Strories that ignore the meme

GetReligion points out that two Chinese workers killed by terrorists in Pakistan might have been Christians. They link to the sponsoring church organization's webpage.

and the article includes this factoid:

Pakistan is expending huge amounts of energy guarding some 14,000 Chinese workers in the country. 

There was a conference here awhile back teaching OFW's on how to present Christianity to their fellow workers in the Middle East.... so that is not the only group doing this work. and many are also preaching to their fellow overeas workers.

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The rich elites either laugh at poor rural whites overdosing on opioids, or blame the doctors (ignore that the fentanyl comes from Mexico, with help from Chinese chemicals).

But what about the opioid crisis in Native Americans?

more at the IHS webpage.

IHS data indicate that the rate of drug-related deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives increased from five per 100,000 population (adjusted) in 1989-1991 to 22.7 per 100,000 in 2007-2009. The rate among American Indian and Alaska Native people is almost twice that of the general population;

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AustinBay: Starvation as a weapon of war.

most famine today is caused by war. Most of it is in refugees fleeing the war, the disruption of crops and lack of transportation systems. But some is deliberate.

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London apartment fire: In our prayers.

Geoff Wilkinson, a fire and building inspector, told the BBC that the Grenfell Tower block "didn't perform in the way you'd expect a building to perform" once it caught fire as "you'd expect it to be contained to an individual apartment". "Something has gone dramatically wrong here," he said.

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the afternoon "congressional hearings" soap opera here were discussing the Casino shooter. Alas, my Tagalog is not good enough to follow the arguments. The real question: Where were the security guards? Were the casino floor's exits locked? Was there a sprinkler system? were people failing to flee because they thought it was a terrorist attack, so they stayed put?

Developing...

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when you read stuff about Qatar, just remember that 88 percent of those living there are from other countries.

this SP article is mainly about Russia, but it includes this fact:

Qatar is also seen as siding with Iran in the current struggle between Shia Iran and the Sunni Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia. This sort of behavior is not uncommon in the region and the small Arab Gulf states like Qatar, Kuwait and the member states of the UAE have survived for centuries using these methods. One could say Qatar has been too successful and the current unpleasantness is the price of that success. As is the local custom secret meetings will be held, demands discussed and agreements made. How long this takes will depend on how long Qatar can last without its usual providers of all the food and just about everything else. The expulsion cut off half of that immediately and a naval blockade would be disastrous. About 40 percent of imports came via Saudi Arabia

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