https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1134815041658728448
Former U.S. president Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared a beer at Ottawa's Big Rig Brewery Friday, after Obama touched down in the city earlier that day.
OTTAWA – One man is dead and five people are missing after an explosion at an Ottawa tanker-truck manufacturer Thursday.
Neil Greene, the owner and president at Eastway Tank Pump and Meter Ltd. said Friday he is “completely devastated.”
“My heart goes out to their families, loved ones and to all of our employees who are reeling from this deep loss,” Greene said in a written statement Friday morning.
The explosion happened around 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the business, which is located in an industrial area in Ottawa’s south end.
Ottawa police confirmed Friday morning that one man sent to hospital in critical condition had died and that four men and one woman believed to be at work during the explosion remain unaccounted for.
>More monkey business
https://nypost.com/2021/12/21/monkeys-who-killed-250-dogs-for-revenge-captured-in-india/
https://nypost.com/2021/12/10/pet-monkey-fed-cocaine-before-getting-flushed-down-toilet/
A disturbing series of videos of animal abuse has earned one woman a lifetime ban on owning pets.
When police raided south Wales resident Vicki Holland’s home, they were looking for drugs. Instead, they found self-recorded evidence of Holland’s horrifying treatment of her pet marmoset, a native of Central and South America’s tropical forests.
One of the videos found on Holland’s phone depicted the deranged mother of four foisting cocaine upon the primate as it cowered in a corner at her home. “Want some coke? Lick my fingers,” says Holland, 38, during the bizarre footage, reported the Guardian on Friday.
In another video, Holland laughs as she tries to flush the frightened animal down her toilet while it clung to the rim for dear life. “I need the toilet,” Holland says in the clip. “Shall I flush it?”
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Ukrainian_child_pornography_raids
The 2004 Ukrainian child pornography raids occurred a few months before the First Orange Revolution, when police in Ukraine raided a softcore child pornography ring operating in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Simferopol. The ring had operated since 2001 and used a modeling agency as a front.
https://web.archive.org/web/20040810103032/https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=5801731
Police Shut Ukraine Model Agency in Porn Crackdown
Jul 28, 2004
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian police shut a modeling agency which photographed underage girls and sold images over the Internet in North America as part of their biggest crackdown on child pornography, officials said on Wednesday.
Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Vitaly Yarema, deputy head of the Interior Ministry crime investigation department, as saying police were questioning about 15 people about the agency, which operated for three years across the country.
Police said the agency had attracted around 1,500 girls aged from eight to 16 to their offices in the capital Kiev, Kharkiv in the east and Simferopol in the south.
"The pictures (of the girls) were then sent to the United States and Canada via Internet channels," Yarema said.
Police also froze the bank accounts of the agency, which earned "hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars" in the past three years.
UNIAN news agency said police confiscated video equipment, computers, images of children, financial documents and a Porsche belonging to the group organizer, a Ukrainian in his mid-20s.
Ukrainian police worked on the case for several months with the FBI.
>Ukrainian police worked on the case for several months with the FBI.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150216161601/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/15/rob-schneider-anti-vaccine-actor-leaves-disturbing/
Rob Schneider, anti-vaccine actor, leaves ‘disturbing message’ for lawmaker
February 15, 2015
California state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez says she received a “disturbing message” Wednesday from actor Rob Schneider, who allegedly threatened to fight her political efforts to mandate vaccinations for children.
“He left a very disturbing message with one of my staff people, saying he was going to spend money against me in my next election,” said Ms. Gonzalez, a San Diego Democrat who is co-sponsoring a bill that would eliminate California’s personal belief exemption and make vaccinations mandatory, a local ABC affiliate reported.
Ms. Gonzalez said Mr. Schneider, an outspoken critic of vaccinations, threatened to spend a lot of money against her in her next election.
“He just has faulty information,” she told the station. “I told him I’d be more than happy to look at any study that’s a peer-review study, that’s scientific, to suggest the things that he was talking about. The problem is they don’t exist.”
The assemblywoman then posted on her Facebook page: “So … we received a phone call from Rob Schneider today where he threatened my staff that he would spend a lot of money against me because of my co-authorship of a bill to increase vaccine rates. When I called him back he was actually much nicer to me, but let’s be honest … that is 20 mins of my life I’ll never get back arguing that vaccines don’t cause autism with Deuce Bigalow, male gigolo.#vaccinateyourkids.”
Mr. Schneider’s controversial views have landed him in hot water in the past. In September, State Farm dropped the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian from its insurance ads amid pressure from pro-vaccination groups.
>So … we received a phone call from Rob Schneider today where he threatened my staff that he would spend a lot of money against me because of my co-authorship of a bill to increase vaccine rates. When I called him back he was actually much nicer to me, but let’s be honest … that is 20 mins of my life I’ll never get back arguing that vaccines don’t cause autism with Deuce Bigalow, male gigolo.#vaccinateyourkids.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150221073129/https://www.10news.com/news/local-politician-goes-toe-to-toe-with-deuce-bigalow-actor-over-proposed-changes-to-vaccination-law
Local politician goes toe-to-toe with 'Deuce Bigalow' actor over proposed changes to vaccination law
The Sacramento office of state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez received an interesting call Wednesday from comedian and actor Rob Schneider.
"He left a very disturbing message with one of my staff people, saying he was going to spend money against me in my next election," said Gonzalez, who is co-sponsoring a bill that will eliminate the personal belief exemption.
Gonzalez added, "Unlike most of the United States, parents can say, 'I just personally don't want to vaccinate my children' and mark off a box."
Gonzalez wants to get rid of the exemption and make vaccinations mandatory. She cited a number of reasons, including a recent measles outbreak.
"What we're seeing now is measles, which was eradicated in the year 2000, coming back full force," she argued.
"The efficacy of these shots have not been proven and the toxicity of these things are having more and more side effects," Schneider said in a YouTube video posted by Mars Daniels.
There are dozens of videos featuring Schneider opposing vaccinations.
"You can't let the state make the decisions," said the actor.
According to Gonzalez, Schneider threatened to spend a lot of money against her in her next election, so Gonzalez called him back.
"He just has faulty information," said Gonzalez. "I told him I'd be more than happy to look at any study that's a peer-review study, that's scientific, to suggest the things that he was talking about. The problem is they don't exist."
The sssemblywoman then posted on her Facebook page, "That is 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back arguing that vaccines don't cause autism with Deuce Bigalow, male gigolo."
Attempts to track down Schneider for comment were unsuccessful.
Gonzelez said the Assembly would get the bill this summer if the Senate passes it quickly.
She said the governor could sign it into law as early as September, meaning vaccination rates would increase in 2016.
>parents can say, 'I just personally don't want to vaccinate my children' and mark off a box."
>Gonzalez wants to get rid of the exemption and make vaccinations mandatory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorena_Gonzalez
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/nathan-fletcher-lorena-gonzalez-and-family-escape-fire-at-san-diego-home/2836915/
San Diego Police Call Fire at Fletcher and Gonzalez Home ‘Suspicious'
“The front of our house was engulfed in flames, but we were able to safely evacuate out another door”
Published January 12, 2022 • Updated on January 12, 2022
A fire that began after 4 a.m. at the home of two longtime San Diego political fixtures is under investigation.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher and former California assemblywoman and union leader Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, who are married, and their family safely escaped the fire that started outside the front door of their City Heights home early Wednesday.
San Diego police Lt. Christian Sharp said later in the morning that dispatchers received calls regarding the fire at about 4:20 a.m. Officers arrived a few minutes later, then went around the back after seeing the flames on the front porch and surrounding areas, and knocked on the door to alert everyone and help get them out.
The fire was started on the exterior of the home, and some type of plastic storage bin in front of the home may have caught fire, Sharp said. He said the blaze was suspicious in nature because of the early hour and because it was on the outside of the home.
The San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team (MAST) is investigating the incident.
Fletcher and Gonzalez were awoken by their smoke alarms, according to the supervisor.
“The front of our house was engulfed in flames, but we were able to safely evacuate out another door,” Fletcher said.
San Diego police and firefighters responded to the scene within minutes, Fletcher said as he thanked first responders for saving his home.
“We just want to let everyone know, our family is safe and that's really all that matters,” Fletcher told reporters outside his home, which was gated and is off a long roadway.
“We joked, ‘2022 is going to start off better than 2021. We'll just say tomorrow’s going to start off better,’ but it’s going to be fine,” Fletcher said.
The Fletcher family would be displaced for a few days as crews worked on the home.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call SDPD at (619) 531-2000 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
Fletcher and Gonzalez are both Democrats. Fletcher, who was elected chair for the second year in a row on Tuesday, went from his home to a county board of supervisors meeting, where he was officially sworn in.
Fletcher briefly addressed the incident at the meeting and then said it was time to get to work.
Lorena-Gonzalez recently withdrew from her appointment as a top California assemblymember representing part of southern San Diego County to become executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation.
The two were married in 2017.
>The fire was started on the exterior of the home, and some type of plastic storage bin in front of the home may have caught fire, Sharp said. He said the blaze was suspicious in nature because of the early hour and because it was on the outside of the home.
Metropolitan law enforcement officers stopped illegal activities of a group of people selling babies abroad
For a long time, the perpetrators, under the guise of surrogacy and by entering into fictitious marriages with foreigners, transported newborns not only in Ukraine but also in other countries.
Officers of the Anti-Trafficking Department together with the Criminal Investigation Department of the capital's headquarters and investigators of the Pechersk Police Department under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv Local Prosecutor's Office №6 documented and stopped the illegal activities of traffickers in infants.
The members of the group searched for foreigners who wished to have a child in Ukraine: they provided artificial insemination with the help of a donor and a surrogate mother and facilitated the export of infants to other countries by entering into a sham marriage with Ukrainian citizens. Other accomplices found women in Ukraine to fictitious marriages and participate in surrogate programs.
Services of intermediaries to potential parents for the birth of a child in Ukraine cost 50 thousand US dollars: the organization of artificial insemination with the help of a surrogate mother - from 15 thousand dollars, fictitious marriage services - from 1000 dollars.
As part of the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement officers conducted 11 searches at the addresses of the capital's clinic specializing in reproductive medicine and in the apartments and cars of the defendants, as a result of which they seized material evidence of illegal activities: computers, mobile phones, money, drafts, flash media and documents. Police also conducted three urgent searches of the whereabouts of newborns who have been trafficked.
In one of the capital's houses, five babies (under the age of two months) were found in different apartments under the supervision of women. They received from 500 to 1,000 hryvnias per day for child care. Currently, the children are in specialized hospitals. During the searches, children's medical certificates, laptops, mobile phones, money and documents were confiscated.
Information about the event was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Part 2 of Art. 149 (Trafficking in human beings) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Investigative actions continue. All participants in the illegal scheme of transporting babies abroad are being identified. © Official site of the National Police: https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/torgivlya-lyudmi/stolichni-pravooxoronczi-pripinili-protipravnu-diyalnist-grupi-osib-yaka-zajmalasya-prodazhem-nemovlyat-za-kordon/
>https://www.npu.gov.ua/news/torgivlya-lyudmi/stolichni-pravooxoronczi-pripinili-protipravnu-diyalnist-grupi-osib-yaka-zajmalasya-prodazhem-nemovlyat-za-kordon/
25.04.2020
>Boris Johnson warns Putin invading Ukraine would spark worst bloodshed since WW2 and many Russians ‘won’t come home’
They still busting people for weed?
In the Grosskreutz DUI video they found an unused weed grinder in his trunk but let it slide.
reduced to silence by the disinclination of the multitude for elegant learning
>explosion at an Ottawa tanker-truck manufacturer
golden
https://www.state.gov/biographies/kari-johnstone/
Kari Johnstone serves as Senior Official and Principal Deputy Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), where she has been Principal Deputy Director since 2014. In this role, she advises senior officials on U.S. Government policy and programming strategies to fight human trafficking around the world and oversees the production of the Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
>https://www.state.gov/biographies/kari-johnstone/
>Kari Johnstone serves as Senior Official and Principal Deputy Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP), where she has been Principal Deputy Director since 2014. In this role, she advises senior officials on U.S. Government policy and programming strategies to fight human trafficking around the world and oversees the production of the Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
In 2013 and 2014, Dr. Johnstone served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia and International Religious Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). She was the Director and Deputy Director of the Office for International Religious Freedom between 2010 and 2014. In spring 2012, she served as Director for Russia and Central Asia at the National Security Staff of the White House. She previously worked as the Acting Office Director and Deputy Director of DRL’s Office for the Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs. Kari served as the election officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul in 2004 and as the human rights officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent in 2003.
In 2001-2002, she was a Research Scholar at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Dr. Johnstone is a career member of the Senior Executive Service and received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, all in political science. She speaks Ukrainian and Russian, some Czech and Slovak, and a little Hungarian.