Abbott says top Malaysian leaders suspected pilot of MH370

THIS IS A CONSPIRACY THEORY OF THE MALAYSIAN STATE 

ENABLED BY THE RIGHT WING EX AUSSIE PM (HEY YA) ABBOTT

TRISTAN LAVALETTE Associated Press•February 19, 2020



Australia Malaysian Plane
FILE - In this March 4, 2017, file photo, a man writes a condolence message during the Day of Remembrance for MH370 event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has claimed the “top levels” of the Malaysian government long suspected the vanishing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 almost six years ago was a mass murder-suicide by the pilot. (AP Photo/Daniel Chan, File)

THE DOWNING OF MH370 DID NOT HAVE A  HUMAN CAUSE

 IT WAS MOST LIKELY A WATERSPOUT

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the “top levels” of the Malaysian government long suspected that the disappearance of a plane almost six years ago was a mass murder-suicide by the pilot.

Abbott was prime minister when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 carrying 239 people vanished on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Australia, working on Malaysia's behalf, coordinated what became the largest search in aviation history, but it failed to find the plane before being ended in 2017.

Speaking in a Sky News documentary to air on Wednesday and Thursday, Abbott said high-ranking Malaysian officials believed veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately downed the jet.

“My very clear understanding, from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot,” said Abbott, who was Australia’s prime minster from 2013-15.

“I'm not going to say who said what to whom, but let me reiterate, I want to be absolutely crystal clear, it was understood at the highest levels that this was almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot.”

A Malaysian-led independent investigation report released in 2018 said the plane's course was changed manually but did not name a suspect and raised the possibility of “intervention by a third party.” Investigators, however, said the cause of the disappearance couldn't be determined until the wreckage and the plane's black boxes are found.

The Malaysian Ministry of Transport did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about the remarks from the former Australian leader.

Malaysia has had a change of government since the plane's disappearance, after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad ousted the government led by Najib Razak, whose party had ruled Malaysia since its independence in 1957.

The pilot's family has long denied he was suicidal. The 2018 investigative report said there was no evidence of abnormal behavior or stress in the two pilots and none of the passengers had pilot training.

Abbott said he did not believe conspiracy theories centered on the Malaysian government, which owns Malaysia Airlines.

“I’ve read all these stories that the Malaysians allegedly didn’t want the murder-suicide theory pursued because they were embarrassed about one of their pilots doing this. I have no reason to accept that,” he said.

The Australian-led search scoured 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of the southern Indian Ocean and cost 200 million Australian dollars ($150 million). A private hunt by Texas-based company Ocean Infinity later searched more than 96,000 square kilometers (37,000 square miles) of sea.

Debris that washed ashore in the western Indian Ocean has been confirmed as coming from the missing Boeing 777 and indicated a broad expanse of the ocean where the plane likely crashed after running out of fuel.

Australia, Malaysia and China agreed in 2016 that an official search would only resume if the three countries had credible evidence that identified a specific location for the wreckage. Most of the passengers were Chinese.

Abbott believed a new investigation was warranted.

“Let's assume that it was murder-suicide by the pilot and if there is any part of that ocean that could have been reached on that basis that has not yet been explored, let's get out and explore it,” he said.

THE DOWNING OF MH370 DID NOT HAVE A  HUMAN CAUSE IT WAS MOST LIKELY A WATERSPOUT

Malaysia suspected MH370 downed in murder-suicide: Aussie ex-PM

THIS IS A CONSPIRACY THEORY OF THE MALAYSIAN STATE ENABLED BY THE RIGHT WING EX AUSSIE PM (HEY YA) ABBOT

AFP•February 19, 2020


Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has claimed "very top" level Malaysian officials believed vanished Flight MH370 was deliberately downed by the captain in a mass murder-suicide.

The Malaysia Airlines jet vanished on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 people -- mostly from China -- en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

No sign of the plane was found in a 120,000-square kilometre (46,000-square mile) Indian Ocean search zone and the Australian-led search, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January 2017.

A US exploration firm launched a private hunt in 2018 but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.

The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories -- ranging from the credible to outlandish -- including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

In an excerpt from a Sky News documentary airing Wednesday, Abbott claims he was told within a week of it vanishing that Malaysia believed the captain had intentionally downed the jet.

"My very clear understanding from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on here, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot," he said.

"I'm not going to say who said what to whom but let me reiterate, I want to be absolutely crystal clear, it was understood at the highest levels that this was almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot -- mass murder-suicide by the pilot."

Zaharie's family and friends have long strongly rejected such claims as baseless.

Malaysia's former premier Najib Razak, who was in power during the tragedy, said suspicions over the disappearance weren't made public and there was no proof that the pilot was responsible.

"It would have been deemed unfair and legally irresponsible since the black boxes and cockpit voice recorders had not been found," he told online portal Free Malaysia Today.

"There was no conclusive proof whether the pilot was solely or jointly responsible."

Najib said the scenario involving the pilot was "never ruled out" during the search for the plane.

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the former head of Malaysia's civil aviation regulator, criticised Abbott's remarks and said there was not sufficient proof to support the idea.

"It is only a theory," Azharuddin, who led the regulator when Flight MH370 disappeared, told AFP.

"You do this speculation and it will hurt the next of kin. The family of the pilot will also feel very bad because you are making an accusation without any proof."

In 2016, Malaysian officials revealed the pilot had plotted a path over the Indian Ocean on a home flight simulator but stressed this did not prove he deliberately crashed the plane.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.

But they failed to come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives angry and disappointed.

Six passengers were Australian, including four from Queensland state, where Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this week suggested authorities may pursue an inquest into their deaths.

THE DOWNING OF MH370 DID NOT HAVE A  HUMAN 

Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
SHERLOCK HOLMES AS CONAN DOYLE

CAUSE IT WAS MOST LIKELY A WATERSPOUT




PREVIEW
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Missing: DOWNING ‎PLANES

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Jun 29, 2019 - Two people managed to catch a giant waterspout on camera in Alberta on Friday ... Iran announces arrests over downing of Ukrainian plane.

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=MH370

SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=WATERSPOUT

 JOE THE LOSER 

A voter asked former Vice President Joe Biden a blunt question during an event in Nevada: 
"What the hell is going on with your campaign?" 

After complimenting Biden and saying a match-up between him and President Donald Trump in November would be like "Mr. Rogers versus Darth Vader," the voter abruptly questioned him why Biden's campaign stumbled in the past few weeks.

"Well, that's a good question," Biden responded, to light laughter from the crowd. "He complimented me very highly, and then said 'what the hell's the matter with your campaign?'"

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA'S #GAZA

India cracks down on use of VPNs in Kashmir to get around social media ban

Authorities in Indian Kashmir are cracking down on virtual private network (VPN) apps used to circumvent a months-long ban on social media, police said, as part of a broader effort to quell unrest over the withdrawal of the region's autonomy.

VPN ALLOWS YOU ANONYMITY ONLINE

Social networks such as Facebook (FB.O), WhatsApp and Instagram are still blocked, even after the government restored limited mobile data service and the internet in Kashmir, so residents use VPNs or proxy servers to bypass the restrictions.

Police said many VPN users were trying to stir trouble in Kashmir and were liable to face action.

“We have identified 100 social media users and are in the process of identifying more users for misuse of social media, for disseminating fake and false secessionist, anti-India propaganda,” said Kashmir cyber police chief Tahir Ashraf.

Police have filed a case against social media users who are using proxy servers to access messaging networks and stir up anti-India propaganda, a spokesman said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked special privileges from Muslim-majority Kashmir in August in a bid to draw the region closer to India and end a 30-year revolt.

It detained hundreds of people and imposed a communications blackout, saying the actions were needed to prevent people from organizing street protests. On Wednesday, security forces killed three militants in the Tral area of Kashmir.

Through VPNs, users can route the data connection of a smartphone or a laptop through a private server instead of the local internet service provider’s network. That allows the user to access sites that are locally blocked.

Adil Altaf, 37, a businessman in Kashmir’s main city, Srinagar, said he had downloaded a dozen VPN apps on his cellphone.

“They go on blocking, I will go on shifting to other VPNs,” he said.

Saleema Jan, who lives in Kashmir, said she had used a proxy server for a video chat with to her son, who is in college in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh.

Modi’s government has frequently curbed access to the internet in Kashmir and other parts of the country, including briefly in the capital, New Delhi, amid growing protests against a new citizenship law.

As of 2018, India led the world in internet shutdowns, according to a report by internet advocacy group Access Now, accounting for 67% of the total recorded worldwide.

A Jammu and Kashmir telecom official said teams of software engineers were working to disrupt VPNs use in Kashmir.

“It is an ongoing process. We block some and they come up with more. It is like a cat-and-mouse game,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

---30---

General Motors to lay off all 1,500 plant workers in Thailand following sale

Panarat Thepgumpanat

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the General Motors (GM) plant in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate in Rayong province, Thailand February 22, 2011. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) - General Motors will begin laying off around 1,500 employees in Thailand in June, after announcing the sale of its production plants in the country, a government official said on Wednesday.

GM (GM.N) said on Monday it would sell its two plants in the eastern industrial province of Rayong to China’s Great Wall Motor (601633.SS). Its latest moves to retreat from Asia also included winding down its Australian and New Zealand operations.

Jak Punchoopet, adviser to the Minister of Labour, told Reuters all of the Rayong plants’ employees would be laid off under the terms of GM’s sale agreement with Great Wall.

“The agreement was only for the sale of the plants and didn’t include the transfer of employees,” he said.

“Their plan is to lay off 1,000 employees in the auto parts manufacturing line in June, and then around 300 to 400 in the assembly line in October,” Jak said. The rest of the staff at the two plants would be let go toward the end of 2020, he said.

“Everything will be done by the end of the year.”

GM will abide by Thai labor law and provide severance pay for the affected employees, Jak said, adding that the company will also grant an additional four-month bonus to all employees.

Great Wall Motor, one of China’s biggest sport-utility vehicle makers, said it will sell cars from the Thai base as part of its plans to go global and tap the Southeast Asian automotive industry, for which Thailand is a hub.

GM did not respond to questions about the layoffs.

UPDATED
Turkey's Erdogan says respects Gezi ruling, but protests were "heinous attack"

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he respected a court decision to acquit philanthropist Osman Kavala and eight others over their role in the Gezi Park protests, but that the 2013 unrest was a “heinous attack” on the country.

“The Gezi events were a heinous attack targeting the people and state, just like military coups,” Erdogan said in a speech to his AK Party lawmakers in parliament.


“We respect the judicial decision, but the sentencing of those who took part in Gezi for our people will never change,” he added.

ERDOGAN LIES

Turkish philanthropist re-arrested after acquittal in landmark trial

Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala has been re-arrested and taken to police headquarters in Istanbul, state media reported on Wednesday, hours after being acquitted over his alleged role in landmark protests in 2013

The Gezi Park protests were a major challenge to then-premier, now president, Tayyip Erdogan and Kavala’s acquittal, along with that of eight others, had been a surprise. Their trial, criticized by Western allies, was regarded as a test of justice in Turkey.

Kavala’s re-arrest, over allegations that he was involved in a 2016 attempted coup, in turn prompted expressions of astonishment and frustration from foreign observers of his case, opposition lawmakers and rights activists.

“No way to believe in any improvement in Turkey if the Prosecutor is undermining any step ahead. Back again in dark period,” the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, Nacho Sanchez Amor, said on Twitter.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey director of Human Rights Watch, described the arrest warrant as “lawless and vindictive”, bypassing a European Court of Human Rights ruling in December demanding his immediate release.

Police detained Kavala immediately after his release from a sprawling prison in Silivri, west of Istanbul, and took him to police headquarters after routine health checks, state-owned Anadolu news agency said.

During a 24-hour detention period, Kavala was expected to be sent to the prosecutor’s office at the main court in Istanbul, a Twitter account run by Kavala’s supporters said. Prosecutors will then rule on whether to formally arrest him and send him back to prison.

Kavala had been held in jail for more than two years over the Gezi case. He was accused of attempting to overthrow the government by organizing the protests, during which hundreds of thousands marched across Turkey against Erdogan’s plans to redevelop a central Istanbul park.

The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded his immediate release, saying there was a lack of reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime.

Kavala is now being held in relation to the 2016 coup attempt that Ankara says was carried out by supporters of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in a crackdown following that failed putsch.

Turkish court delivers surprise acquittal in landmark protest trial

By Ali Kucukgocmen, Reuters•February 18, 2020


Turkish court delivers surprise acquittal in landmark protest trial
Mucella Yapici flashes V sign after leaving courtroom at Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex in Silivri

SILIVRI, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Tuesday acquitted businessman Osman Kavala and eight others over their alleged role in the Gezi Park protests of 2013, delivering a surprise verdict in a case that had drawn criticism from Western allies and rights groups.

Applause erupted in the courtroom and some people cried in disbelief when the decision was announced. A guilty verdict had been widely expected in the case, regarded as a test of justice in Turkey.

Philanthropist Kavala was ordered to be set free after more than two years in jail. The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded his immediate release, saying there was a lack of reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime.

"Of course today's decision is the right one (but) this has been a sham process. We've seen Turkey's justice system turned into an absurd, cruel theatre," Human Rights Watch Turkey director Emma Sinclair-Webb told Reuters.

In 2013, hundreds of thousands marched in Istanbul and elsewhere in Turkey against plans to build a replica Ottoman barracks on Istanbul's Gezi Park in a major challenge against then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Eight young protesters and a police officer were killed, and 5,000 were injured, in the unrest.

Following the ruling, Turkish Industry Minister Mustafa Varank called the Gezi protest a "betrayal" that had damaged the country democratically and economically.

Kavala and two other defendants had been facing life sentences without parole, while the other defendants were accused of aiding them in attempting to overthrow the government by organising the protests. They had denied the allegations.

At one point in the hearing, police scuffled in the courtroom with defence lawyers who attempted to prevent them forcibly removing a lawyer who had repeatedly requested permission to speak.

'CONSPIRATORIAL FICTION'

The case of seven further defendants, who are abroad and were being tried in absentia, was separated but arrest warrants for them were lifted. One lawyer said they were also expected to be acquitted.

Critics of Erdogan's government have questioned the independence of Turkish courts, especially since a crackdown following a failed coup in 2016. Erdogan, now Turkey's president, and his ruling AK Party say the judiciary makes independent decisions.

After final statements from defendants, the judge read the verdict in which he said they did not commit the alleged crimes.

Mucella Yapici, one of the defendants, said in an interview: "I hope this is the beginning, the first step of returning to law. That is what Gezi is, it is a step towards the light."

In his defence, Kavala had stressed the European Court of Human Rights decision demanding his immediate release and had described as a "conspiratorial fiction" the idea that the protests were an attempt to overthrow the government.

A court previously acquitted people prosecuted over the 2013 protests, with a judge ruling in 2015 they were exercising the right of freedom of assembly.

But in 2017 Kavala was arrested and the following year police arrested the other 15 defendants including civil society figures, writers and actors.

The prosecutions were part of a crackdown that Turkey says is necessary on security grounds. It has involved widespread purges of the armed forces, ministries and state organisations.

In surprise move, Turkey acquits nine on charges stemming from 2013 Gezi protests

Borzou Daragahi, The Independent•February 18, 2020

Members and spokeswoman Mucella Yapici (C) of the Taksim Solidarity Platform celebrates outside the Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex in Silivri, near Istanbul on Tuesday: AFP via Getty Images

A Turkish court on Tuesday dismissed national security charges against 16 high-profile liberal and leftist activists involved in major 2013 protests against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ignoring the recommendation of prosecutors to hand life sentences without parole to some of the defendants.

Among those acquitted and allowed to walk out of prison was Osman Kavala, a philanthropist and liberal activist held in prison for more than two years on accusations of plotting to overthrow the government, the official Anadolu news agency reported.

Liberals and leftists celebrated the decision, which comes among a string of victories for their political wing that includes the election of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu last year against the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party.

The European Court of Human Rights in December demanded the immediate release of Mr Kavala.

“Today’s decision is hugely welcome and confirms what has been clear to the entire world for more than two years,” said Milena Buyum, an Amnesty International official.

“The only just verdict in this baseless case, devoid of any substance, was always going to be the wholesale acquittal of those who stood trial, but in today’s Turkey this was far from guaranteed.”

The prosecutor may challenge the judge’s decision. Supporters of the government accused Mr Kavala and others of being “terrorists” because of the damage the protesters allegedly caused to private and public property as part of a secret anti-government conspiracy financed from abroad, including Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist George Soros.

"Who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros," Mr Erdogan said in 2018.

The 2013 protest movement initially erupted out of opposition to government plans to fashion an Ottoman-style military barracks and shopping area on the site of central Istanbul’s Gezi Park but quickly escalated to include grievances against Mr Erdogan’s style and ambitions.

For a generation of Turks, it was a defining moment.

“The Gezi movement was a unique moment in time where people in Turkey demanded a new, inclusive democracy, out in the streets,” the scholar Daghan Irak, wrote on Twitter.

“Gezi was the direct antithesis of the current unlawful, autocratic regime. That's exactly why they want to criminalise it.”

Turkey’s judiciary has been subject to pressure by Mr Erdogan and his allies. But it remains unclear whether the acquitals on Tuesday were rooted in law or fresh political calculations.

There are numerous signs that Mr Erdogan’s inner circle has decided that prosecuting liberals and leftists yields few political benefits but many headaches, including international attention from human rights groups and diplomatic pressure.


There are numerous signs that Mr Erdogan’s inner circle has decided that prosecuting liberals and leftists yields few political benefits but many headaches

Pro-government television channels reported extensively on the acquittals. "They were being prosecuted for years for nothing; this is unfair," columnist Sevilay Yilman said in a television appearance on staunchly pro-government Haberturk. "The decision is fair and compatible with legal principles.”

Human rights monitors are watching closely to see the verdict on Wednesday in the case of another group of activists charged with national security crimes.

Even as the pressure on Gezi veterans eases, the government continues to crack down harshly on the Kurdish movement linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party as well as those tied to the religious movement of Fethullah Gulen, a self-exiled cleric living in the United States who is accused of masterminding a 2016 coup attempt that left 251 people dead.

Turkish authorities on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for at least 739 suspected supporters of the Gulen movement, which the government refers to as the Fethullah Terrorist Organisation, or Feto. At least 179 people have been arrested as part of a crackdown across the country that includes justice ministry officials and soldiers, the official Anadolu news agency reported.

While scores of activists, scholars, journalists and diplomats board early-morning buses to flock to the trials of the Gezi defendants, few if any show up for the Gulenists.

Turkish author fears for her life if she returns home
 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/02/turkish-author-fears-for-her-life-if.html

Turkey’s Erdogan Joins In on Vilification of Soros

Fercan Yalinkilic, Bloomberg•February 18, 2020

(Bloomberg) -- An Istanbul court acquitted prominent businessman Osman Kavala of charges of plotting to overthrow the government during mass protests that shook the country in 2013.

Nine defendants were cleared, and arrest warrants for others living abroad have been rescinded. Others accused in the case include actor Mehmet Ali Alabora and journalist Can Dundar, who have both left the country.

Kavala spent two years in jail while his case was tried. He was the only defendant to be incarcerated.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has alleged that Kavala was the “local collaborator” of a foreign conspiracy led by billionaire George Soros to divide Turkey by backing the demonstrations against a planned development in Istanbul’s Gezi Park.

The protests quickly morphed into the biggest challenge to the rule of Erdogan, then a powerful prime minister.

--With assistance from Ercan Ersoy.

Notorious Utah brothel owner’s interview eludes historians
February 1, 2020


1 of 4
This 1948 police booking photo courtesy of Weber State University, Special Collections, shows Rossette Davie, also known as Rose Davie. Weber State University scholars are trying to unlock a mystery after discovering a nearly 70-year-old transcript of an interview with the notorious madam. She ran the Rose Rooms brothel with her husband, Bill Davie, in the 1940s and 1950s. The 1951 transcription is written in a decades-old shorthand style that few people use today. Weber State University historians are asking for help from anyone who might be able to read the dictation. (Weber State University, Special Collections, via AP)

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Scholars at a Utah university are trying to unlock a mystery after discovering a nearly 70-year-old transcript of an interview with a notorious brothel owner that is written in a shorthand style that few people can read today.

The interview was with madam Rossette Duccinni Davie, who ran the Rose Rooms brothel in Ogden with her husband in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, the location is home to the nightclub Alleged, the Standard-Examiner reported.

The interview with former Standard-Examiner reporter Bert Strand was hidden inside a box of 1970s photos from the newspaper, said Sarah Langsdon, head of the Weber State University’s special collections.

The pages could be a treasure trove of material for historians in Ogden, a city of about 88,000 located 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City.

But there’s a problem: The 1951 transcription is written in a decades-old shorthand style that few people use today. “It’s definitely a lost art,” Langsdon said.

Davie was considered Ogden’s most notorious madame — with the possible exception of Belle London, who was active from 1890 to 1914, Langsdon said.

“Anyone we’ve ever interviewed who was alive remembers her,” Langsdon said of Davie. “She’s definitly a well-known figure in the history of Ogden.”

It’s widely believed that city police and county sheriffs turned a blind eye to the brothel run by Davie and her husband, Bill Davie. Historian Val Holley has said they were likely police informants. Another theory holds that they paid a sheriff to look the other way, Langsdon said.

Rose Davie, as she was known, pulled down $30,000 a month in her prime and withstood several prostitution charges before she was ultimately done in by a federal tax evasion charge, Langsdon said.

Now, Weber State is hoping to find someone who can make sense of the lost interview notes. Anyone who is interested in helping can call 801-626-6540.

“It’s probably been decades since anyone has used (shorthand),” Langsdon said. “But if we could find someone who can decipher these notes, it could be pretty fascinating.”

THE STYLE IS PERSONALIZED SHORT HAND USED BY REPORTERS.
BASED ON STANDARD SHORT HAND FROM THE FORTIES
I LEARNED THE BASIC SHORTHAND IN GRADE 10 TYPING CLASS

Baboon grooms little lion cub in South Africa’s Kruger park
By ANDREW MELDRUM February 4, 2020

1 of 3
In this photo taken Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, a male baboon carries a lion cub in a tree in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The baboon took the little cub into the tree and preened it as if it were his own, said safari ranger Kurt Schultz who said in 20-years he had never seen such behaviour. The fate of the lion cub is unknown. (Photo Kurt Schultz via AP)


JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A male baboon carrying and grooming a lion cub is an unusual sight, yet it happened over the weekend in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

The baboon took the cub up into a tree and preened it as if it were its own, said safari operator Kurt Schultz, who in 20 years had never seen such behavior.

“The baboon was grooming the lion cub as if it was a baby baboon,” Schultz said in an email to The Associated Press. “Male baboons do a lot of grooming but the care given to this lion cub was the same care given by a female baboon to one of her own young.”

Schultz said when he first saw the baboons early Saturday, the troop of baboons was excited and animated. It is possible they had discovered the lion cub, he said.

The baboons had gathered in an area with granite hills and boulders where lions and leopards have been known to hide their cubs while they go hunting, he said, and that’s likely how the baboons found the cub.

Baboons “are really strong animals and when they were all excited and fighting over the baby in the beginning, it could have been injured internally,” Schultz said. It was a hot morning and the cub was also showing signs of dehydration, he said.

While the rest of the baboon troop settled down, the male “moved from branch to branch, grooming and carrying the cub for a long period of time,” Schultz said. “The cub seemed very exhausted.”

Schultz and others on safaris in the park watched the rare sight and took photographs.

“I don’t see a chance of this poor cub surviving. The troop of baboons was large and a lion would not be able to get the young back,” Schultz said. “Nature is cruel at most times and the survival of a young predator cub is not easy. The lion cub would pose a threat to the baboons when it gets older. I have witnessed baboons viciously killing leopard cubs and have heard of baboons killing lion cubs.”

MUTUAL AID 
THE MALE BABOON IS ACTING IN A DEFENSIVE MANNER AGAINST THE PACK THREATENING A WEAKER INDIVIDUAL REGARDLESS OF SPECIES 
IT IS BOTH A MATERNAL AND FRATERNAL RESPONSE OF SOLIDARITY 
SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=MUTUAL+AID
SEE  https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=KROPOTKIN

Takes a village: Bear ‘foster mom’ raises cub saved by dog
February 13, 2020

1 of 2
In this photo provided by the Wildlife Center of Virginia, a male black bear cub who was admitted to the center on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, in Waynesboro, Va. is cared for by staff members. The cub was rescued the night before in Washington County when a family dog brought it home to its owners. The baby is being resettled with a mother bear and her biological cubs. (Wildlife Center of Virginia via AP)

BRISTOL, Va. (AP) — An orphaned black bear cub has been placed with a substitute mother this week after being saved by a dog and brought to safety.

The rescue effort unfolded after the dog turned up at its owner’s home in Washington County with a cub in its mouth on Feb. 5, Bill Bassinger, wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, told news outlets. The male cub wasn’t hurt by the dog, he added.

The cub, estimated to be two to three weeks old, was taken to the Virginia Wildlife Center in Waynesboro for treatment and eventual resettlement with his own species. The center keeps female bears with monitoring collars on for this purpose, according to Bassinger. Conservation officers use the collars to locate the bears, then track them and listen for cubs making sounds in their dens, the center’s website says. If they find a good match, staff members place orphaned cubs outside the dens, and mother bears usually adopt them as their own, Bassinger and experts said.

“The mothering instinct is just very strong in most animals,” Bassinger told the Wytheville Enterprise. “Generally, most females will take the young back, even after it has been handled by humans.”

The male cub was settled into an incubator earlier this week where he received constant care and feeding, an update on the wildlife center’s website said. He was described as bright, alert and “vocalizing readily.” The center said the cub was placed with a new mother who was nursing three cubs of her own on Wednesday.

Pot shops turn to highway sponsor signs amid strict ad rules
February 16, 2020

In this Feb. 6, 2020, photo, a Clean Colorado highway sign sponsored by the Northern Lights Cannabis Co. is displayed on eastbound 6th Avenue west of Sheridan Blvd. in Denver. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP)


DENVER (AP) — Cannabis companies are using a loophole in Colorado’s strict limits on marijuana advertising by sponsoring state highways and putting their names on roadside signs.

Currently, 51 cannabis dispensaries, cultivators, manufacturers and edible producers sponsor roadways throughout the state, according to the Adopt a Highway Maintenance Corporation. Although they represent less than half of all organizations that participate in the Clean Colorado program, their reach spans about 198 miles (318 kilometers) , or 66%, of the roads actively sponsored, The Denver Post reported.


“The rules governing highways signs are in a different section than rules governing the cannabis industry,” said Nico Pento, government affairs director for Boulder-based Terrapin Care Station, which operates six dispensaries in the Denver metro area. “The highway signs were a loophole that was overlooked.”

Colorado Department of Transportation officials say the signs are not intended to be an advertising medium, but they have become a clever workaround for an industry with few other options. Oftentimes, they are strategically placed near exits where passersby can find the businesses.

Colorado’s rules governing how and where cannabis companies can advertise are strict to prevent marketing messages from reaching minors. State regulators prohibit cannabis businesses from advertising on TV, radio and in print unless they can prove the audience is predominantly 21 and older. Digital and social media platforms are even more restrictive.

Harsha Gangadharbatla, an associate professor of advertising, public relations and media design at the University of Colorado at Boulder, says that because Clean Colorado signs don’t look like traditional advertisements, they might be one of the most effective ways to reach drivers.

“They’re a different kind of signage on the side of the road. They tend to stick out a little bit more than billboards, so consumers do pay a little bit more attention to anything that’s novel or different from the formats they’re used to,” he said.

LivWell Enlightened Health, which operates 17 dispensaries in Colorado and Oregon, is one of the top sponsors of Colorado roads, paying for cleanup on 19 miles (30 kilometers). Mike Lord, the company’s director of business development, said the program spreads brand awareness while also making a positive impact.


“It’s pretty incredible how many stretches of mile of highway are being cleaned right now,” he said.

But not everyone is pleased with the program.

Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock and County Commissioner Patti Clapper criticized the signs after a marijuana grower in Ridgway sponsored a portion of Highway 82, according to The Aspen Times. They said the signs promote marijuana use and obstruct scenery, and that the county hasn’t allowed billboards or highway advertisements for decades.

Drivers could begin to see more prominent advertising from cannabis companies, thanks to a new law that allows them to use outdoor media, such as billboards. Legalized as part of the 2019 Sunset Bill, marijuana ads would be prohibited within 500 feet (152 meters) of schools, places of worship and playgrounds and still be subject to local regulations.

Museum’s Rembrandt knockoff turns out to be the real thing

This s from left, before and after restoration of a painting called "Portrait of a Young Woman." Thanks to modern technology and some expert detective work, the 1632 painting that had long been attributed to an unknown artist in Rembrandt’s workshop has been judged to have been a work of the Dutch master himself. (Allentown Art Museum via AP)Museum’s Rembrandt knockoff turns out to be the real thing

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Thanks to modern technology and some expert detective work, a nearly 400-year-old painting that had long been attributed to an unknown artist in Rembrandt’s workshop has now been judged to have been a work of the Dutch master himself.

For decades, the Allentown Art Museum displayed an oil-on-oak panel painting called “Portrait of a Young Woman” and credited it to “Studio of Rembrandt.” Two years ago, the painting was sent to New York University for conservation and cleaning.

There, conservators began removing layers of overpainting and dark, thick varnish that had been added over centuries — and they began to suspect Rembrandt himself was responsible for the original, delicate brushwork underneath.

“Our painting had numerous layers of varnish and that really obscured what you could see of the original brushwork, as well as the original color,” said Elaine Mehalakes, vice president of curatorial affairs at the Allentown Art Museum.

Conservators used a variety of tools, including X-ray, infrared and electron microscopy, to bolster the case that it was the work of one of the most important and revered artists in history.

The scientific analysis “showed brushwork, and a liveliness to that brushwork, that is quite consistent with other works by Rembrandt,” said Shan Kuang, a conservator at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts who restored “Portrait of a Young Woman.”

Outside experts who examined the 1632 painting after the completion of its two-year restoration concurred with the NYU assessment that it’s an authentic Rembrandt.

“We’re very thrilled and excited,” Mehalakes said. “The painting has this incredible glow to it now that it just didn’t have before. You can really connect with the portrait in the way I think the artist meant you to.”

When “Portrait of a Young Woman” was bequeathed to the museum in 1961, it was considered to be a Rembrandt. About a decade later, a group of experts determined that it had been painted by one of his assistants. Such changes in attribution are not unusual: Over the centuries, as many as 688 and as few as 265 paintings have been credited to the artist, according to Mehalakes.

The museum has not had the painting appraised — and has no intention of selling it — but authenticated works by Rembrandt have fetched tens of millions of dollars.

The painting, currently in the museum’s vault, will go on public display starting June 7.