Society's ChildS


Yoda

How to go after the Big Science Cartel and actually win

J Scott Turner
RealClearScience
Thu, 18 Aug 2022 17:50 UTC
Rand Paul
© Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times/APUS Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky)
On 29 July 2022, three Republican US Senators (Rand Paul, KY; Ted Cruz, TX; Richard Burr, NC) asked the Director of the National Science Foundation to provide information on a variety of concerns, ranging from how decisions on funding research grants are made, to how the NSF handles political conflicts of interest among the scientists it supports.

Good for them. Since its founding in 1950, the NSF has drifted far from its original mission and vision: to support basic research in universities. Among the aims was to insulate the process of scientific discovery from meddlesome politicians. No more: the NSF has harnessed itself to blatantly political aims, from the dubious "greening" of our society and nation, to the toxic agenda of "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion". The Senators are right to lift the lid on these shenanigans. They are wasting taxpayers' money.

That said, the Senators are barking up the wrong tree. The NSF, as ripe a target as it might seem, is comparatively a small part of a bigger problem of corruption of science. Here is my humble advice to the Senators about what to target.
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Cow Skull

More human skeletal remains found at Lake Mead as water levels continue to recede

Stephen Sorace
Fox News
Wed, 17 Aug 2022 16:31 UTC
human remains lake mead
© Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty ImagesA rusted metal barrel, near the location of where a different barrel was found containing a human body, sits exposed on shore during low water levels due to the western drought at the Lake Mead Marina on the Colorado River in Boulder City, Nevada, on May 5, 2022.
Fifth set of human skeletal remains found as drought conditions continue

Another set of human skeletal remains was discovered at drought-stricken Lake Mead on Monday - the fifth set of remains recovered since May and the third to be found at the lake's Swim Beach area.

National Park Service (NPS) rangers set up a perimeter in the Swim Beach area of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada to recover the remains after responding around 8 p.m. to a report of the grim finding, the NPS said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's dive team assisted in the recovery. Officials said that the Clark County Medical Examiner has also been contacted.
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No Entry

Meta steps up information control ahead of US elections


RT
Tue, 16 Aug 2022 23:13 UTC
meta sign
© AFP / Justin Sullivan
Facebook's parent company is imposing strict controls on information related to the upcoming midterm elections.

Social media behemoth Meta is beefing up its information-control tactics as the US heads into the 2022 midterm elections, tightening rules on voting misinformation and advertising. The changes were announced in a blog post on Tuesday.

The company will ban new political, social and electoral issue ads during the last week before the election, ensuring no "October surprises" - factual or otherwise - will disturb the information ecosystem. Editing existing ads will also be forbidden, and ads encouraging people not to vote or questioning the legitimacy of the results will not be permitted.

Comment: More from The Washington Times:
Meta President Nick Clegg wrote that the social media titan has hundreds of people spread across 40 teams focused on the U.S. midterms. Mr. Clegg is a former U.K. deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats who handles Meta's interactions with governments around the world.

"Our teams fight both foreign interference and domestic influence operations, and have exposed and disrupted dozens of networks that have attempted to interfere with U.S. elections," Mr. Clegg wrote on Meta's blog. "We've banned more than 270 white supremacist organizations, and removed 2.5 million pieces of content tied to organized hate globally in the first quarter of 2022."
...
"Our rationale for this restriction period remains the same as 2020: in the final days of an election, we recognize there may not be enough time to contest new claims made in ads," Mr. Clegg wrote. "This restriction period will lift the day after the election and we have no plans to extend it."


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Cloud Grey

Tomato shortage emerges in drought-stricken Californian as ketchup prices soar

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Thu, 18 Aug 2022 01:20 UTC
california drought map
Days ago, we said the next food insecurity problem that may impact Americans' eating habits could be an emerging potato shortage. Now there appears to be another issue: Tomatoes are getting squeezed, and risks of a ketchup shortage rise as a severe drought batter California's farmland.

California accounts for a quarter of the world's tomato output. The worst drought in 1,200 years has forced farmers to abandon fields as crops turn to dust amid a water crisis.

Comment: This is only the beginning of the shortages we're about to see around the world. While asking Americans to go without ketchup is like asking other humans to go without water, wait until true essentials start running out.

See also:

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NPC

UCLA creates database to 'track attacks on critical race theory'

Carol Cassis
The Epoch Times
Tue, 16 Aug 2022 00:01 UTC
latinos against crt
© John Fredricks/The Epoch TimesA woman holds a sign against critical race theory in Los Alamitos, Calif., on May 11, 2021.
Faculty at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law have created a database to identify and record efforts to block critical race theory (CRT) being taught in schools across the country.

The database, called the CRT Forward Tracking Project, allows users to "track attacks on critical race theory" and filter the information as part of an effort to "support anti-racist education, training and research," according to the school.

The project was created by UCLA's Critical Race Studies Program, founded in 2000 as the first law school program in the nation dedicated to critical race theory.

Comment: This sounds a lot like a tool for activists to know where to target their attacks. What reason would their be to catalogue places where CRT is being rejected than to mobilize people to fight back?

See also:

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Stop

Ukraine issues new ban on Russian language


RT
Tue, 16 Aug 2022 07:44 UTC
Teacher and students in a classroom
© Pierre Crom / Getty Images
Kiev has removed a range of courses from the national school curriculum.

Russian language and literature courses will no longer be taught in Ukraine, according to an updated curriculum posted by the Ministry of Education on its website on Tuesday.

Among the courses excluded were 'Russian and Foreign Literature', 'Russian language for general educational institutions with instruction in Russian' for grades 5-9, and instruction in Ukrainian or Russian for grades 10-11.

While nearly all Russian and Belarusian books will be dropped from the school program, the ministry notes that it will allow some works by authors who wrote in Russian but whose "life and work were closely connected with Ukraine," such as Nikolay Gogol and Mikhail Bulgakov.

According to the updated curriculum, foreign literature courses in Ukrainian schools will now focus on works by writers such as Jean de La Fontaine, O. Henry, Anna Gavalda, and Joseph Roth.

Comment: See also:

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Fire

Fire at London Bridge forces closure of railway tracks


BBC
Wed, 17 Aug 2022 23:06 UTC
london fire 2022
© Network Rail Kent & SussexLondon Fire Brigade has asked residents to keep doors and windows shut due to the heavy smoke
Train services have been disrupted and several buildings were evacuated after a fire broke out near London Bridge.

More than 70 firefighters tackled the blaze in a railway arch on Union Street, Southwark.

London Fire Brigade said a garage in the arch which contained vehicles had been destroyed along with another unit.

Four rail lines and the Jubilee line were closed for safety reasons. Network Rail said they have all reopened but warned train delays would continue.

Comment: In June 2021 there was a huge explosion & fire underneath London's Elephant and Castle tube station.

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Putin

Putin advises on tackling alcoholism in Russia - prohibition is not the way


RT
Wed, 17 Aug 2022 19:17 UTC
Vladimir Putin
© Pável ByrkinVladímir Putin, President of Russia
Hard or soft prohibition is not the way to help people with a drink problem kick the habit, the Russian president says

The government should promote healthy alternatives to excessive alcohol consumption rather than adopting restrictive policies, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"You cannot prohibit it or impose excessively high excise duties to ramp up the prices," the Russian leader said during video meeting with a Russian governor on Wednesday, adding that ignoring the problem and saying "people drink and they always will" is also the wrong approach.

There are "simple things" that can be done to deal with the issue effectively, Putin suggested, including promoting better lifestyles and offering healthier alternative ways for people to spend their free time.

Comment: Breaking against stereotype, Russians under Putin are drinking less and living healthier lives

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Blackbox

Former Moscow nightclub king found dead in US


RT
Wed, 17 Aug 2022 18:09 UTC
millionaire dan rappaport dead
© FacebookDan Rapoport, millionaire founder of Moscow's SOHO Club was found dead in Washington, DC
Wife of millionaire Dan Rapoport confirms the death of the financier who founded the prestigious SOHO Rooms nightclub

Latvian-born millionaire Dan Rapoport, known for founding Moscow's exclusive SOHO Rooms nightclub, has been found dead in Washington DC, his wife Alena confirmed on Wednesday.

While she did not provide any details of his death, she denied earlier reports that the 52-year-old businessman had committed suicide.

On Tuesday, journalist Yuniya Pugacheva announced on her Telegram channel that Rapoport had killed himself, but not before apparently letting his dog out into a park along with some money and a suicide note attached. The journalist also claimed she had seen Rapoport in a London bar in May surrounded by young women and suggested that his wife had left him.
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Star of David

After initially blaming Palestinians, Israel admits to airstrike that killed 5 children in Gaza

Yumna Patel
Mondoweiss
Wed, 17 Aug 2022 00:00 UTC
dead children
© Middle East EyeGaza children killed August 7, 2022
The Israeli army has admitted to conducting the airstrike that killed five Palestinian children in the northern Gaza Strip earlier this month, after initially blaming their deaths on a misfire from a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket.

The airstrike occurred on August 7th, the last day of a three-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, dubbed by the Israeli military as "Operation Breaking Dawn."

The strike targeted the al-Faluja cemetery in the town of Jabalia, and struck five children while they were visiting the grave of their grandfather. The youngest victim of the strike was just three-years-old.

Nathmi Karsh, 15, Hamed Nejm, 16, Mohammad Nejm, 16, Jamil Ihab Nejm, 13, and Jamil Najim al-Din Nejm, 3, were all killed in the strike. The Nejm boys were all cousins, and Nathmi Karsh was their close family friend and neighbor.

Comment: See also:

Israel blames Gaza rocket misfire for child deaths

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