February 27, 2016

Top News Stories –

Oregon scraps goat landscaping scheme due to cost and smell –
It seemed like an environmentally good idea at the time: Set 75 rented goats loose on 9.1 acres of [Salem] city park to chomp and chew invasive plants such as Armenian blackberry and English ivy that were choking native flora out of Minto-Brown Island Park. So the city, responding to community interest, launched a pilot project last October, contracting with Yoder Goat Rentals out of Molalla to remove the invasive species. But in a report submitted this week to the Salem City Council, the public works department revealed that the six-week project cost the city almost five times what it would normally have spent had it removed the vegetation using more conventional, and less odoriferous, methods. According to the report presented Monday, the total cost to the city for using the nannies and billies, which were “universally welcomed by park users as a pleasant pastoral addition to the scenery,” was $20,719. Ruminate on that, if you will. [Statesman Journal]

Russian troops ‘lose’ field gun after holiday salute –
Russian soldiers have been left red-faced after losing a large artillery piece in the middle of the city of Volgograd, it’s reported. Surprised locals called the police after finding the weapon – a World War Two-era ZiS-3 76mm mobile field gun – blocking the pavement of a major thoroughfare near the centre on Tuesday evening, the LifeNews TV channel reports. It turns out the gun went Awol as it was being towed back to the barracks in a column of military vehicles from the city’s Volga embankment, where it had been used in a gun salute to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day – an annual official holiday celebrating the armed forces. One eyewitness reports seeing it uncouple itself from a turning lorry and trundle backwards onto the roadside, coming to rest only 1m (3ft) from a parked car. “Only a bit more, and it would have ended up in the front passenger seat,” he says. It’s not clear whether the troops noticed the loss, as the witness says they “carried on as if nothing had happened”. A military spokesman, however, insists the servicemen did spot the gun’s departure, but were unable to stop as they were in an “organised column”. [BBC]

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8 Mind-Blowing Ways To Use Your Hair Dryer

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Worldwide USA UK
1 #SabadoNoClubeSDV #TheTeddyBearCamDance #ENGvIRE
2 #IndvsPak #NeverTrump #NeverTrump
3 #الهلال_الاتحاد #IndvsPak #IndvsPak
4 #TheTeddyBearCamDance #BlackTwitter16 #YL16
5 DJP RoadTourAntipolo #VoteShawnMendes #BareLit16
6 #EmpobreceUnaPeli #CADEM16 #MakeAFilmAboutSomeoneElse
7 #FelizSabado #SpiritAwards #StopTrident
8 정청래 #AlwaysTrump #CleanForTheQueen
9 #DenizGezmiş #GottaCatchEmAll #SelfieForNash
10 #NeverTrump #ImSooooSingleThat #townsongs

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April 24, 2016

Top News Stories –

Astronaut Tim Peake smashes the Guinness World Record for a space marathon –
British astronaut Tim Peake ran the London Marathon while aboard the International Space Station in a world record time. The spaceman is the second person to complete the 26.2 mile distance while on the ISS. However, Peake’s time of three hours, 35 minutes and 21 seconds was far faster than US astronaut Sunita Williams of four hours, 23 minutes and ten seconds. Williams ran her race in 2007 at the same time as the Boston Marathon. [Daily Mail]

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Hello Tokyo from Christoph Gelep on Vimeo.

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#NiallDay #NiallDay
#الهلال_الاهلي Rachel Roy
#DomingoDetremuraSdv #GameofThrones
#البنات_اوصخ_ش�… #RedBullKumite
#UFC197 #HappyBirthdayKehlani
#توقع_واربح_كا�… #LondonMarathon
#MiPrimerAcoso #ClassicWrestlerFilms
#KathNielAtHimigHandog2016 #CanAnyoneExplainToMe
#ماذا_تعرف_عن_ع… #TwitterWouldBeGreatIf
#LondonMarathon #WhatTwitterTaughtMe

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July 9, 2016

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Matador Victor Barrio killed by bull in Spain –
A matador has died after being gored by a bull in Spain – the first bullfighter to die in the ring in Spain this century. Victor Barrio, 29, a professional bullfighter, was killed when the bull’s horn pierced his chest. The fight, in the eastern town of Teruel, was being broadcast live on TV. Also on Saturday, a 28-year-old man died after being gored by a bull during a bull run through the village of Pedreguer, near Valencia. The last matador to die in a bullfight in Spain was Jose Cubero, or Yiyo, in 1985. Television footage shows the bull throwing Barrio into the air before goring him on the right-hand side of his chest and violently throwing him. [BBC]

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BreakingPoint from Martin Lapp on Vimeo.

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November 19, 2016

Top News Stories –

‘Fart’ in parliament: Row blows up in Canada –
A row has blown up in the Canadian parliament – over the word “fart”. When Conservative MP Michelle Rempel accused the government of treating the province of “Alberta like a fart in the room” over jobs, Green Party leader Elizabeth May took exception. However, it was not the accusations of inaction which riled Ms May. “I heard her say a word I know is distinctly unparliamentary, and I think she may want to withdraw it,” the shocked Ms May said. “The word was f-a-r-t,” she continued, spelling it out clearly so as not to repeat the offending term. Ms Rempel, who has represented Calgary Nose Hill since 2011, became equally incensed. “Is my colleague actually serious? I just gave an impassioned speech about Alberta jobs, and that’s what the leader of a political party has to say? No, I don’t withdraw it.” Ms May was not letting it go, however. “Decorum is important, and respect is important in this place,” she scolded. Unsurprisingly, the row has caused great hilarity on social media – especially in light of the political upheaval taking place just across the border. “With all eyes on Trump’s destruction of US politics and civil society, a silent but deadly political scandal in Canada,” tweeted Josh Greenberg, director of one of Canada’s leading journalism schools. [BBC]
josh-greenberg-tweetJosh Greenberg tweet

Video of the Day –

STOMP makes rhythm with the Harlem Globetrotters –

Eight performers from the international sensation STOMP took to an outdoor basketball court in New York City’s Greenwich Village with four stars from the world famous Harlem Globetrotters to celebrate the team’s 90th year.

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December 13, 2019

United Kingdom Election result

The Conservative Party has won a big majority after sweeping aside Labour in its traditional heartlands.

Boris Johnson – new British Prime Minister

What’s happened?

  • The Conservative Party has won a majority of at least 78, its biggest general election victory since 1987
  • With one constituency left to declare, the Conservatives have 364 seats, Labour 203, the SNP 48, the Liberal Democrats 11, the DUP 8, Sinn Fein 7, Plaid Cymru 4, the SDLP 2, the Green Party 1, the Alliance Party 1
  • St Ives, Cornwall, is yet to declare
  • The SNP has won more seats than in 2017
  • For the first time, nationalist parties in Northern Ireland have taken more seats than unionists
  • Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party failed to win a seat

The Brexit effect

The Conservatives increased their vote share in many areas that voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.

vote share changes in leave and remain areas

By contrast they lost votes in strong Remain constituencies such as those in Scotland and London. But Labour lost votes in both strong Remain and strong Leave areas.

Strong Leave and strong Remain constituencies are those where an estimated 60% or more of the electorate voted for that option at the EU referendum.

These estimates of constituency Brexit votes were modelled by Professor Chris Hanretty, as the 2016 referendum result was only recorded by local authority and not by Westminster constituency.

The Conservatives were clear winners in constituencies estimated to have voted majority Leave in 2016. They won almost three quarters of all these seats.

By contrast, there was no clear winner among Remain backing constituencies, with a crowded field of parties all winning substantial numbers of seats.

[BBC]

Twitter trends UK [from Trendinalia]

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Business and economy

  • China–United States trade war
    • Both countries announce an initial deal where new tariffs to be mutually imposed on December 15 would not be implemented. China says it “will buy more high quality of American agricultural products”, while the United States says it will halve the existing 15% tariffs. (The Guardian)

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