Burger King pulls ad suggesting its food is an alternative to drugs -

Burger King pulls ad suggesting its food is an alternative to drugs  - 



Burger King is in hot water over an ad it released in Russia that suggests its food is better than drugs. 
Earlier this week Russian media outlets reportedly refused to run a Burger King ad that opens with a Whopper crushing a red poppy flower, with the following voice over: ”This is a poppy. It was popular once, but now its time has passed.” The poppy flower, in which its seeds are used to create many forms of narcotics, including opium and heroin, is meant to symbolize a habit.  The burger is crushing that habit and replacing it with its food, reported The Moscow Times.  
Now the fast food company has yanked the ad from its YouTube channel.
The Moscow Times also added that the ad's tagline is a play on words. The Russian word for "poppy" is "mak," which sounds like "Big Mac," the popular sandwich produced by Burger King rival McDonald's.

Read more: -

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/08/20/burger-king-pull-ad-that-suggests-burger-is-better-than-drugs/

THE GHOST RAPES OF BOLIVIA - residents a Colony thought demons were raping the town’s women - it was even WORSE -

THE GHOST RAPES OF BOLIVIA - residents a Colony thought demons were raping the town’s women - it was even WORSE - 



For a while, the residents of Manitoba Colony thought demons were raping the town’s women. There was no other explanation. No way of explaining how a woman could wake up with blood and semen stains smeared across her sheets and no memory of the previous night. No way of explaining how another went to sleep clothed, only to wake up naked and covered by dirty fingerprints all over her body. No way to understand how another could dream of a man forcing himself onto her in a field—and then wake up the next morning with grass in her hair.

For Sara Guenter, the mystery was the rope. She would sometimes wake up in her bed with small pieces of it tied tightly to her wrists or ankles, the skin beneath an aching blue. Earlier this year, I visited Sara at her home, simple concrete painted to look like brick, in Manitoba Colony, Bolivia. Mennonites are similar to the Amish in their rejection of modernity and technology, and Manitoba Colony, like all ultraconservative Mennonite communities, is a collective attempt to retreat as far as possible from the nonbelieving world. A slight breeze of soy and sorghum came off the nearby fields as Sara told me how, in addition to the eerie rope, on those mornings after she’d been raped she would also wake to stained sheets, thunderous headaches, and paralyzing lethargy.

Her two daughters, 17 and 18 years old, squatted silently along a wall behind her and shot me fierce blue-eyed stares. The evil had penetrated the household, Sara said. Five years ago, her daughters also began waking up with dirty sheets and complaints of pain “down below.”

The family tried locking the door; some nights, Sara did everything she could to keep herself awake. On a few occasions, a loyal Bolivian worker from the neighboring city of Santa Cruz would stay the night to stand guard. But inevitably, when their one-story home—set back and isolated from the dirt road—was not being watched, the rapes continued. (Manitobans aren’t connected to the power grid, so at night the community is submerged in total darkness.) “It happened so many times, I lost count,” Sara said in her native Low German, the only language she speaks, like most women in the community.

In the beginning, the family had no idea that they weren’t the only ones being attacked, and so they kept it to themselves. Then Sara started telling her sisters. When rumors spread, “no one believed her,” said Peter Fehr, Sara’s neighbor at the time of the incidents. “We thought she was making it up to hide an affair.” The family’s pleas for help to the council of church ministers, the group of men who govern the 2,500-member colony, were fruitless—even as the tales multiplied. Throughout the community, people were waking to the same telltale morning signs: ripped pajamas, blood and semen on the bed, head-thumping stupor. Some women remembered brief moments of terror: for an instant they would wake to a man or men on top of them but couldn’t summon the strength to yell or fight back. Then, fade to black. 

Some called it “wild female imagination.” Others said it was a plague from God. “We only knew that something strange was happening in the night,” Abraham Wall Enns, Manitoba Colony’s civic leader at the time, said. “But we didn’t know who was doing it, so how could we stop it?” 

No one knew what to do, and so no one did anything at all. After a while, Sara just accepted those nights as a horrific fact of life. On the following mornings, her family would rise despite the head pain, strip the beds, and get on with their days.

Then, one night in June 2009, two men were caught trying to enter a neighbor’s home. The two ratted out a few friends and, falling like a house of cards, a group of nine Manitoba men, ages 19 to 43, eventually confessed that they had been raping Colony families since 2005. To incapacitate their victims and any possible witnesses, the men used a spray created by a veterinarian from a neighboring Mennonite community that he had adapted from a chemical used to anesthetize cows. According to their initial confessions (which they later recanted), the rapists admitted to—sometimes in groups, sometimes alone—hiding outside bedroom windows at night, spraying the substance through the screens to drug entire families, and then crawling inside. 

But it wasn’t until their trial, which took place almost two years later, in 2011, that the full scope of their crimes came to light. The transcripts read like a horror movie script: Victims ranged in age from three to 65 (the youngest had a broken hymen, purportedly from finger penetration). The girls and women were married, single, residents, visitors, the mentally infirm. Though it’s never discussed and was not part of the legal case, residents privately told me that men and boys were raped, too. 

In August 2011, the veterinarian who’d supplied the anesthetic spray was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and the rapists were each sentenced to 25 years (five years shy of Bolivia’s maximum penalty). Officially, there were 130 victims—at least one person from more than half of all Manitoba Colony households. But not all those raped were included in the legal case, and it’s believed the true number of victims is much, much higher. 

In the wake of the crimes, women were not offered therapy or counseling. There was little attempt to dig deeper into the incidents beyond the confessions. And in the years since the men were nabbed, there has never been a colony-wide discussion about the events. Rather, a code of silence descended following the guilty verdict. 

“That’s all behind us now,” Civic Leader Wall told me on my recent trip there. “We’d rather forget than have it be at the forefront of our minds.” Aside from interactions with the occasional visiting journalist, no one talks about it anymore.

But over the course of a nine-month investigation, including an 11-day stay in Manitoba, I discovered that the crimes are far from over. In addition to lingering psychological trauma, there’s evidence of widespread and ongoing sexual abuse, including rampant molestation and incest. There’s also evidence that—despite the fact that the initial perpetrators are in jail—the rapes by drugging continue to happen.

The demons, it turns out, are still out there.

Read more - 

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/the-ghost-rapes-of-bolivia-000300-v20n8

Gold Is Flooding Out Of London To Switzerland At An Alarming Rate -

Gold Is Flooding Out Of London To Switzerland At An Alarming Rate - 



This is one of those stories about the gold market that almost seems too wild to be true since the numbers are so extraordinary. According to a Reuters article from earlier today, Australian bank Macquarie has reported that gold is flooding out of London and into Switzerland at a mind-boggling rate. Specifically, 240 tons were exported in May alone and 797 tons during the first half of 2013. That means gold is being exported at a annualized run rate of 17x the 92 tons exported for all of 2012. That’s insane.

Moreover, it seems a lot of that gold is being sent to Switzerland so that the 400oz bars can be melted down into different sizes that are more amenable to Asian sensibilities. So, as many of us suspected all along, what has happened is lobotomized Westerners have sent much of their gold to Asia just as the financial system prepares to melt down again. The fact that the market has absorbed all of this and yet we still have a backwardated market is extremely bullish.

From Reuters:

Aug 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s gold exports to Switzerland surged in the first half of this year, Australian bank Macquarie said on Monday, suggesting bullion being sold out of exchange-traded funds may be heading for Swiss refineries before being sold on in Asia.

The UK exported 240 tonnes of gold to Switzerland in May alone, while its exports over the first half of this year totalled 797 tonnes, Macquarie said in a note.

In contrast, Britain exported just 92 tonnes of bullion to Switzerland in the whole of last year, it said.

“The UK does not have gold mines, so where has it all come from? The obvious source is the gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), most of which hold their gold holdings in London vaults, and which saw huge outflows in 1H 2013,” Macquarie said.

It added: “But a bigger factor, we think, is that the gold bars from ETFs have gone to Switzerland, where most of the world's gold refining capacity is, to be remelted into different size bars and coins and then sold on end consumers, predominantly in Asia, specifically China and India.”

Read more - 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/19/gold-uk-exports-macquarie-idUSL6N0GK2M920130819

China to fine people who 'miss their mark' at public toilets... does not specify minimum spillage... -

China to fine people who 'miss their mark' at public toilets...  does not specify minimum spillage... - 



People with a poor aim are to be fined if they miss their mark when using public toilets in Shenzhen, officials said – provoking online derision over how the rule will be enforced.

The penalty will apply to those who urinate outside the bowl of facilities in Shenzhen, although draft regulations did not specify a minimum quantity of spillage required to be classed as a violation.

“Such uncouth use of a public toilet will be fined 100 yuan (HK$126) by authorities” from next month, a city government official said on Tuesday.

Users of China’s weibo social networks poured scorn on the measures, raising the prospect of hordes of toilet inspectors being deployed to inspect performance.

“A number of new civil servant positions will be created. There will be a supervisor behind every urinating person to see whether the pee is straight,” wrote one poster.

Another added: “Very good measures. I expect they can create 20 jobs on average for every public toilet.”

Officials with the department responsible for details of the rules could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The measures have also provoked more considered debate, with one user arguing: “It’s better to have no rule than a rule that cannot be implemented.”

The Beijing Times carried a commentary calling into question the necessity of making a law on something that “can be simply guided by social consensus”.

“The law should maintain the most basic restraint about the people’s private life,” wrote Shu Li, a legal worker.

Chinese toilet discipline can be notoriously wayward, with pictures of people defecating in public sometimes appearing on weibo.

Read more - 

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1298046/spending-penny-could-cost-100-yuan-shenzhen

Connecticut Cablevision Cable TV Goes Out - Viewers Call 911 -

Connecticut Cablevision Cable TV Goes Out - Viewers Call 911 - 



People have called 911 to complain about lousy hamburgers and cold french fries, but what happened Sunday night in a Connecticut town may have set a new standard for misuse of emergency calls.
The cause of the crisis? Viewers couldn't watch their cable TV programs. And if Facebook posts are any indication, "Breaking Bad" was what the viewers wanted most.

A power outage knocked out cable service Sunday evening in parts of Connecticut, leaving Cablevision customers unable to watch television, including the hit show now in its final season.

While most viewers chose to wait for service to be restored, others opted for a far less rational course of action: calling 911.

The Fairfield Police Department was not amused and took to its Facebook page to post a refresher course on using its emergency system. The message read:

"We are receiving numerous 911 calls regarding the Cablevison outage. This is neither an emergency or a police related concern. Please direct your inquiries to Cablevision. 911 should only be called for Life Threatening Emergencies ONLY. Incidents that are not of an emergency nature may be reported to the Fairfield Police Department. ... Misuse of the 911 system may result in an arrest."

Cablevision said it had restored service by 11 p.m. Sunday. But judging by the comments on the Fairfield Police Facebook page, the fallout was far from over.

Among the many comments about being unable to watch "Breaking Bad": "Yes, this was a huge misuse of 911," one comment read, "but privately, I think it was kind. Of. Awesome. Tonight's breaking bad was super intense and Very riveting by every second. Obviously these folks were not thinking rationally when reaching for the phone."

When a lack of cable TV is a reason to call 911, "I have to wonder what this world is coming to and if people truly understand the definition of emergency," read another comment.

A resident named Ben Gott may have had the best solution. "When my Internet went out an hour ago," he wrote on Facebook, "I took a hint, put one of my dad's old jazz records on the turntable, and pulled out a good book. That, plus the crickets and peepers, has turned this into a very good night indeed."

Read more - 

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-connecticut-cablevision-subscribers-call-911-after-cable-outage-fairfield-police-not-amused-20130819,0,4320826.story

An unusual love story: boy (formerly girl) meets girl (formerly boy) - 



I first met Jamie Eagle and Louis Davies by chance and if, after the hour I chatted to them for, you'd asked me to describe them, I'd probably have just said they were a nice young couple, besotted with each other and warm and witty to talk to. What I would never have guessed was that they are both in the process of undergoing gender reassignment. Jamie, 20, who was born a boy, plans to marry her fiancé, Louis, 25, who was born a girl, although not before they've finished their respective operations.

I gasped when they told me. "Did I hear that right?" one twentysomething man said to me later. "But, but… she's gorgeous," he said, looking confused and uncomfortable, though also impressed. "No way!" his friend said, as if waiting for me to say I was joking.

The next time I met the couple, they'd gone public with their story, appearing on ITV's This Morning and talking to tabloids including The Sun. They have paid a heavy price, particularly Jamie, who has since received daily threats. "I can't go out alone," says Jamie, who is a student who lives with Louis in Bridgend in south Wales. "I mean, it's not new, me getting nasty comments, because I live in a small town. I've always suffered hate crime and have often been followed. But since the publicity, it can feel like someone shouts something from almost every car that drives past and I've had my fair share of internet trolls. I'm on antidepressants."

Yet they don't regret going public. "It's like gay people, black people and women," Jamie says. "None of these groups would have the rights they do if they hadn't fought to change negative stereotypes and perceptions. By going public, I feel like I'm doing my bit to help change history."

In any case, she adds, it hasn't all been negative. "So many people have told me I've inspired them and loads of people have come to me for advice, including parents of young children."

As young as three years old, Jamie remembers being attracted to girls' clothes and dolls. By 16, she was wearing girls' uniform and make-up to school, along with hair extensions. "People, including my family, assumed I was gay. But I knew I wasn't because even though I liked men, I saw myself as a girl."

Many transgender people say they were born in the wrong body. "But that's not how I feel," Jamie insists. "It's not the wrong body I've got, just the wrong parts. I literally hate my parts and tried to cut them off as a teenager. But with surgery hopefully happening within the next 12 months, that will change."

Also helping is the fact that in the past six months, Jamie has been on hormones preparing her for surgery. It's got rid of her facial hair and given her breasts, thicker and longer hair, and more curves.

Jamie's parents have found it all rather hard to stomach, she admits. "When I first transitioned, they found it very difficult. But they are in a better place than they were four years ago. My twin brother still struggles with it, although my sisters have been great. In fact, the first person I told when I had just turned 16 was my sister."

Read more - 

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/an-unusual-love-story-boy-formerly-girl-meets-girl-formerly-boy-8775000.html