Society's ChildS

Bizarro Earth

Watch French riot police knock down elderly woman... during rally for 80 year old who died after being hit in the face by tear gas grenade

gilet jaune
© AFP / Clement MahoudeauPolice officers stand in front of a banner reading "The police mutilates, the police kills" during the march in tribute to Zineb Redouane.
French police have attracted some really bad publicity, after knocking down an elderly lady during a rally in Marseille - an event being held to honor another 80-year-old woman who died after being hit by a police grenade.

Over 1,000 people gathered in the southern city of Marseille on Saturday to remember Zineb Redouane. A resident of the city and of Algerian origins, she died in hospital last December at the age of 80 - a day after she was hit in the face by a tear gas grenade, launched by riot police during a turbulent Yellow Vests rally.

The demonstrators carried a large banner, reading "Tribute to Zineb. Batman kills, let's be Joker!" and chanted "We are all children of Zineb!" They marched past the apartment in Marseille's old city where Redouane used to live.

Comment: The Gilet Jaunes movement has attracted joint protests, and some professions have organized separate protests and strikes which include firefighters, police, farmers, transport workers, teachers unions, public servants, energy unions, and even lawyers.

See also: And check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal #26: Globalization vs Nationalism - The Hidden Causes of The Yellow Vest Protests in France


Attention

Over 10,000 evacuated in Turin, Italy over British bomb dropped during WWII

Turin
© ReutersFILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Northern Italian city of Turin.
A discovery of a 500-pound British WWII bomb prompted an urgent evacuation of thousands of people from the historic center of the Italian northern city of Turin, while tens of thousands more were told to stay put.

All residents living in the 'red zone' around Turin's Nizza Street where the bomb was found were told to leave their homes and evacuate the area between 7am and 4pm (local time). Another 50,000 were asked to either leave their homes in advance or stay inside for the entire period while the bomb was defused.

Both airspace over the city and the nearby Porta Nuova train station were also shut down during the operation.

Comment: Over 70 years after World War II and reports of unexploded bombs are a worryingly regular occurrence, it's probably a miracle that there have been no serious tragedies. Below is just a selection of stories recorded on SOTT:


Broom

Video shows Syrian Army repelling 'suicide drone' attack on military airport

Syria
© FILE PHOTO. Reuters / SANA
Footage posted on social media claims to show how the Syrian Armed Forces disrupted a militant drone attack on an air base in the western Hama province.

Several drones targeted the base in what appears to be an attempt at a bombing raid by militants. Yet, the UAVs reportedly failed to reach their target as the Syrian Army promptly scrambled its air defenses.

The Syrian Army's air defense units successfully repelled the attack, the state SANA news agency reported, citing its correspondent on the ground. There have been no reports of any casualties.

Comment: See also:


Bizarro Earth

Gunmen kill up to 14 in Protestant church attack in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso
© Reuters / Luc GnagoFILE PHOTO: Soldiers from Burkina Faso patrol on the road of Gorgadji in the Sahel area of Burkina Faso.
A Protestant church has been attacked by unidentified gunmen in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, according to media reports citing security sources. Some 14 people are feared dead in the wake of the massacre.

The incident reportedly occurred in the commune of Hantoukoura, located in the east of the country close to its border with Niger, late on Sunday, yet there's no official word on it.

The church was attacked by unknown assailants while a congregation attended a service. The assault left 10 to 14 people dead, according to various media reports.

Comment: See also:


X

Why women are 'marrying' themselves

self marriage
© ABC Life: Samantha TurnbullHolly English (centre) wanted a wedding but didn't have a partner, so she married 'existence'.
Holly English buttons up her white gown, clutches her bouquet and begins her walk down the aisle.

Friends cheer and throw petals as Holly takes her place in front of the celebrant... alone.

But she hasn't been stood up by a groom or bride. Holly is marrying her greatest love: existence.

Comment: This just seems like the next logical step in the evolution of the feminist agenda: Women don't need men and its better to languish in narcissistic singlehood than partner with a man and start a family. The idea that marriage is somehow an outdated institution and free to be redefined at will is part of a destructive ideology of which the dire consequences can already be seen.

See also:


Whistle

When disruptive students are coddled, the whole class suffers

school illustration
© Olivier Ballou
Last month, NBC Nightly News aired a segment on the latest classroom-management technique to sweep America's schools: "room clears". When a child throws a tantrum that could physically endanger his peers, teachers evacuate all of the other students from the classroom until the troublemaker has vented his rage upon empty desks, tables and chairs. The technique was virtually unheard of five years ago. But 56 percent of surveyed teachers and parents in Oregon now report having experienced a room clear in their or their child's classroom over the last year.

Surrendering the classroom to a single student: The average reader might well ask why anyone thinks this would be a good idea. Yet the policies that make this approach inevitable have been applauded by a wide range of authorities, from the Southern Poverty Law Center to the Trump-administration's Department of Education.

Che Guevara

SOTT Focus: Ahead of COP25, Child Climate Goddess Greta Demands 'Complete Dismantling of Colonial, Racist, Patriarchal Systems of Oppression'


Comment: SILENCE, SINNERS. Greta is speaking...


Greta Thunberg
© Roy Rochlin/WireImage
Far-left climate extremist Greta Thunberg unloaded on the world in an op-ed published on Friday, claiming that fossil fuels "are literally" killing mankind, and that they are a threat to "our very existence" as she said that her "climate crisis" agenda is not just about the environment, but about fighting the "colonial, racist, and patriarchal systems of oppression."

In an op-ed published in Project Syndicate, Thunberg and two other far-left climate activists attacked world leaders over their pro-capitalist policies, writing that "the politicians let the profiteers continue to exploit our planet's resources and destroy its ecosystems in a quest for quick cash that threatens our very existence."

Comment: Rumor has it she is prepared to destroy 5 countries at a time - with just the power of her mind - until her demands are met.

Her complete list of demands. Here's an excerpt:
The science is crying out for urgent action, and still our leaders dare to ignore it. So we continue to fight.

After a year of strikes, our voices are being heard. We are being invited to speak in the corridors of power. At the UN, we addressed a room filled with world leaders. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, we met with prime ministers, presidents, and even the pope. We have spent hundreds of hours participating in panels and speaking with journalists and filmmakers. We have been offered awards for our activism.

Our efforts have helped to shift the wider conversation on climate change. People now increasingly discuss the crisis we face, not in whispers or as an afterthought, but publicly and with a sense of urgency. Polls confirm changing perceptions. One recent survey showed that, in seven of the eight countries included, climate breakdown is considered to be the most important issue facing the world. Another confirmed that schoolchildren have led the way in raising awareness.

With public opinion shifting, world leaders, too, say that they have heard us. They say that they agree with our demand for urgent action to tackle the climate crisis. But they do nothing. As they head to Madrid for the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP25) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, we call out this hypocrisy.

On the next two Fridays, we will again take to the streets: worldwide on November 29, and in Madrid, Santiago, and many other places on December 6 during the UN climate conference. Schoolchildren, young people, and adults all over the world will stand together, demanding that our leaders take action - not because we want them to, but because the science demands it.

That action must be powerful and wide-ranging. After all, the climate crisis is not just about the environment. It is a crisis of human rights, of justice, and of political will. Colonial, racist, and patriarchal systems of oppression have created and fueled it. We need to dismantle them all. Our political leaders can no longer shirk their responsibilities.

Some say that the Madrid conference is not very important; the big decisions will be made at COP26 in Glasgow next year. We disagree. As the science makes clear, we don't have a single day to lose.

We have learned that, if we do not step up, nobody will. So we will keep up a steady drumbeat of strikes, protests, and other actions. We will become louder and louder. We will do whatever it takes to persuade our leaders to unite behind science so clear that even children understand it.
Yes indeed, 'science' so clear, only developmentally-impaired children could believe it.

It's highly unlikely that Greta herself wrote that SJW screed.

God help Madrid for the next two weeks.

See also: Greta Thunberg: False Prophet of the Children's Crusade


Doberman

Mass. state police tested out Boston Dynamics' Spot the robot dog - civil liberties groups have concerns

robot dogs police
© Michael Dwyer/APRobots and police departments are no strangers. In this photo, a member of the Cambridge police bomb squad used a robot during a search for the Boston Marathon bombings suspect in 2013.
Cops have long had dogs, and robots, to help them do their jobs. And now, they have a robot dog.

Massachusetts State Police is the first law enforcement agency in the country to use Boston Dynamics' dog-like robot, called Spot. While the use of robotic technology is not new for state police, the temporary acquisition of Spot โ€” a customizable robot some have called "terrifying" โ€” is raising questions from civil rights advocates about how much oversight there should be over police robotics programs.

The state's bomb squad had Spot on loan from the Waltham-based Boston Dynamics for three months starting in August until November, according to records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and reviewed by WBUR.

Comment: Other videos of the Boston Dynamics unit have surfaced, along with videos of prototypes being developed in other labs:






Footprints

Not just talking to ourselves - others find us

Cartoon A Lie
Reasoning will never make a Man correct an ill Opinion, which by Reasoning he never acquired. (Often rephrased as: "You cannot reason people out of something they were not reasoned into").
- Jonathan Swift
This site has attracted a large stable of writers; by and large, most of the time, generally speaking, we agree with each other pretty well. The point of view of most of the writers is counter Establishment. In today's frenzied Russophobia that opens us to the charges of being Putinbots but, in truth, we write against the prevailing WaPo/NYT/Economist/Guardian view on many subjects. The fact that that commentary is now penetrated with demented fears that Putin is shaping minds and getting his stooges elected and so on, means that any denial of that delusion makes them call us Putin apologists. Just as, to take another case, Tulsi Gabbard's condemnation of Washington's addiction to regime change wars makes her an Assad apologist and - insanity seeks out insanity - Putin's favourite candidate. I have never had a word changed in anything I have written, but then what I write fits the editorial model of Strategic Culture Foundation. And so does what I read there.

On the other side of the divide are the writers and readers of the WaPo/NYT/Economist/Guardian established media. They also generally agree with what they read, approve of each other's writing and nod their heads in agreement. They are in their comfort zone.

Two solitudes - two bubbles. An agreeable agreement bubble for each: different bubbles to be sure but the same warm comfortable feeling of reassurance that they're well-informed.

House

Why mayors won't rule the world

top of city blocks
© Scott Szarapka/Unsplash
Earlier in this decade, cities โ€” the bigger and denser the better โ€” appeared as the planet's geographic stars. According to Benjamin Barber, author of the 2013 book If Mayors Ruled the World, everyone would be better off if the ineffective, aging nation-state were replaced by rule from the most evolved urban areas. This, Barber argues, would provide the "building blocks" of global governance run by a "parliament of mayors."

In reality, the validity of the "back to the city" meme was never as pronounced as its boosters believed. And now it seems, if anything, to be reversing โ€” first demographically, then economically โ€” as workers and key industries seek more affordable and congenial environments. Furthermore, many elite urban centers are diverging, sometimes radically, from national norms which produces a political conundrum. As big city politics shift ever further to the left, particularly on climate and "social justice" issues, not only are they becoming toxic to the middle class, they are becoming places many avoid rather than models that invite imitation.

Comment: Cities and suburbs naturally create cyclical ebb and flow patterns that spur development and redevelopment according to the fluctuations of cost, demand and incentives. It seems unlikely that political stance is the prime motivating factor in choosing to live in the city or elsewhere.