.This is the thread for non-political news and events.
German police detain suspect after deadly shooting outside synagogue
Two people were killed in a shooting in the eastern German city of Halle on Wednesday and police said they had detained one person.
Mass-selling daily Bild said the shooting took place in front of a synagogue, and that a hand grenade was also thrown into a Jewish cemetery. An eyewitness told n-tv television that a perpetrator had also fired shots into a kebab shop in Halle.
Life does seem to get a little more difficult when you’re a foreigner of colour.
Because she was picked up in an Aussie sports bar!
Or should I say … because you were 
That’s the only angle that is interesting. I couldn’t give a flying fuck what they do.
Saw a tweet from BBC Radio Wales for opinions on the royal news. I had some pride restored when 90% of the answers were gifs with variations on this:
I have been on a concert tour, which means three days on trains, three evenings at gigs, three nights in hotels. I have had literally zero exposure to news in that time.
So I’m standing at the front of a gig, and a guy I see at them occasionally is standing next to me and asks completely out of the blue “Did you hear about Harry and Megan”?
I’m thinking, new band I should check out? Someone else I’ve talked to at gigs who have got married or died or something? Someone who he just assumes are mutual acquaintances? Someone important I’m supposed to know about?
Then he explained, and my response was basically that gif.
But I assume it’s been front-page news all weekend? 
Just the first few from that link;
And the “business”;
Is this what people imagined they’d be doing when they studied journalism at college?
News last night was that this “DEADLY NEW VIRUS!!!” has killed six people.
Sorry, I have sympathy for those people obviously, but six deaths in a month makes this the most pathetic virus in history. Why are we supposed to be panicking over this?
Every time I see “coronavirus”, it makes me think it has something to do with Corona Beer.
Wouldn’t that be scary. Having an overwhelming urge to put a lime into every drink you have. 
Every time I see “coronavirus”, it makes me think it has something to do with Corona Beer.
Wouldn’t that be scary. Having an overwhelming urge to put a lime into every drink you have.
I get the urge to put a slice of orange into my beer, but that’s once in a Blue Moon. 
Will anyone outside the States get that reference?
Every time I see “coronavirus”, it makes me think it has something to do with Corona Beer.
Wouldn’t that be scary. Having an overwhelming urge to put a lime into every drink you have.
Or to drink piss….
I remember reading years ago that to prevent “airborne” viruses you should wash your hands. It’s almost as though they don’t understand what “airborne” means
An actual bit of good news!
Weinstein—leaving behind the walker that’s helped him shuffle into court each day—was then handcuffed and taken into custody by two court officers after Judge James Burke ordered him remanded until his sentencing on March 11. He faces a minimum of five years and up to 25 years in prison.
Awesome. Hope they lock him away for a long time.
I suspect he will be, he’s now up for more charges in the Los Angeles courts.
The drug manufacturer Moderna Inc. has sent the first samples of a potential coronavirus vaccine to U.S government researchers. The experimental vaccine will now be tested on humans, Moderna announced Monday.
Boy with autism denied First Communion at Catholic church: ‘That is discrimination,’ mom says
Contacted by the Asbury Park Press, the Rev. John Bambrick, pastor of St Aloysius, said the church had reviewed the situation and determined that a person’s disability did not necessarily preclude them from receiving a sacrament. He did not reverse the decision regarding the LaCugna’s son, but indicated it could be revisited.
Nicole LaCugna said church administrators told her that because Anthony is not able to express contrition for his sins as part of the sacrament of reconciliation — also known as first confession — he cannot be prepared for First Communion.
Nicole LaCugna said Anthony is diagnosed with a serious form of autism, is 100% nonverbal and with severe apraxia, which is defined as “a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to perform learned (familiar) movements on command, even though the command is understood and there is a willingness to perform the movement.”
She said it causes him to have a “shutdown of the brain. If he gains a word he can lose it, if he gains a sound, he can forget it.”
But she says Anthony is as happy and active as any boy and attends an inclusion class at a regular public school.
“He does well for his abilities, his process is a slow process and he does what he is able to do,” she said.
You’d think the Catholic Church would be looking for excuses to add more members, not exclude them
You’d think the Catholic Church would be looking for excuses to add more members, not exclude them
That was my first thought, too.
Thank you for reminding me why I no longer attend mass.
The worst and the best of what the internet can do in one story:
A 13-year-old boy who was taunted for his online book reviews has received messages of support from bestselling authors.
Callum Manning, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, created an Instagram account last week to write posts about some of the books he had read. But he was left “devastated” after other pupils at his new school began to mock the reviews in a group chat he had joined.
“I don’t tend to cry that often but I think that was the first time in a while I’ve actually cried,” Callum told PA Media.
After his sister Ellis Landreth, 24, tweeted about the incident, Callum was inundated with positive messages including from authors Malorie Blackman, Matt Haig and Caroline Kepnes.
He now has over 150,000 Instagram followers, offers of free books from Waterstones book chain, free signed copies from authors and an invitation to visit Instagram HQ.
Speaking of the worst of what the Internet can do:
The telling parts of your statement though are ‘if’ and ‘probably’. They may not be able to contain the coronavirus but there’s still a chance they can, most of the countries with cases barring China, Italy and South Korea, at the moment have it restricted to very few cases.
Containment policies are also basically all they can do at a government level anyway so there will be a political element at play not to appear negligent after the fact.
There’s also the part that any travel bans are going to be a tiny percentage of the reasons for a dip in travel. They are essentially screwed anyway and there’s no way to avoid a massive hit. I’ve held off on any holiday plans for this year pending how it progresses and loads of people are doing the same.
For some reason here Corona virus fears have led to panic buying of toilet paper. Supermarket shelves are empty when it comes to TP. People are witnessing people racing from shop to shop, filling their cars with the biggest packs of TP they can find. A knife fight broke out at one shop!
I noticed pasta is also in short supply. Very odd behaviour.
We have a TP subscription service – they have also recently been inundated with new accounts, but we got our last order only a few weeks ago so we’re still fully stocked.
It’s silly and panicky but I can at least see the logic behind those purchases.
If people have to go into isolation then a big supply of toilet paper comes in handy and pasta is a foodstuff that fills you up and will last in the packaging for years without going off.
I saw the story in the Guardian though and it is weird parts of Australia are emptying shops etc when it’s not really happening elsewhere with similar numbers of cases. It’s going to play havoc with the ‘no worries’ image of the tourist board.
Hey, sure – have a few weeks’ worth on hand. But this is something else.
Ha ha, that is insane. It’s a 14 day quarantine not 14 months!
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-51737546
Two GP surgeries in Devon have been closed in a bid to “contain the current outbreak of coronavirus”.</p>
Chelston Hall Surgery and Barton Surgery, both in Torquay, said they were following advice from Public Health England. Both surgeries will be closed until at least 16 March, but no further details have been given. On Monday two people – including a secondary school pupil – became the first known coronavirus cases in Devon.The government is launching a major public health campaign urging people to wash their hands regularlyThe number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Scotland has risen to three, bringing the total number of UK cases to 53.
Just wash your hands, see you in a couple of weeks!
Anyone else starting to worry they don’t know “Happy Birthday” as well as they should. I had a go singing it (in my head!) twice while washing my hands this morning and I’m sure it wasn’t long enough. Did I have the tempo wrong? Are there verses I’m forgetting? Should I be putting in a long name to pad it out a bit?
Anyone else starting to worry they don’t know “Happy Birthday” as well as they should. I had a go singing it (in my head!) twice while washing my hands this morning and I’m sure it wasn’t long enough. Did I have the tempo wrong? Are there verses I’m forgetting? Should I be putting in a long name to pad it out a bit?
Did you include the guitar solo? You need to add the guitar solo.
Anyone else starting to worry they don’t know “Happy Birthday” as well as they should. I had a go singing it (in my head!) twice while washing my hands this morning and I’m sure it wasn’t long enough. Did I have the tempo wrong? Are there verses I’m forgetting? Should I be putting in a long name to pad it out a bit?
Did you include the guitar solo? You need to add the guitar solo.
I had to double check to see if @DavidM had written this post.
Look, if you don’t wash your hands regularly anyway then it’s probably best for everyone if Coronavirus removes you from the population.
And the virus is airborne, so I don’t see how handwashing would help.
It’s really the understanding of what ‘airborne’ means in this context I think. It’s not necessarily that it’s floating around continuously in the air like a deadly gas you can’t avoid. It can though be transmitted by someone sneezing in your direction and droplets hitting you. It’s pretty rare however that someone does sneeze directly into your face but a lot more likely they will spread the virus through touching door handles and the like.
That’s why the health authorities around the world are emphasising hand washing over wearing a face mask.
‘Shouldn’t’ is a bit strong since it won’t cause any harm but generally the point is right.
This coronavirus mythbusting article is short and to the point and good reading when there is a lot of bullshit flying around. Especially on social media I’ve had complete nonsense like you can prevent it by drinking ginger tea (no doubt spread by a someone working for a tea company).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/03/yes-worse-than-flu-busting-coronavirus-myths-covid-19
