Martin World News

Today I have a selection of stories that, while not uproariously funny, should cause enough head scratching to make your family members wonder if they should be calling the Lice Police.  Starting with:

ITEM:   Political correctness meets "unclear on the concept", French style. 

This story, from the UK's Telegraph, is about a political row between France and Poland over this statue of Pope John Paul II.  The statue stands in Ploermel, a town in French Brittany.  And the problem is that the Cross over the Pontiff's marble head breaks French rules about separation of Church and State.  The praying Pope, apparently is okay; but the CROSS must go.  This has sparked a drive by Poland to save the statue- created by a Russian-born Georgian, just to add to the international nature of the fooferal- to send it back to the Pope's native Poland where the godless won't be able to desecrate it.

The head scratch- How is it a man who SYMBOLISES his faith is okey-dokey, but the Cross that symbolises the POWER of said faith, is not?  Yet another example of the obvious signs of mental illness currently gripping the world of atheism.


ITEM:  Aren't we just being a bit picky- or is it really just a little cold?  From the BBC:

This train, run in Germany by Deutsche Bahn, is at the center of another controversy, which depending on how much you turn your head off its moorings to see a different angle, may have a bit more to it.  A jury picked 25 names of famous Germans with which to name a set of spanking new high-speed trains.  And the name for this one?  The Anne Frank.  And this is a problem why?


A German conservative MP, Iris Eberl, tweeted that it was a "tasteless" choice, as Anne Frank and other Jews had been sent by train to their deaths.


On the one hand, I think this one is a bit of a reach.  On the other, I can see the tasteless elements of society turning every ride into a string of Auschwitz jokes.  Scratch away, whilst I cue up story #3.


ITEM: In a way, I kinda go along with this one...

From the BBC:

Calls have been made to ban the Coca-Cola truck from Liverpool this Christmas amid concerns about obesity levels in the city.
Liverpool's Liberal Democrat leader Richard Kemp said the city is "in the grip of an obesity epidemic".
He believes Coca-Cola's popular festive vehicle promotes a product which is "grossly unhealthy", as first reported in the Liverpool Echo.


Now I've always found Coke grossly unhealthy.  Or at least gross.  Which leads into this related story from the Japan Times:

  Pepsi Japan does a different, allegedly halloween-themed drink every year, and this year the halloween cola seems to look like Pepto-Bismol.  But how does it taste?

While this year’s soda has some cherry taste, it gets countered by an aftertaste that is closer to (extremely sugary) bubble gum. A few sips are OK, but trying to get through the whole bottle can be a challenge. It may be good for shots on the night of Oct. 31, but it’s probably best shared with friends.

They go on to explain that Pepsi Japan tries to go for the candy angle of halloween, and thus the bubble-gum concoction rather than something that, say, resembles blood or similar ichor.



ITEM: Next, we take a swing through the industrial marketplace, starting with a BBC story about Japan's Kobe Steel.  For those of you that missed this story, the latest far-east mishap involved Kobe getting busted for shipping several customers a lower-grade steel than claimed.  The excuse at the time was that the Japanese "culture " of pleasing the boss at all costs lead to inspection tests getting fudged, and possibly bad metal going out to customers in the auto, train, and aerospace industry.  That's always good news.  Today, as a result...


Japan's Kobe Steel has withdrawn its full-year profit guidance due to uncertainty around the cost of its data falsification scandal.
Last month it admitted to fabricating data on the quality of some products, possibly for more than a decade.
Kobe Steel supplied those products to companies around the world but no safety issues have yet been reported.
The firm, whose shares have plunged more than 30% due to the scandal, will also cancel its interim dividend.

Gotta love the BBC headline:  Kobe Steel scraps profit forecast on fake data scandal.

But we're not finished with Japan yet, because just a day or so ago, we got this one... (Japan Times)

Subaru Corp. said Monday it will file for a recall of some 255,000 vehicles next week after uncertified workers were found to have carried out final car inspections.

The company said the practice was aimed at letting workers who had completed certain training and exams have hands-on experience. The uncertified inspectors also borrowed seals from authorized inspectors to sign off on documents.


Subaru President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga admitted Friday at a news conference that the malpractice was conducted systematically.

So you come up with a car with faked material inspections, followed up by incompetent assembly inspection.  Or, you could buy American.



ITEM:  Meanwhile, in Russia, courtesy The Moscow Times...

For the last couple of years, the "My Street" public works program has been cutting a $2 billion hole in the streets of the capitol and the Russian budget.  Last week, the project was extended for another 2 years, adding at least another $1.5 billion to it.  And not just because it's such a roaring success...


Famous for the green-and-white construction fences strewn throughout central Moscow, “My Street” has gained infamy for sloppy and at times unnecessary construction work. Critics describe the project as part of a scheme to siphon off money to construction companies with ties to City Hall.

But that's not the only problem. 

An investigation conducted by the news website Meduza revealed that Moscow’s demand for granite has caused suppliers to divert deliveries from three funeral homes in Siberia and central Russia.

“Because of orders from Moscow, Ural granite workers behave rudely and have almost stopped taking orders for small lots of 300-400 square meters,” a Novosibirsk funeral home said.

Which has made it near impossible for the residents of Siberia to get tombstones for their deceased loved ones.

To compensate for the shortages, granite imports from China and Ukraine have reportedly increased.

Which of course made me chuckle because the next article trumpeted "Imports from China up 22%"


ITEM:  Also in Russia...

This is Ksenia Sobchak.  She is running for President of Russia in 2018.  I think she may have a problem though- not counting the hit squads Putin is probably already prepping for her.  He may not need bother...


The Bell news outlet cited two sources as saying that Vitaly Shkliarov, a political consultant who worked on the Bernie Sanders campaign in the 2016 U.S. presidential race will work on Sobchak’s campaign. 

Gee, where to go here- the "Russian collusion in Sanders' campaign" angle, the "fixing primaries Russian-style" angle, or the "Yeah, 'cause it worked out so well with Bernie" angle.  Decisions, decisions....


ITEM:  Getting what you paid for, part one, via the Mirror...

A woman used a popular restaurant-search app to order a birthday cake.  Being from India, she must have needed to make note she didn't want a "spicy" cake.  Remind me not to have a birthday party in Mumbai.  Anyway, she didn't give the bakers instructions on what to put ON the cake, and thus she got...

After sharing this pic on twitter, she let the company know she wasn't pleased with the results.  The company swiftly sent an apology...

ITEM:  You get what you pay for, part 2, from the Japan Times...

This is a insurance covered ointment for eczema.  The problem being that insurers had paid out nearly ¥9.3 billion ($1.4 billion) in claims when it was discovered that it also made a cheap (because insurance paid for it) cold cream.

Hirudoid, considered an “ultimate beauty cream,” normally costs ¥1,185 ($178.26) for 50 grams, a price that drops to about ¥360 ($54.15), or 30 percent of the original cost, when a patient is reimbursed through insurance.


ITEM:  Finally, CNN brings us the most important controversy of the day....

Which emoji for cheeseburgers is correct?  Twitter warriors claim both are messed up- Google has the cheese on the bottom, Apple put lettuce on the bottom.  What can be done?

Following backlash on Twitter, Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted he would "drop everything" on Monday to address the debate, clarifying "if folks can agree on the correct way to do this!"