More reboots of Incorrect chatter

 Lightning coach Cooper apologized for saying “might as well put skirts” on goalies, which is borrowed from Jack Lambert's comment on Quarterbacks.

This pompous response to the apology irked me: Brock McGillis, ex- hockey player who came out as gay, tweeted. “We all say or do the wrong thing. Be accountable, apologize and don’t do it again.” F off, Brock

I'm a Red Wings fan but props to the Chicago Blackhawks for keeping their name chosen by its founder Frederic McLaughlin, a WW1 commander in the 86th Infantry Division, known as the "Blackhawk Division."

May 15, 2024

Will the NFL punish Harris Butker for his commencement speech at Benedictine College? He is working against the cultural emasculation of men and criticized Pride Month and Joe Biden.

June 11 2024

Temporary sanity from Judge Sherman in CA. Restraining  order asserts that the CA academic workers walkout  stemmed from non-labor issues and violated the no-strike clause in the union's contract.

June 23, 2024

Rasmussen poll: 58% of American Adults approve of Butker expressing his religious beliefs, 38%  strongly approve

July 11, 2024

"Do not count on us to scam, loot and endanger Spaniards." VOX threatens to end coalitions with centrer right People's Party over an agreement to transfer  400 alleged, underage migrants from the Canary Islands to continental Spain.

Vox claims that many migrants designated as underage are of age.

Sept 7, 2024

Starmer visit Biden  again- make it stop.  Probably to promote jailing "bad" American tweeters

Sept 23, 2024

Duke Machado: “If we’re not careful, we’ll slide into Cuba and Venezuela. Their ultimate goal is to destroy capitalism."

When he was asked if it was responsible to share fears that the Democrats could turn the USA into a communist country.  And his focus toward Latino exiles who had fled repression.

 He said: “It’s not irresponsible at all. I see it as a duty.”

Oct 4, 2024

Starmeir wants to put the Brexit years behind us and have more mature relations with the EU. Perhaps he should try being mature at home.

Nov 30, 2024

I wonder if Starmer raids Chartwell, Winston Churchill's former home, for displaying a re-creation of one of WC's  birthday cakes as part of celebrations to commemorate his birthday(11/30/1874).

Dec 10, 2024

Another scary decision. Charles Onana did not question that genocide took place, or that Tutsis were targeted in Rwanda, but a French court finds him guilty of downplaying Rwandan genocide.

He and his publisher were fined for violating France's laws prohibiting genocide denial and incitement to hatred.

Jan 16 , 2025

 Charlie Hebdo , French satirical magazine, is marking 10 years since the attacks on its Paris office by running a cartoon contest asking for God-mocking submissions. I wonder if Atheism, which behaves in a similar fashion to an organized religion with a " humanist God",will be mocked.

Feb 4, 2025

Is Bridget Jones' Darcy based on Keir Starmer gives me a chuckle?

Feb 19, 2025

  I doubt Starmer will cancel funding UNWRA after his phone call with Emily Damari, a recently released British-Israeli hostage, who claimed parts of her captivity were in UNRWA facilities.   

March 23, 2025

Sad chuckle at: Rachel Reeves claim, I will not 'tax and spend'.

May 9, 2025

Any word from Prince Harry ,who sits on board  of African Parks Charity which admits human rights abuses in Congo park?

July 20, 2025

While leafing through a photo-album book on Clover, SC, I noticed the term unreconstructed to describe ex-Confederate soldiers in the 1870s. It reads like slang , but is listed in the dictionary as an adjective to describe  not reconciled to some political, economic, or social change.

In this case it means what one  would suspect- refusal to accept the outcome of the Civil War.

Sept 15, 2025

Lula, Prez of Brazil, casually dismisses the Trump administration's accusations that Brazil's justice system had targeted and censored USA tech firms by stating his country's courts were right to regulate the internet.🤔

Nov 1, 2025

   USA convinced Argentina, Hungary, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Ukraine , and Israel to vote against the UN resolution that the USA end its embargo of Cuba.

Nov 17, 2025

Starmer's plan to alter ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers headed to the UK is too little, too late. It's based  loosely on  Denmark focus on temporary protection over permanent residency. 

 https://vaporvents.blogspot.com/2023/08/reboot-figure-it-out.html

https://vaporvents.blogspot.com/2020/11/reboot-of-anti-redneck-redneck-sports.html

Japan/Taiwan/Asia in 2024

  Japan's semiconductor industry is getting a boost from Taiwanese chip companies' expansion here to support a new TSMC (2330.TW) plant.

 Shifting alliances and priorities in the global chip industry are on the increase with the United States pushing to limit China's progress in cutting-edge semiconductors and strengthen its other partnerships. 

Is Japan going to expand its military, too?

Feb 29, 2024

Sri Lanka may stop visa extensions for Russian an Ukranian tourists trying to escape the war. The Tourism ministry has been receiving complaints about some Russian tourists running illegal businesses in the southern part of the country.

March 2, 2024

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and coast guard have intensified patrols at the border to deter more refugees from the Myanmar civil war.

March 12, 2024

Hey Joe Biden: Since you gave the Taliban control in 2021, Afghan females have lost access to education & employment, and face arbitrary arrests over how they wear their hijabs.

March 18, 2024

Pakistan unleashed airstrikes on hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside Afghanistan. This occurred two days after a suicide bombing targeted a Pakistan army post near the Afghan border.

May 9, 2024

Pakistan's military claims a suicide bomb attack in March in Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, that killed five Chinese engineers, was planned in Afghanistan by an Afghan national.

Taliban issues a denial

May 21, 2024

 Iran's Supreme National Security Council has allocated funds for the construction of a concrete wall and a border fence in Central Khorasan. Turkey built a wall along its border with Afghanistan.

Taliban takeover of Afghanistan when the USA left has been  the major trigger for the building of these walls.

May 31, 2024

Rasoulof, an Iranian filmmaker on temporary home arrest, fled to Germany. His cellmates told him about a secret route over the mountains to the border , which he took to freedom.

Rasoulof chose Germany for his exile because "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" was being edited in Hamburg He had lived in Germany once , so his information was on file with the German authorities, and they were able to ID him without his passport, which the Iranian police had seized.

June 13, 2024

Lee Jae-myung, South Korea's main opposition leader, was indicted on bribery charges in an alleged scheme to use Ssangbangwoo, an underwear maker, to transfer funds to North Korea to promote a commercial project.

June 28, 2024

Bye ,bye what remains of Hong Kong's autonomy. School kids in HK criticized for singing the Chinese national anthem too softly.

 Here's the goal: "unifying thoughts" and "gathering strength for building a strong country".

July 3, 2024

Break-dancing sessions for senior citizens is all the rage in Tokyo. 🙄

July 10, 2024

 Beijing courts can issue the death penalty to "Taiwan independence" supporters. This includes trials in- absentia.

China claims the  new guidelines target a small number of die-hard 'Taiwan independence' separatists."

July 15, 2024

 Alice Guo, mayor of Bambon in the Philippines, who has been accused of being a Chinese spy has gone into hiding,  She's ignored Senate subpoenas  about scam centers being used as cover for text scams, human trafficking etc, in her town.

Ri Khu, a senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba, defected with his wife and child to South Korea in November. No further details other than  he flew out of Cuba with his family. That's wild using Cuba  as the starting point of an escape from Communism. 

July 27, 2024

Ok China: MDNAA controls Lashio, Mynamar, about 74 miles from the Chinese border. Perhaps it's time to place a call to the Burma junta , who has lost control of 80% of the country.

Aug 1, 2024

Most of the migrants traveled from Turkey to breakaway north Cyprus and then attempted to cross into Cyprus before being barred by Cypriot authorities and left in a buffer zone. UNHCR expects Cyprus to take them. How about calling Ergodan and sending them back to Turkey.

Aug 5, 2024

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country yesterday. I bet most of the UK hopes Starmer does the same thing.

Aug 19, 2024

Myanmar authorities released Hiroshi Kasamatsu, a Japanese Aeon manager who was sentenced  to one year in prison for violating rice price controls.

Aug 23, 2024

Hey Joe Biden: The Taliban set up a ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice” in 2021 and just banned women’s voices and bare faces in public.

Aug 26, 2024

Japan's scrambled jets against a Chinese Y9 reconnaissance aircraft that breached its airspace this morning over the Danjo Islands to the west of the southern island of Kyushu

Sept 10 2024

Consider yourself lucky: David Missal, a German citizen , graduate of Hong Kong U, and member of a pro-Tibet NGO, was refused entry to Hong Kong

Sept 20, 2024

Has anyone asked Kamala about the Taliban being in control of 39 Afghan embassies globally?

Nov 10, 2024

Communist China welcomed Hlaing, the Mynamar military junta chief, for talks, but it sure feels like the Junta is collapsing and this move will fuel the Burmese rebels.

Nov 19, 2024

XI  warns Biden: Taiwan, “democracy and human rights,” the Chinese communist system, and China’s development “rights” are the four red lines. Second item is hilarious coming from XI.

Dec 6, 2024

 The Taliban terror militia that financed its activities by drug trafficking has stepped up enforcement on its ban of growing opium poppy in Afghanistan. Rural revolt may be brewing.

Dec 17 2024

Burma junta has lost the western border,  which divides Myanmar from Bangladesh, to the Arakan Army. You can bet China is pushing  the Junta into peace talks.

Dec 29, 2024

Indian villages deter wild elephants with lemon trees, mint plants, etc, which  trigger them to re-route.

Jan 6, 2025

In the early 1900s, France ruled Indochina, which included present-day Cambodia.

Indochina ceded Koh Kood island to Thailand(Siam) in the Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907, but Indochina went defunct by the mid 1970s.

However, Cambodia claimed its side of the maritime boundaries from the treaty included the southern part of the island. 

Gas and Oil  reserves are on Koh Kood island.

Jan 24, 2025

 Nice try by ICC , but its warrant for Akhundzada, accusing him of persecution of women and girls, is going nowhere. He rarely travels outside Afghanistan.

Feb 5, 2025

ASEAN tells Myanmar’ junta its plan to hold an election is a mistake  amid an escalating civil war. Junta could care less.

Feb 17, 2025

DOS deletes "we do not support Taiwan independence" and mentions support for Taiwan's membership in international organizations "where applicable".  Mainland wants the USA to correct its mistakes.

Feb 25, 2025

Japan and PI boost military ties to deal with China, who states control of more than 90% of the South China Sea, where PI, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia,  and Brunei have competing territorial claims.

March 11, 2025

 Dalai Lama states his successor will be born in the “free world,” which is outside China. Beijing ain't happy.

March 12, 2025

BLA thinks its Jesse James and continues to attack passenger trains in Pakistan. It wants independence for Balochistan, one of Pakistan's most mineral-rich but low-population provinces. 

Yesterday, freed hostages walked for hours to reach safety after being forced to leave behind relatives.

March 13, 2025

PI Paybacks: Marcos turns Duerte over to ICC for prosecution. ICC is intended to be a "backup" to domestic court systems . Why doesn't PI prosecute Duerte if they have a case?

April 3, 2025

Joint USA-PI military exercises, will be conducted in northern Luzon, the region of the Philippines nearest Taiwan, later this month. USA approves the sale of twenty F-16 fighter jets worth $5.58B to PI.

April 9, 2025

Tyrannical China provides a morning chuckle by calling for the world to unite against Trump's trade tyranny. Ask Hong Kong citizens!

April 28, 2025

Myanmar's capital city Nay Pyi Taw will be redrawn after the earthquake last month.Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that buildings which collapsed were built on soft soil.

May 23, 2025

North Korea's Kim Jong Un described the failed launch of a new naval destroyer , a "criminal act caused by absolute carelessness." I wonder if he gives someone the death penalty.

Some sections of the warship's bottom were crushed.

July 7, 2025

 Iran tells many Afghans to leave or face arrest ,and one of the reasons is a claim that Israel has recruited Afghans as spies,

July 18, 2025

North Korea bans foreigners from Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, not too long after Lavrov, the Russian FM, started promoting it. 🤔

July 22, 2025

31 KMT lawmakers in Taiwan face  recall votes over their ties to mainland China. If a recall passes, a by-election will be held within 3 months to elect a replacement.

July 24, 2025

Cambodia and Thailanda are clashing again. The most prominent and violent conflicts have been around the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple. In 1962, the ICOJ recognized Cambodian sovereignty over the temple. Ruling was reaffirmed in 2013.

Aug 4, 2025

Taking notice: The Philippine and Indian navies sailed together for the first time in the South China Sea.

Aug 10, 2025

Iran thinks it can block a planned corridor which passes near its border in the Caucasus. It's part of a USA-brokered peace accord between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Velayati , an adviser to the Iran Supreme leader, claims  the corridor will open the way for NATO to position itself “like a viper” between Iran and Russia.

August 15, 2025

Sara Duterte, the VP of PI,  remains the top choice in polling for President in the 2028 elections, while  no ally of Marcos Jr  is among the front-runners.

Sept 20, 2025

Afghanistan rejects USA return to Bagram airbase, which is one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles. However, Trump and the Taliban are chatting.

Oct 13, 2025

Taliban and Pakistani forces exchanged heavy fire across Afghanistan border after an alleged Pakistani air strike on Kabul on Oct 9. Two main border crossings ,Torkham in the north and Chaman in the south, are closed.

Oct 29, 2025

North Korea test-fires cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea while Trump visits South Korea. Same old sh^t.

Dec 2, 2025

John Lee, CEO of Hong Kong, a Chinese-administered region, stressed that there will be an Independent investigation of the fire which ripped through seven tower blocks in the Wang Fuk Court housing complex in the city’s Tai Po district. Then  justified the arrest of protestors requesting answers:  “not tolerate any crimes, particularly crimes that exploit the tragedy that we have been facing now”

Protestors were later released

Sub-standard materials is the suspected reason for the fires.

Dec 5, 2025

Myanmar(Burma)  fills the opium gap and is the world’s main source  following decline of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

Dec 28, 2025

Election Protection Law imposes harsh penalties and restrictions for nearly all public criticism of the first election since Myanmar military seized power. 🤔

Jan 2, 2026

China’s Army (PLA) completed two days of military exercises in the waters off Taiwan and calls it Justice Mission 2025. What a term???

Feb 2, 2026

Beijing executes four members of Bai family criminal group in a clampdown on Myanmar-based telecom scams, which involve cryptocurrency investments and drug smuggling.

Feb 9, 2026

Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party has a two-thirds majority in Japan's lower house, and she'll be visiting the White House on 3/19/26

Feb 10, 2026

Thailand's acting PM Charnvirakul  is in coalition talks  after his conservative Bhumjaithai Party  proved the pollsters wrong on the election. Standing up to Cambodia was a key factor in the surprising result.

"Eastern" Europe changing times

Metropolitan Ieronymos, bishop of Athens and all Greece, is claiming it remains committed to tradition, while proposing that the children in a same sex family can be baptized when they reach a certain age and express a desire for the sacrament. 

Baptism is traditionally conducted in early childhood, but the church will adapt to changing times.

Compromise🤔 Not sure it sells well.

Jan 28, 2024

Czech Republic's upper house Senate voted against the Istanbul Convention, a treaty with a long title about combatting violence against women. Opponents feel it deviates from "traditional roles" for men and women in society and has not reduced violence in countries that have ratified it. Clauses concerning LBGT rights, particular the wording on gender identity, are hot points for treaty opponents.

Feb 8, 2024

 Finnish Air Force will participate in NATO's air defense mission over Bulgaria, Romania, and the Black Sea. 

Finland's Minister of Defense, Antti Heikkinen, stated that next year, Finland will contribute to NATO's peacetime missions with a Navy ship and eight Air Force F/A-18 Hornet fighters.

Feb 10, 2024

Kosovo's President Osmani wants more NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) to deal with Serbia. In September 2023, Serb gunmen stormed a majority Serb village in northern Kosovo and barricaded themselves in a Serbian Orthodox monastery. It never ends. Both countries want to join the EU.

Feb 19, 2024

Margrethe1 derided as "King Breechless"for favoring Denmark too often while ruling(1397-1412) over the tenuous union of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.

March 9, 2024

March, 3,1878) result of Russo-Turkish War: Actual independence from Ottoman rule was given only to the Principality of Bulgaria (present-day northern Bulgaria and the Sofia region)

April 2, 2024

Transnistria is wedged between Moldova and Ukraine and is home to a military base with 1,500 Russian troops. It broke off from Moldova in the 1990s but isn’t recognized by any U.N. member countries and most of its residents wants to be a part of Russia.

April 4, 2024

In the middle of March 2024, contact was established between German and Bulgarian authorities who went on to discover a warehouse in Yambol region of Bulgaria, which contained a military arsenal in a car repair shop.

Pictures of guns and magazines were found on the mobile phone of one of four suspected Hamas'  members arrested in Berlin and Rotterdam in December 2023. Their alleged intention was to transport the arms to Berlin for potential attacks on Jewish institutions across Europe.

April 19, 2024

Croatia: HDZ holds on to power but will have to work with the anti-immigrant Rodina party to form a coalition. HDZ got 60 seats, Rodina 14

 pro-Russian coalition led by populist president Zoran Milanović's "Rivers of Justice," secured 42 seats.

May 11, 2024

 Polish farmers march against 'green poison', EU climate change rules. General sentiment is that these rules raise prices for everything and belong in the trash bin.

May 15, 2024

The EU migration and asylum pact was ratified despite opposition from Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. Czech Republic, Malta, and Austria abstained during the final vote.

Countries who do not accept migrants have to choose one of three options: 

to contribute financially to their upkeep 

deploy border guards to assist with border security 

 establish reception centers.

AUR is using caravans to reach rural areas and provide medical care. Its goal is to win 10 of Romania's 33 seats in the European Parliament and to work with others to change what it views as Ursula von der Leyen's "destructive" policies on migration and green energy.

AUR has clashed with the ethnic Hungarian minority and faced allegations that its members are Holocaust deniers.

May 29, 2024

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen recently said the Danish government could not recognize a Palestinian state because it doesn't have a single functioning authority or control over its own territory. Yesterday, Danish Parliament rejected a proposal to recognize a Palestinian state.

June 22, 2024

Lebanon's government isn't handling the fallout from Nasrallah's (Hezbollah) suggestion of making Cyprus a target. 

How quickly some forget that Cyprus( geographically a part of West Asia) encouraged  its EU partners to offer Lebanon financial assistance. 

June 27, 2024

MK airbase,12 miles from the Black Sea coast in Romania , is stocking up and becoming NATO's biggest airbase in Europe

Sept 1, 2024

Ain't going to happen: Ukraine  urged Mongolia to arrest Putin during his visit there( based on an ICC war crimes warrant .

ICC claims Putin failed to stop the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia since the conflict began.

 Fadi el-Abdallah, a spokesperson for the ICC,  claims ICC court States Parties which includes Mongolia, "have the obligation to cooperate in accordance with the Chapter IX of the Rome Statute", the agreement which set up the court.

Oct, 13, 2024

George Simion, who's running for president on the AUR ticket in November, criticized Austria's stance, calling for the country to shed its "imperial reflexes" in delaying Romania's full accession into the Schengen Zone. 

Oct 16, 2024

Prague will ban night-time pub crawls organized by travel agencies. Is a lack of municipal police officers to keep the peace ,part of the problem?

Nov 20, 2024

In the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad  the roof collapse  at a courthouse has stirred riots.  It's been renovated twice in recent years by Chinese state construction companies.

Collapse killed 15 people and injured two others. 

 Complaints of rampant corruption led to sloppy renovation work at the station

Nov 25, 2024

Calin Georgescu, the TikTok campaign guy, who called Nato's  ballistic missile defense shield at the Deveselu military base in southern Romania "a disgrace, heads to a run -off in Presidential race 

His likely opponent is Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union.

Jan 13, 2025

  Georgescu's win in Romania was annulled due to a social media campaign attributed to Russia. Will social media be blocked before the new elections in May 2025?

Jan 28, 2025

Assyrian Empire home base was located in what is now northern Iraq and SE Turkey. At times, it was active in the region of Armenia highlands, through military conflicts with the Kingdom of Urartu.

Yep, I know Armenia is part of Asia,

Feb 8, 2025

 Polish man was stopped at Bulgaria border. He had 238,200 euros wrapped sandwich style in aluminum foil and black stretch film in various spots in his car.

 Customs charged him with failing to declare a large sum of money being transported across the border. This occurred 12/17/24

Feb 27, 2025

Romania's parliament passed a law yesterday , with Russia in mind, granting the country the authority to shoot down drones that unlawfully enter its airspace. Also, Georgescu was arrested while on his way to file for candidacy. 

April 18, 2025

April 16, 1925,  "Bloody Maundy Thursday," : A powerful bomb detonated during the funeral of General Konstantin Georgiev at Sofia’s "St. Nedelya" Church. It was planted in the church’s dome with the help of a priest and was triggered by a member of the Military Organization of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP).

Tsar Boris III arrived late and narrowly escaped the attack.

May 8, 2025

Slovenes large immigration to PA and Ohio from 1880  through WW1 to work mostly in coal mines and the lumber industry .

May 13, 2025 

Austrian history: Cisleithania comprised the current states of Austria ,except for Burgenland. And, most of the territories of the Czech Republic and Slovenia except for Prekmurje.

June 2 2025

 In Bulgaria small towns and rural areas are reluctant to adopt the Euro. They are leery of international transactions.

June 6, 2025

Croatia is reintroducing mandatory military service after a 17-year break. 8 weeks of basic military training will be mandatory for all Croatian men aged 18 to 30.

June 25, 2025

Ivanka Trump and Kushner are spending 1.4B to transform an abandoned Soviet weapons base on the Albanian island of Sazan into a resort.

July 8, 2025

 Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya asked Trump to keep up pressure on Belarus leader, Alexander Lukashenko, who released her husband from prison recently.

Sergei Tsikhanouskaya was the leading opposition challenger to Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election before he was arrested and sentenced to prison for 18 years for inciting hatred and social unrest.

July 12, 2025

Railway Authority's plan to dismantle and replace the Vysehrad bridge erected in Prague in 1902 during  the Austro-Hungarian Empire days .

It will be dismantled and moved about 5 miles south to the district of Modrany,  and become a crossing for pedestrians and cyclists.

 There are some suggestions to repair the bridge in place, keep the trains running and minimize disruptions.

Aug 14, 2025

 More Czechs travel north to Poland's Baltic coast instead of the "Czech Riviera" ,which is located on the Croatian coast.

Oct 7, 2025

Warsaw, Poland: The Metroteka. a library in a Metro station has over 16K  books, fresh coffee, and a vertical garden. It uses undulating bookshelves.

Oct 28, 2025

Lithuania closed Vilnius Airport four times last week after smuggler balloons, mostly carrying contraband cigarettes, entered its airspace. It's response was to shut its Belarus border crossings.

Nov 9, 2025

Latvia likely to reject Istanbul Convention. Clauses concerning LBGT rights, particular the wording on gender identity, remain hot points for treaty opponents.

EU/ USA trade deal includes a 15% tariff ceiling for EU pharmaceutical exports to the USA. Will this factor in future USA Senate talks.

Nov 19, 2025

Greek tax authorities have started inspections into more than 18k Greek firms which are officially registered in Bulgaria for its less burdensone tax structure. 

So far  they've found that some of these companies barely put up a basic pretense of running functioning offices and use the addresses to transfer funds.

Jan 14, 2026

The initial batch of 198 Stryker armored vehicles will be shipped from the USA to Bulgaria in February to the Terem-Ivaylo military plant in Veliko Tarnovo for assembly work.

Feb 6 2026

Greece Is building military ties and working toward developing weapons with Israel . Greece & Cyprus view Turkey as a threat

Feb 13, 2026

Two months after the snap election in Kosovo , PM Kurti got the votes to call Parliament back. Next ,deal with Serbia.

Shaking statues

 Tearing down history takes us down dangerous paths. The statue of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish born military engineer who help us during the American Revolution, was vandalized a few years ago. WTF. More to come.

In 2001 the Taliban, claiming they were following Islamic law, tore down a statue of Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

In 2018 a red angel-shaped statue named Phylax by Greek artist Kostis Georgiou was torn down in  southern Athens, Greece. Black-clad protesters viewed it as Satan like.

Portland: Elk statue was damaged during Occupy Portland protests in 2011. The elk and fountain were donated to Portland by a former mayor David P. Thompson, in 1900 to honor elk that once roamed the Willamette Valley.

The statue was again a target in 2020 and the Regional Arts Council decided the piece needed to be removed for public safety reasons.

In 2018, a bronze statue depicting two children honoring the national anthem in Patterson Park in Baltimore, was defaced with red paint. The words “Racistt Anthem” were painted in front of it.

It was paid for by pennies from public school students more than a century ago. 

The plaque on the statue read:

 “To commemorate the centennial of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, the pupils of the public schools of Baltimore have erected this memorial upon Hampstead Hill where in September,1814, the citizen soldiers of Maryland stood ready to sacrifice their lives in defense of their homes and their country.”

Feb 1, 2024

A reminder from Orwell in the book 1984: "History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” 

Jonathan Cook" Tearing down statues isn’t vandalism. It’s at the heart of the democratic tradition." I guess he lost his dictionary!

Jan 21, 2025

A statue of Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador, has been reinstalled in the center of Lima, Peru,more than 20 years after it was moved to a park next to train tracks.

 It was created by the American sculptor, Charles Rumsey, and offered by his widow to commemorate the city's fourth centenary in 1935.

The repaired statue was unveiled two days ago during a ceremony marking the 490th anniversary of the city's founding.

Feb 13, 2025

  Jerks used a blow torch to steal a statue  of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald from outside the Academy Professional Building in Saint Paul, MN.  The building was once a part of the St. Paul Academy, which Fitzgerald attended from 1908 to 1911 

Part of the right hand remains from the severed statue

April 5, 2025

Stewards will be stationed next to a statue of Molly Malone in Dublin, RoI to discourage people from groping the sculpture's breasts. Also, the plinth that it sits on may be raised.

May 6, 2025

Stewards of the Molly Malone statue in the R of I are there for a gentle confrontation on the behavior of fondling the breasts on the statue.  Odd story.

May 15, 2025

Melbourne will take down the Captain Cook monument due to repeated vandalism. The local branch of the Captain Cook Society has offered to preserve the bronze plaques.

June 10, 2025

Kyrgyzstan ,which parted from the USSR in 1991, took down a huge statue of the revolutionary Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin that had towered over Osh for 50 years. Reason given: to improve "architectural and aesthetic appearance" of the city.

Aug 5, 2025

 National Park Service will restore and reinstall the bronze statue of Albert Pike in the National Mall, which was toppled and vandalized during riots in June 2020. Norton-Holmes ain't happy.

Originally authorized by Congress authorized the stature in 1898 and dedicated in 1901. Pike was a lawyer, who played a big role in developing the judiciary in Arkansas before the Civil War, and later server two years in the Confederate Army

Pres Andrew Johnson gave him a reprieve.

Nov 25, 2025

 Calhoun Monument Preservation Society reached  a settlement with the city of Charleston, SC over the 2020 removal of the John C. Calhoun monument,  that will return the statue to public display in the Lowcountry but not within the city limits of Charleston.

Lowcountry includes: Charleston, Beaufort, Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Walterboro, Georgetown, Edisto Beach, and Summerville. 

earlier blog statues tumble

Reboot: Figure it out

 Spain's gals' soccer team reaches the World Cup semifinal for the first time after defeating Netherlands 2-1. They made it despite unsuccessful efforts to dislodge Coach Jorge Vilda and the ensuing discord. Maybe lessons learned for all sides? 

Aug 15, 2023

In a seesaw game Spain edges Sweden 3-2 and is going to the WWC final.  Less complaints about Coach Vilda now?

Aug 19, 2023

Spain vs England in final on Aug 20. Coach Valdi tells press we're united and doesn't want to talk about the old mutiny news. He!! of a run for Spain ladies. An old sports adage. Winning cures a lot of ills.

Aug 21, 2023

Spain 1 England 0. Carmona scores the winner for Spain in the WWC.

Charges of attempted rape were dropped against Greenwood(Manchester), but some say his return to the team is not a move forward in terms of proper respect for diversity and inclusion. This new "religion" is a slippery slope.

Aug 24, 2023

 Eamonn Holmes catches flack for dismissing honors for second place Brit gals in WWC. Brit 1966 WC champs: In 1966 it was customary for only the 11 players on the pitch at the final whistle to be awarded medals.

Sept 10, 2023

Spain fires Vilda. The team won the WWC despite 12 of the country's best players quitting in 2022.

Sept 17, 2023

Monste Tomé, named the first female coach of Spain’s women’s team, but the players continue to rebel. Good luck getting another WWC.

Oct 15, 2023

Sanchez's Socialists are talking with Catalan and Basque separatist groups to avoid an election. Huge move and may cause more trouble for Spain. Sanchez is desperate to stay in office.

Nov 8, 2023

In Spain the General Council of the Judiciary, the body that picks top judges, stated that pardoning Catalan politicians, will imperil the rule of law.

This is a response to the Catalan amnesty plan floated by PM Sanchez.

Dec 3, 2023

Isabel Ayuso, an anti-lockdown crusader, crushed Iglesias, whom she called a Communist, to return as a President of the Madrid Region. Stores and bars supported her.

 Of course, most of the press is focused on her possibly working with Vox.

Dec 11, 2023

Olive oil- a luxury item in Spain? Rise in its exports, the problem?

 Italians sell Spanish olive oil under their own brands, so many consumers now believe that the Italians and not the Spanish are the market leaders in the olive business.

Jan 30, 2024

A rally in Madrid against Catalan amnesty bill which was a main condition by Catalan parties for agreeing to support Sanchez's coalition government.

 Spain's lower house of Parliament votes on the bill today and if approved, the law will block legal action against hundreds of Catalan activists who are being investigated or have been charged for their roles in the attempts to declare an independent Catalan state in 2017.

April 25, 2024

Sanchez, Spain PM, will cancel his work duties to focus on his wife Begonia Gomez, who is facing accusations of corruption from a Spanish court. 

She's accused of receiving favors from airline Air Europa and its Spanish holding company Globalia during her time as director of an African research center at Madrid's IE business school.

May 19, 2024

Spain's Transport Minister Oscar Puente suggests that Milei "ingested substances" during last year's Argentine election campaign. 

Milei is expected in Spain in two weeks to participate in an event organized by VOX and claims Sanchez' policies are bringing "death and poverty" to the Spanish people.

May 23, 2024

Spain, Norway, Republic of Ireland are going to recognize  the Palestinian state on May 28.  Clueless Norway PM Store blames Hamas for the terror as if it's not running Palestine.

August 9, 2024

Carles Puigdemont, a Catalan politician wanted on various charges, managed to slip in and out of Spain because police waited until the end of his talk in order to detain him "at the most opportune time so as not to generate public disorder."

Regardless of how you view Puigdemont, this is crazy.

Catalan regional police  arrested two of their own officers for assisting his escape.

Nov 17, 2024

 Farm Minister Zeichner calls himself  "a champion of farmers" while telling UK farmers to be calm about the new tax burdens coming their way. That's a kick in the head.

Feb 18, 2025

Portugal relied a great deal on the British navy for a long time so I'm unsure what to make of this: Portuguese naval authorities recorded heightened Russian ship activity in the Atlantic Ocean, although deemed normal, they stress continued observation.

April 24, 2025

Nissan's Alan Johnson told UK MPs that the Sunderland factory electricity bill is more than at any other Nissan plant in the world.

July 23, 2025

Uzbekistan soccer team will make their debut World Cup appearance at the 2026 FIFA WC, and fly the flag for Asia in Canada, Mexico ,and the USA.

It's was on apart of the Soviet Union.

Dec 1, 2025

The rally in central Madrid against Sanchez,  carried the slogan "Mafia or democracy?"

  Supreme Court  ordered the pre-trial detention of Sanchez's former transport minister, Jose Luis Abalos, and the minister's ex-adviser Koldo Garcia.

Jan 27, 2026

Two powerful men in German soccer, Hans-Joachim Watzke  and Bernd Neuendorf , don't believe a  boycott of the 2026 World Cup makes sense. Games are scheduled to be played in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.

 reboot redneck

Catsup Canada

 Trudy reshuffles cabinet amid soaring interest rates, wildfires, etc, but is more concerned with bashing Bebe. As goofy as his dad Pierre.

Clinics in Calgary, and elsewhere in Canada are offering membership fees and finding ways to skirt around the law. Apparently, folks are requesting ways to get better service.

Canada censors social media. Here's a line from the late Gord Downie's, "Boots or hearts". See when it starts,To fall apart, Man, it really falls apart.

Sept 20, 2023

Trudeau accuses India of involvement in the death of Nijjar, 45, in British Columbia but offers no proof. India says Ninjar was a bad guy, Both sides are goofy, so far.

Sept 26, 2023.

Hey Rota, a quick glance at a history book would've helped. Dear Canada, try vetting. you would've learned that old soldier was in a Ukranian Nazi squad.

Oct 4, 2023

Trudy's word for the day: Denialism. Good luck Canada!

Oct 22, 2023

Canada pledges additional $50 million to help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. F'N crazy!

Nov 26, 2023

Poilievre's Conservatives vote against carbon tax for Ukraine. CUFTA still made it through the committee stage.but Trudy keeps whining.

Feb 28, 2024

Trudy's Liberal pals in Canada introduced a bill claiming to combat online hate that would force major companies to quickly remove harmful content and boost the penalty for inciting genocide to life in prison. Of course, they use the cover of protecting children from online predators.

Who defines genocide?

April 6, 2024

CRA reversed a rule change just days before the T3 filing deadline, after many taxpayers already had done their (Bare Trust )preparation work.

Bare trust:  a person has legal ownership of a property or asset but doesn't hold beneficial ownership.

May 4, 2024

 Canadian police arrested and charged three Indian men with the murder of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen campaigning for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India. This keeps getting uglier.

May 13, 2024

Trudeau Backs Away from Tax Threat on REIT s, breaking a power sharing promise to the NDP to tackle the so called financialization of the housing market.

June 8, 2024

The Bank of Canada trimmed its key policy rates to 4.75% from 5%, and is the first G7 country to do so, in an attempt to ease pressure on highly indebted consumers. 

I'm not feeling a  downward trajectory on inflation.

June 26 2024

Trudy's Liberal Party lost a safe seat in a special election.Conservative  Don Stewart won the race in the Toronto-St Paul's constituency. First time a conservative has won there since 1988.

 Election was called after the previous legislator quit.

Aug 22, 2024

Trudeau on rail freight traffic coming to a standstill over labor dispute.“It is in the best interest of both sides to continue doing the hard work at the table,”. Tiresome cliche from Trudy

(CN) and CPKC railroads both locked out their employees after the deadline passed yesterday without new agreements.

Sept 21, 2024

Trudy's poll numbers are below 30%. Trudeau's Liberal Party lost a crucial parliament seat in a special election in Montreal a few days ago.

The narrow loss in Montreal's federal electoral district of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun is the second defeat in three months for Trudeau's minority Liberal government.Liberal candidate Laura Palestini cfinished behind the Bloc Quebecois candidate, Louis-Philippe Sauvé.

Oct 22, 2024

Some Liberal MPs  in Canada are committing themselves to trying to force Trudeau out of the party leadership. Doubt if it will occur, but it's noteworthy.

Nov 12, 2024

Health care in Canada: ER at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, B.C., was closed for 31 hours this weekend,  the third type of closure this month.

No clear explanations.

Nov 18, 2024

Bad poll numbers' reaction: Trudy wakes up, caps immigration, reduces the number of both permanent and temporary residents.

Dec 4 2024

 Canada is blasting out "ally to the north"ads  in DC airports and across the USA on billboards.

March 4, 2025

Trudeau met King Charles and they discussed Trump’s suggestion to make Canada the 51st state. Wonder if this was  # 1 on the list?

March 18, 2025

 Psychological concern causes Indie game  developers from Canada to be wary about attending the GDC conference in San Fran. Too much time in front of their monitors.

May 11, 2025

another Imelda Marcos? 58 pairs of Manolo Blahniks were found at the Toronto home of Singa Bui and Nicholas Cartel, who are under investigation after millions of dollars were embezzled at their firm

June 4, 2025

Canada's PM "Carnage" seeks to expand authorities' ability to open and inspect mail. WTH!

Beware immigration and security bill

June 29 2025

Canada's  digital tax occurs on gross revenue linked to Canadian user engagement and is retroactive to January 2022.

Levy came into law June 2024 and applies to online marketplaces, social media platforms, digital advertising, and the sale or licensing of user data.

Jan 22, 2026

Beware verbal guarantees : Public servants with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) who have been teleworking full-time for the past several years will be required to work in offices in the National Capital Region.

Hawaii Canada

Local print media-more stories 2023

  Packers claim it will cost $7.5 million to host the 2025 NFL draft and expect to lose $$$ on the event. Two local state GOP politicians submitted a motion to the Wisonsin Legislature’s seeking a $2 million grant for Experience Greater Green Bay, a group that promotes tourism in the Green Bay area. Perhaps they should file for a loan to be paid back by 2026.  Sales tax revenue from tourists should cover this easily. 

June 2, 2023

Steve Garvey, former 1B for Dodgers and Padres, may run for the US Senate seat in California.

I forgot about this from 1989:  Cyndy Garvey was released from jail one day after she was arrested for refusing to allow her ex-husband, Steve Garvey, court-ordered visits with their two daughters.    In the same year SG admitted that he had fathered the children of two other women and one of them is suing him.

June 19, 2023

San Fran Mayor is mad about a GMA claim it’s ‘too dangerous to film’ in the downtown area, while Biden wants to hold fundraisers in the area in 2024.

July 6, 2023

Nearly 30 train cars crashed in Reeseville, WI in Dodge County, spilling grain and potash. No one was hurt. Another derailment occurred in Crawford County, WI in April. Where's "Mayor" Pete?

July 18, 2023

 Bandimere Speedway, a longtime stop west of Denver on the NHRA circuit, will be sold for residential development. It may be tricky finding another location for drag racing in the Denver area.

Aug 11, 2023

Big Ed's BBQ is expanding in the Midwest. Eddie Nero, the owner, got an early boost from some former Chicago Bears, Jason McKie and Devin Hester. Is the food tasty?

Oct 12, 2023

 CHICKEN FRIED DEVILED EGGS-tasty in local 21236 joint. The Local had some melt-in your mouth apps last night.  those eggs : buttermilk and herb marinade, B&B pickle relish, rosemary

hot sauce, chives. Hot sauce was sweet than kicked in hot.

Oct 24, 2023

  The Phandemic Brew, cool beer name, in Phillies' land. New Jersey brewery, Red White and Brew, has carved out a niche at Citizens Park. 

Dec 12, 2023

K Williams was arrested in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska on charges of homicide for knifing Rev S Cutsgell.  In 2007, SG pleaded guilty to embezzling 127K from an area church. He was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay restitution. Diocese reassigned him to another church. 

Dec 22, 2023

Black barbershops are creating a buzz − over books. So young readers can just 'be boys.

 Alvin Irby, founder of Barbershop Books, has been placing a popular series of children's chapter books in neighborhood shops, including the Germantown section of Philadelphia. 

Black boys are more than just their skin color. They want to read about trucks. They want to laugh. So many of the books that feature black boys don't give them a chance to be boys: silly or gross or funny." quote from Irby.

Jan 15, 2024

Bob Evans restaurant employees confronted Marquis Walker, a New Castle, DE resident, after he paid with a counterfeit $100 bill, but he started to argue with employees and refused to give back the change that he received. He gave back the change, took the counterfeit $100 bill. Delaware State Police chased him on foot and arrested him. He is charged with trying to pay a restaurant bill with a counterfeit $100 bill and with carrying more fake currency.

Jan 18 2024

Baltimore City supports passage of the Pava Marie LaPere Act in the Maryland General Assembly. It will eliminate “good-time credits” for first-degree sex offenders. 

Billingsley, who is is charged with the murder of Pava Marie LaPere, a 26-year-old tech company CEO killed in 2023, received credits following a 2015 conviction on a sex offense.

Billingsley was also charged with a west Baltimore arson in 2023, where investigators claim he raped a woman, handcuffed a man, and slashed their throats in the apartment and then set them on fire.

Jan 22, 2024

Claymont, DE man sentenced to only 6.5 years for blowing up and robbing ATMs in the Philly area in 2020. I can't find his name in the reports.

March 3, 2024

 In Norfolk VA, Port of Virginia opened a two-way passage allowing ultra-large container vessels to travel through and is dredging it and the Norfolk Harbor to 55 feet deep and the ocean approach to 59 feet deep. 

When $450M dredging project is done in fall, The Port of Virginia will have the deepest, widest channels on the USA East Coast.

It quite a site to be on a tour boat and ride by the aircraft carriers in that area.

March 8, 2024

What's that smell around Millsboro DE? Officials claim it's a rotten egg smell caused by the dredging of the Indian river. Others ain't buying that claim.

 Its bringing decaying organic material to the surface and dumping it in nearby wetlands.

April 10, 2024

Who are the good guys? Bull City United, a  Durham, NC-based group of violence interrupters and outreach workers, has issues.

Nicole Taybron, 40, a BCU employee, was arrested earlier this week on a charge of possession with intent to sell and deliver crack cocaine. 

May 18, 2024

 Pot plants were spotted amidst a tulip patch near the capitol building in downtown Madison, WI and removed . No comment yet from Gov. Evers.

May 24, 2024

Norfolk Southern, which did not admit wrongdoing, agreed to a proposed consent decree estimated to cost them  over $310 million to resolve a government lawsuit over a February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

June 3, 2024

Headed to NC this week and  I"ll be wary.   NC Highway Patrol pursued Kahshon Nahkiem Cunningham and Promise Allure Hope on several drug charges. The chase started in Wilson Mills off of U.S. 70 and went through Johnston County and  reached speeds of 145 mph. 

Suspects gave up peacefully and drugs were found on Hope.

June 9, 2024

In Raleigh, NC, a barber is required to complete 59 steps and 17 forms to open a barbershop.

June 29, 2024

Enjoying the lead-in line --Business heats up ----for South Raleigh,NC ice-making plant. Holiday Ice peak season.

July 29, 2024

Hopefully, UNC abides by a lawsuit settlement which includes a commitment to follow the state's open-meeting laws including discussions on  future conference alignment.

Missed this on -going news on this while I was in Chapel , NC in early June, 2024.about David McKenzie's lawsuit against UNC. He got 25K.

Feb 7, 2025

An old CSX railway line in NC that was completed in the late 1890s and has not been active since 1983 may become a rail trail linking Durham and Person Counties.

Starts at American Tobacco Trail and works its way through Durham toward Braggtown and possibly touch Bahama, Rougemont, and end at Roxboro.

April 19, 2025

How did Limestone U, an independent non-denomination Christian college in South Carolina, not  prepare its students and staff for going to only online and probably closing down.

 It will host a “reverse college fair” on April 25 for students to speak with other universities. 

Limestone was the first women’s college in South Carolina and began admitting men in the early 1900s, but did not allow them to live on campus.

May 25, 2025

Click it or ticket in NC: Drivers who fail to wear their seatbelts could be fined $179 in North Carolina.

All drivers, ages 16 and older must wear their seat belts. The driver of a vehicle is responsible for himself and all children less than 16 years old Those riders  16 and older are responsible for themselves.

Aug 22, 2025

Kentucky Speedway is private property and is not abandoned, and the so-called influencers videotaping themselves are being charged with vandalism for breaking in.

 It no longer hosts NASCAR or IndyCar races but is still used for smaller events.

Sept 11, 2025

Riding e-scooters, e-bikes, and other PMC devices in academic buildings, residence halls, etc finally prohibited at Towson U in MD.

Sept 22, 2025

 N. W. Ayer & Son copywriter Frances Gerety, from Philadelphia, PA, penned the slogan  "A Diamond Is Forever"  for De Beers Diamond company in 1947. 

Oct 25, 2025

Mike Duggan, Democrat mayor of Detroit, is running for Gov of MI  as an independent candidate. Not so sure  he's a guy who 's in the middle.

Nov 20, 2025

Raleigh City Council extends 2 hour free parking in an area near one of the largest Lego stores in NC. Good move.

Jan 23, 2026

Gov. Spencer Cox  "Utah will not become a state of renters,". Methods-  reform zoning, streamline permitting, support infrastructure . Good luck with streamlining permitting.

https://vaporvents.blogspot.com/2019/05/local-print-media-catching-stories-ive.html

Random pop-ups in Europe

 Pope Francis is visiting Hungary later this week, and I doubt he and Orban agree on migrants but may concur on Ukraine. In 2021 Orban met the pope asked him, "not to let Christian Hungary perish". He gave the pope a facsimile of a letter that 13th century Bela IV, the King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, sent to Pope Innocent IV asking for help in fighting the Tartars.

I wonder if the Pope will comment on Hungary's child protection law which the EU hates. That would be "rich" coming from a Vatican that gives cover for pedo priests.

April 27, 2023

So this confusing issue flares up again: Armenia claims that the Russian force has failed to keep open the Lachin corridor, the only land route that links it to Karabakh across Azerbaijani territory.

Russia is a major arms exporter to Azerbaijan and so is NATO member Turkey. 

Russia is a military ally of Armenia.

Toss in Ukraine war.

April 30, 2023

Armenia and Azerbaijan may hold a new round of talks in Washington on Sunday to try to normalize relations.  I guess because the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will be in Washington DC this weekend. Otherwise, WTF are we, the USA, doing in this mess.

May 10, 2023

 Switzerland's military performed its largest exercises in more than three decades. Big deal for a long-time neutral country.

May 13, 2023

For all the climate change folks: Snow fell in parts of northern Spain yesterday after months of high temps and no rain.

June 3, 2023

Italian PM Meloni: The clampdown on charity ships stops them from acting as "ferry boats" for migrants, going "back and forth with human traffickers to shuttle people from one country to the other."

 Charities' ships are being impounded for ignoring the law.

And to counter so called ‘Pride Month’ Meloni’s has launched ‘Family Pride Month’ to promote the traditional family.

June 6, 2023

Romania is buying two second-hand British minesweepers and two French submarines. Probably to deal with its Black Sea naval fears.

June 18, 2023

Germany will transfer its Patriot missile defense systems, which are currently stationed in Slovakia, to Lithuania to protect the upcoming NATO summit on July 11 and 12.

Shifting gears, Belgian foreign affairs minister Hadja Lahbib is facing calls for resignation after granting visas to delegations from Iranian and Russian cities, which are in countries under international sanctions, to attend a convention of Mayors in Brussels.

June 23, 2023

Some Amsterdam residents don't want to see tourists coming for sex and drugs. You have prostitution museums. Gimme a break!

July 5, 2023

The amount of funds raised for the French cop who shot teenager Nahel M. is 4x the amount raised for NM's family.

Aug 2, 2023

A Scottish lawmaker has been , triggering a by-election that will indicate whether the opposition Labour Party is recovering support from Scotland's dominant pro-independence party.

Aug 1, 2023

Margaret Ferrier (SNP), one of a wave of SNP politicians who swept Labour from its one-time Scottish stronghold in 2015, was stripped of her seat yesterday in Britain's parliament for breaking COVID rules in 2020. Quite a tactic!

Aug 25, 2023

 Macron's advisers feel Le Pen could get elected in 2027 because she'll have the working class and middle class, but it's not due to questions on migration, Hello, runaway migration is a major factor in why she'll have those two groups.

Sept 7, 2023

Bear attacks on humans become an election issue in Slovakia. Over-protected?

Sept 23, 2023

Bulgaria: 115th anniversary freed from Ottoman Empire, also booted out Russia orthodox priest yesterday for being spies.

Sept 29, 2023

Sweden PM Ulf Kristersson called in the chief of the armed forces to help curb a rise in gang killings. New Trend?

Nov 2, 2023

A man tossed dyed rodents into a McDonald's in UK and screamed F^ck Israel. Reuters headline: apparent, anti-Israel protest😕

Nov 20, 2023

Orban's billboard message: let's not dance to Soros Jr and der Leyen tunes

Nov 28, 2023

A man from Kalipetrovo, Bulgaria grilled sandwiches in the office of the electricity distribution company in Silistra to protest that there was no electricity in his house for 24 hours.

Company officials promised the problem will be fixed and that power will be restored to his home within an hour and a half.

Dec 26, 2023

First kiosk in Lisbon opened in 1869 and these cafes are experiencing a revival.

Moorish-style kiosks provide chairs and shade and serve traditional snacks and drinks.

 Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar's laws that began in the 1930s discourage public gathering.

Jan 6, 2024

Sint-Truiden, Belgium: This Christmas season it moved its ice-skating rink inside Minderbroederse, an18th-century baroque church that doesn't host services.

Children skate across the nave of the church and past a nativity scene, with Christmas music filling the air and a starry night image projected on the ceiling.

Jan 20, 2024

To counter money laundering and terrorist financing, EU has reached a partial agreement, imposing a €10,000(10.9K USD) cap on cash payments. The agreement, struck between member states and the European Parliament, claims it will safeguard European citizens and the EU financial system from illicit financial activities.

Entities involved in financial services, banking, real estate agencies, asset management firms, casinos, and merchants will be required to adhere to the cash payment limit. And they will be required to verify the identity of individuals making cash payments that range from €3,000 to €10,000.

Jan 25, 2024

Sweden will have to wait until Feb 26 for Hungary to ok its accession to NATO. Orban told NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that he’ll “urge” parliamentary approval “at the first possible opportunity."

Feb 1, 2024

EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola: "To the farmers that are outside. We see you and we hear you.". I dread these words at work cuz it's just a brush off.

Feb 4, 2024

Portugal moving to the Right ahead of the March 10 snap election. Chega Party is gaining ground in opinion polls. Open Borders and EU climate-mania ain't popular.

Feb 24, 2024

More farmer protests in France amid rumors that Macron invited environmentalist group Soulevements de la Terre to his scheduled debate with farmers' union representatives.

April 17, 2024

Emir Kir, mayor of the Brussels district of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode,  issued a ban on a conservative conference, claiming the far right is not welcome in the city.

"Police have instructed that they won't let people into the building but won't force them to leave," said Anthony Gilland of the MCC think tank, one of the organizations behind the event.

July 19, 2024

 Macron created the mess and appears to have prevented a Leftist nightmare.by working with the center and center-right parties. Communist lawmaker André Chassaigne may not get a top job.

Assembly Speaker ,Yael Braun-Pivet,  retained her post Thursday 

Aug 29, 2024

Here we go:  Starmer’s ‘Operation Reset’ starts with Germany  to undo hard Brexit despite his claims to the contrary.

Sept 8, 2024

High on a bullsh^t meter: Stamer on removing Thatcher's portrait. "This is not actually about Margaret Thatcher at all. I don’t like images and pictures of people staring down at me."

Sept 27, 2024

Tech companies Europe  pay more to comply with EU regulations than for R&D. AI will suffer there.

Oct  9 , 2024

National Rally, which has 125 seats in parliament, abstained from the no-confidence vote on France's PM Barnier, which caused its defeat.  Leader Marine Le Pen is giving the government a chance for the time being. Commies are pissed.

Oct 17, 2024

Hits keep coming at Starmer: Downing Street rejected suggestions that Starmer received Taylor Swift tickets as a “thank you” after she was given a taxpayer-funded police escort while in London. Also, no response on whether the PM met the singer at a show .

Oct 18, 2024

So now Columbus is not Italian but a Sephardic Jew from western Europe. However, DNA analysis is unlikely to validate a distinction between Spanish versus Italian or Sephardic Jewish ancestry. 

A documentary aired on Spain’s broadcaster TVE called "Columbus DNA: The True Origin,"  made these claims.

Oct 25, 2024

Starmer: "Regular" working folks who get additional income from assets such as shares or property, do not count as working people- per his definition. Taxman is coming.

Oct 31, 2024

 Keir Starmer : “those with the broadest shoulders” would have to pay more tax." Reeves wants increase in the tax businesses pay for employing people. F'n nuts

April 15, 2025

Macron last seven days: He recognizes the statehood of Palestine, Algeria expels tell 12 French embassy officials. French prisons encounter burning of vehicles and automatic weapon fire.

Oct 6, 2025

Another PM  exits in France. Lecornu resigned a day after naming his government

Oct 20, 2025

 Terrassa in north-eastern Catalonia , Spain banned the adoption of black cats from animal shelters from Oct 10 -Nov 6 to prevent potentially sinister rituals during Halloween season.

Nov 4, 2025

Serhii K, the suspect in the orchestration the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions, started a hunger strike in an Italian high-security prison. So what!

He's been in pre-trial detention in Italy waiting for a potential extradition to Germany.

Dec 9, 2025

Guinness will open a new brewery in London later this week after a 85M $ investment. they have a USA brewery in Halethorpe, MD just outside Baltimore

Jan 17, 2026

One man was arrested for climbing the Iran Embassy building  near London and removing an Iranian flag. Iran has a space in the Interests Section inside the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC.

Jan 18, 2026

Munich Security Conference  reversed a decision to invite Iranian leadership figures after over a month of Ayatollah crackdowns. Not a fast reacting crew

Feb 4, 2026

Rome will start charging  a $2.40 fee to view the Trevi Fountain, a Baroque landmark, up close, claiming they need the money to  manage overcrowding and fund maintenance.

Africa- so much desert and more

 The building of the Mauritania’s Train du Desert which was completed in 1963 must have been brutal. The train system operates a daily service from the port at Nouadhibou on the Atlantic coast to the iron ore mines in Zouerat. A full journey runs along the border of the disputed territory of Western Sahara and takes around 20 hours. The train is made up of three or four diesel locomotives, one passenger carriage, and between 200 and 210 freight cars. 

Mauritania became an independent nation in 1960.

March 31, 2023

Pirates have abandoned Monjasa Reformer, a Danish-owned ship hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea last week, but have taken some crew members with them. Ransom demands expected shortly.

April 6, 2023

Gunmen in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state kidnapped eight school kids while Nigeria's military fights a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast. I know it's sounds like same old sh^t but it serves as a reminder.

May 8, 2023

Rumors of Russian paramilitary group Wagner looking to supply weapons to the RSF in Sudan in exchange for RSF-controlled gold mining resources.

June 4, 2023

Turkey, which sent forces to help the government in Tripoli ward off an assault by eastern forces in 2020, has previously deployed drones from bases in western Libya. Ankara has not commented the June 2 drone strikes by Libya's Government on the western regions of Zawia, Zuwara, Ajeelat, and Maya.  What are Ergodan and Libya's GNU goals?

BTW, this started me thinking about Hannibal fleeing to what is now modern day Turkey. Yes, I know Carthage, Hannibal's base, is in modern day Tunisia.

July 23, 2023

Morocco considers Western Sahara its own territory, but Algeria isn't happy and many some Algerians prefer WS to be an independent state. Is war coming?

July 28, 2023

On-going coup of Bazoum in Niger. Some folks outside the National Assembly waved Russian flags and chanted anti-French slogans.

Sept 8, 2023

Jihad steps up attacks in Mali while UN works on its exit.

Oct 14, 2023

UN forces exit Mali -Fighting intensifies-no surprise- between the army and separatist insurgents in Mali. 

Oct 23, 2023

  Elsewhere in Africa: Moroccan police seized 1.37 tons of cocaine in Casablanca. It was concealed in a cargo of imported frozen fish found at a distribution company and was imported from a Latin American country via Spain, the Moroccan police. Where's Bogey.

EU sanctions the junta in Niger.

Nov 21, 2023

Malawi President Chakwera suspended all foreign trips by government officials, including himself. Let's see how long this lasts.

Dec 2, 2023

Biden promised to visit Angola. He hopes to discuss the Artemis Accords, a pact designed to shape the rules for space exploration with Angola, which has a satellite program that has benefited from Russian support. Angola and Russia have not signed up.

Jan 2, 2024 

 Landlocked Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, a breakaway enclave of Somalia, which give it access to the Red Sea. 

Ethiopia has offered the region a stake in Ethiopian Airlines and will officially recognize it as a sovereign state. Somaliland declared its independence in 1991.

Feb 25, 2024

Canada pledges $59M for the deployment of a Kenya-led multinational mission to support Haitian police in its battle to contain criminal gangs. Quite a path!

April 15, 2024

Sunak, Brit PM, is ready to exit ECHR if his Rwanda Scheme passes in Parliament. It paves the way for asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda. 

 Rwanda needs to be treated by British judges as a safe destination, and it will also limit individuals' options for an appeal to only exceptional cases.

April 27, 2024

A portion of the USA. troops in Chad will move to Germany for now, but it's a temporary step. Hey, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder hints they may return after the country's May 6 presidential election, and it sounds like they're sure Deby will win.

June 12, 2024

 Tunisia: Saied may use a decree to void the Article 25 statute which prohibits direct financing of the state budget by its Central Bank.  Abassi, the bank's governor, warns financing it will lead to a Venezuela scenario.

June 25, 2024

Kenya  is facing tax protests in the street. A proposed "eco levy" on most manufactured goods including sanitary towels and diapers has made the situation worse.

July 2, 2024

Libya fully reopens major Ras Ijdir border crossing with Tunisia. Nouri, Tunisian IM, states "reopened for all activities except smuggling". It gave me a chuckle-although probably not his intention.

This follows three months of armed clashes.

Sept 28, 2024

Kenya supplies more than 40% of the flower market in Europe, particularly fresh roses. Planes makes deliveries daily to various cities.

Unpaid overtime, harsh working conditions, and lack of protective gear on some flower farms , are among numerous  complaints to both the Kenya Flower Council and (KEPHIS).

October 8, 2024

Saied, the leader of Tunisia since 2019, has removed institutional and legal checks on his own power and claims not to be a dictator.  He's getting financial help from European countries worried about migration.

Oct 30, 2024

Macron offers more French investment for the Western Sahara in a speech to Morocco's parliament. Tension with Algeria will heighten.

Algeria has been imposing visa requirements on Moroccans, accusing some of its passport holders of "Zionist espionage".

Nov 2, 2024

Global demand for diamonds hurt Botswana and BDP, its ruling party for 58 years, just got knocked out of power by the UDC (Umbrella for Democratic Change). Masisi out,Boko in. 

Dec 15, 2024

Ghana- Incoming Prez Mahama promises to abolish nuisance taxes , such as the electronic levy on mobile transactions and a levy on carbon emissions produced by petrol or diesel-powered vehicles.

Jan 9, 2025

Chad: French soldiers leaving, Chinese diplomats visiting, Deby's military repels armed assault of presidential complex. 

Deby is in office via a coup. Plenty of oil in the ground.

Jan 27, 2025

Al-Burhan, Sudan Army Chief, claims there will be no reconciliation with RSF, and that there will be fighting until the very last rebel is dead.

Feb 11, 2025

What a childish response to Trump from SA Department of International Relations and Cooperation  “It may become clear that our expropriation act is not exceptional, as many countries have similar legislation,”

March 31,2025

Camara, Guinea's ex-military ruler, was pardoned over 2009 stadium massacre in which troops under his command opened fire during a rally calling for a return to civilian rule.150 people dead. Health reasons cited as the reason for the pardon.

April 4, 2025

I wonder why Samir Shegwara, who published documents linking Libya's intelligence service to the Lockerbie bombing, decided to return home where he was arrested yesterday. 

 Those files could form evidence against Abu Agila Masud Kheir Al-Marimi , who has been accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103.

June 7, 2025

Reading about Dlomo, a  female teenager playing  tent pegging, a traditional cavalry sport, across sub-Saharan Africa.

Definitely new to me!

July 17, 2025

if you are or were upset about Biden and/or Trump being too old, Cameroon's President Paul Biya, 92, will run  for re-election in October aiming to extend his 43 years in power.

Aug 18, 2025

Yann Vezilier, a French embassy worker  in Mali, was accused and arrested for plotting a coup to destabilize Mali. Let's see what Macon does.

Oct 1, 2025

GenZ Moroccans staged protests over the new stadiums being built for 2030 Fifa World Cup. Lotsa luck raging against corruption w/o specific details.

Nov 8 2025

 The Kenyan Defence Forces and  Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) recently found a rare colonial military records in Kenya  Researchers were able to recover the names and stories of more than 3k soldiers who served at that time.

The King's African Rifles.  a regiment of East African soldiers,  fought against German troops in what is now Tanzania in WW1, and Japanese troops in Burma, now named Myanmar, in WW2.

Nov 11, 2025

JNIM(Al-Qaeda)is cutting off key routes and causing severe fuel shortages in Bamako, Mali. Goïta's junta is doing very little.

Nov 15, 2025

Ben Mbarek had received treatment  for a toxin but refused nutritional supplements while he continues his hunger strike  to protest against Tunisian Pres Saied.  I doubt the efficacy of this type of protest, always have.

Jan 16, 2026

Reading a slim book on the history of Tunisia and learned of the Normans of Sicily . They took Sicily from Arab rulers in 1130AD  Then  later established the "Kingdom of Africa" along the Tunisian coast from 1148 to 1160AD, conquering Mahdia, Sfax, and Tunis. 

Jan 29, 2026

After  the chaos of the Senegal/Morocco’s AFCON final , Morocco's chances of hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup final in Casablanca at the under construction, Hassan II Stadium look dim.

Older blog:

https://vaporvents.blogspot.com/2020/10/africa-those-darn-wigs-and-gowns.html