text:
Read "Girls at War," a short story by Chinua Achebe
Posted on July 28, 2020 July 20, 2020 by Biblioklept
"Girls at War"
The first time their paths crossed nothing happened. That was in the first heady days of warlike preparation when thousands of young men (and sometimes women too) were daily turned away from enlistment centres because far too many of them were coming forward burning with readiness to bear arms in defence of the exciting new nation.
The second time they met was at a check-point at Awka. Then the war had started and was slowly moving southwards from the distant northern sector. He was driving from Onitsha to Enugu and was in a hurry. Although intellectually he approved of thorough searches at road-blocks, emotionally he was always offended whenever he had to submit to them. He would probably not admit it but the feeling people got was that if you were put through a search then you could not really be one of the big people. Generally he got away without a search by pronouncing in his deep, authoritative voice: 'Reginald Nwankwo, Ministry of Justice.' That almost always did it. But sometimes either through ignorance or sheer cussedness the crowd at the odd check-point would refuse to be impressed. As happened now at Awka. Two constables carrying heavy Mark 4 rifles were watching distantly from the roadside leaving the actual searching to local vigilantes.
'I am in a hurry,' he said to the girl who now came up to his car. 'My name is Reginald Nwankwo, Ministry of Justice.'
'Good afternoon, sir. I want to see your boot.'
'Oh Christ! What do you think is in the boot?'
'I don't know, sir.'
He got out of the car in suppressed rage, stalked to the back, opened the boot and holding the lid up with his left hand he motioned with the right as if to say: After you!
'Are you satisfied?' he demanded.
'Yes, sir. Can I see your pigeon-hole?'
'Christ Almighty!'
'Sorry to delay you, sir. But you people gave us this job to do.'
'Never mind. You are damn right. It's just that I happen to be in a hurry. But never mind. That's the glove-box. Nothing there as you can see.'
'All right sir, close it.' Then she opened the rear door and bent down to inspect under the seats. It was then he took the first real look at her, starting from behind. She was a beautiful girl in a breasty blue jersey, khaki jeans and canvas shoes with the new-style hair-plait which gave a girl a defiant look and which they called—for reasons of their own—'air force base'; and she looked vaguely familiar.
'I am all right, sir,' she said at last meaning she was through with her task. 'You don't recognize me?'
'No. Should I?'
'You gave me a lift to Enugu that time I left my school to go and join the militia.'
'Ah, yes, you were the girl. I told you, didn't I, to go back to school because girls were not required in the militia. What happened?'
'They told me to go back to my school or join the Red Cross.'
'You see I was right. So, what are you doing now?'
'Just patching up with Civil Defence.'
'Well, good luck to you. Believe me you are a great girl.'
That was the day he finally believed there might be something in this talk about revolution. He had seen plenty of girls and women marching and demonstrating before now. But somehow he had never been able to give it much thought. He didn't doubt that the girls and the women took themselves seriously, they obviously did. But so did the little kids who marched up and down the streets at the time drilling with sticks and wearing their mothers' soup bowls for steel helmets. The prime joke of the time among his friends was the contingent of girls from a local secondary school marching behind a banner: WE ARE IMPREGNABLE!
But after that encounter at the Awka check-point he simply could not sneer at the girls again, nor at the talk of revolution, for he had seen it in action in that young woman whose devotion had simply and without self-righteousness convicted him of gross levity. What were her words? We are doing the work you asked us to do. She wasn't going to make an exception even for one who once did her a favour. He was sure she would have searched her own father just as rigorously.
When their paths crossed a third time, at least eighteen months later, things had got very bad. Death and starvation having long chased out the headiness of the early days, now left in some places blank resignation, in others a rock-like, even suicidal, defiance. But surprisingly enough there were many at this time who had no other desire than to corner whatever good things were still going and to enjoy themselves to the limit. For such people a strange normalcy had returned to the world. All those nervous check-points disappeared. Girls became girls once more and boys boys. It was a tight, blockaded and desperate world but none the less a world—with some goodness and some badness and plenty of heroism which, however, happened most times far, far below the eye-level of the people in this story—in out-of-the-way refugee camps, in the damp tatters, in the hungry and bare-handed courage of the first line of fire.
Reginald Nwankwo lived in Owerri then. But that day he had gone to Nkwerri in search of relief. He had got from Caritas in Owerri a few heads of stock-fish, some tinned meat, and the dreadful American stuff called Formula Two which he felt certain was some kind of animal feed. But he always had a vague suspicion that not being a Catholic put one at a disadvantage with Caritas. So he went now to see an old friend who ran the WCC depot at Nkwerri to get other items like rice, beans and that excellent cereal commonly called Gabon gari.
He left Owerri at six in the morning so as to catch his friend at the depot where he was known never to linger beyond 8.30 for fear of air-raids. Nwankwo was very fortunate that day. The depot had received on the previous day large supplies of new stock as a result of an unusual number of plane landings a few nights earlier. As his driver loaded tins and bags and cartons into his car the starved crowds that perpetually hung around relief centres made crude, ungracious remarks like 'War Can Continue!' meaning the WCC! Somebody else shouted 'Irevolu!' and his friends replied 'shum!'
'Irevolu!'
'shum!'
'Isofeli?'
'Mba!'
Nwankwo was deeply embarrassed not by the jeers of this scarecrow crowd of rags and floating ribs but by the independent accusation of their wasted bodies and sunken eyes. Indeed he would probably have felt much worse had they said nothing, simply looked on in silence, as his boot was loaded with milk, and powdered egg and oats and tinned meat and stock-fish. By nature such singular good fortune in the midst of a general desolation was certain to embarrass him. But what could a man do? He had a wife and four children living in the remote village of Ogbu and completely dependent on what relief he could find and send them. He couldn't abandon them to kwashiokor. The best he could do—and did do as a matter of fact—was to make sure that whenever he got sizeable supplies like now he made over some of it to his driver, Johnson, with a wife and six, or was it seven?, children and a salary of ten pounds a month when gari in the market was climbing to one pound per cigarette cup. In such a situation one could do nothing at all for crowds; at best one could try to be of some use to one's immediate neighbours. That was all.
On his way back to Owerri a very attractive girl by the roadside waved for a lift. He ordered the driver to stop. Scores of pedestrians, dusty and exhausted, some military, some civil, swooped down on the car from all directions.
'No, no, no,' said Nwankwo firmly. 'It's the young woman I stopped for. I have a bad tyre and can only take one person. Sorry.'
'My son, please,' cried one old woman in despair, gripping the door-handle.
'Old woman, you want to be killed?' shouted the driver as he pulled away, shaking her off. Nwankwo had already opened a book and sunk his eyes there. For at least a mile after that he did not even look at the girl until she finding, perhaps, the silence too heavy said: 'You've saved me today. Thank you.'
'Not at all. Where are you going?'
'To Owerri. You don't recognize me?'
'Oh yes, of course. What a fool I am… You are…'
'Gladys.'
'That's right, the militia girl. You've changed, Gladys. You were always beautiful of course, but now you are a beauty queen. What do you do these days?'
'I am in the Fuel Directorate.'
'That's wonderful.'
It was wonderful, he thought, but even more it was tragic. She wore a high-tinted wig and a very expensive skirt and low-cut blouse. Her shoes, obviously from Gabon, must have cost a fortune. In short, thought Nwankwo, she had to be in the keep of some well-placed gentleman, one of those piling up money out of the war.
'I broke my rule today to give you a lift. I never give lifts these days.'
'Why?'
'How many people can you carry? It is better not to try at all. Look at that old woman.'
'I thought you would carry her.'
He said nothing to that and after another spell of silence Gladys thought maybe he was offended and so added: 'Thank you for breaking your rule for me.' She was scanning his face, turned slightly away. He smiled, turned, and tapped her on the lap.
'What are you going to Owerri to do?'
'I am going to visit my girl friend.'
'Girl friend? You sure?'
'Why not?… If you drop me at her house you can see her. Only I pray God she hasn't gone on weekend today; it will be serious.'
'Because if she is not at home I will sleep on the road today.'
'I pray to God that she is not at home.'
'Because if she is not at home I will offer you bed and breakfast… What is that?' he asked the driver who had brought the car to an abrupt stop. There was no need for an answer. The small crowd ahead was looking upwards. The three scrambled out of the car and stumbled for the bush, necks twisted in a backward search of the sky. But the alarm was false. The sky was silent and clear except for two high-flying vultures. A humorist in the crowd called them Fighter and Bomber and everyone laughed in relief. The three climbed into their car again and continued their journey.
'It is much too early for raids,' he said to Gladys, who had both her palms on her breast as though to still a thumping heart. 'They rarely come before ten o'clock.'
But she remained tongue-tied from her recent fright. Nwankwo saw an opportunity there and took it at once.
'Where does your friend live?'
'250 Douglas Road.'
'Ah! that's the very centre of town—a terrible place. No bunkers, nothing. I won't advise you to go there before 6 p.m.; it's not safe. If you don't mind I will take you to my place where there is a good bunker and then as soon as it is safe, around six, I shall drive you to your friend. How's that?'
'It's all right,' she said lifelessly. 'I am so frightened of this thing. That's why I refused to work in Owerri. I don't even know who asked me to come out today.'
'You'll be all right. We are used to it.'
'But your family is not there with you?'
'No,' he said. 'Nobody has his family there. We like to say it is because of air-raids but I can assure you there is more to it. Owerri is a real swinging town and we live the life of gay bachelors.'
'That is what I have heard.'
'You will not just hear it; you will see it today. I shall take you to a real swinging party. A friend of mine, a Lieutenant-Colonel, is having a birthday party. He's hired the Sound Smashers to play. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.'
He was immediately and thoroughly ashamed of himself. He hated the parties and frivolities to which his friends clung like drowning men. And to talk so approvingly of them because he wanted to take a girl home! And this particular girl too, who had once had such beautiful faith in the struggle and was betrayed (no doubt about it) by some man like him out for a good time. He shook his head sadly.
'What is it?' asked Gladys.
'Nothing. Just my thoughts.'
They made the rest of the journey to Owerri practically in silence.
She made herself at home very quickly as if she was a regular girl friend of his. She changed into a house dress and put away her auburn wig.
'That is a lovely hair-do. Why do you hide it with a wig?'
'Thank you,' she said leaving his question unanswered for a while. Then she said: 'Men are funny.'
'Why do you say that?'
'You are now a beauty queen,' she mimicked.
'Oh, that! I mean every word of it.' He pulled her to him and kissed her. She neither refused nor yielded fully, which he liked for a start. Too many girls were simply too easy those days. War sickness, some called it.
He drove off a little later to look in at the office and she busied herself in the kitchen helping his boy with lunch. It must have been literally a look-in, for he was back within half an hour, rubbing his hands and saying he could not stay away too long from his beauty queen.
As they sat down to lunch she said: 'You have nothing in your fridge.'
'Like what?' he asked, half-offended.
'Like meat,' she replied undaunted.
'Do you still eat meat?' he challenged.
'Who am I? But other big men like you eat.'
'I don't know which big men you have in mind. But they are not like me. I don't make money trading with the enemy or selling relief or…'
'Augusta's boy friend doesn't do that. He just gets foreign exchange.'
'How does he get it? He swindles the government—that's how he gets foreign exchange, whoever he is. Who is Augusta, by the way?'
'My girl friend.'
'I see.'
'She gave me three dollars last time which I changed to forty-five pounds. The man gave her fifty dollars.'
'Well, my dear girl, I don't traffic in foreign exchange and I don't have meat in my fridge. We are fighting a war and I happen to know that some young boys at the front drink gari and water once in three days.'
'It is true,' she said simply. 'Monkey de work, baboon de chop.'
'It is not even that; it is worse,' he said, his voice beginning to shake. 'People are dying every day. As we talk now somebody is dying.'
'It is true,' she said again.
'Plane!' screamed his boy from the kitchen.
'My mother!' screamed Gladys. As they scuttled towards the bunker of palm stems and red earth, covering their heads with their hands and stooping slightly in their flight, the entire sky was exploding with the clamour of jets and the huge noise of homemade anti-aircraft rockets.
Inside the bunker she clung to him even after the plane had gone and the guns, late to start and also to end, had all died down again.
'It was only passing,' he told her, his voice a little shaky. 'It didn't drop anything. From its direction I should say it was going to the war front. Perhaps our people are pressing them. That's what they always do. Whenever our boys press them, they send an SOS to the Russians and Egyptians to bring the planes.' He drew a long breath.
She said nothing, just clung to him. They could hear his boy telling the servant from the next house that there were two of them and one dived like this and the other dived like that.
'I see dem well well,' said the other with equal excitement. 'If no to say de ting de kill porson e for sweet for eye. To God.'
'Imagine!' said Gladys, finding her voice at last. She had a way, he thought, of conveying with a few words or even a single word whole layers of meaning. Now it was at once her astonishment as well as reproof, tinged perhaps with grudging admiration for people who could be so light-hearted about these bringers of death.
'Don't be so scared,' he said. She moved closer and he began to kiss her and squeeze her breasts. She yielded more and more and then fully. The bunker was dark and unswept and might harbour crawling things. He thought of bringing a mat from the main house but reluctantly decided against it. Another plane might pass and send a neighbour or simply a chance passer-by crashing into them. That would be only slightly better than a certain gentleman in another air-raid who was seen in broad daylight fleeing his bedroom for his bunker stark-naked pursued by a woman in a similar state!
Just as Gladys had feared, her friend was not in town. It would seem her powerful boy friend had wangled for her a flight to Libreville to shop. So her neighbours thought anyway.
'Great!' said Nwankwo as they drove away. 'She will come back on an arms plane loaded with shoes, wigs, pants, bras, cosmetics and what have you, which she will then sell and make thousands of pounds. You girls are really at war, aren't you?'
She said nothing and he thought he had got through at last to her. Then suddenly she said, 'That is what you men want us to do.'
'Well,' he said, 'here is one man who doesn't want you to do that. Do you remember that girl in khaki jeans who searched me without mercy at the check-point?'
She began to laugh.
'That is the girl I want you to become again. Do you remember her? No wig. I don't even think she had any earrings…'
'Ah, na lie-o. I had earrings.'
'All right. But you know what I mean.'
'That time done pass. Now everybody want survival. They call it number six. You put your number six; I put my number six. Everything all right.'
The Lieutenant-Colonel's party turned into something quite unexpected. But before it did things had been going well enough. There was goat-meat, some chicken and rice and plenty of home-made spirits. There was one fiery brand nicknamed 'tracer' which indeed sent a flame down your gullet. The funny thing was looking at it in the bottle it had the innocent appearance of an orange drink. But the thing that caused the greatest stir was the bread—one little roll for each person! It was the size of a golf-ball and about the same consistency too! But it was real bread. The band was good too and there were many girls. And to improve matters even further two white Red Cross people soon arrived with a bottle of Courvoisier and a bottle of Scotch! The party gave them a standing ovation and then scrambled to get a drop. It soon turned out from his general behaviour, however, that one of the white men had probably drunk too much already. And the reason it would seem was that a pilot he knew well had been killed in a crash at the airport last night, flying in relief in awful weather.
Few people at the party had heard of the crash by then. So there was an immediate damping of the air. Some dancing couples went back to their seats and the band stopped.
Then for some strange reason the drunken Red Cross man just exploded.
'Why should a man, a decent man, throw away his life. For nothing! Charley didn't need to die. Not for this stinking place. Yes, everything stinks here. Even these girls who come here all dolled up and smiling, what are they worth? Don't I know? A head of stockfish, that's all, or one American dollar and they are ready to tumble into bed.'
In the threatening silence following the explosion one of the young officers walked up to him and gave him three thundering slaps—right! left! right!—pulled him up from his seat and (there were things like tears in his eyes) shoved him outside. His friend, who had tried in vain to shut him up, followed him out and the silenced party heard them drive off. The officer who did the job returned dusting his palms.
'Fucking beast!' said he with an impressive coolness. And all the girls showed with their eyes that they rated him a man and a hero.
'Do you know him?' Gladys asked Nwankwo.
He didn't answer her. Instead he spoke generally to the party: 'The fellow was clearly drunk,' he said.
'I don't care,' said the officer. 'It is when a man is drunk that he speaks what is on his mind.'
'So you beat him for what was on his mind,' said the host, 'that is the spirit, Joe.'
'Thank you, sir,' said Joe, saluting.
'His name is Joe,' Gladys and the girl on her left said in unison, turning to each other.
At the same time Nwankwo and a friend on the other side of him were saying quietly, very quietly, that although the man had been rude and offensive what he had said about the girls was unfortunately the bitter truth, only he was the wrong man to say it.
When the dancing resumed Captain Joe came to Gladys for a dance. She sprang to her feet even before the word was out of his mouth. Then she remembered immediately and turned round to take permission from Nwankwo. At the same time the Captain also turned to him and said, 'Excuse me.'
'Go ahead,' said Nwankwo, looking somewhere between the two.
It was a long dance and he followed them with his eyes without appearing to do so.
Occasionally a relief plane passed overhead and somebody immediately switched off the lights saying it might be the Intruder. But it was only an excuse to dance in the dark and make the girls giggle, for the sound of the Intruder was well known.
Gladys came back feeling very self-conscious and asked Nwankwo to dance with her. But he wouldn't. 'Don't bother about me,' he said, 'I am enjoying myself perfectly sitting here and watching those of you who dance.'
'Then let's go,' she said, 'if you won't dance.'
'But I never dance, believe me. So please enjoy yourself.'
She danced next with the Lieutenant-Colonel and again with Captain Joe, and then Nwankwo agreed to take her home.
'I am sorry I didn't dance,' he said as they drove away. 'But I swore never to dance as long as this war lasts.'
She said nothing.
'When I think of somebody like that pilot who got killed last night. And he had no hand whatever in the quarrel. All his concern was to bring us food…'
'I hope that his friend is not like him,' said Gladys.
'The man was just upset by his friend's death. But what I am saying is that with people like that getting killed and our own boys suffering and dying at the war fronts I don't see why we should sit around throwing parties and dancing.'
'You took me there,' said she in final revolt. 'They are your friends. I don't know them before.'
'Look, my dear, I am not blaming you. I am merely telling you why I personally refuse to dance. Anyway, let's change the subject… Do you still say you want to go back tomorrow? My driver can take you early enough on Monday morning for you to go to work. No? All right, just as you wish. You are the boss.'
She gave him a shock by the readiness with which she followed him to bed and by her language.
'You want to shell?' she asked. And without waiting for an answer said, 'Go ahead but don't pour in troops!'
He didn't want to pour in troops either and so it was all right. But she wanted visual assurance and so he showed her.
One of the ingenious economies taught by the war was that a rubber condom could be used over and over again. All you had to do was wash it out, dry it and shake a lot of talcum powder over it to prevent its sticking; and it was as good as new. It had to be the real British thing, though, not some of the cheap stuff they brought in from Lisbon which was about as strong as a dry cocoyam leaf in the harmattan.
He had his pleasure but wrote the girl off. He might just as well have slept with a prostitute, he thought. It was clear as daylight to him now that she was kept by some army officer. What a terrible transformation in the short period of less than two years!
Wasn't it a miracle that she still had memories of the other life, that she even remembered her name? If the affair of the drunken Red Cross man should happen again now, he said to himself, he would stand up beside the fellow and tell the party that here was a man of truth. What a terrible fate to befall a whole generation! The mothers of tomorrow!
By morning he was feeling a little better and more generous in his judgements. Gladys, he thought, was just a mirror reflecting a society that had gone completely rotten and maggotty at the centre. The mirror itself was intact; a lot of smudge but no more. All that was needed was a clean duster. 'I have a duty to her,' he told himself, 'the little girl that once revealed to me our situation. Now she is in danger, under some terrible influence.'
He wanted to get to the bottom of this deadly influence. It was clearly not just her good-time girl friend, Augusta, or whatever her name was. There must be some man at the centre of it, perhaps one of these heartless attack-traders who traffic in foreign currencies and make their hundreds of thousands by sending young men to hazard their lives bartering looted goods for cigarettes behind enemy lines, or one of those contractors who receive piles of money daily for food they never deliver to the army. Or perhaps some vulgar and cowardly army officer full of filthy barrack talk and fictitious stories of heroism. He decided he had to find out. Last night he had thought of sending his driver alone to take her home. But no, he must go and see for himself where she lived. Something was bound to reveal itself there. Something on which he could anchor his saving operation. As he prepared for the trip his feeling towards her softened with every passing minute. He assembled for her half of the food he had received at the relief centre the day before. Difficult as things were, he thought, a girl who had something to eat would be spared, not all, but some of the temptation. He would arrange with his friend at the WCC to deliver something to her every fortnight.
Tears came to Gladys's eyes when she saw the gifts. Nwankwo didn't have too much cash on him but he got together twenty pounds and handed it over to her.
'I don't have foreign exchange, and I know this won't go far at all, but…'
She just came and threw herself at him, sobbing. He kissed her lips and eyes and mumbled something about victims of circumstance, which went over her head. In deference to him, he thought with exultation, she had put away her high-tinted wig in her bag.
'I want you to promise me something,' he said.
'Never use that expression about shelling again.'
She smiled with tears in her eyes. 'You don't like it? That's what all the girls call it.'
'Well, you are different from all the girls. Will you promise?'
'O.K.'
Naturally their departure had become a little delayed. And when they got into the car it refused to start. After poking around the engine the driver decided that the battery was flat. Nwankwo was aghast.
He had that very week paid thirty-four pounds to change two of the cells and the mechanic who performed it had promised him six months' service. A new battery, which was then running at two hundred and fifty pounds was simply out of the question. The driver must have been careless with something, he thought.
'It must be because of last night,' said the driver.
'What happened last night?' asked Nwankwo sharply, wondering what insolence was on the way. But none was intended.
'Because we use the head light.'
'Am I supposed not to use my light then? Go and get some people and try pushing it.' He got out again with Gladys and returned to the house while the driver went over to neighbouring houses to seek the help of other servants.
After at least half an hour of pushing it up and down the street, and a lot of noisy advice from the pushers, the car finally spluttered to life shooting out enormous clouds of black smoke from the exhaust.
It was eight-thirty by his watch when they set out. A few miles away a disabled soldier waved for a lift.
'Stop!' screamed Nwankwo. The driver jammed his foot on the brakes and then turned his head towards his master in bewilderment.
'Don't you see the soldier waving? Reverse and pick him up!'
'Sorry, sir,' said the driver. 'I don't know Master wan to pick him.'
'If you don't know you should ask. Reverse back.'
The soldier, a mere boy, in filthy khaki drenched in sweat lacked his right leg from the knee down. He seemed not only grateful that a car should stop for him but greatly surprised. He first handed in his crude wooden crutches which the driver arranged between the two front seats, then painfully he levered himself in.
'Thank sir,' he said turning his neck to look at the back and completely out of breath.
'I am very grateful. Madame, thank you.'
'The pleasure is ours,' said Nwankwo. 'Where did you get your wound?'
'At Azumini, sir. On tenth of January.'
'Never mind. Everything will be all right. We are proud of you boys and will make sure you receive your due reward when it is all over.'
'I pray God, sir.'
They drove on in silence for the next half-hour or so. Then as the car sped down a slope towards a bridge somebody screamed—perhaps the driver, perhaps the soldier—'They have come!' The screech of the brakes merged into the scream and the shattering of the sky overhead. The doors flew open even before the car had come to a stop and they were fleeing blindly to the bush. Gladys was a little ahead of Nwankwo when they heard through the drowning tumult the soldier's voice crying: 'Please come and open for me!' Vaguely he saw Gladys stop; he pushed past her shouting to her at the same time to come on. Then a high whistle descended like a spear through the chaos and exploded in a vast noise and motion that smashed up everything. A tree he had embraced flung him away through the bush. Then another terrible whistle starting high up and ending again in a monumental crash of the world; and then another, and Nwankwo heard no more.
He woke up to human noises and weeping and the smell and smoke of a charred world.
He dragged himself up and staggered towards the source of the sounds.
From afar he saw his driver running towards him in tears and blood. He saw the remains of his car smoking and the entangled remains of the girl and the soldier. And he let out a piercing cry and fell down again.
Posted in short storyTagged Chinua Achebe, Full Text, pdf, Short Stories
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text:
The list of teams and cyclists in the 2006 Vuelta a España contains the professional road bicycle racers who competed at the 2006 Vuelta a España from August 26 to September 17, 2006.

See also
2006 Vuelta a España

References

2006 Vuelta a España
2006

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
Morrison Heights Baptist Church's sex abuse awareness conference irony
Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, Mississippi is hosting a Sexual Abuse Awareness Training Conference on April 29, 2014.
Today we are partnering with the Christian Action Commission of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board and Morrison Heights Baptist Church to provide Sexual Abuse Awareness Training for pastors, church staff and lay leaders. Our goal is to equip church leaders with the skills and resources they need to keep children safe.
However, with just 12 days away from this conference that Morrison Heights is hosting at their church as a conference partner, there is no mention on their church website anywhere about this conference. Why?
Washington Times story on this upcoming conference: Program for all churches to avert child sex abuse
CLINTON, Miss. (AP) - A church where a former music minister admitted sexual abuse will host a program for all denominations to learn how to keep their ministries free of child molestation.
About 2 weeks ago, I addressed this omission to Morrison Heights, pastor Greg Belser, and the Baptist Children's Village on twitter where the BCV has been promoting the conference:
There is no mention of the 4/29 abuse training conference on the @MorrisonHeights event calender: http://t.co/egTuJD2nat @gbelser @TheBCV
— Amy Smith (@watchkeep) April 6, 2014
Why doesn't @gbelser want his own church members @MorrisonHeights to be informed about the sex abuse awareness training at his church?
I received this response from the BCV:
.@TheBCV target audience should be anyone who needs to hear this important info & victims of #Langworthy & other perps urged to call police
.@TheBCV good. So Kathy #Langworthy, @MorrisonHeights staff member & wife of the MH convicted child sex offender received one too I hope.
I know a few community leaders who are planning to attend this conference that have expressed to me confusion over this omission from the Morrison Heights website, and questioning if this conference is really taking place. So I called Morrison Heights church this morning and spoke at first with a receptionist. She confirmed that the conference is still on 4/29 and mentioned that they had recently had a staff meeting about it.
Hmm, a staff meeting about an event that isn't mentioned on the church website? The receptionist kindly offered to transfer me to someone who knew more about the conference. I then spoke with Sharon Prather, Administrative Office Manager, asking why there is no mention of the abuse awareness conference on their website, where they do promote several other events taking place at their church and also promote events for organizations outside the church, such as Compassion International (a great organization which our family supports). There is also a banner in fact on the church's home page for One Cry: A Nationwide Call for Spiritual Awakening. Sharon said, "We are looking into it."
I asked Sharon if anyone had questions about the conference could they call Morrison Heights? Sharon said, no, only the Baptist Children's Village could answer questions about the conference as they are "handling all publicity."
Greg Belser, pastor of Morrison Heights, was willing to give his pulpit to John Langworthy to confess his child sex crimes, the former MH minister, and now convicted child sex offender, on a Sunday morning in August 2011. Greg then dedicated the sermon that morning to praising and supporting John Langworthy and his wife Kathy who remains on the church music staff. Belser even took shots in his "sermon" at those of us who worked to expose the truth about Langworthy. Belser then invited the congregation that Sunday morning to publicly surround the Langworthys, and hugging, crying and praying ensued. How painful it must have been to be a victim of Langworthy or any other offender that day.
Langworthy's confession
To this day, there has never been a moment of mention from the pulpit of the victims: no crying, no support, no praying for them. There has never been a plea from Morrison Heights for anyone else who may been harmed by Langworthy to contact the police, to seek justice, begin to heal and to protect other kids. Langworthy pleaded guilty in January 2013 to 5 counts of sex abuse of 5 boys ages 6-13 from 1980-84. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison, but all of it was suspended, so he didn't spend a day in prison and was immediately allowed to return home from court the day of his conviction and sentencing. Children are safest when predators are in jail.
In a phone conversation with Greg Belser in February 2011, he told me and Sherry LeFils that he wanted to "save John." That was his priority then, and it seems to still be his priority 3 years later with no public indication otherwise. Will he speak at the conference at his church? Will he mention support for the victims? Will he urge others to come forward to the police? Whether he wants it to be addressed or not, Langworthy is the elephant in the room.
And now with a Sexual Abuse AWARENESS Training Conference being held at his church, Greg Belser isn't even willing to give this important conference a mention on his church's website or calender of events.
This is how a real leader addresses abuse, without hesitation and unequivocally:
Show moral courage and take a stand against it.
Silent no more: a survivor of sexual assault by prominent Memphis pastor Andy Savage shares her story #metoo #churchtoo #silenceisnotspiritual
"You are not to blame. You did nothing wrong. You are not alone." These are the messages we hope every victim will hear and believe. The waves of sexual assault stories by prominent, famous and powerful people have spread far and wide these last few months, most profoundly impacting those who have suffered abuse of their own. This has come as no shock to those of us who have been sounding the alarm for years about rampant abuse in churches by pastors and other leaders. Thankfully, the spread of #metoo stories has merged with #churchtoo, giving courage and space for more victims to come forward and break the silence protecting sexual predators.
Texas Penal Code Chapter 5. (22.011) Title 5. Offenses against the person.
Chapter 22. Assaultive Offenses.
Sec. 22.011. Sexual assault.
(b) A sexual assault [...] is without the consent of the other person if: [...] 10) the actor is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional…
Former Highpoint Church pastor Chris Conlee allegedly fired for physical assault of female staff member
According to a local, trusted source, Highpoint Churchin Memphis fired its founding pastor Chris Conlee for assaulting a female staff member. Instead of reporting the assault to the police, church leaders paid Conlee and another disgraced, sexually abusive pastor, Andy Savage, a portion of about $700,000 in severance pay, according to a church financial statement of activities.
If other low level staffers also received a severance package in 2018, what percentage of the total amount was doled out to these staffers and what percentage was doled out to Chris Conlee and Andy Savage?
The "employee settlement expenses" are listed under Non-operating income (expense). Also listed are "professional consultation and legal fees" of $251,019.
Highpoint Church Layoff Wor... by on Scribd
At the time of the public release of Jules Woodson's story of sexual abuse by her then youth pastor, Andy Savage, Highpoint Church was a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. They have …
Berean Baptist Church shows lead pastor Wes Feltner's video message to the church as he blames victims and their advocates for his suffering
In the weekend services at Berean Baptist Church in Minnesota, lead pastor Wes Feltner addressed the church in a pre-recorded video message (embedded below). He announced that he removed his name from consideration to be the new pastor at First Baptist Church Clarksville, Tennessee. He also stated that he is taking a leave of absence while Berean investigates allegations of his pastoral abuse. He mentioned the victims by name, Megan and JoAnna. I pulled out a few of his statements:
They organized to destroy my career and reputation.My family and I are facing serious and withering attacks.There's a reason God has placed a call on my life to preach the gospel.Feltner ends his message with an appeal to the message of "amazing grace."
Megan and JoAnna have stated that this isn't the first notice that Berean has been given of Feltner's abusive behavior.
Around 2014: Berean Baptist Church, Burnsville, MN: Former Youth under Wes Feltner at First Southern Baptist Church spo…
How to get promoted in the Southern Baptist Conven...
Morrison Heights Baptist Church's sex abuse awaren...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Die cutting is an exceptionally versatile and cost-effective way to manufacture, shape, cut, and form products made from an array of materials. However, not all custom manufacturers are created equally, and few offer the money-saving advantages of die cutting with Frank Lowe.
At Frank Lowe, we offer custom fabrication services that allow us to die cut virtually any shape from a full complement of non-metallic materials. We'll closely partner with your business, provide our expertise, and ensure you capitalize on the several advantages of die cutting with Frank Lowe. Let's take a closer look at a few of the most common advantages of die cutting with us and how we work to slash your manufacturing costs in more way than one.
Whether you manufacture medical devices or any other product, it's vital to find ways to cut costs and gain a competitive advantage. Frank Lowe's custom die cutting is one of the most effective ways to slash costs. The alternative is to hire a full team of personnel and purchase the special equipment required to create the component, gasket, or part.
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Whether you need continuous die cutting services or a one-off batch of components made, Frank Lowe will meet your needs and exceed your expectations. You can tap into our decades of experience and save money through the economies of scale — one of the biggest advantages of die cutting with Frank Lowe.
By partnering with Frank Lowe, you'll have an ally in your corner working to help improve your product and/or processes. Did you know you can actually reduce your overall production costs by choosing a less expensive material that performs comparably to your current material?
Your dedicated custom manufacturing team will continually look to enhance your savings through expert materials selection by ensuring you aren't over engineering We offer a full range of non-metallic elastomers and will help you choose the best material for your specific application.
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Since 1955, Frank Lowe has been providing cutting-edge die cutting and custom fabrication solutions. We infuse over 60 years of expertise into every die cut we make, which is one of the key reasons we're a cut above the rest. At Frank Lowe, we're large enough to quickly meet orders of all sizes and agile enough to get to know you and your business. We'll act as an active extension of your business and your partner for growth.
Contact us today to explore the money-saving advantages of die cutting.
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Since 2002, Randy Cohen has served as the Senior Vice President of Frank Lowe — leading Sales and Marketing as well as a variety of Administrative operations. Randy has 25 years of experience with a background in sales & marketing, production and business management, serving both government agencies and private industry. He holds a B.A from Syracuse University and a Masters and Professional Diploma from Fordham University. Randy uses his unique set of experiences to help businesses and entities across all sectors explore, pursue, and create better solutions.
Are You Using the Right Materials For Your Die Cutting Application?
Let's talk. We'll help you choose the right materials for your die cutting application.


Today we present you the best Interior Design projects by Jeff Andrews.
Jeff was named one of the Top 100 Interior Designers by Boca do Lobo and Coveted Magazine.
California is the place where everyone wants to go and experience an unbelievable atmosphere that is not in any other part of the world. Interior design is developing with high speed here and differs from interior decorating in that interior designers must account for so many design facets outside of the purely aesthetic.
As it is known, an interior designer is responsible for planning several aspects of an interior space, including aesthetics, construction elements, functionality, handicap accessibility, safety, building code conformity, blueprints, acoustics and construction methods. Today we would like to pay your attention to internationally celebrated interior designer Jeff Andrews.
Internationally celebrated interior designer, Jeff Andrews creates sophisticated and livable interiors for families and celebrities alike. Jeff is skilled at pushing creative boundaries in ways that respect and redefine traditional design aesthetics. His refreshing approach makes him one of the most sought-after interior designers in the industry, nd his ability to visualize and interpret the needs of a diverse range of clients is unmatched. Jeff Andrews' interiors are stunning achievements in their beauty, comfort, and livability. What sets Jeff Andrews apart in the world of interior design is his natural talent for taking bold design concepts and infusing them with warmth, sophistication, and most importantly, a sense of home.
His concept of high design is quality, function, and comfort executed with the most aesthetically pleasing elements and modern amenities. Inspired by his Southern California upbringing, Andrews and his team create interior and exterior spaces with equal magic.
Get inspired with the best interior projects by Jeff Andrews!


What do you get when you combine the raw extracts of Blue Agave Tequila & Yucca Plant? An energizing cleanser that works with a man's pH for a deep pore cleanse that will awaken and enliven the skin. RA for Men's Blue Agave Wash is an invigorating daily wash developed especially for the male skin. The raw elements of plants and essential oils in Blue Agave also provide aromatic and stimulating benefits that offer the ideal cleansing experience.


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Army Recruit Training Centre Kapooka
Royal Military College - Duntroon
Life at RMC-D
Joining RMCD
RMC-D leaders
RMCD History and Traditions
Graduation parade - December 2018
Queen's Birthday parade
Map of RMC-D
Australian Defence Force Academy
Australian Defence College
Directorate of Contingent Workforce Management
Support to move on
ADF Total Workforce Model
Royal Military College – Duntroon
RMC-D hosts a variety of significant public events throughout the year.
The Queen's Birthday Parade is a celebration of the official birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.
Graduation parade - 12 December 2017
RMC–D conducts a graduation parade and commissioning ceremony every six months to celebrate the completion of training by the Corps of Staff Cadets' senior class. These events serve as an opportunity for graduates to be welcomed into the Australian Army as its newest Lieutenants by family and friends, as well as the staff and guests of RMC–D.


This product consists of three highly detailed Shieldmaiden Ice Warbears and three Shieldmaiden riders, all in high quality polyurethane resin. Three 75mm x 50mm bases come with this product.
NOTE: This product is eligible for FREE shipping worldwide.
"...it is not an unusual sight in the frozen lands of the Krumvaal® for ice bear cubs to be captured and later used as mounts by the Shieldmaidens. These are then called 'Ice Warbears' and form the lethal cavalry of this female faction. The beasts plow though the snow with ease and charge with fury, their huge muscles allowing them to crinkle even the toughest of enemy armor. On top of that their jaws have cracking strength and if they manage to maw the unfortunate one who stands on their way they will snap his bones like toothpicks!
It takes really skillful warriors to surpress the beasts' will and make them obey! Often these furry mountains of muscle dissaprove of this captivity however and turn on their masters. What's surprising is that unlike most beasts of the icy North, these are cunning enough to do so only when they feel they have yielded enough strength to be certain of their victory and escape...."


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The Faith of Children, Magic, and Mustard
If you have not yet heard of the movie Little Boy, you may want to find it and plan a movie night. It is a fantastic and unique film about a young son named Pepper who was willing to do anything possible to bring his father, who was drafted into the military for World War II, home. It's charming, nostalgic, and it deals with societal difficulties that were alive during that time.
One thing that plays heavily into the plot is Pepper's small stature, even for an eight year-old. he was tormented for his size and he believed that he was incapable of doing much to change his circumstances until he began to associate with a magician, whose persona also played the role of a crime-fighter, who came to town and performed a show.
This was a significant moment for the boy as his father had shared comics of the magician's exploits throughout his childhood. Now, the showman held a special place in Pepper's heart as a point of connection with his father who was now away. At the show, the magician chose Pepper to volunteer in a magic trick where he would move a wine bottle across a table using only his mind. Once the trick had been successfully completed, Pepper believed himself to have special powers and began to work out a plan to end the war and bring his father home.
In his mind, he remembered the story from church where he was told that, "if you have faith [even as small as] a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20) and believed it to be a sign. Incredible power can come from a small thing like a mustard seed or a small boy. Things that once seemed impossible are no longer impossible for those who held this power.
But a priest confronted the idea. As he told the child that he did not understand the point of the message, another priest patiently sat the boy down and asked him to move a bottle on his desk to prove his power. The boy tried, painstakingly, to repeat the trick but found that the bottle wouldn't move. The priest told him to try again without results. He was told to try once more, and again, the bottle remained in its place.
(c) 2015 Open Road Films
One final time, the boy was asked and as he screamed in that office, trying with all his mind to force the bottle to move, the priest grabbed the bottle and slammed it down on the other side of the desk. He yelled, "there! It moved." The boy replied, "No, you moved it." The priest's response came with authority, "Yes, because you moved me to move it… See, I moved it because you wanted the bottle to move so much – and that, you can say, is how faith works. At least some of the time."
Isn't that beautiful? The priest saw the boy struggle and out of compassion, he moved the bottle for the boy. It's not in the priest's character to refuse to answer the boy's need. And what is the context of Matthew 17, from which the mustard seed teaching was given?
There was a boy who was being harmed by a demon by causing seizures, forcing falls into fire to burn him, and falls into water to drown him. The boy's father brought his son to Jesus and asked for miraculous healing and that is exactly what Jesus provided. Why? Because it isn't in His character to refuse to answer requests like the one before Him.
Even minuscule amounts of faith in the power and goodness of God can move Him to move mountains. When the disciples wondered why their efforts to heal the boy weren't bringing results, Jesus informed them that they were trusting in their own efforts. But if they had faith in God to do the impossible, then God may very well answer. Just as the priest watched the boy straining for something magical to happen to that bottle and so he moved it for him, God hears our cries and pain. He watches us strain against the sin and brokenness of the world. Rather than working miracles in our own power, God is the One who answers prayers, when they are aligned with His will, and His power is what is displayed in those moments.
Do we wish to see powerful moments of God's provision around us? Do we have faith that He can work all things for good to those who love Him? Do we trust that He has, can, and will answer many prayers of ours to show His love for His people? We are dependent on Him and when we lean into the One who is moved by our struggles to move mountains, we have found ourselves at home in relationship to the all-powerful God of the universe.
Evan McNeff March 28, 2022 March 28, 2022 GFC Blog No Comments
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package com.olerass.pfexample.android.geoquiz.domain.question;

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        initialize();
    }

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        syncViewToModel();

        view.whenAnswerGiven(answer -> {
            if (model.isCheater()) {
                view.showCheaterMessage();
            } else if (model.isCorrectAnswer(answer)) {
                view.showCorrectAnswerMessage();
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        view.whenNextQuestionRequested(model::gotoNextQuestion);
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Style Andrew Fiouzi November 27, 2021
Here's How to 'Slouch' in Style
'Slouchy tailoring' is having a moment. But while it's meant to be laidback, you also don't wanna look like you're a tween in your dad's work suit
As even James Bond discovered recently, tight suits are out, and "slouchy tailoring" is in. As opposed to tight pants and shirts that clasp your calves and strangle your shoulders, slouchy tailoring places a greater importance on the "three-dimensionality to clothing, emphasized by a roomier fit," per menswear blogger Ethan Wong.
In a post on the subject, Wong writes that the extra room allows clothes to have more life. As a result, even classic pieces like wool jackets and button-down shirts don't feel so "sterile, corporate or try-hard," he explains. Along those lines, think of the slouchy look as a way to mimic the comfort of loose-fitting sweatpants and sweatshirts but with the requisite amount of professionalism.
Of course, as with anything, it's about striking a balance. In this case, making sure you don't look like an 11-year-old wearing his dad's work clothes. And so, here are a few tips to help you toe the line between fashionably slouchy and looking like you're swimming laps in an Olympic-size blazer.
Just because you're going for more of a laidback look, that doesn't mean your trousers should be overly long, says Wong. For him, "slouchy requires drape and clean lines — anything above a shivering break ruins that for me," he writes. (A shivering break is when the hem meets the shoes' vamps without crumpling; it's also the Italian way of men's tailoring.) "A nice wide opening hemmed to a shivering break will eventually break and catch on shoes by circumstance (walking, posture, etc.)," he adds. "The drape on it lends itself to being sloppy in a charming way, which is essentially slouch."
Instead of extra long pants then, it typically means slightly wider leg openings and softer fabrics like wool and linen that don't crease as much as they bend. "It's about the weight of the fabric," Wong tells me, noting that thin fabrics like tissues generally don't slouch well. The trick, he explains, is to find breathable fabric that has a dense feel to it. "Hold it up to a window," Wong says. "If you can see through it but it still feels heavy, that's perfect for a slouchy look."
Here, it's all about the pockets. Namely, they should feel very lived-in. "When you buy a suit or sport coat, cut open the pockets and use them," writes Wong. He recommends putting a book in there, or something else with some heft. If the fabric stretches, so be it — that's the whole point.
Overall, if there's a defining characteristic to achieving a slouchy look, it's to wear clothes in such a way that it clearly looks like they've been worn a bunch. Which, again, has little to do with going up a size. It's more about taking the jackets you already own and using them in a more utilitarian way — a la putting books in the pockets. (That said, Wong does suggest sizing up if you're in-between sizes.)
Shirts are arguably the most difficult piece of a slouchy aesthetic to pull off — in part because we've long been sold an image of the poplin button-down that's more form-fitting and rigid against the chest, which is why Wong suggests going with an Oxford cloth button-down. It's heavier, and therefore, it continues to drape better with every wash.
Wong also appreciates denim and chambray shirts for their inherent slouch. "They have that feeling baked in," he says. "They're typically heftier off the rack." The ultimate in slouch shirts, however, is his beloved rayon. "That's why I like thrifting for shirts or buying them on eBay," he says. "Because vintage [rayon gabardine] shirts already have that lived-in comfortable feeling."
Could there be a finer way to slouch?
Andrew Fiouzi
Andrew Fiouzi is a staff writer at MEL.
What Exactly Am I Getting from a 'Heritage' Brand?
Only 'Cum Shoes' Can Encapsulate the Circle Jerk of Luxury Footwear
An Oral History of How the Movie 'WarGames' Inspired Ronald Reagan's Cybersecurity Policies
'Soy Face' Is Real, and It's Annoying — It Just Needs a Better Name


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Donald Trump launches fresh attack on Amazon, Washington Post
March 31, 2018 nedhamson
#TraitorTrump and #ClownTrump blathering on because someone has more money than he does… Little person…
The president has complained that the US Postal Service loses "billions of dollars" delivering packages for Amazon. He also took aim at the internet retailer's boss for his ownership of the influential Washington Post.
Trump freezes Syria recovery funds amid rumors of early exit
Wants Vlad to have free hand in Syria – #TraitorTrump
US President Donald Trump has told his aides he wants a quick withdrawal of American troops from Syria. A White House official confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that $200 million in recovery funds had been frozen.
Japanese whalers return from Antarctica with huge catch
Nationalism's ugly and inhumane face
Three Japanese whaling vessels have returned to port from a controversial trip to Antarctica after catching 333 whales. Tokyo claims the slaughter is for scientific purposes.
Palestinians hold day of mourning after 773 'shot with live ammunition'
At least 15 killed when Israeli soldiers open fire during mass demonstrations in Gaza
Gaza hospitals, running low on blood and overstretched by the huge number of wounded, were reeling after one of the enclave's bloodiest days outside of open war, in which Israeli soldiers shot 773 people with live ammunition, according to the ministry of health.
Fifteen of the wounded died, said the ministry spokesperson Dr Ashraf al-Qidra. "Most of the dead were aged between 17 and 35 years old," he said. "The injuries were on the upper part of the body." He added that the remainder of the wounded, some of whom were in a critical condition, had been "shot with live ammunition".
By now the world has witnessed the protests being lead by students of the school last visited by gun violence…….too many are bad mouthing the students for their activism even to the point of claiming that they are puppets or even actors….
One FOX anchor person even went so far to try and bully a 17 year old…..it backfired miserably (but what can you expect from anyone on FOX)…in case your nose picking got in the way of your current events…
Laura Ingraham offered an apology to Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg Thursday—after multiple major advertisers heeded his call to pull their ads from her Fox News show. Hogg, who has become a prominent gun-control advocate since the mass shooting, called for the boycott after Ingraham taunted him for "whining" about being rejected from colleges, the New York Times reports. "On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I…
Clown, Fail!, Traitor
Trump Orders State Dept. to Suspend Funds for Syria Recovery – The New York Times
Donald does not want to bother protecting Kurds from Russian and Turkish genocide. And oops forget that US had personnel at risk helping Kurds.
Census Bureau's Own Expert Panel Rebukes Decision to Add Citizenship Question
The panel, the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, said the addition of the citizenship question would depress the response to the census.
US proposes reviewing social media of nearly everyone seeking entry
I can spy more than Facebook! #TraitorTrump!
Measure would apply to most immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants, affecting more than 14 million people each year
In a broad expansion of the information gathered from applicants for US visas, the federal government is proposing to collect social media identities from nearly everyone who seeks entry into the United States, according to a state department filing on Friday.
The proposal, if approved by the office of management and budget (OMB), would require most immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants to list all social media identities they have used in the past five years.
PNN Update : 12 Palestinians were killed and 1500 wounded by IOF
Killing because they can – grim-grime
GAZA/PNN/
Israeli occupation forces killed 12 Palestinians and wounded 1500 during their participation in the march of return on the borders of the Gaza Strip with Israel.
Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel are expected on Friday to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Land Day, in which six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while demonstrating against the seizure of their land in 1976.
The Palestinian "March of Return," a series of mass protests along the border between Gaza and Israel, is taking place on today Friday with thousands of demonstrators rallying in six different locations amid tension in the Gaza Strip.
In light of the situation, the IOF declared a closed military zone along the border fence.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spoke to marchers in the eastern Gaza Strip. "The Palestinian people have proved time after time that they can take the initiative and do great things.
He added that This march is the beginning of the return to all of Palestine."
Haniyeh said they will not compromise and there is no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without a return to "the entire land of Palestine."
This march sends a message that the Palestinian people are united against the occupation and against the blockade and against the concessions and against the suspicious deals," Haniyeh added.
According to the IOF, at least 20 Palestinians have been wounded in separate incidents since Friday morning.
he Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed three Palestinians were wounded by gunfire in three different areas east of Jabalya and Rafah in the Gaza Strip and have been taken to a hospital. They are reportedly in moderate condition.
A Palestinian farmer was killed early Friday morning near the town of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Another was wounded by an Israeli tank shell, and is in critical condition.
Omar Wahid Samur, 27, was killed this morning. Al-Aqsa TV, the official Hamas-run television channel, as reported on the Friday morning incident.
In a separate incident, the Israeli army fired at two suspects in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the IOF. The forces were dealing with the security infrastructure of the border fence.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman wrote to Gaza residents in Arabic on his official Twitter account Friday morning ahead of the mass Gaza protests.
"The leadership of Hamas is playing with your lives. Anyone who comes close to the border fence today puts himself at risk. I suggest to you to continue your lives and not participate in a provocation," Lieberman warned.
Over the last few days the IOF has warned that it would open fire on anyone who tries to breach the border fence and enter Israel.
The IOF has brought a brigade, snipers and soldiers from various courses, to help local troops deal with Friday's demonstration. The snipers have been instructed to shoot demonstrators who breach the fence.
In a ceremony marking a change of Military Intelligence commanders on Wednesday, Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot said that the situation in Gaza is "highly explosive" and "threatens to damage the sensitive life fabric and safety of the region's residents."
On March 30, 1976, thousands of Palestinians in the northern Galilee region demonstrated against the seizure by Israel of large tracts of Arab land, prompting Israeli troops to use lethal force, killing six Palestinians.
The demonstrations first kicked off in the town of Deir Hanna, and was met by heavy brutality by Israeli police.
This was followed by further protests in the town of Arrabeh, in the Galilee region, during which one Palestinian was killed and dozens more injured by Israeli forces.
The extrajudicial killing triggered widespread demonstrations and violent clashes with Israeli forces in a number of other Arab towns and villages, in which the forces shot and killed six Palestinians.
The Land Day is of special significance to the Palestinians because it was the first time since 1948 that Palestinians in Israel organized a collective response to Israeli policies. It is marked not only by Palestinians within historical Palestine, but also by Palestinians all over the world.
Rogue ICE Empowered to Detain Pregnant Women
For Immediate Release: March 29, 2018
(WASHINGTON)—Kica Matos, spokesperson for the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, FIRM, reacted to the new ICE directive to detain pregnant immigrant women:
"The attacks on immigrants by this administration have reached a new low, even for this morally bankrupt president. Already rogue ICE agents can now make whatever call they want regarding the detention of pregnant women—which will undoubtedly lead to an increase in the number of incarcerated pregnant women.
This latest directive affirms that this administration has no respect for the dignity and worth of women—or people of color. This is why we fought tirelessly against an increase in DHS funding and this is why we will fight to win in November and remove legislators who support this evil administration."


WASHINGTON -- In a surprise move, the Supreme Court agreed yesterday to take up the cases of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and to decide whether they have been wrongly held for years without a fair chance to plead their innocence.
In a brief order before adjourning for the summer, the justices announced that they would hear an appeal they had turned down in early April. The case hinges on whether "foreign citizens imprisoned indefinitely" by the U.S. military could go to court and, if so, whether a judge could free them from "unlawful confinement."
The move itself was quite unusual. Court personnel said it had been 60 years since the justices dismissed an appeal petition and then voted to reverse themselves and hear the claim after all.
The switch may well reflect frustration within the court's liberal-to-moderate wing over the Bush administration's handling of the Guantanamo issue, say civil-liberties lawyers who have been battling with the government.
Three years ago, the court ruled that the hundreds of prisoners held there were entitled to a hearing before a neutral judge to challenge the government's basis for holding them. Since then, President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress, in a rebuke to the high court, enacted a law to strip these "unlawful enemy combatants" of their right to be heard in the federal courts.
Yesterday's order from the court may signal that a majority of the justices are prepared to rule that the Constitution's guarantee of the right to habeas corpus gives the Guantanamo detainees a right to go court and to contest the government's reason for holding them.
"The Supreme Court, along with the rest of the nation, should be sick and tired of what it's seeing in Guantanamo," said Matthew MacLean, an attorney for four Kuwaiti detainees at the U.S. naval base prison in southern Cuba. "It's anybody's guess what changed the Supreme Court's mind, but I hope the justices are seeing the discomfort that so many people in this country and abroad have with Guantanamo."
White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "We did not think that court review at this time was necessary, but we are confident in our legal position."
It is also possible the administration or congressional Democrats may close the prison before the court acts.
Despite the years of legal skirmishing, little progress has been made in establishing a system for deciding who is a truly dangerous foreign fighter who should be held as a war prisoner.
Bush administration lawyers have not budged for five years. They say foreign fighters who are not part of a regular army have no rights in American law and are not entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions.
However, in response to the high court's ruling in 2004, the Pentagon did agree to review the status of each prisoner held in Guantanamo. Known as a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, it consists of three military officers who review the evidence. The detainee does not have a lawyer and can see only evidence that is "reasonably available" to the officers.
Last week, an Army lawyer who participated in several hearings questioned their fairness. Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham filed a sworn statement in one of the appeals before the Supreme Court and said officers were pressured to rule in favor of keeping the detainees in prison.
"I certainly think the Abraham declaration proves what everyone has long surmised, that the CSRT process is just a kangaroo court that doesn't provide any meaningful review" of whether a detainee at Guantanamo is properly held as an enemy combatant, said David Cynamon, the lead attorney in Al-Odah v. Bush. "It seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back." His client, Fawzi Al-Odah, is a Kuwaiti who has been held for six years without any charges filed against him.
The other case to be heard by the court involves six Algerian men who lived in Bosnia in the 1990s. They were arrested by Bosnian police in 2001 on the suspicion they were involved in terrorism, but the next year the Supreme Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ordered them released for lack of evidence. They were immediately taken into custody by the U.S. military, shackled and put under hoods and shipped to Guantanamo, where they have been held since.
David G. Savage and Carol J. Williams write for the Los Angeles Times.


The most popular food channel in the Arab world had to play a big role at the Food Festival in Dubai, widely considered to be the biggest of its kind in the world. Our task was cut out, make Fatafeat the buziest communication platform for brands and fans.
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text:
Q: django-allauth adapter redirects I am leveraging django-allauth to provide Google authentication for my property management application. Here is the registration workflow I'm looking for:

*

*A new manager goes to a registration page with a "Signup With Google" button.

*They click the button and sign into Google.

*On the call back from Google they are presented with a form for additional info.

*When they submit this form their user account and manager profile is created and they are redirected to their company's homepage.

I have attempted to handle this "redirect to company's homepage" through adapters. The problem I am having is that the "get_login_redirect_url" function is executed after the initial Google sign-in, but before the signup form where I collect their work schedule, so I get a DoesNotExist on the adapter redirect because it was called before the managerprofile was created.
What is the proper way to do these redirects?
settings.py

ACCOUNT_SIGNUP_FORM_CLASS = 'managers.signup.ManagerProfileSignupForm'
SOCIALACCOUNT_AUTO_SIGNUP = False
SOCIALACCOUNT_ADAPTER = 'managers.adapter.ManagerSocialAccountAdapter'
ACCOUNT_ADAPTER = 'managers.adapter.ManagerAccountAdapter'

adapters.py

class ManagerSocialAccountAdapter(DefaultSocialAccountAdapter):
    def get_connect_redirect_url(self, request, socialaccount):
        return reverse('company_details', args=(request.user.managerprofile.company.pk,))

class ManagerAccountAdapter(DefaultAccountAdapter):
    def get_login_redirect_url(self, request):
        return reverse('company_details', args=(request.user.managerprofile.company.pk,))

A: Set the LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL on the settings.py of your application:
I have this value, to redirect to the home page:
LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = '/'

A: you need to define a decorator which consists of a function which runs before the account is created. Here take a look
#imports necessary for decorator call
from allauth.exceptions import ImmediateHttpResponse
from allauth.socialaccount.signals import pre_social_login
from allauth.account.utils import perform_login
from django.dispatch import receiver
from allauth.socialaccount.adapter import DefaultSocialAccountAdapter
from allauth.socialaccount.models import SocialLogin

# defining class to run through authentication
class SocialAccountAdapter(DefaultSocialAccountAdapter):
def pre_social_login(self, request, sociallogin):
    pass

# reciever defining function to hold the account before making it registered
@receiver(pre_social_login)
def link_to_local_user(sender, request, sociallogin, **kwargs):
    socialemail = sociallogin.user.email
    socialuname = socialemail.split('@')[0]
    sociallogin.user.username = socialuname+str(sociallogin.user.pk)

    if User.objects.filter(email=sociallogin.user.email).exists():
        user = User.objects.get(email=sociallogin.user.email)
        if user:
            perform_login(request, user, email_verification='optional')
            raise ImmediateHttpResponse(redirect('homePage'))
    else:
        SocialLogin.save(sociallogin, request, connect=False)
        user = User.objects.get(email=sociallogin.user.email)
        perform_login(request, user, email_verification='optional')
        raise ImmediateHttpResponse(redirect('homePage'))

This is assuming you have created a signal over User model instance creation which directly creates a profile model instance also mapping the user. If not, below the model for ManagerProfile, use this:
def create_profile(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
    if created:
        <ManagerProfileModel>.objects.create(userID=instance)

 post_save.connect(create_profile, sender=<UserModelWhereMainAccountIsCreated>)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
← More Sunshine Can't See The Wood →
Schnauze Muzzle
Bodger at 10:48 am August 4, 2020
Saturday.
Berlin, Germany.
A crowd of people whistling and cheering, and with few masks in sight, marched through downtown Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate ahead of a rally on a wide boulevard that runs through the city's Tiergarten park.
Protesters held up home-made placards featuring slogans that included "Corona, false alarm," "We are being forced to wear a muzzle," "Natural defence instead of vaccination" and "End the corona panic — bring fundamental rights back."
They chanted, "We're here and we're loud, because we are being robbed of our freedom."
The demonstration, entitled "The end of the pandemic — freedom day," was planned for weeks and drew people from various parts of Germany. Police used bullhorns to chide participants to keep to distancing rules and to wear masks.
Getty/AP/AFP
Ragbag?
Anti-Covid protest draws ragbag of conspiracy theorists to Berlin (Derek Scally, Irish Times)
Forced Sense of Security Fatigue A Rush And A Push Station To Station
Posted in Misc and tagged Berlin, coronavirus, masks at 10:48 am on August 4, 2020 by Bodger.
90 thoughts on "Schnauze Muzzle"
Junkface August 4, 2020 at 10:56 am
It drew in a right collection of eejits for sure. Some of them were way off on the whacky end of conspiracy theories. Every country has its fair share of morons. Berlin has actually handled the covid 19 crisis exceptionally well for such a large city (4.5 M population i think), it has a really low death count under 250. So well in fact, that some people don't believe covid 19 is dangerous at all!
SOQ August 4, 2020 at 11:08 am
Over one million people is a collection of eejits? What number would it take before people like you accept that they may have a valid point of view?
The fatality numbers just don't stack up and people are becoming wise to that fact. There is no 'new' science to back the assertion that paper or cloth masks provide any level of protection to themselves or anyone else.
Nigel August 4, 2020 at 11:10 am
I don't think pandemics are susceptible to popular dissent.
Do I need a username? August 4, 2020 at 11:15 am
@SOQ Lol. Where are you getting the "one million" love? There were no more than thousands. I actually live in Berlin.
Do one.
1.3 million figure was reported on france24 but appears to have disappeared now.
A couple of thousand- seriously?
Do I need a username? August 4, 2020 at 12:15 pm
@SOQ There is literally no way anything approximating one million or even a hundred thousand for that matter were at this. FFS, I live there. Mitte was busier than usual but only the most surreal interpretation of attendance could come up with this level of exaggeration. There were barely any restrictions or diversions in place apart from around Unter den Linden.
This is the France 24 report: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.france24.com/en/20200801-protests-against-coronavirus-curbs-draws-crowds-in-berlin
Cite your sources for one million or quit the flimflam.
SOQ August 4, 2020 at 12:34 pm
No that is not the link- France 24 done quite a number of stories on this march.
@SOQ Of course. Convenient.
Still, in the absence of any link or evidence from you and the fact, I LIVE IN BERLIN, you my friend are telling porkies.
realPolithicks August 4, 2020 at 2:47 pm
SOQ only hears whatever he wants to hear.
SOQ August 4, 2020 at 8:58 pm
9 deaths in Melbourne the day before yesterday resulted in the most draconian lock down seen outside China- and for what?
Yes! They came from far and wide to blame 5G and Bill Gates. Morons.
The fatality numbers in Germany are very low because they have a very well funded and equipped health care system.
Masks work as a way of suppressing the virus when sharing indoor space. Its really simple, many countries have proved this. Countries have to find a way of getting businesses moving again. So in Berlin they have reopened restaurants and bars, with most people eating and drinking outside, all shops are open but you need a mask. It is helping to recover lost income but not perfect.
Protest numbers were : 20,000 not a million
What countries have proved this exactly?
Taiwan, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, Norway, Greece, Finland, Thailand
Link to that claim please?
Junkface August 4, 2020 at 12:03 pm
Here is a good report on the status of EU countries and covid 19 with regards to a 2nd wave.
https://www.euronews.com/2020/08/03/is-europe-having-a-covid-19-second-wave-country-by-country-breakdown
And what has that got to do with masks?
Even the WHO admits their is no evidence of the efficacy of masks. They wore them in Wuhan right from the start of their outbreak of course.
@SOQ You are demanding proof from others while blithely claiming a one million attendance without any evidence whatsoever. ROFL.
You're some chancer.
Aggressive much?
If you are going to blindly state that somehow masks have prevented the infection in half a dozen countries then surely you have some sort of scientific study to back it up?
Sweden's Top Epidemiologist Says 'We See No Point In Wearing Masks' As COVID-19 Cases Drop "Not even on public transport."
https://www.dailywire.com/news/swedens-top-epidemiologist-says-we-see-no-point-in-wearing-masks-as-covid-19-cases-drop
@SOQ Demanding proof from others while exempting yourself from any such obligation so you can churn out quackery is a trite rather than aggressive point, I would have thought.
Mary (Never) Wong August 4, 2020 at 12:49 pm
Hahaha oh my god
This is insane
Junkface August 4, 2020 at 1:23 pm
@SOQ
Not all information about covid 19 is from online sources. I have watched and heard many scientists reports about wearing masks. Dr.Luke O'Neill (not sure of surname) reports daily on Newstalk radio in the morning. He mentioned Taiwan, Norway, Denmark and Czech republic many times in April and May. Same goes for reports on TV from Euronews, DW news, Sky News (all have youtube channels). It's not my job to provide links to proof of this, that's what google is for. Very easy to find info about masks.
Here is another mask related link : https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/would-everyone-wearing-face-masks-help-us-slow-pandemic
No more links from me
It is Prof. Luke O'Neill and I will say no more. https://twitter.com/indepdubnrth/status/1282791959640383488
As a general point- yes not everything is online but you would expect that something so serious as compulsory mask wearing would have at least some semblance of agreed evidence? Why is Sweden's fatality figures so similar to the rest without the economic carnage? No lock downs and no masks.
One point completely missed in your cited paper btw is that Taiwan was exposed to SARS-CoV-1- but that is only emerging as a potential factor now.
Lets be honest here- the medical experts and the doctors do not agree. That is why I favour the data analytics approach of people like Ivor Cummins.
Any country which had a couple of years of mild respiratory viral seasons had a fatality peak this time around- and countries which had an average couple of years did not- that is my type of science.
That link may contain Jim Corr. JIM CORR!!! There's a whack of anti-vax simpletons off of it, but I shall read it later.
I doubt it entirely discredits Dr.O'Neill's science credentials.
It's Dr Marcus De Brun- he who resigned from the medical board over the treatment of elderly people in the nursing home scandal.
But no doubt there will be plenty trying to paint him as 'whatever' too.
Just to note that Sweden is not economically strong right now, even though they avoided a lockdown. Their economy was still affected badly. Many elderly have died and lots of scientists in Sweden regret their approach. Its quite a controversy there, its not all roses.
Agreed but when you have Sweedens chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell saying the exact opposite of Prof O'Neill- one has to accept that they can't both be right.
Time will tell but my moneys on Tegnell.
JEH August 4, 2020 at 11:30 am
Dude, if you want to see what happens when you don't wear a mask, look at America.
Rob_G August 4, 2020 at 11:45 am
Does the popularity of an idea have any bearing on its scientific basis? Close to 100% of the human population used to believe that the sun revolved around the earth…
Cian August 4, 2020 at 12:27 pm
We still do – if you look outside you can see the sun crossing the sky!
Except it isn't. It just looks like it if crossing the sky.
It is like trying to argue with some sort a religious fear cult- you are never going to win- science doesn't seem to matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Eu5W4pqvc
Please stop fella. For yourself
Rob_G August 4, 2020 at 2:48 pm
Fancy that, a youtube link of a vlogger…
a youtube link of a vlogger who is a biochemical engineer and complex problem solving specialist in the corporate sphere- reviewing an analysis by The Max Planck Institute.
And you are?
Did I miss something, or when did biochemical engineers become the authority on viruses and epidemics?
You must have missed him PrimeTime so.
Seriously did you even watch that vid? – its only 5 minutes long. Go watch and the come back with an opinion please.
I think i will wait until he gets it published in a scientific journal and read about it then.
Its data analytics you clown- not medical research.
… analytics of medical/epidemological data, which he does not appear to have any particular competences to interpret.
He did not interpret it- he merely presented the findings from The Max Planck Institute- unless you want to question their credentials too?
If it is the case that you just don't like the evidence presented- then maybe it is time you asked yourself why?
While I applaud protests as a means of civic engagment, I don't think it's a valid approach to ending pandemics.
But enough about Black Lives Matter- which you supported.
BLM weren't marching to end the pandemic, they were protesting police brutality – you know, actual infringements of freedom, civil rights and freedom of speech, as opposed to the appalling tyranny of wearing a mask – though of course disproportionate effects of the pandemic on minorities played a part.
And this super intelligent virus knew that- a bit like how it infects in shops but not pubs serving food.
The police certainly knew who to beat up and shoot tear gas and rubber bullets at, does that make them smarter than a virus?
Bonnie August 4, 2020 at 1:45 pm
Leave Nigel alone.
Blatant hypocrisy is his brand.
Nigel August 4, 2020 at 4:11 pm
No, no, feel free, it's that robust debate you're supposed to be such fans of
The word ragbag is correctly used and mirrors reporting in Germany. The demonstration brought together miscellaneous groups with varied "outlooks" and "beefs". Strongest were the neo-nazis but also present were the anti-vaxxers, the it's-all-a-hoax brigade, the "this-is-a-distraction-so-5G-can-be-secretly-rolled-out club and various other assortment of deplorables (yes, I'm using that word) each with their own causes célèbre. While there is an obvious overlap between some of these groups, the word ragbag is appositely deployed.
Przemek August 4, 2020 at 11:17 am
Stop siding with Irish Times, it's not taken well over here…
BS – Striving for impartiality! Kind of…
Sort of…
careful! You'll waken that Lawless yoke
Brian August 4, 2020 at 11:17 am
I agree with Junkface. "Ragbag" seems a reasonable term to cover the variety of views in the march. Jewish pangolins called Bill with shares in 'big pharma' are the cause of all of this.
There was a PBS documentary on vaccines and anti-vaxxers (from a few years ago – it's on YouTube) which showed that medical students now have to be shown videos of kids with whooping cough and other (thanks to vaccines) now rare conditions. The few seconds the doc showed of a kid with whooping cough was horrific. Perhaps some harder hitting public service ads are needed. Some conspiracy theorists can't be reached but others might be guided to decide they should be a bit more responsible for their relatives' sakes if nobody else's.
Not surprisingly conspiracy theorists will presumably deny a link between large public gatherings they take part in and the resulting spread of the virus and the need for increased restrictions. Eejits alright.
Daisy Chainsaw August 4, 2020 at 1:08 pm
Antivaxxers don't care. Their right to spread disease trumps your right to not die of it.
Remember poor old Herman Cain? Ran for president in 2016 race? He was totally anti-mask and a Trump supporter. So he went to his rally in Tulsa without a mask, so did his family and friends (besides hundreds indoors, they were photographed). He caught covid 19 and died last week, he was 73 I think.
gallantman August 4, 2020 at 11:21 am
Unlike the ' largely peaceful' heroes who marched for BLM at the height of the pandemic
Clampers Outside August 4, 2020 at 11:28 am
BLM or this crowd…
Praise/shame one crowd, but be consistent.
The difference is- this crowd are marching because they don't believe it- BLM marched (and rioted) despite believing it.
The BLM crowd were pushed SO FAR by relentless police brutality and extra-judicial murder that they marched despite believing it.
Yes- Ballsbridge is renown for its relentless police brutality and extra-judicial murder.
Nigel August 4, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Ah yes the famous BLM riots in Ballsbridge.
How far up youtr own backside do you have to climb to dismiss the substantive issues behind respective protests as irrelevent because your priority is to accuse others of hypocrisy and double standards rather than engage with the issues?
gallantman August 4, 2020 at 12:16 pm
People always believe that their march is the important one, the righteous one. So just no mass gatherings for a while. No matter the cause!!
If you support the Protest In Favour Of Peace Love And Understanding but oppose the Protest For Skewering Puppies On Kebab Sticks you're a hypocrite!
And if you recognise the public health risks involved in one mass gathering but can't see them in the other you are a moron.
Who says I can't? If anything the BLM protests were more of a health risk due to all the violence by heavily armed police.
Scundered August 4, 2020 at 5:06 pm
https://youtu.be/XqWGlLKCxE8
Look, it's the BLM Oxford militia here to save you Nigel. You'll be happier now.
Toby August 4, 2020 at 1:15 pm
Nigel, when the future looks back to see where liberalism went off the rails and became an object of ridicule- they will find you in an unmarked grave.
They can carve your comment on my headstone to show that when it all came crashing down so many idiots were looking the wrong way.
Clampers, how you haven't been hired by the White House defies belief!
Still, interesting to observe your epiphany or whatever you call it after all these years.
Scundered August 4, 2020 at 12:43 pm
To all who supported the BLM movement, here's an example of the Oxford leader in the last few days, berets, dodgy sunglasses, calling for a militia, remind you of anyone?
Your Home Correspondent August 4, 2020 at 11:36 am
Why are you giving the appalling Irish Times more clicks? Put it out of business.
Nullzero August 4, 2020 at 11:37 am
Since when have large crowds of Germans hurt anyone?
I'll be Bach August 4, 2020 at 11:45 am
Hilarious.
The Old Boy August 4, 2020 at 11:56 am
Their Bach is far worse than their bite, of course.
-Joke © Noel Coward, 1943
class wario August 4, 2020 at 11:47 am
crowd size discourse is truly the worst
fluffybiscuits August 4, 2020 at 11:56 am
The ironically named SDQ muddyin the water. By now his West of Ireland carcass must be rotting with the toxicity he gives off. I'd nearly swear you were a Keith Mills groupie
An early prototype
dav August 4, 2020 at 12:11 pm
how else would you describe a collection of people that believe masks would reduce oxygen Levels?
A Murder? (of crows)
An Embarrassment? (of panda)
A Smothering of Anti-Maxxers.
Daisy Chainsaw August 4, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Bunch of triggered snowflakes! Mein freezepeach! Mein right to die of a respiratory illness! Mein struggle!!
f_lawless August 4, 2020 at 12:57 pm
Tasteless Hitler joke. I can only assume you're living a comfortable middle class existence, blithely disconnected from the level of suffering these draconian measures are having on so many. Lives and livelihoods devastated. After living through Nazism and the Soviet occupation, Germans would be only too aware of the dangers of creeping authoritarian rule. With deaths and hospitalisations virtually non-existent for weeks now, only those still in the grip of hysteria can continue to rationalise these measures as proportionate.
More snowflakery and hysteria! Wearing a mask is not succumbing to "authoritarian rule" and it's pure stupidity to suggest that it is.
I've worked all through this pandemic out of necessity and I'm all too keenly aware of family and friends who've lost their livelihoods because of the lockdown. Whinging snowflakes who won't wear masks will be responsible for its extension.
Sorry to say, but I think this Broadsheet comment section is currently a contender for one of the worst ever.
sidhe August 4, 2020 at 1:04 pm
oh I'd say that's very much a matter of (minority) opinion
I'm finding it wildly entertaining
Indeed. The diminishing numbers is concentrating the irrelevance and heightening the hate. You could say its reaching its peak potential.
bisted August 4, 2020 at 2:28 pm
…here newsjustine…the antivaxxers are going after your 'most sanctimonious ' title…
I find the sheep like conformity- of never questioning this madness- quite frightening.
These are the same people who will be queuing up for a vaccine which has bypassed all animal trials without ever demanding a SARS-Cov t-cell test to prove that they do not need it in the first place.
Douglas Murray has coined the phrase 'proactive laziness' and that is very evident in some the comments on this thread.
ciaran August 4, 2020 at 10:16 pm
Don't sweat it SOQ – it's the same empty vessels on this site making all the noise. They are in the minority but they are bored and have little else to be doing then on sites like this, journal, politics etc. so they appear like the majority.
jeremy kyle August 4, 2020 at 10:48 pm
"It's the same empty vessels on this site making all the noise."
True that.
Seemed To Go Well
The Real Walter White
'They Know The Truth Is Unstoppable'


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All values below are the maximum tolerated differential pressure reported as mean +/- standard deviation (n = 3), in units of PSI.