]

I don't give a shit with whatever excuse they come up. When everyone else is wearing HAZMAT suits, that last person should be wearing one too, no exceptions.

Those public health people in the US are such useless idiots. Unless I miss something, all soldiers are usually tasked to wear their NBC suits regardless of anything should they enter a contaminated zone, no? From what I can recall, those NBC suits are as difficult to handle as HAZMAT suits can be. Basically, it's all or nothing... bunch of fools.

[SaintessHeart]

Islamic State training pilots to fly in three jets: Syria monitor

(Reuters) - Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time that the militant group had taken to the air.

The group, which has seized land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and U.S. Central Command said it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.

U.S-led forces are bombing Islamic State bases in Syria and Iraq. The group has regularly used weaponry captured from the Syrian and Iraqi armies and has overrun several military bases but this was the first time it had been able to pilot warplanes.

"They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein," Abdulrahman said.

"People saw the flights, they went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back," he said, citing witnesses in northern Aleppo province near the base, which is 70 km (45 miles) south of Turkey.

It was not clear whether the jets were equipped with weaponry or whether the pilots could fly longer distances in the planes, which witnesses said appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military.

“We're not aware of (Islamic State) conducting any flight operations in Syria or elsewhere,” U.S. Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder said.

“We continue to keep a close eye on (Islamic State) activity in Syria and Iraq and will continue to conduct strikes against their equipment, facilities, fighters and centres of gravity, wherever they may be.”

Pro-Islamic State Twitter accounts had previously posted pictures of captured jets in other parts of Syria, but the aircraft had appeared unusable, according to analysts and diplomats.

The countryside east of Aleppo city is one of the main bases of Islamic State in Syria, where the al Qaeda offshoot controls up to a third of the country's territory.

Let's fly a Harrier there and chuck a AIM-9 into one of these.

[hawkeyesvn]

Things just keep escalating, right?. First, they have MANPADS, now they have jets. The war against IS doesn't look like it will end soon...

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by hawkeyesvn

Things just keep escalating, right?. First, they have MANPADS, now they have jets. The war against IS doesn't look like it will end soon...

Well it is pretty much like how WWI unfolded.

[AnimeFan188]

Sweden Hunts Suspected Foreign Submarine Off Stockholm Coast:

"The Swedish armed forces announced a military operation in islands off Stockholm
late Friday evening following reports of suspicious "foreign underwater activity.""

See:

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2...tockholm-Coast


=====================================


Sweden hunts damaged Russian sub: report:

"A Russian distress call prompted Sweden's hunt for "foreign underwater activity"
in the Stockholm archipelago, newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) reports."

See:

http://www.thelocal.se/20141018/swed...ian-sub-report






Whiskey On The Rocks II, anyone?

[Ithekro]

"You've lost another Russian submarine?"

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

Hmm, now that you mention it... *goes to watch Hunt for Red October*

[dredmorte]

Hunt for Reds in October

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Well it is pretty much like how WWI unfolded.

How exactly is it similar?

[Yu Ominae]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobil...t/1422722.html

Got official word that an American photojournalist was arrested by HKPF PTU officers. Paula Bronstein has some mild PTSD over being arrested.

[LoveYouSaber]

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/mobil...t/1422722.html

Got official word that an American photojournalist was arrested by HKPF PTU officers. Paula Bronstein has some mild PTSD over being arrested.

Welcome to Hong Kong I guess.

She was arrested while covering the latest Mong Kok protests, which gets pretty ugly and crazy at night for these past two days- though it's quite calm in daylight. Wall Street Journal says she got arrested for getting on a car to avoid being pepper-sprayed. Though it's good that she has experience in Afghanistan so here it should be like a cake walk for her comparatively.

[Yu Ominae]

From what I heard, she's insisting that the force got things all wrong.

All the journalists are condemning the arrest.

[Shyni]

Originally Posted by JokerD

'Clipboard man' seen without any protective gear stood with workers in full hazmat suits transporting Ebola patient

Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan

I don't give a shit with whatever excuse they come up. When everyone else is wearing HAZMAT suits, that last person should be wearing one too, no exceptions.

Those public health people in the US are such useless idiots. Unless I miss something, all soldiers are usually tasked to wear their NBC suits regardless of anything should they enter a contaminated zone, no? From what I can recall, those NBC suits are as difficult to handle as HAZMAT suits can be. Basically, it's all or nothing... bunch of fools.

Seems this is the explanation.

[LoveYouSaber]

Originally Posted by Yu Ominae

From what I heard, she's insisting that the force got things all wrong.

All the journalists are condemning the arrest.

That would be likely - I think the police force (the people on the ground at least) is kind of in a position where they don't really know what to do except to control the crowd and hitting people with their batons, so it's likely that they made a mistake here again. I heard from the internet that the police hit a voluntary medical worker with a baton - while the worker was tending to an injured police officer! The police seems to have no coherent strategy or way to deal with protesters (they are still in the awkward position where they fear if they are considered to be using excessive force again, protester numbers are going to swell again and it'll be deja vu.), so I guess it's pretty confusing and frustrating for the police officers who are at the protest zones.

[SeijiSensei]

Beijing Is Directing Hong Kong Strategy, Government Insiders Say

Who in their right mind would have thought any differently?

Two Women Resign Japan Cabinet, a Blow to Abe

Calls for Ms. Obuchi to step down as trade minister had been growing after revelations that her support groups may have used political funds to treat supporters to trips to a popular theater, and to buy them handkerchiefs and neckties from a boutique run by Ms. Obuchi’s brother-in-law.

Other reports suggest that the amounts of monies involved were in the thousands of dollars. That sounds rather more substantial than just some handkerchiefs and neckties.

The other woman to step down was Midori Matsushima, who resigned as justice minister following criticisms that she handed out free hand-held fans to supporters, a possible violation of political finance laws that prohibit gifts of monetary value to voters.

Have there been similar "scandals" involving male cabinet members where the extent of their trangressions have been at the level of handing out paper fans?

These two ladies seem a lot less dangerous politically than the ultranationalist females still in Abe's cabinet.

The other three women in his cabinet have also been hit by their own, smaller problems. Eriko Yamatani, chairwoman of the National Public Safety Commission, which oversees the nation’s police forces, has come under criticism for appearing in a photograph with a member of the Zaitokukai, an ultranationalist group accused of hate speech against ethnic Koreans in Japan.

The internal affairs minister, Sanae Takaichi, and the minister in charge of gender equality, Haruko Arimura, have also been criticized for their extreme right-wing views.

On Saturday, the two joined Ms. Yamatani to become the three highest-ranking members of Mr. Abe’s cabinet to visit the Yasukuni Shrine during an autumn festival.

[Dextro]

UK convicts man over manga sex images of children

A 39-year-old UK man has been convicted of possessing illegal cartoon drawings of young girls exposing themselves in school uniforms and engaging in sex acts. The case is believed to be the UK's first prosecution of illegal manga and anime images.

Local media said that Robul Hoque was sentenced last week to nine months' imprisonment, though the sentence is suspended so long as the defendant does not break the law again.

Police seized Hoque's computer in 2012 and said they found nearly 400 such images on it, none of which depicted real people but were illegal nonetheless because of their similarity to child pornography. Hoque was initially charged with 20 counts of illegal possession but eventually pled guilty to just 10 counts.

Teesside Crown Court Judge Tony Briggs said the pictures were "repulsive."

"This is material that clearly society and the public can well do without. Its danger is that it obviously portrays sexual activity with children, and the more it’s portrayed, the more the ill-disposed may think it’s acceptable," the judge told the South Bank, Middlesbrough man.

Prosecutors said the defendant was "actively searching for this material on the Internet."

But the man's lawyer claimed that such cases could make inadvertent criminals of manga fans. "This case should serve as a warning to every manga and anime fan to be careful," said Richard Bennett. "It seems there are many thousands of people in this country, if they are less than careful, who may find themselves in that position, too."

While the conviction might be a first in the UK, the US had its first such case in 2009, a prosecution that was alarming to some comics fans.

So... I guess I should reconsider moving to the UK after all.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Two Women Resign Japan Cabinet, a Blow to Abe



Other reports suggest that the amounts of monies involved were in the thousands of dollars. That sounds rather more substantial than just some handkerchiefs and neckties.

10 million yens, or 74000€, are the numbers I've read.

But the fans thing does seem a bit harsh.

[Yu Ominae]

Originally Posted by LoveYouSaber

That would be likely - I think the police force (the people on the ground at least) is kind of in a position where they don't really know what to do except to control the crowd and hitting people with their batons, so it's likely that they made a mistake here again. I heard from the internet that the police hit a voluntary medical worker with a baton - while the worker was tending to an injured police officer! The police seems to have no coherent strategy or way to deal with protesters (they are still in the awkward position where they fear if they are considered to be using excessive force again, protester numbers are going to swell again and it'll be deja vu.), so I guess it's pretty confusing and frustrating for the police officers who are at the protest zones.

I agree. The journalist was released IIRC.

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by Dextro

UK convicts man over manga sex images of children

So... I guess I should reconsider moving to the UK after all.

I'm actually more worried at the argument they put up to prosecute such case:

"This is material that clearly society and the public can well do without. Its danger is that it obviously portrays sexual activity with children, and the more it’s portrayed, the more the ill-disposed may think it’s acceptable,"

You can argue this against pretty much everything. Would Skyrim make gamers think that it's acceptable to chop people head with an axe while screaming "Fus roh dah"? How about the readers of Oreimo think it's more acceptable to engage in incest acts? Not to mention Breaking Bad audiences potentially commit in illegal drug dealing?

It started to get down to Minority Report route if people are punished for the potential of their crime. Not what they committed

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by risingstar3110

It started to get down to Minority Report route if people are punished for the potential of their crime. Not what they committed

This.

Laws are meant to punish criminal ACTS. However, it is religion that started demanding people not to THINK in particular ways. Mixing the two leads to laws that punish thoughts, leading to enslavement of the human brain.

See North Korea, for an example of a current government that polices thoughts.