Mỹ

Once upon a time in Texas:

Armed protesters at ‘drag brunch’ in Texas
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...esters-roanoke

Quote:

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The standoff on Sunday was filmed by a Dallas-based investigative reporter, whose footage spread online, and came amid rising tensions in US society, polls showing majorities of Americans believe political violence is becoming more likely.

The Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, a leftwing group named for the 19th-century anti-slavery fighter executed shortly before the civil war, and which says it is “not a militia”, said it organised the armed guard outside the restaurant.

Sgt Ryan Otero of the Roanoke police told the Dallas Morning News he did not know of any arrests.

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Don’t mess with Texas’ drag queens.

Coming to America:

Chicago mayor welcomes migrants bussed by Texas
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ot-greg-abbott

Quote:

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Chicago received its first busloads of 79 migrants, in this case Venezuelans, on Wednesday night.They were dispatched by Abbott, who has already sent about 9,000 people who crossed the US-Mexico border without documents giving them entry to the US to Washington DC and New York City.

The move is a point-scoring stunt designed to level blame for chaotic conditions on the southern border at the White House and Democratic-controlled cities.

Among the 75 arrivals to Chicago were seven infants, and a total of 20 children and teens, according to local authorities. They were met at the bus with an offering of food, clothes, a shower and shelter.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQTRmvO2p8Y

Đầu tường lửa lựu lập loè sơn lên…

Russia’s consulate in New York vandalized
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ed-ukraine-war

Quote:

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The Russian consulate in New York has been vandalized with red spray paint, in an apparent protest against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Officers said they responded to an emergency call just after 1.30am on Friday reporting that paint had been sprayed across the facade of the consulate on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Rosie Morse, a retiree who lives in the neighborhood near the consulate, said the spray paint “looks like artwork”.

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Nghe trong dư âm còn vang tiếng đạn
Lầu chiều còn thiếu ánh hồng…
(Tô Vẽ)

Let them eat (wedding) cakes:

gay couples in China to get married online in conservative Utah
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...servative-utah

Quote:

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Foley has since performed enough online weddings for same-sex couples in China to establish a routine: wake up at 3am, put on a suit, go to his kitchen – where he has a green-screen – to perform the wedding over Zoom, then go back to sleep.

The couples have sometimes been waiting years to get married. They’re not necessarily weeping or effusive, but “it shines through, that sense of ‘this is finally happening,’” Foley told the Guardian. “That this is a long time coming, that they’ve finally found a way to do it.”

The marriages have no legal weight in China, where same-sex marriage is illegal, but couples are eager to solemnize their commitment in the eyes of the state – even if it’s not their state.

He is frequently contacted by people in the Philippines, where same-sex marriage is also illegal, as well.

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Duyên hội ngộ - cấm tào lao
Bên tình bên luật bên nào nặng hơn?
(Tình trường tân thanh)

Dù cho sông cạn đáy mòn…

Mississippi River water levels reach critical low
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...s-water-levels

Quote:

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The water in the Mississippi River has dropped so low that barges are getting stuck, leading to expensive dredging and at least one recent traffic jam of more than 2,000 vessels backed up.

Last Friday, the US Coast Guard said that there was a backup of more than 2,000 barges at various points, Bloomberg reported. The halted barges were carrying recently harvested corn and soybeans.

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Nhật mộ khô khan thuyền mắc cạn
Yên ba giang thượng sử nhân sầu
(Thôi Hạn)

Cửu hạn phùng cam vũ:

a desert bloomed
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...place-on-earth

Quote:

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Every few years, more than 200 species of plants bloom, producing a spectacular carpet of purple, pink and yellow flowers on the desert floor. Many of the species are endemic to the area, including nolanas, huillis, and añañucas.

The plants are geophytes, meaning that their bulbs lie dormant underground over the dry period and, when the winter rains finally arrive, surface the following spring. Lizards, mammals and insects flock to the area when the flowers emerge, with desert foxes, rodents and guanacos joined by grasshoppers and butterflies.

The phenomenon usually follows El Niño, the warm phase of a weather system in the tropical waters of the Pacific ocean which prompts rainfall in coastal areas of the Atacama desert.

However, this year is La Niña, the cycle’s cold spell, making this bloom highly unusual. The last major bloom occurred in 2017, and scientists believe that the phenomenon could last into late November this year.

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Nụ tầm xuân nở ra xanh biếc
Em héo rồi anh tiếc lắm thay
(Ca dao)

Lula hoop: silence of the lie

Bolsonaro remains silent after election defeat
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ncede-reaction

Quote:

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Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has fallen silent after his chastening election defeat to his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

A stream of world leaders have stepped forward to recognize Lula’s stunning political comeback, including the US president, Joe Biden, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, and China’s Communist party chief, Xi Jinping.

But Bolsonaro – a pro-dictatorship radical who has repeatedly hinted he might not accept defeat – has yet to concede.

His last message on Twitter – an excerpt from the biblical book of Ephesians – was posted at two minutes before midnight on the eve of an election he went on to lose by a margin of more than 2m votes.

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Vụ này nghe quen quen. Ba tây phải coi chừng cái biu đinh của quốc hội.

Được làm vua thua làm giả thuyết âm mưu.
(Tục ngữ)

Vaccine distancing:

US hospital flu cases highest in a decade
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ases-cdc-covid

Quote:

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Heading into the weekend, there were at least 1,600,000 cases, 13,000 hospitalizations, and 730 deaths from the flu, higher than the usual case count during this time of year.

But vaccinations against the flu have decreased, with 5 million fewer flu vaccines being administered to US adults compared to last year, Reuters reported.

Southern parts of the US are most affected right now by the flu, ABC News reported. Texas, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, and Virginia, all reported high levels of flu-like illnesses.

New York and Washington DC similarly high levels.

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Xin em đừng đến những nơi đông đông
Vì tình hình coi bộ hơi nguy
Đi lang thang mắc bịnh nằm dài…
(Họa cài mái tóc)

Ác phụ: till death do us part…

Former Brazilian congresswoman guilty of ordering husband’s murder
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ing-of-husband

Quote:

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The celebrity gospel singer Flordelis dos Santos de Souza, known as Flordelis, was also found guilty on Sunday of associated crimes, including unsuccessfully attempting to poison Anderson do Carmo with cyanide at least six times before giving up and arranging his killing.

Do Carmo, 42, was shot multiple times in June 2019 as he returned to the gated home they shared with their dozens of children – both biological and adopted – just outside Rio de Janeiro.

Flordelis’s son Flávio was sentenced to 33 years in jail last year for pulling the trigger and his adopted brother Lucas Cezar received seven years for helping buy the murder weapon, a sentence reduced because he collaborated with police.

Four others, including one biological son and another adopted son, were given prison sentences earlier this year in a case that – with its mix of religion, celebrity and politics – made headlines around the world.

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Hồng nhan hoạ tử.

Coi thêm: https://twitter.com/oceanyia/status/...380157959?s=20

Quote:

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Marrying your adopted son, ordering his murder, becoming the center of an embezzlement scheme by posing as a church leader, holding blood rituals... all behind a façade of goodwill

the Flordelis case: one the most insane stories coming from Brazil (and that's saying something)

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Yểu điệu ma nữ
Nghĩa tử hảo cầu.
(Kinh dị)

HMông muội:

Hmong American mayor in Oakland
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-mayor-oakland

Quote:

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Just 15 years ago, Thao was living in her car with her infant son. She had just escaped an abusive relationship and had nowhere to go. This week Thao, 37, became the first Hmong American woman to lead a major US city, the youngest Oakland mayor in 75 years and the first renter to hold the position.

The daughter of of refugees who fled Laos during a genocide, Thao was born and raised in Stockton, California, the seventh of 10 children. She left home at 17, and in her early 20s fled an abusive partner while pregnant with her son Ben. She spent months sleeping in her car or on stranger’s couches before she was able to secure a shelter.

Now, as she steps into the role of mayor, Thao said her experiences with poverty and homelessness will help her lead the city through its own severe housing and homelessness crisis, and increasing gun violence. Over the past five years, Oakland saw a steeper rise in homelessness than any other city in the Bay Area.

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Rằng tôi chút phận đàn bà
Nước non lìa cửa lìa nhà đến đây
Bây giờ đắc cử cũng hay
Thân này đã đến thế này thì thôi
(Thị trưởng tân thanh)