Weird News Compilation

[Keith_McClary]

Avoid totalitarian regimes by all means, even in air during a fly-over!
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/world/europe/ryanair-belarus.html

Or on a layover.

 

[Jarvis323]

Having seen the film, Come and See, I find it shocking that a Belarusian leader would have the nerve to praise Hitler.

Remarks about Adolf Hitler​

In 1995, Lukashenko made a remark in which he named Adolf Hitler as a role model for his presidential system in Belarus: "The history of Germany is a copy of the history of Belarus. Germany was raised from ruins thanks to firm authority and not everything connected with that well-known figure Hitler was bad. German order evolved over the centuries and attained its peak under Hitler. This corresponds with our understanding of a presidential republic and the role of a president in it."[220][221] Lukashenka refused to take the quote back, but stated that the consequences of Hitler's leadership style in foreign policy had been bad.[222]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lukashenko#Public_image

Belarus is the country which suffered more loss of life as a percentage of its population than any other at the hands of the Nazis (at 25% with Ukrain coming in at second at 16.3%), and in fact Hitler had planned to exterminate the entire population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties

Germany imposed a brutal regime, deporting some 380,000 people for slave labour, and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians more. The population was to be exterminated for German colonization. At least 5,295 Belarusian settlements were destroyed by the Nazis and some or all their inhabitants killed (out of 9,200 settlements that were burned or otherwise destroyed in Belarus during World War II).[3] More than 600 villages like Khatyn were annihilated with their entire population.[3] Altogether, over 1 million were killed in Belarus during the three years of German occupation.[3][4][5]
...
In total, Belarus lost a quarter of its pre-war population in the Second World War, including practically all its intellectual elite. About 9,200 villages and 1,200,000 houses were destroyed. The major towns of Minsk and Vitebsk lost over 80% of their buildings and city infrastructure. For the defense against the Germans, and the tenacity during the German occupation, the capital Minsk was awarded the title Hero City after the war. The fortress of Brest was awarded the title Hero-Fortress.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_occupation_of_Belarus_during_World_War_II

 

[StevieTNZ]

Bad logic by the caretaker Government of Samoa: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south...own-swearingin-ceremony-outside-of-parliament

 

[mfb]

Ryanair flight was flying from Greece to Lithuania. I wonder how close they were to the Polish border.

They should have tried to make it to Polish airspace, and contacted NATO for protection.

It was almost in Lithuania, another NATO member. Diverted maybe 2-3 minutes before reaching the border. I guess nothing would have happened if they would have continued to fly straight, but apparently the pilot didn't want to take that risk.

Map from the NYT:



I guess airplanes will make a small detour via Poland in the future.

 

[pinball1970]

Flight Radar app gave sent colleague an alert due to the bomb scare so he followed it live.
He is a member so I will request a screen shot. @astronut

 

[pinball1970]

Apparently, the squawk info here gives 6150 but when there is an emergency it goes to 7700.
So i assuming @ 9.46 UTC an emergency had not yet been declared. Quite a bit of TIL stuff in there for me too.

 

[berkeman]

Flight Radar app gave sent colleague an alert due to the bomb scare so he followed it live.
He is a member so I will request a screen shot. @astronut

He was active at PF in 2007 for one month and 3 posts...

 

[pinball1970]

He was active at PF in 2007 for one month and 3 posts...

Apologies a different @Astranut. He obliged with the image and a brief description of squawk.

 

[Keith_McClary]

There have been several incidents like this, by Israel 1954, France 1957, US 2010, Turkey 2012, US allies 2013, Ukraine 2016, Ukraine (failed plot) 2020.

 

[Astronuc]

Map from the NYT:

If there was a bomb threat, the plane should have stayed on course, since it was almost in Lithuanian airspace and was closer to Vilnius than Minsk. Thus, it seems that the matter is one of piracy and kidnapping.

I think EU needs to issue an arrest warrant for Alexander Lukashenko.

 

[Astronuc]

Meanwhile in more mundane matters, "Speeding car crashes through roof of Eureka (Missouri) home"
https://www.kmov.com/news/speeding-car-crashes-through-roof-of-eureka-home/article_1254c83a-bc15-11eb-b51c-b38d9246e159.html

How can a car go from a street to crashing through a roof?!

Speeding car hits wrought iron fence, which deflects and launches the car into the air and into the roof of a house.

"The car crashed through only a few feet away from where a couple was sleeping, KTVI reported. The driver and passenger exited the car through the master bedroom, according to KSDK."

 

[Astronuc]

Welfare of ALL of the passengers, not just one. Plus the captain undoubtedly doesn't have all of the information he would need to make a decision like that.

According to AFP "Roman Protasevich faces the death penalty after being placed on a “terrorist” list for his reporting on police brutality during anti-government protests in Belarus last year." His Russian girlfriend was also removed from the plane.

The pilot should have stayed on course and ask to be escorted to Vilinius, since he was much closer to Vilnius than Minsk.

EU has apparently banned aircraft from flying over Belarus.

According to AFP, published in Barron's,

Belarusian air force chief Igor Golub said Monday the captain of the diverted Ryanair flight with an opposition activist on board independently made the decision to land in Minsk.

"The decision was made by the captain without outside interference," Golub said during a press briefing, adding that the aircraft could have also chosen to go to Ukraine or Poland.

The claim by Belarus is obviously false, since the pilot deviated from the flight plan in a way that makes no sense, except maybe to Putin and Lukashenko.

 

[Keith_McClary]

I think EU needs to issue an arrest warrant for Alexander Lukashenko.

What would be the charge, that would not also apply to the leaders responsible for the other force down incidents?

 

[Keith_McClary]

Speeding car hits wrought iron fence, which deflects and launches the car into the air and into the roof of a house.

"The car crashed through only a few feet away from where a couple was sleeping, KTVI reported. The driver and passenger exited the car through the master bedroom, according to KSDK."

“They were truly lucky,” Deputy Fire Chief William Stamberger told Fox 2 Now. “There could have been the potential for a great amount of disaster.”

 

[fresh_42]

Long way to go for the record!

 

[berkeman]

How in the world...?!

 

[fresh_42]

How in the world...?!

What can't be seen in the picture is that there is a short ramp (little wall and grass) between street level and churchyard. Then add about an estimated 90 mph ... (I remember the tv report in the news.)

 

[mfb]

Monopoly loses its monopoly to use "Monopoly"

The company Hasbro, owner of the trademark and popular board game called “Monopoly”, loses EU legal battle in order to exclusively use that brand.

 

[Astronuc]

The man who accidentally helped FBI get in criminals' pockets
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57397779

Hundreds arrested in massive global crime sting using messaging app
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57394831

The operation, jointly conceived by Australia and the FBI, saw devices with the ANOM app secretly distributed among criminals, allowing police to monitor their chats about drug smuggling, money laundering and even murder plots.

 

[fresh_42]

Modern Times: 1 follower too many!

Gießen: Police in Hesse arrested three alleged drug dealers. One of them published a video on YouTube in which he presented himself as a dealer. He dealt with cannabis in no small amount together with another man and a woman.

 

[fresh_42]

The heat is on!

A man with an excavator drove over someone's front yard in Wiehl on Friday evening around 11 p.m. with loud music and kept pounding with the shovel against trees and the facade of a building under construction.

Because of the noise, a neighbor (57) was alerted, looked at, and addressed the man in the excavator to the mad scene. But he only reacted aggressively, even ran towards the witnesses, then the excavator slipped on a slope, overturned, and caught fire.

 

[berkeman]

LOL...

https://www.kron4.com/news/national...arth-after-space-trip-nears-40000-signatures/

 

[Rive]

LOL...

petition-to-stop-amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-from-returning-to-earth-after-space-trip-nears-40000-signatures

There was that joke about sending flat earthers to space for a look.
As far as I'm concerned no mention of this came with 'then bring them back'...

 

[mfb]

To keep Bezos from returning to Earth he would need to have an orbital rocket.

Blue Origin is older than SpaceX. They still haven't sent anything to orbit.

 

[Keith_McClary]

Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena 25 June 2021

Expand Collection

The UAPTF is looking for novel ways to increase collection of UAP cluster areas when U.S . forces are not present as a way to baseline “standard” UAP activity and mitigate the collection bias in the dataset. One proposal is to use advanced algorithms to search historical data captured and stored by radars. The UAPTF also plans to update its current interagency UAP collection strategy in order bring to bear relevant collection platforms and methods from the DoD and the IC.

Increase Investment in Research and Development

The UAPTF has indicated that additional funding for research and development could further the future study of the topics laid out in this report. Such investments should be guided by a UAP Collection Strategy, UAP R&D Technical Roadmap, and a UAP Program Plan.

 

[Astronuc]

Fan with sign causes huge pile-up in Stage 1 of the Tour de France | Cycling on NBCSports​

Tour de France starts with a bang! Spectator causes massive pileup in Tour de France. Suspect spectator has been arrested.

More at https://news.yahoo.com/authorities-cant-sign-holding-spectator-195926080.html

 

[Astronuc]

Three years ago, a small group of academics at a German university launched an unprecedented collaboration with the military – using novels to try to pinpoint the world’s next conflicts. Are they on to something?

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...sandra-plan-to-use-novels-to-predict-next-war

Reminds me of 'Three Days of the Condor'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Days_of_the_Condor

This is juxtaposed with another unusual story.
https://news.yahoo.com/japanese-official-warns-us-potential-200100225.html

Russia and China are coordinating military exercises to threaten not only Taiwan but also Hawaii, according to a senior Japanese defense official who warned the United States to beware of a Pearl Harbor-style surprise attack.

“We have to show the deterrence towards China, and not just China but also the Russians, because, as I told you, that they are doing their exercises together,” Japanese deputy Yasuhide Nakayama told the Hudson Institute this week.

Sure, why not? It's 2021, and we're not quite over a pandemic.

 

[Keith_McClary]

novels-to-predict-next-war

Hollywood and US TV series patriotically demonize the "adversary" du jour, so they would be a good predictor of conflict ("colour revolutions", etc.). I guess novels would work too.

 

[Jarvis323]

I watched the film, "I Care a Lot" recently. It's a film about a guardianship racket.

Later I was trying to understand how Britney Spears could be legally drugged against her will, and denied the right to hire a laywer.

Somehow I ended up reading this article about April Parks. I had thought that there is no way the scams from the film (I Care a Lot) could happen in the real world. It turns out to be pretty much a true story (minus the Russian mafia part).

Rudy chatted with the nurse in the kitchen for twenty minutes, joking about marriage and laundry, until there was a knock at the door. A stocky woman with shiny black hair introduced herself as April Parks, the owner of the company A Private Professional Guardian. She was accompanied by three colleagues, who didn’t give their names. Parks told the Norths that she had an order from the Clark County Family Court to “remove” them from their home. She would be taking them to an assisted-living facility. “Go and gather your things,” she said.

Rennie began crying. “This is my home,” she said.

One of Parks’s colleagues said that if the Norths didn’t comply he would call the police. Rudy remembers thinking, You’re going to put my wife and me in jail for this? But he felt too confused to argue.

<<snip>>
...

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-the-elderly-lose-their-rights/amp

 

[mfb]

That's a depressing article.
Don't get old in Nevada, I guess. Or...

He works with victims in dozens of what he calls “hot spots,” places where guardianship abuse is prevalent, often because they attract retirees: Palm Beach, Sarasota, Naples, Albuquerque, San Antonio.

elsewhere?

Who thought it was a good idea to let random strangers do that for profit?

 

[gmax137]

I have heard people (unrelated friends) are designating each other as guardian to pre-empt a court appointed stranger like this. Not clear on the details, but I think the idea is that, if a court ever tries to appoint someone, the friend can show up with the papers and will be appointed instead.

 

[jack action]

I have heard people (unrelated friends) are designating each other as guardian to pre-empt a court appointed stranger like this. Not clear on the details, but I think the idea is that, if a court ever tries to appoint someone, the friend can show up with the papers and will be appointed instead.

That is common practice around here. It is called a protection mandate and it is well established within the law.

 

[Jarvis323]

That's a depressing article.
Don't get old in Nevada, I guess. Or... elsewhere?

Who thought it was a good idea to let random strangers do that for profit?

It's not only that, but the guardians have gotten away with then taking away their phones and computers/internet, drugging them, denying them from seeing or communicating with visitors, selling all of their belongings, etc. And the victim can't even hire a lawyer. All of this when they may have never set foot in a court room, and may not have ever been officially diagnosed with anything or notified before hand.

Family court judges don't even need a degree in law.

https://careertrend.com/requirements-to-become-a-family-court-judge-12471862.html

The judge which presided over the North's case had previously been an attorney for a Las Vegas mobster.

In 2001, Clark County District Court Judge Nancy M. Saitta sanctioned Buffalo Jim Barrier $4,500 after witnesses mysteriously failed to show up, and his former attorney was late for trial in a civil racketeering lawsuit he brought against embattled Crazy Horse strip club owner Rick Rizzolo. Judge Saitta then summarily dismissed Barrier's suit, but not before stating on the record: "Mr. Rizzolo has a good name in the community."

Four years later, Rizzolo is currently awaiting federal indictment for racketeering, tax evasion, and political corruption. In an apparent effort to divest himself of his personal fortune before the indictment hits, last month Rizzolo http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2005/aug/05/519162061.html?rizzolo his wife of 27 years -- assigning her the bulk of his fortune including an amazing $83,333 per month in alimony.

...

The Defendants, RICRIZ LLC and The Power Company, Inc. dba CRAZY HORSE TWO was represented by its attorney JON W. NORHEIM, ESQ. of PATTI & SGRO."

https://lawlessamerica.com/index.ph...s-of-judicial-corruption&catid=121&Itemid=222

This seems like a UN level human rights issue.

 

[Borg]

That's a depressing article.
Don't get old in Nevada, I guess. Or... elsewhere?

Who thought it was a good idea to let random strangers do that for profit?

That is one of the most depressing stories I've read in a long time. I find it outrageous that some of the people involved like the judge won't suffer any consequences for their actions. Perhaps someone should have them declared unfit. Of course, it would be best if they weren't informed, had no representation, and then had all of their wealth and family stripped from them.

 

[Astronuc]

Somehow I ended up reading this article about April Parks.

Ms Parks was sentenced from 16 to 40 years in prison, her business partner, Mark Simmons was ordered to serve seven to 18 years in prison, and her husband Gary NealTaylor was given a sentence of two to five years behind bars. The judge ordered the three defendants to pay more than $500,000 to their victims.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime...-to-serve-up-to-40-years-behind-bars-1565690/

"Parks originally faced more than 200 felony counts."

"Parks was one of the most active private professional guardians in the region. She often acted as the surrogate decision-maker for 50 to 100 elderly and mentally incapacitated people, . . . "

Parks told the court that she accepted responsibility “but never intended harm,” adding that “things could have been done better. … We were a group practice, and honestly I think some things got ahead of us.”

https://news3lv.com/news/local/breaking-down-the-law-elder-abuse-and-the-case-of-april-parks

Changes have been made to keep this from happening again. The biggest change comes in the guardianship process itself -- Ms. Parks took advantage of the fact a temporary guardian could be appointed without much oversight by anyone, including the family.

Under the new laws, a petition for temporary guardianship has to be served on the proposed Ward, their spouse; their children; their siblings if no spouse or children; the parents of the proposed ward, if alive; the facility currently caring for the proposed ward; the department of health and human services, if the proposed ward is receiving Medicaid benefits; and the VA if the proposed ward is receiving VA benefits.

The most significant change, I think, is the fact that when an application for guardianship over an adult is made, the Court will appoint an attorney for the proposed ward. This is usually someone from Legal Aid of Southern Nevada. The attorney appointed by the court will represent the best interests of the proposed ward and ensure their rights are protected.

Update/Edit: More news on the prosecution and convictions.
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local...d-in-nevadas-largest-elder-exploitation-case/

From Nov 2018 - https://www.ktnv.com/news/contact-1...lead-guilty-in-guardianship-exploitation-case