Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

FakeNoose

FakeNoose's Journal
FakeNoose's Journal
July 12, 2023

Emily Blunt gossip from Daily Mail (If anybody cares)

Daily Mail link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12288969/Emily-Blunt-reveals-shes-taking-year-acting-spend-time-home-kids.html



- more at link -

I'm very much looking forward to Emily's new movie "Oppenheimer" that's coming to theaters next week. She plays Kitty Oppenheimer to Cillian Murphy's Robert, along with Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, and Robert Downey Jr. What an amazing cast! It's already winning awards and getting great reviews.

July 12, 2023

Philadelphia's Community Peace Patrols are walking through the city to prevent violence



Philly Inquirer link: https://www.inquirer.com/crime/peace-patrol-philly-truce-gun-violence-20230712.html

When Jamal Johnson slips on his bright yellow safety vest and heads out on a neighborhood patrol, he admits to feeling some nerves.

“I feel nervous all the time,” the 66 year-old gun violence activist said. “But at the same time, as we look at the fear and the people’s faces in Philly, especially the elderly and the children, and realize that they don’t feel they can even go to the store or go to school, I just feel compelled to try to do something about it.”

Johnson is known around Philly for his activism, including his yearly march to Washington D.C. to demand stricter gun laws. But his Peace Patrol walks are much shorter. He’s one of the regulars with nonprofit Philly Truce’s patrol program, which recruits volunteers to walk through communities most affected by gun violence. Their goal is not to intervene in conflicts, but to serve as a deterrence for violence, share information, and show community members that others care about their safety.

“I believe in presence. We must have presence on our streets,” Johnson said.

Philly Truce was founded by Mazzie Casher and Steven Pickens, both from North Philly. The men have been friends since high school, so Casher could tell Pickens’ heart was heavy as they talked about the city’s rising violence back in 2020.




- more at link -

This is a great community initiative. It not only helps to keep the streets of Philadelphia safer, it also provides leadership to the next generation of young men who want to avoid gangs and make a difference in their communities.

July 11, 2023

Johnny Depp gossip from Daily Mail (if anybody cares)

Daily Mail link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12266857/Johnny-Depp-takes-10m-home-loan-abandoned-West-Hollywood-castle.html



- more at link -

He owns an island in the Bahamas, this castle in West Hollywood, and some kind of house (maybe not a castle) southwest of London. But he hasn't had a hit movie in a long time, and he had to pay a lot of lawyers for his complicated divorce from Amber. The judge ended up awarding him $10 million, but there's no word whether Amber has ever paid him. Disney offered him another Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but word is he turned it down.

He needs to fix up this West Hollywood castle and put it on the market. He can probably get $30 million for it.



July 11, 2023

"Irony is dead ... "



I see 2 of Chump's daughters - Tiffany and Ivanka. Recognize anybody else?

July 10, 2023

Ryan Gosling gossip from Daily Mail (if anyone cares)



Daily Mail link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12283945/Ryan-Gosling-says-means-Eva-Mendes-support-Ken-Barbie.html

- more at link -

Is it me? Or is he starting to look like Emilio Estevez? (Only about 6 inches taller, but still looks like him.)





July 9, 2023

Pennsylvania teachers are quitting in big numbers. Here's why some Pittsburgh teachers left for good

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2023/07/09/pennsylvania-teachers-quitting-pittsburgh/stories/202307060139

Ryan Wilpula always imagined retiring from the Highlands School District after spending decades as a high school English teacher there. But in January, after 23 years of teaching, he submitted his resignation. “Teaching has always been in my blood,” Mr. Wilpula said. “It was a tough decision but I just, for my own wellbeing, it was time to go and I was lucky enough to find a way out.”

That tough decision is one that teachers across the country also face. A survey conducted last year by the National Education Association found that 55% of them were considering quitting. In Pennsylvania, the number of teachers leaving classrooms has risen to alarming rates.

An assessment by the Penn State Center for Education Evaluation & Policy Analysis found that 7.7% of Pennsylvania teachers, or a total of 9,587, left their positions between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.

That number has slowly risen over the past two years — reaching 5.4% in 2020-21 and 6.2% in 2021-22 — and exceeds the 7.5% attrition rate recorded in 2014-15. This makes it the largest number of teachers leaving on record.




- more at link -

It's even more urgent that the Governor and the legislature figure out how to fix the school funding issues - and "public vouchers for private schools" isn't the answer.

July 8, 2023

Ukrainian refugees: how will the economy recover with a diminished population?

Reuters link: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/however-war-ends-ukraines-diminished-population-will-hit-economy-years-2023-07-07/



KYIV, July 7 (Reuters) - With war dragging on, some of Ukraine's millions of refugees are beginning to think about settling for good in the countries they find themselves in across Europe, posing a challenge to rebuilding the economy when the guns finally fall silent.

Natalka Korzh, 52, a TV director and mother-of-two, left behind a newly-built dream house when she escaped the rockets falling on Kyiv in the early days of the war. She is only just finding her feet in Portugal, and doesn't plan on packing up her life again even when fighting stops in Ukraine. "Now, at 52, I have to start from scratch", said Korzh, who wants to open a charity in Portugal to help other migrants in the town of Lagoa, which she now calls home.

Studies by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR show the vast majority of displaced Ukrainians want to return one day, but only around one in ten plan to do so soon. In previous refugee crises, for example in Syria, refugees' desire to return home has faded with time, UNHCR studies show.

Reuters spoke to four company bosses who said they are now grappling with the likelihood that many refugees will not return and that the workforce will keep shrinking for years to come, a situation also worrying demographers and the government.


- more at link, including Reuters video -

There is so much rebuilding to be done, and it's easy to see that Ukraine will never be the same as it was before Putin's heinous attack. Once Ukraine joins the EU I believe (hope) the neighboring European countries will be inspired to help and encourage the rebuilding of Ukraine. A stronger Ukraine is better for all of Europe.

July 7, 2023

5 more charged in probe of child sexual abuse among Jehovah's Witnesses in Pa.



Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/07/07/jehovahs-witnesses-pensnylvania-grand-jury-charges-michelle-henry/stories/202307070085

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania grand jury investigating child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses community has charged another five people with raping or molesting children as young as 4, the latest developments in an ongoing probe that has identified 14 suspects.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, at a Friday news conference, said that while the misconduct dates back years or even decades, “the trauma endures for these victims.” Ms. Henry did not address the church’s handling of complaints, but said the investigation would continue.

Critics say that Jehovah's Witnesses elders have treated child sexual abuse as a sin rather than a crime, documenting complaints in internal files but not reporting them to authorities. And they say the church often required a second witness to substantiate a complaint, a standard that can be impossible to meet when perpetrators often isolate their victims.

- snip -

The grand jury probe of Jehovah’s Witnesses began with a referral from a county prosecutor who felt the state should take a broader look at the issue. Dozens of witnesses then testified before the secret grand jury in Harrisburg or provided information to the attorney general’s office.

In the charges announced Friday, Ms. Henry said the men had groomed or gained access to the children through the church, sometimes when the child’s family took the person into their home. One person said that she was raped 50 or more times between the ages of 7 and 12 by a church member who was 18 when the assaults began. Others involved less serious charges of inappropriate touching.


- more at link -

The 5 men are all named in in Post-Gazette story and 4 of the 5 have been taken into custody. This is part of the investigation specifically into the Jehovah's Witnesses community. I find it interesting that there are parallels with the sexual abuse by Catholic priests (in Pennsylvania) that was investigated 5 or 6 years ago. The grand jury is ongoing, so more names may still come out at a later date.

July 7, 2023

What will it take to stop Jersey Shore town from bulldozing its beach? $12M in fines hasn't done it

AP link: https://apnews.com/article/north-wildwood-dunes-beach-fines-bf1312b4eb2d06512d75b936674386c2

NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — Not even $12 million worth of fines is enough to stop a Jersey Shore town from bulldozing sand on its beach to bolster eroded spots in defiance of state environmental officials.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection says North Wildwood once again carried out unauthorized repairs to its eroding dunes, most recently on June 5 without state approval and in violation of a February court order imposed by a judge trying to sort out the decade-long sand storm between the two parties.

On Thursday, DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette wrote to North Wildwood officials offering one final attempt to resolve the matter without imposing additional penalties, and warning that the city’s conduct jeopardizes funding for future beach protection projects.

- snip -

The standoff between the city — a prime vacation destination for Philadelphians — and the state centers on the fact that North Wildwood has been last in line for beach replenishment carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, due in part to difficulty in gathering necessary approvals from property owners. That long-sought project is finally moving forward, but won’t happen until at least 2025.


Photos from OP:





- more at link -

Bulldozing new sand on the beach is supposed to stop the erosion. Am I right? Why does the State of New Jersey have a problem with this?

Profile Information

Name: Kathy Hinsman
Gender: Female
Hometown: Pittsburgh PA
Home country: USA
Current location: Pittsburgh
Member since: Sat Feb 18, 2017, 02:16 PM
Number of posts: 32,777

About FakeNoose

Hey DU friends! Baby boomer here. I became a voter in 1972 when I turned 21, and I've been voting regularly ever since. For a long time I remained independent - always voting for Dem candidates. However that changed in 2008 when I wanted to vote for Hillary Clinton for President. But I live in Pennsylvania where we have closed elections, and my only chance to vote for Hillary was in the Dem primary. So I joined the Democratic Party in 2008, voted for Hillary, and I've never looked back. Barack Obama won the primary in Pennsylvania, as ell as most other states, and I supported him in the general election. It was a different story in 2016 .... You'll never convince me that Chump didn't CHEAT his way into the White House. The worst 4 years in the history of our country ensued, 2017 to 2020, and the first few days of 2021. We all lived through it and i don't need to explain it now. My goal is to make sure that Chump NEVER gets elected to ANYTHING again. Not even Dogcatcher of West Palm Beach FL. Whether he goes to prison is not up to me - but he must be CONVICTED of his crimes and PREVENTED from running for office again. Better yet - he should be in prison or six-feet-under. You get me? I love the cooperation, optimism and can-do spirit of Democratic Underground. We're a community of liberal-minded Americans and we know how to share our stories constructively and pro-actively. Let's all pitch in and get this job done. There has never been a more important election that right now, this year. Democrats everywhere MUST WIN. Joe Biden must win FOUR MORE YEARS!
Latest Discussions»FakeNoose's Journal