Society's ChildS


Fire

NYC protester tries to strangle cop with a chain, armed demonstrators gather outside electoral stations in Arizona and Las Vegas

Rachel Sharp
Daily Mail
Fri, 06 Nov 2020 08:24 UTC
A series of 'violent arrests' were carried out in Manhattan on Thursday as protestors took to Greenwich Village to voice their disdain for President Donald Trump and New York City police.

A series of videos from the protests in the Big Apple during the 'We Choose Freedom' rally show irate New Yorkers as Americans across the country take to the streets to demand either to count every vote or to stop counting.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told DailyMail.com that 10 people were arrested during demonstrations in lower Manhattan on Thursday. Local reports indicate that the rally was a part of the weekly Stonewall March demonstrations.

Comment: For many more photos of protests and demonstrations across the US, see the original article here.

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Marijuana

Drug war blow: Four states legalize cannabis as DC loosens magic mushroom ban & Oregon is first to decriminalize ALL narcotics


RT
Thu, 05 Nov 2020 08:31 UTC
magic mushrooms marijuana
© Reuters / Drug Enforcement Administration handout; Reuters / Amir Cohen
US voters took aim at drug prohibition, approving the use of medical or recreational cannabis across several states, as Oregon moved to slash possession penalties even for hard drugs - including cocaine and heroin.

As the presidential race and key contests in the House and Senate played out on Tuesday night, a series of ballot initiatives seeking to chip away at America's war on drugs were also given the green light, seeing punishments relaxed for a variety of offenses, most of them linked to cannabis.

Big wins for cannabis reform

Joining dozens of other states to either fully legalize or reduce criminal penalties for the possession and cultivation of marijuana - which remains illegal at a national level - Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota each passed measures liberalizing their cannabis laws.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Can we all now agree that political polling in America is a fraud that exists to help the media gaslight the citizenry?

Doc Holliday
Not the Bee
Wed, 04 Nov 2020 18:31 UTC
jonathan swan tweet
The election ain't over quite yet ... but one thing certainly is: political polling in America. Donezo. Finished. History.

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X

The Purge goes into high gear: Youtube censors Bannon mid-livestream - Twitter simultaneously suspends Bannon account

Mark Bergen and Kurt Wagner
MSN
Fri, 06 Nov 2020 03:47 UTC
steve bannon
© Mark Kauzlarich/BloombergSteve Bannon
Twitter Inc. permanently suspended an account of Steve Bannon, while Google's YouTube removed one of his videos after the former White House strategist on Thursday advocated violence against U.S. officials.

Bannon, in an episode of his online show "War Room Pandemic," had earlier called for the heads of Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to be mounted on pikes at the White House.

Comment: Bannon was clearly joking about 'heads rolling', whereas Democratic fanatics pull stunts using mock-ups of Trump's severed head yet they're untouched. See also:

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Hammer

The Purge: Facebook bans #StopTheSteal as 350,000 Trump voters join group


Newsmax
Thu, 05 Nov 2020 20:58 UTC
facebook magnifying glass
© Dreamstime
Facebook on Thursday banned a large group called "Stop the Steal" that supporters of President Donald Trump were using to organize protests against the presidential vote count. Some members had called for violence, while many asserted that Democrats are "stealing" the election from Republicans.

Though the group amassed more than 350,000 members before Facebook took it down, it was just one of several smaller groups that popped up as vote counting extended for days in several battleground states. Inside the groups, members and organizers tried to ensure they would get around Facebook's moderators and "trolls" who might report or mock them.

"In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group 'Stop the Steal,' which was creating real-world events," Facebook said in a statement. "The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group."

Comment: More from RT:
Stop 'Stop the Steal'? Facebook repeatedly boots pro-Trump election integrity group for real-world organizing amid 'tension'
5 Nov, 2020 21:47

Facebook has repeatedly deplatformed pro-Trump anti-voter-fraud group Stop the Steal, citing an "exceptional" post-election "period of heightened tension" and the group's creation of "real-world events" in its unusual decision.

"In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group 'Stop the Steal,' which was creating real-world events," a Thursday statement from Facebook regarding the deletion stated.

"The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group," Facebook told the Daily Beast. With the group deleted, it is no longer possible to retrieve content its members posted, including any potential "calls for violence."


Stop the Steal existed as a group on Facebook for less than 24 hours, reportedly racking up over 360,000 members before it got the boot. The group was recreated - and re-deleted - at least once more. While Facebook has a policy against inciting violence, which it has deployed to cleanse the platform of QAnon and other "fringe" groups, "creating real-world events" is one of the purposes of Facebook groups, and the platform's explanation did not elaborate further.

As a hashtag, #StoptheSteal has been used by Trump supporters to decry alleged incidents of voter fraud in multiple battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. The president's campaign has taken legal action in those five states to either halt the ballot count or attempt a recount, frequently citing Republican complaints about not being permitted to observe the count.

The phrase has also been claimed by a coalition of Trump-supporting internet personalities who are organizing real-world rallies under the name. Conservative pundit Mike Cernovich, former Naval intelligence officer Jack Posobiec, "Walk Away" ex-Democrat organizer Brandon Straka, and the advocacy group Women for Trump - among others - have staged demonstrations outside polling places in those same battleground states, supposedly to "bring accountability and oversight" to an election whose tabulation has drawn on for nearly three days with no clear winner in sight and reported anomalies.

A handful of Republican politicians, including Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar and Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, as well as the president's own sons have lent their support to the effort on social media, with both Eric and Donald Jr. tweeting out the hashtag in the days following the election. Some of the tweets were hidden behind Twitter's "disputed" election warning.


Rumors of election fraud have been picked up from the Trump campaign, from 10,000 votes in Nevada allegedly coming from "voters" no longer living in the state, to Trump ballots being outright thrown away. The conservative muckraking group Project Veritas interviewed a self-identified Postal Service whistleblower who claimed officials in Michigan were illegally backdating ballots postmarked after Election Day to make them eligible to be counted - a claim that quickly went viral. At the same time, Twitter and Facebook have scrambled to keep a lid on any claim that cast doubt on the integrity of the presidential election.



However, others have insisted the post-election censorship does not go far enough. Online peer-pressure group Sleeping Giants complained that Facebook's inclusion of Breitbart on its "News" tab had increased the conservative site's popularity during the critical months of election season, questioning the platform's commitment to "dealing with disinformation" even while helping it remove later iterations of "Stop the Steal."

See also:

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Fire

Protesters set fires & clash with NYC cops after hundreds turn out for 'Count Every Vote' march in Manhattan, conflict in Portland & tensions in Arizona


RT
Thu, 05 Nov 2020 03:59 UTC
A fire is extinguished
© New York Police DepartmentA fire is extinguished during heated protests in Manhattan, New York City, November 4, 2020.
A number of demonstrators were arrested amid a post-Election Day protest march through Manhattan that drew hundreds of participants, seeing some activists light fires and clash with a heavy police presence in the area.

A sizable 'Count Every Vote' rally that began in Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon continued into the evening, drawing around 400 or 500 marchers, a local protest group estimated.

Though the earlier action appears to have gone off without incident, with a large crowd allowed to march through the streets hoisting banners and signs, the demonstration took on a more tense atmosphere as day turned to night. Protesters who gathered at Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan were met by "hundreds of cops" and a "constellation of police helicopters," according to the Gothamist's Jake Offenhartz, who documented the event on the ground.


Comment: And it wasn't only New York. The National Guard was called to quell widespread violence and vandalism in Portland:
Portland law enforcement officials announced the Guard deployment late on Wednesday evening, after a protest rally grew unruly in the city's downtown area. The move comes after Governor Kate Brown passed an executive order placing Portland's public safety under a "Unified Command," jointly overseen by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, the Oregon State Police and the state's National Guard.

"The Unified Command declared a riot in downtown Portland as one of two groups marching tonight started breaking windows and committing other crimes. The sound truck has given a warning that rioters are subject to arrest and use of teargas," Oregon State Police spokesman Captain Tim Fox said in a video statement.
Due to the widespread violence occurring, Governor Kate Brown, under the advice of the Unified Command, has activated the use of the Oregon national guard to assist law enforcement in the interest of public safety.

Fox did not specify when the Guard unit would arrive in the city, however Brown's order, issued on Monday, required troops to remain on standby in the event of post-election turmoil.

Footage circulating online showed protesters squaring off with police clad in riot gear and military-style uniforms, some making arrests. In one clip, a swarm of officers is seen closing in on a small group of demonstrators at a street corner.


[...]
Ballot counting was accompanied by wary protesters in Maricopa County, Arizona:
Police are facing off with protesters that have gathered outside the elections department in Maricopa County, Arizona, as the country waits for the state to finish counting ballots. Joe Biden holds a narrow lead there.

Video shows sheriff's deputies in tactical gear guarding the building housing the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC), which is currently tabulating the remaining uncounted ballots in the close presidential contest. Outside, more than 100 pro-Trump demonstrators were seen waving flags, signs and shouting slogans.


Media reports emerged that the office would shut its doors to the public and media due to safety concerns stemming from the demonstrators. However, a spokesperson for the elections department has said that counting will continue and that they will release new results shortly.




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Pirates

Fifteen arrested after Vienna attacks are part of local Islamist 'scene', Austria says


OAN
Thu, 05 Nov 2020 22:08 UTC
Police Vienna
© Matthias Schrader / AP
All 15 people arrested in connection with a deadly rampage in Vienna on Monday are part of the radical Islamist scene and just under half have criminal convictions, some for terrorism offences, Interior Ministry officials said on Thursday.

A 20-year-old native of the city, who had previously been jailed for trying to join Islamic State in Syria, was shot dead by police within nine minutes of opening fire on bystanders and bars on Monday. He killed four people.

"We are dealing with a violent perpetrator who was evidently intensely involved in the network of political Islam, of sympathisers, who took on their ideology," Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said.

The 15 are being held on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organisation. Seven of them have criminal convictions, Of those, four are for terrorism-related offences, Director General for Public Security Franz Ruf said.

Of those four, two involved acts of violence like assault and two were for attempted so-called honour killings, Ruf said, adding: "One can see that all are to be linked to the radical Islamist milieu".

Comment: See also: Over in France, Macron has pledged additional French border police amid the 'growing terrorism threat':
"We have foiled 32 plans for attacks on our soil" over three years, Macron said during a visit to the Pyrenees-Orientales area on France's border with Spain on Thursday.

The French president also called for an overhaul of the Schengen Area, the zone guaranteeing freedom of movement between ​​26 European countries, saying: "I am in favor of an in-depth re-foundation of Schengen to re-think its organization and beef up our common border security."

He said the increased controls would target illegal immigration, adding that he would put forward the first proposals on the project to the European Council in December.


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Stock Up

Election forecaster Nate Silver on Fox News, AP calling Arizona for Biden: 'Should be retracted now'

Ryan Saavedra
The Daily Wire
Wed, 04 Nov 2020 21:42 UTC
trump rally
© MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
FiveThirtyEight election forecaster Nate Silver called on Fox News and The Associated Press to retract their early projections that Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden would win the state of Arizona, saying that the race is getting very tight.

The remark from Silver comes after more votes were counted in Maricopa County which caused Biden's lead over Trump to shrink.

Silver wrote, "I don't know, I guess I'd say that Biden will win Arizona if you forced me to pick, but I sure as heck don't think the state should have been called by anyone, and I think the calls that were previously made should be retracted now."


MSNBC election forecaster Steve Kornacki updated Arizona's election numbers after the latest batch of ballots was tallied up.

"What you just saw was the vote total in Maricopa County, Arizona, just updated," Kornacki said. "To explain what's going on here. Maricopa County is about two-thirds of Arizona in terms of population. So, this is the motherload when you're talking about votes in Arizona."

"We have basically the third batch of votes, the third and final batch of votes that they're going to work through ... we called these the 'late early votes,'" he said. "They were mail ballots, absentee ballots, that came in sort of after this past weekend or were brought in on election day."

"And the suspense has been would this be a Trump favorable group or would it be a Biden favorable group? And so we just got those new numbers, of the new votes that were just reported out, Donald Trump won 43,966 of them, Joe Biden won 30,322 of them," he continued. "Donald Trump is getting around 59% of these votes."

Comment: Fox hasn't been doing itself any favors:


Even CNN had to acknowledge this:


See also:

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Music

Grammy awards virtue signal by renaming world music category to avoid 'connotations of colonialism'

Ben Beaumont-Thomas
The Guardian
Thu, 05 Nov 2020 21:20 UTC
Angélique Kidjo
© Monica Almeida/ReutersAngélique Kidjo with what was then called the best world music album award, at the 2020 Grammys.
The Grammys are changing the name of their "best world music" album category to "best global music" album, to avoid "connotations of colonialism".

In a statement, the Recording Academy said the change came "as we continue to embrace a truly global mindset ... Over the summer we held discussions with artists, ethnomusicologists, and linguists from around the world who determined that there was an opportunity to update the best world music album category toward a more relevant, modern, and inclusive term ... The change symbolises a departure from the connotations of colonialism, folk, and 'non-American' that the former term embodied while adapting to current listening trends and cultural evolution among the diverse communities it may represent."

The term "world music" was originally coined in the UK in 1987 to help market music from non-western artists. The Grammys created the best world music album category in 1992, with winners since including Ravi Shankar, Gilberto Gil and three-time recipient Angélique Kidjo.

The term has fallen out of favour more widely in recent years. The Guardian stopped using it in July 2019, tagging articles about music from non-western countries instead with a more inclusive genre descriptor such as "pop and rock" or "electronic music".

Our world music album of the month column was, like the Grammys, renamed global album of the month. Guardian music critic Ammar Kalia reasoned that the change "does not answer the valid complaints of the artists and record label founders who have been plagued by catch-all terms. Yet, in the glorious tyranny of endless internet-fuelled musical choice, marginalised music still needs championing and signposting in the west."

Comment: Replacing world with global. Wow, what a dramatic, profound, and deeply affecting change that will impact several, perhaps even half a dozen, people.

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Dollars

Hefty fines for Twitter, Facebook & Google? Russian social media users ask state to punish US websites that censor Russian news

Jonny Tickle
RT
Thu, 05 Nov 2020 21:11 UTC
Twitter, Facebook
© REUTERS / Jon NazcaFILE PHOTO.
A group of Russian social media professionals have asked the Ministry of Communications to fine foreign companies who censor Russian media, after it was revealed that US tech giants have restricted around 20 Russian outlets.

In an open letter, the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers (APPSIM) proposed a fine of 10 million rubles ($130,000) for the offending parties, with their sights set on American firms, such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

The notice cites data from Russia's federal censor, Roskomnadzor, which claims that the trio have blocked access to material from about 20 Russian media outlets, including RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik, and Rossiya-1.

As things stand, the maximum fine companies face for censorship is 10,000 rubles ($128). However, despite the fines, the Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) currently doesn't have the ability to collect the money. According to Vladimir Zykov, director of APPSIM, the money should be taken from their Russia-based partners.
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