Society's ChildS


Explosion

Hezbollah escalates attacks on enemy border sites in response to Israeli aggression on South Lebanon

hezbollah
In support of the Palestinian people and resistance in Gaza and in light of the Israeli aggression on the various South Lebanon villages, the Islamic Resistance continued striking the Zionist occupation sites near Lebanon border.

Hezbollah military media issued consecutive statements to illustrate the attacks and their outcomes.

The first statement mentioned that the Islamic Resistance targeted the espionage equipment at Doviv Barracks with appropriate weapons at 11:15 AM on Friday, February 9, 2024, causing direct damage.

Comment: See also:


Camera

New Jeffrey Epstein autopsy photo proves he didn't kill himself - brother

Jeffrey Epstein
© Stephanie Keith / AFPUS Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffery Epstein on July 8, 2019 in New York City.
The brother of Jeffrey Epstein has revealed a previously unreported autopsy photo, arguing that it proves the convicted child-sex trafficker couldn't have committed suicide in his jail cell.

Mark Epstein discussed the photo and other evidence in an interview on Friday with US podcast host Megan Kelly. The graphic picture shows a large red scar across the middle of the deceased pedophile's neck, which his brother said was inconsistent with reports by authorities that he hung himself in his New York City jail cell.

If Jeffrey Epstein had been found hanging from the upper bunk, as reported, ligature marks should have gone up under his chin and behind his ears, his brother said. "From that picture, the ligature mark on his neck is more in the middle of his neck and sort of goes straight back," he said. "In a hanging, it goes really high up in the front of the neck because you sink down into that noose."

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead inside his cell at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2019, while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide by the city's chief medical examiner. A doctor hired by Epstein's family who was present for the autopsy claimed that some of the evidence, including multiple neck fractures, suggested that he was murdered.

Comment: Not that there was ever any doubt about what happened to Epstein. But additional confirmation never hurts. Especially when the government lies so blatantly about what happened. See also:


Gavel

Amazon sued for pitching pricier products - Reuters

Amazon package
© Getty Images / nito100
Online retail giant Amazon has been sued in a proposed US class action for allegedly violating consumer protection laws, Reuters reported on Friday.

According to the report citing a complaint filed in a federal court in Seattle, Amazon was illegally steering customers to more expensive products by using an algorithm which determines what to display in the retailer's 'Buy Box' when buyers searched for products. The suit claims that the algorithm often picked higher-priced items to display to customers instead of cheaper ones.

The complaint also stated that buyers were likely to heed Amazon's suggestions 98% of the time, trusting the retailer to offer the best deals. According to documents cited by the news outlet, however, the algorithm was created specifically to benefit the retail giant by suggesting sellers that are part of its 'Fulfillment By Amazon' program and pay the marketplace extra fees for its services.

"While ostensibly identifying the selection that consumers would make if they considered all the available offers, Amazon's Buy Box algorithm deceptively favors Amazon's own profits over consumer well-being," the lawsuit stated. The practice allegedly violates a Washington state law against deceptive trade practices.

Amazon has so far declined to comment on the case, the latest in a slew of private and government actions regarding the retailer's business practices. Two separate class actions that also focused on violations against consumers claimed that Amazon charged buyers for returned purchases and failed to meet delivery times.

Comment: Amazon is never without controversy:


Attention

'Enshittification' is coming for absolutely everything

computer skeletons
© Saratta Chuengsatiansup
Last year, I coined the term "enshittification" to describe the way that platforms decay. That obscene little word did big numbers; it really hit the zeitgeist.

The American Dialect Society made it its Word of the Year for 2023 (which, I suppose, means that now I'm definitely getting a poop emoji on my tombstone).

So what's enshittification and why did it catch fire? It's my theory explaining how the internet was colonised by platforms, why all those platforms are degrading so quickly and thoroughly, why it matters and what we can do about it. We're all living through a great enshittening, in which the services that matter to us, that we rely on, are turning into giant piles of shit. It's frustrating. It's demoralising. It's even terrifying.

I think that the enshittification framework goes a long way to explaining it, moving us out of the mysterious realm of the "great forces of history", and into the material world of specific decisions made by real people; decisions we can reverse and people whose names and pitchfork sizes we can learn.

Propaganda

"In the war of propaganda, it is very difficult to defeat the United States"

putin
One under-appreciated moment from Tucker Carlson's recent interview with Vladimir Putin came after Putin implied that NATO powers were behind the 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline. Carlson responded by asking why Putin wouldn't present evidence of this to the world, so as to "win a propaganda victory."

"In the war of propaganda it is very difficult to defeat the United States because the United States controls all the world's media and many European media," Putin replied, adding, "The ultimate beneficiary of the biggest European media are American financial institutions."

I don't know about the specific nature of his Nord Stream insinuations, but Putin is definitely correct about the strength of the American propaganda machine. Of all the fronts one could possibly choose to challenge the United States on, propaganda is surely the least favorable. The US empire has by far the most sophisticated and effective propaganda machine ever to have existed, operating with such complexity that most people don't even know it exists.

Megaphone

'War criminal': Protesters disrupt Hillary Clinton speech

Hillary Clinton
© AFP / Mandel NganHillary Clinton attends her portrait unveiling at the US Department of State in Washington DC, September 26, 2023
Pro-Palestine demonstrators heckled Hillary Clinton at a lecture on Friday, calling the former US secretary of state a "war criminal" and telling her that she "will burn" for her actions in the Middle East.

Clinton was interrupted as she took the stage to deliver a lecture on conflict-related sexual violence at Columbia University in New York, where she is a professor of international and public affairs.

"Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, you are a war criminal!" one man shouted. "The people of Libya, the people of Iraq, the people of Syria, the people of Yemen, the people of Palestine as well as the people of America will never forgive you," the protester continued, shouting "you will burn" as he was escorted from the theater.

The former presidential candidate began her speech, but was interrupted and shouted down by a second protester.


Comment: She deserves to be sent packing on her broomstick back to whatever hell she crawled out of for what she's done and continues to do.


Stop

Time to stop Ukraine 'meat grinder' - Musk

Elon Musk
© Andreas SOLARO / AFPX (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk speaks during the Atreju political meeting organized by the young militants of Italian right wing party Brothers of Italy on December 16, 2023 in Rome.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has taken a swipe at US President Joe Biden, after the American leader criticized Congress for failing to approve more funding for Kiev. The billionaire said the conflict between Ukraine and Russia should already have ended.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, Musk weighed in on Biden's comments during his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier in the day. The president had suggested that the failure of the US Congress to continue to support Ukraine would be "outrageous" and would border on "criminal neglect."

The US has for months struggled to approve new funding for Kiev due to opposition among Republicans, who have demanded more money for security on America's southern border. While Biden recently endorsed a $118 billion bill, $60 billion of which was earmarked for Ukraine, many GOP members have opposed it, saying it does not do enough to address the border crisis.

Responding to Biden's criticism of Congress over Ukraine, Musk stated "it is time to stop the meat grinder," adding that this "should have been done a year ago."

Earlier this week, the US-based billionaire also argued it is "insane" to send "so much money to Ukraine with no accountability and no end game."

Comment: He's right.


Card - VISA

NYC launches $53M program to hand out pre-paid credit cards to migrant families

migrants NYC
© Helayne SeidmanRow NYC hotel on 8th Ave. and W. 45th St.
The pilot program will give migrants preloaded credit cards to cover food.
Mayor Eric Adams' administration will soon start handing out pre-paid credit cards to migrant families being put up in Big Apple hotels, The Post has learned.

The $53 million pilot program, run by the New Jersey company Mobility Capital Finance, will provide asylum seekers arriving at the Roosevelt Hotel with the city cash to help them buy food, according to city records.

It'll start with a group of 500 migrant families in short-term hotel stays and will replace the current food service offered there, according to City Hall.

Brick Wall

Polish farmers announce strike against "Green New Deal". The WEF wants to impose synthetic GMO laboratory foods

farmers
© UnknownPoland's farmers gather crops
It's going to be a very big push and will complement other protests taking place throughout Europe.

Poland has the largest number of family farms in Europe - over one million. These farms are a vital resource not just for national food production but also for the maintenance of Poland's unique biodiversity. Particular to this Polish farmer's effort will be a central attack on 'Green New Deal' (see below) which is of course a critically important issue vis-a-vis ensuring the future of all farmers/farming.

Green New Deal links directly into the Agenda 2030 'Sustainability' program whereby the WEF proposes to 100% disenfranchise farmers and substitute synthetic GMO laboratory foods for real food grown in real soil.

[The Following is] a part of the announcement of the NSZZ of Individual Farmers "Solidarity" on the General Strike (from February 9 to March 10, 2024):
"...Our patience has been exhausted. The position of Brussels at the end of January 2024 is unacceptable to the entire agricultural community. In addition, the lack of response from the Polish authorities and declarations of cooperation with the European Commission, along with announcements to respect all decisions on the import of agricultural and food products from Ukraine, leave us no choice but to declare a general strike...We cannot accept the implementation of the "European Green Deal", the European Union's farm-to-table strategy and the proposed form of the Common Agricultural Policy.

The Polish government must present a clear plan for agricultural production, its profitability, the reconstruction of domestic processing and trade. We will fight for this until it happens. Polish farm families are the foundation of our country's food security....

We ask compatriots to be understanding and aware of the situation in which we all find ourselves. We are fighting for our common good, which is to save Polish family-owned, often multi-generational farms from collapse and bankruptcy...."

Tsunami

'Germany is in trouble': Highest corporate bankruptcy in Europe, inflation, energy costs, threatens more sectors - Bloomberg

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
© STEFANIE LOOS / AFPFILE: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reads during a break of the weekly meeting of the German cabinet at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany on February 7, 2024.
Credit investors are betting that Germany's difficulties are more than just a temporary blip. Economic stagnation, real estate troubles and the highest corporate bankruptcy rate in Europe have led bondholders to demand higher corporate spreads from German firms than for the broader eurozone, Bloomberg reports.

Bad news keeps piling up: after Germany's economy contracted in the last quarter of last year, bleak early outlooks for 2024 signal a host of problems ahead, according to Bloomberg. "Germany is really in trouble," said Brian Mangwiro, fund manager at Barings. "All major manufacturing economies are slowing down, but in Germany, this is exacerbated by higher electricity costs. There are also issues in the automotive sector with competition from China."

Comment: Investors rarely care who's in power so long as they'll make money, and so they're concerned because all the signs, including the policy decisions by the ruling party - which is suffering a 14% approval rating - point to conditions whereby investing in Germany is simply no longer profitable for them; as is the case with economies across the West: The London stock market's decline is starting to look terminal - The Telegraph

Meanwhile in Russia, and China: