Idiot #9

Okay. I know I did the Republican candidates collectively but I couldn't ignore this shocker.
For as long as this Republican nomination train rolls on I get the feeling I'll be supplied with plenty of material for this.
Rick Santorum says if you are raped and as a result become pregnant, rather than have an abortion, you should consider it a 'gift of human life'

Seriously America, how do you allow people as backwards as this guy to get any sort of power at all?

Rick Santorum would encourage one of his daughters to see a pregnancy created through rape as "a gift of human life" and urge her to not consider an abortion, the socially ultra-conservative Republican presidential candidate has explained.

In an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan show, the former Pennsylvania senator was asked at length about his hardline views on abortion, which he would seek to ban via a constitutional amendment.

Santorum said he had thought deeply on the issue: "When I decided to run for public life I was informed very quickly people wanted to know what my position on that was, so I went through the process of trying to better understand the facts. It became very clear to me that life begins at conception and persons are covered by the constitution, and because human life is the same as a person, to me it was a pretty simple deduction to make that that's what the constitution clearly intended to protect."

Asked by Morgan what he would do if one of his two daughters said they had been raped and were pregnant, and were "begging you to let her have an abortion", Santorum said: "I would do what every father would do – to try to counsel your daughter to do the right thing."

Asked whether this would rule out abortion even if the daughter felt having the child would ruin her life, he explained: "You can make the argument that if she doesn't have this baby, if she kills her child, that that too could ruin her life.

"This is not an easy choice, I understand that. As horrible as the way that daughter or son was created, it still is her child, and whether she has that child or doesn't it will always be her child, and she will always know that."

He added: "I believe and I think that the right approach is to accept this horribly created, in the sense of rape, but nevertheless, in a very broken way, a gift of human life, and accept what God is giving to you. As you know, in lots of different aspects of our life we have horrible things happening. I can't think of anything more horrible, but nevertheless we have to make the best out of a bad situation. And that is making the best of a bad situation."

Questioned on how this belief in the ultimate sanctity of human life squared with his support for the death penalty, Santorum said he would only approve executions if the accused was proven to be guilty beyond any doubt. He said: "I would say when there is certainty – and there are occasions when there is certainty – that's the case when capital punishment can be used."

Santorum's stance will once again delight his deeply religious support base, and dismay those who fear he, more even than other socially conservative candidates, seeks to fundamentally change US laws according to his staunch Catholic beliefs.

He has faced criticism during the Republican race for comments made in a 2003 interview which appeared to equate consensual homosexual acts with incest, bigamy or adultery – comments which outraged equality activists, even after Santorum said they had been misinterpreted.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/24/rick-santorum-daughter-abortion-rape

Idiot #8

Republican candidates. We think we've got it bad in the UK with our politicians? Thank fuck we don't have to choose between these backwards morons!

"One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country. It's not OK. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."

"I am a firm believer in intelligent design as a matter of faith and intellect, and I believe it should be presented in schools alongside the theories of evolution."


"I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time [my grandchildren are] my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/10/sht-republican-candidates-say

Idiot #7

Ed Miliband is stuck on repeat!
Or he's an idiot. He's had his fun now, maybe it's time to get a proper leader in place now.

The TV reporter who conducted Thursday's bizarre interview with Ed Miliband, in which the Labour leader responded to every question with the same statement about his position on public sector strikes, has said he felt ashamed at the "professional discourtesy" in being used as a "recording device for a scripted soundbite".

Damon Green, the ITV News correspondent who was interviewing Miliband for a pooled story that also went to the BBC and Sky News, has vented his anger at the Labour leader and his entourage in a 1,300 word piece posted on Twitter.

Green said that the resulting interview was "so absurd" that it is only "perfectly proper" that the full un-edited version of it "has found its way onto YouTube … to be laughed at along with all the clips of cats falling off sofas".

In the two-minute 30-second version of the interview seen by the Guardian, Green tries six times to get Miliband to expand on his position about why he believes the strike action is wrong.

In each case he receives the same reply, that the strikes are wrong when negotiations are underway, the government has acted in a "reckless and provocative manner" and both sides need to "set aside the rhetoric" and "get around the negotiating table to stop this happening again".

Green vented his anger at the Labour leader and his "handlers", putting on a "convincing charade" of pretending to care about his line of questioning when they had a pre-planned PR line that they refused to go beyond.

"If news reporters and cameras are only there to be used by politicians as recording devices for their scripted soundbites, at best that is a professional discourtesy," he said. "At worst, if we are not allowed to explore and examine a politician's views, then politicians cease to be accountable in the most obvious way."

He also criticised the approach of the three PR "handlers" Miliband sent in first who he claimed attempted to control the entire interview, down to trying to tell the cameraman about "framing and depth of field" and demanding that the Labour leader be put in front of a bookcase "with his family photos over his left shoulder".

Despite knowing Miliband had been pre-briefed to give just one response, Green said his PRs also tried to control the line of questioning, a tactic he referred to as a "convincing charade".

"His PR must have known that was what he was going to do," he said. "And yet he still went through a convincing charade of pressing me on my line of interrogation, urging me to keep my questions brief and even – this was a macabre touch – placing a voice recorder on the table beside me as a kind of warning not to try and misquote his boss."

Green said that as he came to the last question of what was clearly a disastrous interview, he felt an "urge" to ask a flippant question just to get a rise out of Miliband, like "What is the world's fastest fish?", "Can your dog do tricks?" or "Which is your favourite dinosaur?". But he did not.

Instead at the end Green said he felt so ashamed that he could not look Miliband in the eye.

Original article on the Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/01/ed-miliband-interviewer-shame-strike-soundbites

Idiot #6

Fans of all sports can be idiots at times. This week it's Ice Hockey and the idiots are in Vancouver
.

Angry, drunken fans ran wild  after the Vancouver Canucks' 4-0 loss to Boston in Game 7 of ice hockey's Stanley Cup finals, setting cars and garbage cans ablaze, smashing windows, showering giant TV screens with beer bottles and dancing atop overturned vehicles.

Later, looters smashed windows and ran inside department stores.

"We have a small number of hooligans on the streets of Vancouver causing problems," Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said. "It's absolutely disgraceful and shameful and by no means represents the city of Vancouver. ... We have had an extraordinary run in the playoff, great celebration. What's happened tonight is despicable."

At a Bay store, looters were seen grabbing T-shirts and anything else they could get their hands on. Young women were seen escaping with MAC cosmetics, with one carrying out part of a mannequin. The landmark building was filling with smoke as people, their faces covered in bandanas, continued the violence.

"It's terrible," Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said, shaking his head. "This city and province has a lot to be proud of, the team we have and the guys we have in here. It's too bad."

While Robertson said there had been no fatalities, ambulances appeared to be having trouble getting inside the zone to help the injured and TV images showed at least one woman mopping blood from her forehead.

"You don't ever hope for a situation like this," Vancouver police Const. Jana McGuinness said. "You celebrate the good times and you prepare for the bad times and that's exactly what we've done. Unfortunately, the tables have turned tonight. ... We will have to sit down and evaluate exactly what happened here. It's going to be a black mark for a very, very long time."

Robertson praised the police and firefighters and asked people to stay away from the central downtown area.

"It is extremely disappointing to see the situation in downtown Vancouver turn violent after tonight's Stanley Cup game," Robertson said. "Vancouver is a world-class city and it is embarrassing and shameful to see the type of violence and disorder we've seen tonight.

"The vast majority of people who were in the downtown tonight were there to enjoy the game in a peaceful and respectful manner. It is unfortunate that a small number of people intent on criminal activity have turned pockets of the downtown into areas involving destruction of property and confrontations with police."
Tear gas mingled with the stench of acrid smoke and stale beer as riot police, truncheons drawn, moved in to quell the violence, pushing crowds away from the burning cars.

Later, police cars also were set on fire. At one point, police were using flash-bangs - grenades that are designed to distract and disorient, rather than injure - to try to break up the mob.

"This isn't what the Canucks are about," said Chad McMillan, 31, a Vancouver resident and Canucks fan. "This isn't what their fans are about. This isn't what this city is about."

Flames leaped from at least two flipped vehicles in the middle of trash-strewn streets, filling the downtown core with heavy black smoke in the moments immediately following the game.

"I heard a loud noise and turned and there was a car being stomped on by a bunch of guys," 18-year-old witness Brandon Sinclair said about the first few moments of violence.

"A bunch of guys started rocking it, then they flipped it over and five minutes later it was on fire and then they flipped another one. It was just out of control."

Bright orange flames were seen shooting nearly 10 metres into the air as bystanders tossed firecrackers.

Television images showed a large fire burning inside a parking garage, but it wasn't clear what was ablaze.

A small group of rioters appeared to be at the heart of the action reminiscent of a similar scene that erupted in the city in 1994 following the Canucks' Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers.

When flames erupted from an exploding car, bystanders ducked in alarm. Fans who were trying simply to get out of the danger zone found their visibility reduced by the thick black smoke.

About an hour after the game ended, some bold troublemakers started hurling garbage and bottles at police officers, who deflected the debris with riot shields. Protesters who rushed the police line were quickly subdued with blows from a truncheon.

Some protesters held what looked like pipes or hockey sticks over their heads as they jeered at officers. Newspaper boxes were wrenched off the sidewalk and hurled through store windows. Portable toilets were tipped as the stifling black smoke spread through the city's core.

Some seemed to revel in the rampage, recording the vandalism on cell phones and video cameras. A few congratulated those who tried to attack police, and others erupted with cheers every time something was damaged. Fans set fire to a stuffed bear decorated to symbolize the Bruins, while others sang a drunken tune as they danced on an overturned vehicle.

At least two young men covered in soot reported being roughed up by the police, but they weren't arrested. Rivers of poured-out alcohol, broken glass and trash made navigating the streets treacherous.

Fans wandered amid the chaos, some with bandanas or T-shirts pulled over their faces - either to hide their faces from police and TV cameras or to guard against the smoke, or both.

"What is most disappointing and disturbing is that we have spectators who will not go home," British Columbia Solicitor General Shirley Bond said. "We need everyone to pay attention, we need them to leave the downtown and they need to stop treating this as a spectator sport. This is a dangerous situation where people need to go home."

Original article: Stuff.co.nz / Reuters
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/5154250/Vancouver-fans-riot-after-Stanley-Cup-loss

Idiot #5

Surely a contender for a Darwin award?

A Russian man has died after persuading a friend to bury him alive for a night, hoping it would bring him "good luck".

The victim dug a hole in a garden in the eastern city of Blagoveshchensk and climbed into an improvised coffin, with holes for air pipes, taking a mobile phone and a bottle of water with him.
His friend covered the coffin with earth and then left, after the buried man phoned to say he was fine.
The next morning, he returned to find his friend dead, investigators said.
The 35-year-old victim had believed that burying himself alive for a night would bring him luck the rest of his life.
"According to his friend, the man wanted to test his endurance and insistently asked his friend to help him spend the night buried," said Alexei Lubinsky, a senior aide to the region's chief investigator.
"We know that the victim was a computer programmer and that he has a small child."

Original article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13623938

Idiot #4

No doubt you've already seen this one from North Wales earlier this week. If he was doing it for a laugh then I could maybe understand it but he was apparantly completely serious and could not understand why his pony was not allowed to board the train.
The fact that he tried to buy a ticket for the pony pushes him over the edge and into idiocy. Well done that man.

STAFF at a train station had a shock when a man turned up and demanded to buy a ticket – for his pony.
And despite being told by Wrexham General’s ticket office worker that horses were not allowed on the train, he bundled the creature into a lift and led it onto the platform.
When the train arrived, the man attempted to board it with his four-legged friend, but was stopped by a concerned conductor.
An anonymous source told the Daily Post: “The man took the pony into the ticket office and asked for a ticket. He was refused and told that no horses were allowed on the train.

“But he said ‘I know the law’ and walked away. He got into a lift with the horse and walked it across the bridge and onto a platform.
“He waited for the train to arrive and then got on himself and was in the process of trying to pull the pony on after him when the conductor stopped him.
“Staff couldn’t believe it – most people thought it was a wind-up.”
The man is believed to have left the station – with the pony in tow – after a brief argument.
An Arriva Trains Wales spokeswoman said the firm had been made aware of the incident.
“Obviously passengers are not allowed to take livestock on to the train,” she added.
“We do allow small animals, such as dogs and guide dogs, onboard but not large animals that could pose a risk to the general public.
“The man was refused a ticket and was not allowed to board the train. He then left the station, so there is no need for any further investigation.”

Original article:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/wrexham/2011/05/18/arriva-staff-stop-man-taking-pony-on-train-at-wrexham-general-station-91466-28712745/

Idiot #3

This weeks idiots are the 13,013,123 UK voters that fell for this!