World problems/news ( Used to be Anybody concerned about Friday, then I changed it to concerned about world problems)

[Ausmumof3]

8 hours ago, Condessa said:

Prisoners of war are members of the military taken prisoner by the enemy during war time.  These were civilians taken from their homes during peace.

I think all except one civilian woman has been released? Those who are left are IDF soldiers. The men would be a mix. However it was during a ceasefire (?) so same still applies.

I think also they were taken with the hope of negotiating so that makes them more specifically hostages. 

[Condessa]

1 hour ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I think all except one civilian woman has been released? Those who are left are IDF soldiers. The men would be a mix. However it was during a ceasefire (?) so same still applies.

I think also they were taken with the hope of negotiating so that makes them more specifically hostages. 

The three men who were killed by the IDF were all civilians captured from their homes on the kibbutzim.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67732353
 

Doron Steinbrenner (30), Daniela Gilboa (19), Agam Berger (19), Judith Hagai (70), Noa Argamani (25), Eden Yarushalmi (24), Inbar Heiman (21), Romi Gonen  (23), Amit Buskila (28), and Carmel Gat (39) are all female civilian hostages who have not been released yet.
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67053011

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Condessa said:

The three men who were killed by the IDF were all civilians captured from their homes on the kibbutzim.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67732353
 

Doron Steinbrenner (30), Daniela Gilboa (19), Agam Berger (19), Judith Hagai (70), Noa Argamani (25), Eden Yarushalmi (24), Inbar Heiman (21), Romi Gonen  (23), Amit Buskila (28), and Carmel Gat (39) are all female civilian hostages who have not been released yet.
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67053011

Oh wow. I’m trying to remember when I had that from and I’m wondering if I mixed up women and children. I think there is only the one family of children who are still there?

[Condessa]

1 minute ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Oh wow. I’m trying to remember when I had that from and I’m wondering if I mixed up women and children. I think there is only the one family of children who are still there?

Hamas claimed that they weren’t holding any more non-military female hostages when the pause was ending.  At the time, a spokesman from the U.S. state department said they believe that Hamas was retaining certain female hostages because they don’t want those women able to testify to the treatment they have received.
 

All of the minor hostages have been released except for the little Bibas boys, who Hamas says are dead but have declined to offer any evidence of.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-17/red-sea-explainer-drones-shipping-comapnies-houthi/103238874
 

Explainer on the potential global impacts of continued Houthi attacks on shipping 

[Pam in CT]

This piece by Ken White (attorney specializing in First Amendment issues, also known as Popehat, and -- caveat emptor -- famous pottymouth) does a good job parsing the Ivy university presidents' testimony, and the danger with the American cultural insistence upon reducing very complex issues to sound bytes and yes/no questions.  It's not long, and to my mind it's very much on point, though Ken is never for the thin-skinned.

Here's the closer:

Quote

..There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that antisemitism is on the rise in America in the wake of October 7th. It’s on the rise on college campuses. Sometimes criticism of Israel or defense of Palestinians is explicitly antisemitic, sometimes it is implicitly antisemitic, and sometimes it incorporates classic antisemitic tropes. Sometimes people of bad faith take advantage of the ambiguity. (I think some people use “from the river to the sea” that way, as a deliberately ambiguous taunt, a big brother’s back-seat ha-ha-I’m-not-touching-you, but with an implicit allusion to genocide.) ...

None of that is solved by pretending hard questions are easy. None of that is solved by letting demagogues and hucksters take advantage of the moment to push their agenda. None of that is solved by contributing to what America is becoming — stupider and meaner.

 

[YaelAldrich]

26 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

This piece by Ken White (attorney specializing in First Amendment issues, also known as Popehat, and -- caveat emptor -- famous pottymouth) does a good job parsing the Ivy university presidents' testimony, and the danger with the American cultural insistence upon reducing very complex issues to sound bytes and yes/no questions.  It's not long, and to my mind it's very much on point, though Ken is never for the thin-skinned.

Here's the closer:

 

But *some* of it IS solved because, even for bad reasons (I'm not lying to myself! It's a bad reason.) actual good is being said.

From a vantage point of not being the victim, it's extremely easy to say this. But to a victim of sounds a lot like victim blaming.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-18/ex-tropical-cyclone-jasper-severe-flooding-far-north-queensland/103239638
 

Far North QLD is having significant flooding after the cyclone. Cairns airport looks to be partly underwater (some images show water up to plane wings). 9 people had to be rescued from a health clinic rooftop in a remote Aboriginal community. Many others are still waiting to be rescued. Aerial rescues are impossible right now due to continued rain.

[Ausmumof3]

A car collided with part of the parked motorcade travelling with Biden. Unclear yet as to circumstances, but the President wasn’t injured and left the area.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/car-collides-with-vehicle-president-bidens-motorcade-delaware-witness-2023-12-18/?taid=657fa8d3bf20e20001569f06&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
 

From Reuters

[Faith-manor]

3 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-18/ex-tropical-cyclone-jasper-severe-flooding-far-north-queensland/103239638
 

Far North QLD is having significant flooding after the cyclone. Cairns airport looks to be partly underwater (some images show water up to plane wings). 9 people had to be rescued from a health clinic rooftop in a remote Aboriginal community. Many others are still waiting to be rescued. Aerial rescues are impossible right now due to continued rain.

Oh my! This is awful.

[pinball]

Secret Service seriously drops the ball when car crashes into a vehicle that was part of Biden’s motorcade.

It was a good 10 seconds from the sound of the crash until Biden was in his vehicle. Agents were looking toward the sound of the crash instead of immediately grabbing Biden and getting him in the vehicle.

Compare their reaction to the agents who immediately shoved Reagan into his vehicle during his attempted assassination.

The point is…something unusual and unknown happened near the President. Secret Service agents should immediately get him to safety, not look around and let him stand out in the open.

 

[Faith-manor]

15 minutes ago, pinball said:

Secret Service seriously drops the ball when car crashes into a vehicle that was part of Biden’s motorcade.

It was a good 10 seconds from the sound of the crash until Biden was in his vehicle. Agents were looking toward the sound of the crash instead of immediately grabbing Biden and getting him in the vehicle.

Compare their reaction to the agents who immediately shoved Reagan into his vehicle during his attempted assassination.

The point is…something unusual and unknown happened near the President. Secret Service agents should immediately get him to safety, not look around and let him stand out in the open.

 

The secret service screwed up then too. They allowed an in screened group of people to stand within 15 ft of the rope line which is how Hinkley got so close. Hinkley fired six times in 1.7 seconds. It was the 2nd volley that got the president. Parr grabbed him and dove towards the open door of the car, but they also weren't near enough to directly shove him in. They did manage it in 3.5-4 seconds according to the official report. They were closer to the car than Biden was at the time of this incident.

So they messed up a little, but frankly, not nearly as bad as the detail did with Reagan. Hinckley was not a sharp shooter by any stretch. It is doubtful that Reagan would have been hit IF they had done their job and cleared the unscreened group away from the rope line like they should have done. The greater eff up was definitely the Reagan detail. 

[pinball]

40 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

The secret service screwed up then too. They allowed an in screened group of people to stand within 15 ft of the rope line which is how Hinkley got so close. Hinkley fired six times in 1.7 seconds. It was the 2nd volley that got the president. Parr grabbed him and dove towards the open door of the car, but they also weren't near enough to directly shove him in. They did manage it in 3.5-4 seconds according to the official report. They were closer to the car than Biden was at the time of this incident.

So they messed up a little, but frankly, not nearly as bad as the detail did with Reagan. Hinckley was not a sharp shooter by any stretch. It is doubtful that Reagan would have been hit IF they had done their job and cleared the unscreened group away from the rope line like they should have done. The greater eff up was definitely the Reagan detail. 

If I point out your mistakes, you’ll ignore me so I won’t bother.

[YaelAldrich]

1 hour ago, pinball said:

Secret Service seriously drops the ball when car crashes into a vehicle that was part of Biden’s motorcade.

It was a good 10 seconds from the sound of the crash until Biden was in his vehicle. Agents were looking toward the sound of the crash instead of immediately grabbing Biden and getting him in the vehicle.

Compare their reaction to the agents who immediately shoved Reagan into his vehicle during his attempted assassination.

The point is…something unusual and unknown happened near the President. Secret Service agents should immediately get him to safety, not look around and let him stand out in the open.

 

Oh good!  It was not just me going, "Move, MOVE!  Why are you all watching and not shoving Biden head first in the Beast!!!!"

[SKL]

I was wondering if maybe shoving the prez into the car might not have been the obvious best decision at first.  If there was someone purposely using a vehicle to attack the prez, who's to say there aren't more vehicles out there getting ready to hit the other cars in the motorcade?  Who's to say the one that did hit wasn't a car bomb ready to go off, in which case, being in/around one of the cars might not have been ideal?

And I know this is conspiracy theory territory, but I've heard some chatter about people wanting to assassinate one or both of the current front-runners rather than let them run the country from 2025-2028.  I hope it never gets beyond chatter, but I can't help being a bit worried.

[pinball]

8 minutes ago, SKL said:

Who's to say the one that did hit wasn't a car bomb ready to go off, in which case, being in/around one of the cars might not have been ideal?

The President’s vehicle is known as “the Beast” bc of the level of protection it provides and its ability to stop bullets and bombs.

The safest place for him was IN the vehicle. 

[Heartstrings]

The secret service isn’t nearly as elite as the propaganda suggests.  They’ve had numerous scandals under BOTH of the last presidents, from letting people with no invitation into a party with the president to sleeping with prostitutes while on assignments.

 10 seconds from initial surprise to President shut into the car is a human reaction time, because the Secret Service are just people, not a race of Super humans.  
 

It’s more fun to spin conspiracy theories though.   
 

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Heartstrings

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.9news.com.au/national/iceland-volcano-erupts-after-earthquake-near-grindavk/cf61f9e0-3534-48db-b670-518ee97ff75c
 

A volcano in Iceland is erupting after an earthquake in the area.

Webcams set up by the country's weather service are showing lava bursting through the earth near Hagafell about 10.17pm (9.17am AEDT).

 

 

 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-19/iceland-grindavik-volcano-erupts/103245540
 

Some more details here and an interesting video. I don’t think I’ve seen a fissure volcano like this before. Hoping all those evacuated remain safe and are able to get home soon.
 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/girl-12-dies-hundreds-children-31722575
 

I haven’t seen this from a more reliable source so treat with appropriate skepticism I guess. But this is very sad for these kids given all the circumstances, and slightly concerning given other recent reports on disease outbreaks in Russia. I guess it’s likely just the usual mix of respiratory stuff and low immunity. 

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-22/prague-czech-shooting-fifteen-dead/103257814
 

A lone gunman has opened fire in a university building in downtown Prague, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 20 in Czechia's worst mass shooting, according to police and the city's rescue service. 

 

 

[Hannah]

9 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-22/prague-czech-shooting-fifteen-dead/103257814
 

A lone gunman has opened fire in a university building in downtown Prague, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 20 in Czechia's worst mass shooting, according to police and the city's rescue service. 

 

 

The Czech government declared Saturday a national day of mourning to honor the shooting victims.  

[Hannah]

This is so sad - a life wasted unnecessarily 

US man innocent after decades in prison

In the longest known wrongful imprisonment case in modern US history, an Oklahoma man has been declared innocent after nearly five decades in prison for a crime the court now says he did not commit. Glynn Simmons, 71, served 48 years, one month and 18 days for the murder of a store clerk during the armed robbery of an Oklahoma City liquor store in 1974, wrongfully convicted after a witness lied on the stand. His lawyers are now considering litigation against the state to compensate Simmons for his time in prison.

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/oklahoma-man-declared-innocent-after-five-decades-prison-2023-12-21/#:~:text=Dec 21 (Reuters) - In,Michigan registry of such cases.

 

[TravelingChris]

4 hours ago, Hannah said:

This is so sad - a life wasted unnecessarily 

US man innocent after decades in prison

In the longest known wrongful imprisonment case in modern US history, an Oklahoma man has been declared innocent after nearly five decades in prison for a crime the court now says he did not commit. Glynn Simmons, 71, served 48 years, one month and 18 days for the murder of a store clerk during the armed robbery of an Oklahoma City liquor store in 1974, wrongfully convicted after a witness lied on the stand. His lawyers are now considering litigation against the state to compensate Simmons for his time in prison.

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/oklahoma-man-declared-innocent-after-five-decades-prison-2023-12-21/#:~:text=Dec 21 (Reuters) - In,Michigan registry of such cases.

 

This really is awful. OK should quickly settle.

[Meriwether]

There is no compensation for that.

[Rosie_0801]

Please start yourselves a current affairs social group or something.