“No fewer than 42 men allegedly involved in homosexual acts have been arrested by the police,” Afeez Hanafi of Punch reports. “It was learnt that the suspects were rounded up at a hotel at Weigh Bridge in Owode Onirin area of Lagos State on Saturday.”
Scumbags! An obvious violation of human rights!
“After a lifetime of public service by the side of his wife Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip will finally retire on Wednesday at the age of 96,” AFP reports. “The Duke of Edinburgh will attend a parade of Royal Marines at Buckingham Palace, the last of 22,219 solo public engagements since she ascended to the throne in 1952.”
“Complaints about trains being delayed may be a cliché in Sweden, but complaints about trains ending up in the wrong place are not,” The Local reports.
At least it wasn’t another Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
“Experts have long argued that some dolphins aren’t heterosexual,” Benjamin Butterworth of Pink News reports. “Now a group of male dolphins have been caught having a gay orgy in Australia.”
The first book I bought and read about homosexuality among animals was Bruce Bagemihl’s Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999). It’s still a source when confronted by biological homophobia, which is not seldom used by “secular humanists” who want to defend their prejudice against gay people. Bagemihl provides a long list of animals where homosexual behaviour has been documented: ducks, penguins, dragonflies, beetles, dogs, sheep, birds, lizards, horses, cows, and so forth.
Bagemihl also provides examples for how these behaviours show sign of being important for the survival of the group, and thereby is an evolutionary advantage. One example that stuck in my mind is the common gulls, who have a system of adoption, where abandoned eggs are cared for by lesbians. Since a significant number of such birds are killed by other animals, the flocks with many lesbians are more likely to have their young survive. Another examples is wild dogs, where pups cared for by two males are more likely to grow big and strong because their two fathers find more food and are better at protecting the young than a lone female.
And still, some people continue to say that homosexuality is unnatural! It’s not, but homophobia is—no animals show sign of hating queer individuals.
The bank is in discussions about using Amsterdam as its post-Brexit EU hub, Jill Treanor of the Guardian reports.
Why not let London, Scotland, and Northern Ireland stay members of the Single Market so the Little Englanders can muddle through the Brexit they forced on the others?
From The Local:
Anders Borg, a former Moderate politician who was Sweden’s Finance Minister in the Fredrik Reinfeldt government between 2006 and 2014, released a statement on his official Facebook page on Friday, following reports about the party in several Swedish tabloids.
“I was at a party at the weekend and suffered a blackout. I don’t drink more than most but have been under intense pressure in recent months and it must have taken its toll,” Borg wrote.
“I was informed afterwards that I conducted myself very inappropriately. I want to apologise sincerely to those present who were offended. I feel a great disappointment and regret over my behaviour,” he added.
Sleazy tabloid Aftonbladet fills in the gaps:
At approximately 11.00 PM, he was exposing his penis and groping other men trying to compare penis sizes. He also called female guests ”sluts” and ”whores”, sources say.
The Guardian has the gallery. Hilarious!
About 1,500 people take their own lives in Sweden every year compared to approximately 260 people dying in traffic accidents, but suicide prevention research only receives about three million kronor (€312,000) in state finances each year, while traffic safety research receives between 100 and 150 million kronor (€10.4-15.6 million), The Local reports.
Donald Tusk says the populist-right Law and Justice party has gone so far in its conflict with the EU institutions that even its regional ally, Hungary, had begun to distance itself from Poland in the EU Council, Andrew Rettman of EU Observer reports.
It would probably very difficult for the Polish government to split with the EU considering the strong support for membership in Poland.
“Convicted Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel, who served jail time for inciting racial hatred, has died in Germany at the age of 78,” The Local reports. “Zündel, who lived in Canada for decades before being extradited in 2005 over his anti-Semitic views, was sentenced to five years’ prison by a German court in 2007 for repeatedly disputing the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis in the Second World War.”
In 1977, Zündel wrote a book entitled “The Hitler We Loved and Why”. Ironically, this man was obsessed by “Israeli war crimes”. It’s a good thing that he died, sad that he lived for so long.
“We hate the headscarf,” an Iranian women tells Renate van der Zee of the Guardian. “We are so happy to be able to go to a place where we can walk around uncovered, do sports and sunbathe.”
The Local reports:
According to figures published by number-crunchers Statistics Sweden, tourists spent almost 50,000 more nights in Stockholm in June compared to the same month last year.
That’s an increase by roughly four percent for the capital region.
The greater Malmö region in southern Sweden meanwhile saw an increase of almost 20,000 guest nights in the same month, while figures dropped by around 2,500 in the Gothenburg region.
A ragtag band of Berlin street artists is taking aim at an urban scourge of neo-Nazi graffiti, using love and humour to turn swastikas into colourful symbols of inclusiveness, The Local reports.
“A Danish inventor and owner of a huge private submarine has been remanded in custody for 24 days after the disappearance of a female journalist who had been on board before it sank,” Michael Barrett of The Local reports. “The submarine owner, entrepreneur Peter Madsen, who was arrested on Friday on suspicion of killing the woman by unknown means, denies the charge, saying he last saw her when he dropped her off on an island near Copenhagen late on Thursday.”
This story has made big headlines the whole weekend. And I understand why. It has to be the most bizarre story in quite some time.
“An anti-gay marriage campaign is spreading outrageous lies in Australia, claiming that Pride events will become mandatory and kids will be taught how to have gay sex,” Nick Duffy of Pink News reports.
Some people say gay people are perverse, but no one is as perverse as those opposing gay rights.
Swedish technology consultant Per Axbom has explained to The Local why he built a website that allows people who have received unsolicited pictures of genitals to find out the GPS coordinates of where the image was taken.
“Britain is fighting to save Ireland from an EU-imposed hard border,” Asa Bennett of the Telegraph writes in an absurd attempt to blame the EU for Britain’s decicion.
“A van has ploughed into crowds in Barcelona killing at least ten people in what authorities have described as a ‘terrorist attack’,” The Local reports.
The Economist writes:
Today, Greece is the only European country that has yet to reach the recovery stage, according to the study. But markets seem optimistic this will soon change. On July 25th Greece’s government successfully sold €3bn ($3.5bn) in five-year bonds. Investor demand drove down yields on the securities to just 4.6%. The bond issue was so oversubscribed that the Greek government could have borrowed €6.5bn, more than twice their desired amount.
According to Italy’s national institute for geophysics and vulcanology, the earthquake occurred at 8.57pm at a depth of 5 kilometres below sea level, The Local reports.
I think this is sad, to be honest, but I’m also sceptical on the development the Moderate Party—of which I’m a member—since the last general election. I want a focus on libertarian issues—free trade, individual liberty, small government, and a state governed by law. The stigmatisation of immigrants and the huddling with the far-right, homophobic, and racist Sweden Democrats must end. What happens now, well, time will tell. The Moderate Party is both conservative and libertarian. As I said, I’d wish a return back to libertarianism.
It’s Friday night, שבת שלום.
Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, is expecting her third baby, The Local reports. Sweden’s Royal Family now has sixteen members. Soon it’ll eighteen.
