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#171 Re: Guns N' Roses » Slash confirms “one or two” new songs by June » 160 weeks ago
So a screenshot of video graphics for Street of Dreams/The Blues has leaked, looks like that’s back in the set.
Is a track that should suit Slash, wonder how Axl handles it vocally now though.
#172 Re: The Garden » Current Events Thread » 161 weeks ago
On the topic of depressing incompetence/inaction/collusion in handling a recent shooting.
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/auth … 95d6f.html
Authorities investigating if retired federal agent knew of Buffalo mass shooting plans in advance
Law enforcement officers are investigating whether a retired federal agent had about 30 minutes advance notice of a white supremacist's plans to murder Black people at a Buffalo supermarket, two law enforcement officials told The Buffalo News.
Authorities believe the former agent – believed to be from Texas – was one of at least six individuals who regularly communicated with accused gunman Payton Gendron in an online chat room where racist hatred was discussed, the two officials said.
The two law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the investigation stated these individuals were invited by Gendron to read about his mass shooting plans and the target location about 30 minutes before Gendron killed 10 people at Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue on May 14.
The News could not determine if the retired agent accepted the invitation.
“These were like-minded people who used this chat group to talk about their shared interests in racial hatred, replacement theory and hatred of anyone who is Jewish, a person of color or not of European ancestry,” said one of the two law enforcement officials with close knowledge of the investigation. “What is especially upsetting is that these six people received advanced notice of the Buffalo shooting, about 30 minutes before it happened.
“The FBI has verified that none of these people called law enforcement to warn them about the shooting. The FBI database shows no advance tips from anyone that this shooting was about to happen.”
Agents from the FBI are in the process of tracking down and interviewing the six people, including the retired agent, and attempting to determine if any of them should be charged as accomplices, the two sources with close knowledge of the probe told The Buffalo News.
The two sources did not identify the agent by name and could not confirm what federal agency he worked for.
The Buffalo FBI Office declined to comment on the investigation. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo declined through a spokeswoman to comment.
Buffalo civil rights attorney John V. Elmore said it will be outrageous if it turns out that a former law enforcement officer had advance notice of the shooting and did nothing to prevent it.
“If he had advance notice, he had a moral obligation to get on the phone and try to notify someone about it,” said Elmore, who represents the family of Andre Mackniel, who was shot dead when he went to Tops to buy a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son.
Attorney Terrence M. Connors, who is representing several families who lost loved ones in the shooting, said: “As outrageous as this may sound, based upon what we are finding in our investigation, it is not surprising.” He declined to reveal the evidence his law firm has collected.
The New York Times reported May 17 that Gendron invited a small group of people into a private chat room on the messaging platform Discord to review his plan about 30 minutes before the massacre at Tops. The Washington Post reported two days later that 15 people accepted Gendron's invitation into the Discord chat room and were able to review his plan and watch his live stream video as he committed the killings.
Federal authorities are investigating if the retired agent provided information to Gendron before he went on his shooting spree, the two law enforcement officials told The News.
In addition to law enforcement sources, two other individuals with knowledge of the mass shooting investigation have also confirmed that federal authorities are looking into the former agent’s relationship to the shooter.
The Sandman
FBI agents are also trying to determine the identity of an individual Gendron calls “Sandman,” and “Saint Sandman” in his lengthy social media diary that appeared on Discord 30 minutes before the attack, the sources said.
In the diary, Gendron indicates Sandman counseled him on manufacturers of AR-15 semi-automatic rifles and their quality. The shooter purchased and allegedly used that type of assault rifle in the rampage, which local authorities have said was fueled by his racial hatred.
In the document Gendron posted on Discord just prior to the shooting, he references Sandman three times.
In a passage dated May 2, he quoted Saint Sandman as saying: "When the time finally comes to deal decisively with a whole host of society's problems, and not go to prison for it, you'll know. Just be ready. You have spent your entire life, from the day you were born, right up to this very moment, reading this sentence, coming to where you are right now. Look around you. Are you content with where you are right now? Are you where you want to be? If so, continue to march. If not, what are you going to do? What's your plan? Get and keep your mind, body, and spirit right. Pray. Lift. Run. Read. Shoot. And teach your kids to do those things.”
A third law enforcement source told The News they are aware of Gendron’s writings involving the quality of different rifles. The shooter ended up using a Bushmaster X-15, a version of the AR-15 rifle, police have reported.
#173 Re: The Garden » Current Events Thread » 161 weeks ago
Another reason this may get memory holed...
He may be trans. Before all of his social media profiles were deleted, a few of his pics were found.
So this viral story that the shooter was trans has been debunked as misinformation. The pictures circulating were of a completely innocent and unrelated trans woman. Another trans woman has apparently also been smeared with this. They've both been advised to lock their online accounts to reduce their risk of doxxing and SWATing.
This misinfo story is a side story to the tragedy in Texas but it's beyond fucked that they were targeted in that that way. On top of all that... what relevance would it have had if the shooter had been trans?!
Agreed on the cost of living crisis not being covered properly. It's bad here but when I recently visited the US earlier this month I was shocked by the prices I was seeing. $10 for 5pc of Claritin or Benadryl. $8 for fucking Cheerios. The price of meats, veg, cheeses etc was all insane too those are just the two that stuck in my mind as unaffordably high for what they are.
In the UK we are set for another huge hike in energy bills in October after the one we just had in April... people are going to be choosing between warmth or food come Winter.
#174 Re: The Garden » Current Events Thread » 162 weeks ago
And an on topic read about how things are done in other countries.
https://dukecenterforglobalreproductive … therlands/
Key quote
Dutch sexuality education begins as early as age four, when children receive lessons on relationships, appropriate touching, and intimacy. The curriculum expands to include age-appropriate topics and concepts. Seven-year-olds learn the proper names of different body parts and eight-year-olds discuss gender stereotypes. By the time they are 11, Dutch students should be able to discuss reproduction, safer sex, and sexual abuse.
Data suggest that the Dutch approach to sexuality education is incredibly effective. On average, teens in the Netherlands do not have sex at an earlier age than those in other European countries, and they tend to have positive first sexual experiences. Dutch teens are among the top users of the birth control pill, and nine out of ten used contraceptives the first time they had sexual intercourse. The Netherlands boasts one of the lowest rates of teen pregnancy in the world, as well as low rates of HIV and other STIs. While widely accessible contraception certainly contributes to this, a growing body of research suggests that starting comprehensive sexuality education at a young age helps avoid unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
#175 Re: The Garden » Current Events Thread » 162 weeks ago
Mitch, maybe accidentally, touched on a sort of good moral point when he said parents aren't always right. Not one really to debate but to reflect on.
I remember getting taught about the civil rights and suffragette movements when I was growing up. I also remember as part of divinity studies getting taught about various different religons, their beliefs and practices. I also remember being taught about contraception, despite going to a Catholic school, because it was part of the national curriculum and had to be taught.
If I had parents whose personal viewpoints disagreed with any of those topics, or disagreed with me being taught about them, are they in the right if they complain to the school or government and demand I am not taught about them? By modern standards learning that racism is bad, women being able to vote is good and knowning about safe sex practices all seem like sensible things to be taught. Rewind like just 10-20 years before I was in school and some would have objected to those things being mentioned.
On the topic at hand. I don't see how it's harmful to explain to kids that some people are born a boy or girl but later realise they are more comfortable identifying the opposite way. Also, don't see how it's harmful to acknowledge that some kids in the class might have two moms or two dads instead of a mom & dad.
I don't know the extent of the education being offered in various states in the US, but those two key points can be delivered in an uncontroversial and age appropriate manner and it seems really close minded to say that they can't be. Schools don't just teach kids maths, literature, languages and science. They also teach kids about the modern world we live in, about society and prepare them for life in general. It's why schools also teach things like cooking etc. as well.
#176 Re: The Garden » Current Events Thread » 162 weeks ago
The whole conversation around these issues (and others) would be better served by being cooled down. How that happens, I don't know. I think finger pointing and blaming "left" or "right" for this is dumb "they started it" nonsense. At the end of the day, this can all be discussed without being disrespectful.
Whether someone think trans people should be in the gendered spaces they identify with or not, whether they should compete in the same sports or not - can at least discuss the issue respectfully and not throw slurs at them. The grooming stuff is offensive because it's been a common trope for decades to label gay people and later trans people as child groomers and paedophiles. It's a really fucked up accusation to paint a whole community of people with. At the end of the day LGBT+ people have faced discrimination and persecution for years, when they explain why certain things are hurtful to them or dangerous in terms of potentially inciting violent actions against them they should be listened to and not dismissed.
On the education aspect of this. I see nothing wrong with the notion of homosexuality or transgendrism being explained to kids at a level that is appropriate and that they can understand. It doesn't actually need to involve any sex ed. Kids know that grown ups have marriages or have boyfriends/girlfriends. It isn't radical to say some boys like girls, some like boys, some like both and just leave it at that. That being something represented in early years education isn't inflammatory and has nothing to actually do with sex. As for transgenderism - it doesn't have anything to do with having sex anyways and a kid friendly explanation should be as simple as "Some people are determined to be boys or girls when they are younger but later realise that they feel more comfortable being the other way around". Leave it at that as far as early years education and I can't see the issue.
That story about those boys being accused of sexual harassment is nonsensical and bizarre. Were they being rude and indignant by not being respectful and identifying their classmate the correct way? Yes. Could that be seen as abusive, bullying, harassing or even discriminatory behaviour? Possibly, yes. But it isn't sexual harassment which would require derogatory comments about the victim of a sexual nature to be made or unwanted physical contact.
#177 Re: Guns N' Roses » Slash confirms “one or two” new songs by June » 162 weeks ago
I’d love a recorded version of Wichita Lineman.
Same, would make a great b-side or bonus track. It's one of the recent covers they've added recently that sounds suited to how he currently sounds. Some fans rag on it being in the set and I get why, cause we're hungry for new music, but performance wise it's actually a bit of a highlight these days - it actually sounds good.
#178 Re: Guns N' Roses » Slash confirms “one or two” new songs by June » 162 weeks ago
We know he did vocals in late 06/early 07 and then did vocals in 07 for Bach's album. Fortus also said in November 2014 that Axl had been recording some vocals.
GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus took part in a workshop on November 20 in Sydney, Australia. You can watch video footage of the event in three parts below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).
...
"There's so much stuff that's recorded, there's so much stuff that was done. I mean, there's three albums' worth of material, easy…
"I know this week he's [GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose] recording a lot of stuff, vocally.
Source:https://blabbermouth.net/news/richard-f … -its-ready
Plus we know he did that Loony Tunes song.
Basically we know he's done some vocals since that 98-99 period. How much? Who knows.
#179 Re: Guns N' Roses » GN'R 2021 Tour Thread » 167 weeks ago
I always prefer smaller shows (500-5000) or big stadium shows. Anything inbetween always feels like the inconveniences of larger shows without any of the "pageantry" of stadium rock shows i.e. pyro, big huge stadium singalongs etc.
#180 Re: The Sunset Strip » So, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock... » 169 weeks ago
Surely if it's a work Rock sells it more? I think based on everything it's genuine.
Smith's blown up what was supposed to be the pinnacle moment of his career. Madness. And totally out of line. I imagine only reason he wasn't asked to leave is the Academy didn't know what to do and knew he was going to win.
