Society's ChildS


Fire

Rage sweeps US cities: Riot in Seattle, tear gas in Portland and LA on high Alert

BLM protests
© AP Photo / Ted S. Warren
Protests against racial inequality and police brutality across the US have been under way since the death of African American citizen George Floyd in police custody in May.

Seattle police declared the protest against racial injustice in the city a "riot" on Saturday as people vandalised an eastern police precinct, setting a small fire inside and trying to tear down a fence protecting the building.

Law enforcement tweeted that at least 25 people had been arrested in the riot, and one officer hospitalised "with a leg injury caused by an explosive".


Officers from the Special Response Team of the US Customs and Border Protection were previously deployed to Seattle, under orders from the Trump administration.

The protests were joined by the Wall of Moms group who claimed that they "marched peacefully until SPD and unmarked Federal Contractors tear gassed a bunch of moms, allies, and youth" on Saturday.

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Biohazard

'Virtually all white people contribute to racism': Treasury Department lectures white employees as part of 'Diversity Training'

point finger , racists, white privilege
© erhui1979 via Getty Images
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has been using so-called "anti-racism" training to tell white employees that "virtually all" of them "contribute to racism" and that they cannot object if a person of color "responds to their oppression in a way you don't like."

The training materials were sent by a whistleblower to Director of the Center of Wealth & Poverty Christopher Rufo, who is also the contributing editor of City Journal. Rufo produced a Twitter thread to disseminate what he found, calling the training documents "deeply disturbing - and an affront to equality."

The training, called "Difficult Conversations about Race," is aimed at white employees at the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and National Credit Union Administration, Rufo tweeted. The goal of the training, he wrote, is to convert "everyone in the federal government" to "antiracism."

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Vader

Best of the Web: "Honey, I shrunk the people's constitutional rights!" How administrative tribunals are replacing constitutional courts

Canada Charter
Chris Weisdorf was penalized for parking improperly in December 2017 and he decided to fight the fine. But he slammed up against legal structures that give virtually unchecked power to untold numbers of administrators around the world who oversee and enforce everything from parking regulations to public-health edicts.

The parking-ticket system in Toronto, Ontario - where Weisdorf had committed his offense - had been replaced with an Administrative Penalty System (APS). The bylaw creating APS was billed as streamlining the court system. After very little public consultation and notice it was approved overwhelmingly by Toronto city council in July 2017 (there appears to no longer be a record online of the council vote).

The bylaw contains Orwellian redefinitions designed to wriggle traffic- and parking-law violations out of the category of what the Supreme Court of Canada views as criminal offenses and into the administrative category — and along with that, defendants out of the purview of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is the core of the Canadian constitution.

The bylaw's redefinitions include calling offenses 'infractions,' defendants 'customers' and parking tickets 'parking violation notices.' And in what Weisdorf calls "a legal oxymoron for the ages," monetary penalties are deemed to be 'not punitive.'

Quenelle

Indiana Sheriffs refuse to enforce Statewide mask order that makes not wearing one punishable by 6 months in jail

Sheriffs in four Indiana counties have said their departments will not enforce a statewide mask mandate announced this week by the governor.
Hamilton county, Indiana sheriff on masks
The sheriffs in Sullivan, Hamilton, Delaware and Johnson counties expressed concern that the executive order was not passed by elected state legislators. "The announced order has not been introduced as a bill in the General Assembly and our legislators are not in session," Hamilton County Sheriff Dennis Quakenbush said in a statement.

He added, "The General Assembly could be called into session by the Governor if the 'public welfare shall require it,' but this critical step has not taken place."

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Attention

3 killed as small plane crashes into apartment block in Germany

plane crash germany
© Reuters / Leon KuegelerRescuers are seen at the scene where an ultra-light aircraft has crashed into a residential building in Wesel.
An ultralight plane has smashed into the roof of a five-story residential building in the town of Wesel in northwestern Germany. At least three people were killed in the crash, with two others injured, including a child.

The plane caught fire after the crash. Photos from the scene show thick white smoke coming from the roof, but not the aircraft itself as the debris may have remained inside the building. Firefighters extinguished the blaze by noon on Saturday.

The victims haven't been identified yet, police in the town located near the border with the Netherlands said. It's also unclear if the pilot was among those killed.

Comment: Also reported today, a small plane crashed shortly after take off in Brazil, two of the occupants received serious injuries:

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Eye 1

New abnormal: Wales bans phone calls and reading on public transport over 'coronavirus concerns'

wales coronaviru
© RexWales has banned people on public transport from chatting on the phone, reading newspapers, or eating and drinking while on public trains and buses
Wales has banned people on public transport from chatting on the phone, reading newspapers, or eating and drinking while on public trains and buses.

In the Welsh government's guidance for restarting public transport, published earlier this week, a number of new measures have been introduced including 'no "loud" activities in public transport (like singing)'.

It also bans the use of mobile phones for calls on public transport unless in the case of an emergency. Both of these measures are in place in order to 'reduce potential aerosol transmission' of the virus.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:


Video

Trump admin tried to block documentary release showing ICE agents illegal actions to arrest immigrants w/o criminal records

ICE officers/ suspect
© ReutersICE officers detain suspect in Los Angeles, CA
The Trump administration fought to prevent the release of a new Netflix documentary that provides a behind-the-scenes look at its immigration policy in action, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Filmmakers Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau began work on the project soon after President Trump was inaugurated, embedding with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and given "rare access to parts of the country's powerful immigration enforcement machinery that are usually invisible to the public," The Times reported.

Although the project was approved by ICE leadership, the Trump administration sought to block the release of the final product until after the 2020 election — and to prevent the release of certain segments altogether.

Heart - Black

Wayne Dupree: US mayors show they're on board with the destruction of their cities

Ted Wheeler
© REUTERS / Caitlin OchsPortland's Mayor Ted Wheeler pictured during a protest against racial inequality and police violence in Portland, Oregon, US, July 22, 2020
This makes them accomplices of insurgency

When Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler went out to protesters and, despite getting verbal abuse and calls to resign, sided with them against the president, he became complicit in the destruction of the city he had been entrusted with.

Last week, Ted Wheeler said: "President Trump has used our city as a staging ground to further his political agenda, igniting his base to cause further divisiveness. Mr. President, federal agencies should never be used as your own personal army."

That was from an afternoon press conference last Friday. A couple of nights ago, he decided to walk among the anarchists to have a chance to speak to them, and guess what? The atmosphere that he and his progressive cohorts have created smacked them right back in the face. They didn't accept him or his rhetoric of peace, because these Constitution haters are not about bringing the country together but about bringing it down.

Comment: Mr. Dupree has stated the case well. The Democrat "mayors" of Portland, Seattle, New York City and others will be the authors of their own destruction should Trump not intervene. However, Trump seems to be one of the few who remember that governments are supposed to be at the service of their citizens.


Chart Pie

Poll: 62% of Americans say they have political views they're afraid to share

self censor
A new Cato national survey finds that self‐​censorship is on the rise in the United States. Nearly two-thirds — 62% — of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive. The share of Americans who self‐​censor has risen several points since 2017 when 58% of Americans agreed with this statement.

These fears cross partisan lines. Majorities of Democrats (52%), independents (59%) and Republicans (77%) all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share.

Liberals Are Divided on Political Expression

Strong liberals stand out, however, as the only political group who feel they can express themselves. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) of staunch liberals feel they can say what they believe. However, centrist liberals feel differently. A slim majority (52%) of liberals feel they have to self‐​censor, as do 64% of moderates, and 77% of conservatives. This demonstrates that political expression is an issue that divides the Democratic coalition between centrist Democrats and their left flank.
cato poll
What's changed? In 2017 most centrist liberals felt confident (54%) they could express their views. However today, slightly less than half (48%) feel the same. The share who feel they cannot be open increased 7 points from 45% in 2017 to 52% today. In fact, there have been shifts across the board, where more people among all political groups feel they are walking on eggshells.

Family

Conception by deception is wrong, but it's not rape. Just ask any woman who's lied about being on the pill

sex couple
© Getty Images / Motortion
A UK court ruling that deliberately lying to a sexual partner about fertility does not equate to rape has massively split opinion. But on this occasion, the law has got it right.

Like men, women lie. Not because they're women, but because they're human.

It's an unfortunate fact of life; as a species, we constantly bend the truth in order to get what we want - especially when it comes to sex.

From breast implants to make-up, hair dye and fake tan, women are no strangers to the art of seduction, while each of the other 97 genders - including men - are guilty of manipulating their images on dating sites such as Tinder.

This sort of behaviour may not be attractive or morally right, especially when the ugly truth raises its head the next morning, but it's so pervasive that it's rendered no big deal.

And - as three British judges ruled this week - it's also no criminal act. Perhaps surprisingly, this remains true even when the lies are bigger, deliberate and have serious consequences.