Thread for obviously newsworthy stuff

[Dauphin]

Glory hunter. Bet he would have said the same about the ‘69ers (sic) if they had won.

[BeBMan]

They moved Kansas City out to make the pres look bad. Deep State!

[Uncle Sparky]

A real tweet by the smartest man in America-

[BeBMan]

#PalindromeDay: Geeks around the world celebrate 02/02/2020

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51349158

[BeBMan]

Intl. League of the Amoeba People congratulated GOP senators to their lack of spine.

[Uncle Sparky]

Diversion @ Mar-a-Lago.

[giblets]

Most EU laws will continue to be in force - including the free movement of people - until the end of December, by which time the UK aims to have reached a permanent free trade agreement with the EU.

So he'll claim the UK has left the EU 11 months before any of the practical consequences kick in, hoping that the public doesn't see the connection.

[BeBMan]

My morbid side likes that cartoon....


In other news:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51315772

"so long and thanks for all the fish"

[Uncle Sparky]

Happy Year of the Rat!

[Dauphin]

What has the Euro got to do with it?

[Dinner]

They never used the Euro and so should just keep doing it like they've always done it.

[BeBMan]

Finally we find out the real issues with Brexit:

It is a debate that has torn the nation in two, ripped friends and family apart, and entrenched deep and uncrossable lines throughout the land. Should the Royal Mint have used an Oxford comma on its Brexit 50p piece?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/27/brexit-50p-coin-boycott-philip-pullman-oxford-comma

[Uncle Sparky]

Apparently, there was a 'Tiny Penis' rally in Virginia on MLK Day...
Thousands of heavily armed men with vistigial penises surrounded the state legislature. Good thing it was Virginia... I don't think they would have been allowed to self identify as males in most other states!

[giblets]

The hostage crisis doomed Mr. Carter’s presidency. And the team around Mr. Rockefeller, a lifelong Republican with a dim view of Mr. Carter’s dovish foreign policy, collaborated closely with the Reagan campaign in its efforts to pre-empt and discourage what it derisively labeled an “October surprise” — a pre-election release of the American hostages, the papers show.

The Chase team helped the Reagan campaign gather and spread rumors about possible payoffs to win the release, a propaganda effort that Carter administration officials have said impeded talks to free the captives.

“I had given my all” to thwarting any effort by the Carter officials “to pull off the long-suspected ‘October surprise,’” Mr. Reed wrote in a letter to his family after the election, apparently referring to the Chase effort to track and discourage a hostage release deal. He was later named Mr. Reagan’s ambassador to Morocco.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/29/w...se-papers.html

[BeBMan]

Pyjamas in public: Chinese city apologises for 'shaming' residents

Officials in a Chinese city have apologised for "shaming" people for wearing pyjamas in public.

Government officials in Suzhou in Anhui province released pictures of seven people wearing their nightwear, calling it "uncivilised behaviour".

The online "shaming" included the pyjama picture - caught by surveillance cameras - plus the person's name, ID card and other information.

China has seen a huge growth in surveillance in recent years.

Two years ago, the country had 170 million CCTV cameras, with another 400 million expected by the end of 2020.

Many are linked to artificial intelligence - allowing them to recognise exactly who they are filming.

The pictures in Suzhou were published on Monday by the city's management bureau.

Officials argued they were entering a national "civilised city" competition, and that residents were banned from wearing pyjamas in public.

Other "bad behaviour" exposed online included "lying [on a bench] in an uncivilised manner", and handing out advertising flyers.

But the pyjama pictures caused anger online. Some argued there was nothing wrong with wearing pyjamas in public - while others said the government had infringed residents' privacy.

Officials later "sincerely apologised", adding: "We wanted to put an end to uncivilised behaviour, but of course we should protect residents' privacy."

The officials said they would, in future, blur the pictures instead.

Suzhou's proactive approach is not new. Last year, according to local media, the city asked residents to submit pictures of "uncivilised behaviour", offering to pay 10 yuan ($1.45; £1.10) for successful tip-offs.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51188669