Evil. Just. F'n. Evil.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump statue set on fire in Slovenia

ROZNO, Slovenia (Reuters) - A wooden sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump was torched near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, on the night of July Fourth, as Americans celebrated U.S. Independence Day, said the artist who commissioned the sculpture.

Brad Downey, a Berlin-based American artist, told Reuters he had the life-sized blackened, disfigured sculpture removed as soon as police informed him on July 5th of the incident.

"I want to know why they did it," said Downey, who had hoped the statue would foster a dialogue about the political situation in the United States, highlighting Melania Trump's status as an immigrant married to a president sworn to reduce immigration.

In Washington, the office of Melania Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has pledged to take a hard line on anyone destroying or vandalizing U.S. historical monuments, as political activism against racial injustice has swept across the country.

Downey, 39, said he had filed a police report and would like to interview the culprits, if found, for a film he is preparing ahead of his exhibition due to open in Slovenia in September.

"The investigation in this case has not been completed yet so we cannot reveal details due to the interest of further procedures," police spokeswoman Alenka Drenik told Reuters.

Although the statue’s face was rough-hewn and unrecognizable prior to the fire, the figure was painted with a pale blue wraparound coat resembling the one Melania Trump wore at the swearing in of her husband U.S. President Donald Trump.

The figure was carved with a chainsaw by local folk artist Ales Zupevc from the trunk of a living linden tree.

In January, a large wooden statue resembling Donald Trump, designed by a local artist last year, was burnt in Slovenia's city of Moravce, east of the capital Ljubljana.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-first-lady-melania-trump-202141678.html

>>9903850

Interesting about the Alphabet.

Wonder if having Dyslexia and remembering the past subconsciously could be connected?

Seoul mayor missing, his phone turned off, search underway

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The mayor of South Korea's capital, Seoul, was missing Thursday after leaving a message that his daughter described as sounding like a will, police said. A massive search was underway.

Police said they were looking for Mayor Park Won-soon near a small hill in Seoul’s Sungbuk neighborhood where his cellphone signal was last detected. They said the phone was currently turned off.

His daughter called police on Thursday afternoon and said her father left “a will-like” verbal message before leaving their home about 4-5 hours earlier. The daughter didn’t explain the contents of the message, said an officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency who was responsible for the search operation.

His daughter said she decided to call police because she couldn’t reach her father on the phone, the officer said, requesting anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media about the matter.

About 300-400 officers and a drone were mobilized in the search, according to police.

Kim Ji-hyeong, a Seoul Metropolitan Government official, said Park had not shown up for work on Thursday for unspecified reasons and had canceled all of his schedule, including a meeting with a presidential official at his Seoul City Hall office.

The reason for Park's disappearance wasn't clear. The Seoul-based SBS television network reported that one of Park’s secretaries had lodged a complaint with police on Wednesday night over alleged sexual harassment such as unwanted physical contact that began in 2017. The SBS report, which didn’t cite any source, said the secretary told police investigators that an unspecified number of other female employees at Seoul City Hall had suffered similar sexual harassment by Park.

MBC television carried a similar report.

Both the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Park's office said they couldn't confirm the reports.

Park, a longtime civic activist and human rights lawyer, was elected Seoul mayor in 2011. He became the city’s first mayor to be voted into a third term in June last year. A member of President Moon Jae-in’s liberal Democratic Party, he has been considered a potential presidential candidate in 2022 elections.

Park has mostly maintained his activist colors as mayor, criticizing what he described as the country’s growing social and economic inequalities and corrupt ties between large businesses and politicians.

Early on, Park established himself as a fierce opponent of former conservative President Park Geun-hye and openly supported the millions of people who flooded the city's streets in late 2016 and 2017, calling for her ouster over a corruption scandal.

Park Geun-hye was formally removed from office in March 2017 and is currently serving a decades-long prison term on bribery and other charges.

Seoul, a city of 10 million people, has been a new center of the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea since the country eased its rigid social distancing rules in early May. Authorities are struggling to trace contacts amid surges in cases linked to nightclubs, church services, a huge e-commerce warehouse and door-to-door sellers in Seoul.

Park Won-soon has led an aggressive anti-virus campaign, shutting down thousands of nightspots and banning rallies in major downtown streets.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/police-seoul-mayor-reported-missing-094717194.html

>>9904125

WON - SOON