I read the news today, oh boy

[Kaharz]

So was it a case of a large number of peaceful protestors with a small contingent of black bloc types or was it pretty much just all out rioting? I know in the 1999 Seattle WTO protests it was mostly peaceful, but the US media portrayed it as a bunch of insane rioters. Whereas the BBC gave a very different treatment of it pointing out police using mace sprayers and water cannons mounted on urban assault vehicles on peaceful protestors blocking streets while UAWMF types ran amok elsewhere with little police intervention.

[Astrogirl]

There were many peaceful protesters. Maybe there were a little more black block protesters than usual, I think they came from all over Europe (but the peaceful protesters did, too). The police was very violent, using mace and water canons and beating people and arresting huge groups of people. They also injured at least one journalist.

[Kaharz]

There are so many reasons to hate Ted Cruz, especially if you happen to live in the country that has him as an elected official. Here is a taste:

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/ ... ate-change

If you watch the video, the supreme idiocy starts at about 3:30. But the article recaps it if you don't want to watch.

[smiley_cow]

The incredible true story behind the Toronto mystery tunnel

If anyone's curious.

[smiley_cow]

Medieval potion kills antibiotic-resistant MRSA superbugs

[Astrogirl]

Yeah, that's pretty rad, I read it on Twitter some days back. "Leek, garlic and brass kill golden staph" "Unexpectedly, the ingredients had little effect unless they were all brought together" http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2 ... -mrsa.html I also found this aspect interesting: "They had to hope for the best with the leeks and garlic because modern crop varieties are likely to be quite different to ancient ones" ... but it worked anyway .

[Lethal Interjection]

I also read that story this morning and was recounting it to my parents during our Easter(ish) dinner this evening. Complete with a discussion about cow bile, of course*.

*Including but not limited to discussion of the weird and wonderful world of discovery. "Let's see, here. Garlic and leek... for sure. A little wine... absolutely. And lets throw in some cow vomit. This should make you right as rain!"

[Apocalyptus]

That is so damn cool. It's nice to be able to have some sort of optimism about the future of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

[Astrogirl]

Men more likely than women to time-travel and kill Hitler, study shows

If that isn't the greatest newspaper headline of all times I don't know.

[DonRetrasado]

What if Hitler was the guy who time-travelled back to kill an even worse genocider? I can't risk that chance.

[smiley_cow]

Ryan Reynolds hit by a car in Vancouver, won’t talk to CBC about it unless they bring Beachcombers back

Ryan Reynolds is making it really hard for me not to like him.

Though I'm pretty sure that APTN still airs old episodes of the Beachcombers all the time.

[Lethal Interjection]

Ryan Reynolds hit by a car in Vancouver, won’t talk to CBC about it unless they bring Beachcombers back

Ryan Reynolds is making it really hard for me not to like him.

Though I'm pretty sure that APTN still airs old episodes of the Beachcombers all the time.

I loved his quote there. What seems like a hugely minor thing that shouldn't be reported at all, but was made super-interesting because of basically a "no-comment" comment.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

So, uh, Kaharz, how's Baltimore doing?

[Kaharz]

Mostly fine. I'm a long ways from downtown, so I'm not personally affected but things are getting a bit crazy. The first few days of protests were completely peaceful, but apparently some people started vandalising and looting Saturday. Today the high school kids decided to get in on the action and a large group gathered near the one mall in the city and started throwing things at cops. Someone supposedly circulated a flyer that there would be a high school "Purge" this afternoon. That area has a fairly bad reputation*, although it is better than it used to be. The police have also supposedly received threats that some of the gangs are uniting and planning to target cops. So I think I'll stay in my neighborhood for a bit. Things will hopefully calm down pretty quickly. We had weeks of large and almost completely peaceful protests during Ferguson. The only incident I heard of during those protests was one guy beating on the hood of a car. Usually when we have protests here it is people protesting against drug dealing and violence in their neighborhoods, not protests against the city government. Baltimore protesters usually aren't the type to express themselves through looting and violence. But the longer it goes on, the more people who are keen in violence and looting are going to join in whether as a protest or just as opportunists.

Edit: so things are degrading with the highschool mob. They've moved to the south but now they are looting and setting cars in fire in a fairly poor and almost completely black neighborhood that has made huge gains in the last few years to decrease crime and improve things without any gentrification. Despite still having lots of problems with crime, it is one of the big success stories in the city. It may cause serious problems with the protestors. On Saturday some protestors were putting themselves between the police and the more aggressive protestors and demanding the aggressive protestors back down and stay on message.

Edit 2: watched some news coverage, it is pretty bad with the mostly high school kid riot. In one area adults in suits came out and were trying to disperse the kids themselves. It really sucks that these idiot kids are throwing rocks and crap at houses in their own neighborhood. The whole mess is terrible.

Edit 3: it's fucked. Still a long way away from my neighborhood, but probably the worst the city has been since Lincoln came through during the civil war. And that is where we got the nickname mob town supposedly.

*There was a widely circulated video of a high school female gang badly beating another girl on her way to a job interview at that mall not to long ago.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

Wolf Blitzer is no longer my favorite teddy bear.