Day: October 25, 2015

Dumb crook of the day

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Richard Dean Defeaudis

A naked burglar who hopped into a Portland, Oregon couple’s bed in the middle of the night wound up fleeing down the street after the male victim woke up and chased him with a gun, firing three shots…

Portland police say Dean Defeudis, 32, broke into a Portland home around 3 a.m. on Thursday, gathered items of value and then stripped naked, climbed into bed with a man and woman and then kissed the man.

“The victim woke up and the suspect was sitting on top of him holding a knife,” Portland Police Sergeant Pete Simpson said in a written statement. “The victim pushed the suspect off of him as the victim retrieved his handgun and began giving the suspect commands to stop.”

“The suspect put his pants on and ran out of the home, chased by the victim who fired three shots near the suspect to get him to stop,”…

Defeudis was not injured in the incident.

The male victim, who was also unhurt, was not expected to face charges in the incident…

Defeudis was treated at a local hospital for suspected drug use before being taken to Multnomah County Jail on Thursday, Simpson said.

Uh-huh.

Pic of the day

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Click to enlarge — Reuters/Nacho Doce

A burqa and a pink-polka-dot Gibson Flying V electric guitar is not a common combination. Stereotyping, however, is exactly what Muslim woman and professional heavy metal musician, Gisele Marie, wishes to challenge.

Based in Sao Paulo, Marie, 42, is the granddaughter of German Catholics, and converted to Islam several months after her father died in 2009…Music is also a family affair for Marie. The musician grew up in a house of instruments, trained in classical piano, and has fronted the heavy metal band “Spectrus” since 2012…

“People do not expect to see a Muslim woman who uses a burqa, practises the religion properly and is a professional guitarist who plays in a heavy metal band, so many people are shocked by it,” said Marie. “But other people are curious and find it interesting.”

Before converting to Islam, Marie practised Wicca, a modern pagan witchcraft religion. She says that what she searches for in a religion is passion for life and the ability to be yourself.

I have no more criticism of Gisele Marie’s choice of religions than I do of any other. If she draws understanding and care for humanity, nature and life from what she believes – all well and good. As one may from most religions and many systems of philosophy. At root.

I’ve made it clear, often enough, I see no need to turn away from material reality. That is sufficient richness and truth for more than any one individual.

RTFA for more photos by Nacho Doce.

Americans finally noticed climate change — even Republicans

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Maybe it’s the pope. Or the freakish year in extreme climate records. It might even be explained by the United Nations climate talks and the bright lights of the presidential election cycle. Whatever the cause, U.S. views on climate change are shifting—fast.

Three-quarters of Americans now accept the scientific consensus on climate change, the highest level in four years of surveys conducted by the University of Texas at Austin. The biggest shocker is what’s happening inside the GOP. In a remarkable turnabout, 59 percent of Republicans now say climate change is happening, up from 47 percent just six months ago.

When public opinion shifts this much in a single survey, a bit of skepticism is justified…Yet these results are precisely in line with a separate survey published this month by the University of Michigan, which found that 56 percent of Republicans believe there’s solid evidence to support global warming, up from 47 percent a year ago. The Michigan poll also found bipartisan agreement with climate science at the highest level since 2008.

The changing views by Republicans could strand some of the leading presidential candidates in an increasingly unpopular position. Many in the party reject mainstream climate science, and not just at the margins. Republican leaders including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top presidential contenders Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Marco Rubio all articulate views that would be considered extreme in other countries.

Republicans will probably get what they deserve. Flat Earth fear of science fits in nicely with 1920’s economics.

The world is at a critical point in global climate talks, with leaders set to meet next month in Paris to hammer out final details of a plan to reduce the long-term trajectory of carbon pollution. Some of the biggest impediments to the talks have been removed in recent months: Significant commitments were made by China and India, and the prime ministers of Australia and Canada were replaced by leaders more sensitive to climate change…

Last year in the U.S., Bloomberg interviewed dozens of former senior Republican congressional aides, lobbyists, and staff at nongovernmental organizations. Many Republicans privately recognized the need to address climate change—in stark contrast to their party’s public stance—but saw little political benefit in speaking out.

After proving Republicans have as little backbone as Democrats, the realities of climate change – more apparent in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere – just may turn around some of the remarkable stupidity in conservative political correctness. Passing regulations which prohibit including descriptions of climate change in official documents is the height of Doublethink. Republicans have done that at the state and federal level.

Maybe it worked well when we changed the name of the War Department to Department of Defense over sixty years ago – as we embarked on decades of invading other countries. You can still line up beaucoup presidential candidates for that one. But, folks who have kinfolk in half the population still absent from Katrina’s New Orleans, a similar big percentage waiting to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy – even people who think patriotism is spelled O-B-E-Y start to change their behavior.