Society's ChildS


NPC

Will to believe: Japanese reporter goes to CHAZ to prove it's peaceful, gets beaten up, returns - to prove it's peaceful

chaz
© Reuters / Nick Wood; Twitter / @oogesatarouThe so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle.
A Japanese artist, activist and reporter went to Seattle to cover the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) and to show that the protest was non-violent. He left within 15 minutes having been severely beaten up.

Oogesa Taro, the organizer of a collaborative social art project called 'Without Borders', travelled to the US to explore the ongoing protests that erupted in the wake of the George Floyd killing by Minneapolis police.

Reporting from the ground within the CHAZ, it didn't take long before Taro was set upon and beaten up by some of the area's less welcoming residents.


Despite the unsavoury encounter and hostility, Taro's indomitable spirit led him back to the scene of the crime.

"Im back. #CHOP. To prove that this is not a protest that affirms violence. To prove that this is not a violent protest," he said.

Comment: This is a perfect allegory for the history of communist/socialist states in the 20th century. There will always be fellow travelers willing to ignore the totalitarianism, choosing instead to see the socialist utopia of their dreams, even if it kills them.


Syringe

Russia to prepare 70 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, lead scientist hopes it will provide immunity for more than 2 years

vaccine
© Sputnik / Russian Defence Ministry
Russia's homegrown Covid-19 vaccine will create immunity for more than two years, according to the director of Moscow's Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed the drug with the Ministry of Defense.

Alexander Ginzburg, the research center's director, explained that the vaccine will be administered to humans twice - including a so-called secondary 'booster' injection. According to the scientist, the effectiveness of this method was proven by the center's work in Guinea, where they conducted vaccinations against Ebola.

Up to 70 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will be required for mass immunization of Russians against coronavirus, said Ginzburg. Along with the authorities, the country's health organizations are already planning a quick ramping-up of large-scale production in order to meet this demand.

Clinical trials of the vaccine are expected to be completed by the end of July. If successful, the drug will be officially registered, produced, and distributed throughout the country.

Ginzburg and his team made international headlines earlier this month, when it was revealed that scientists at the Gamalei Institute had successfully tested the vaccine on themselves, with no side effects.

Chess

American convicted of espionage in Russia won't appeal, will seek US-Russia prisoner swap

whelan
A combo photo of Paul Whelan (left), Viktor Bout (center), and Konstantin Yaroshenko
A lawyer for the former U.S. Marine convicted of espionage in Russia last week says his client will not appeal the decision because he doesn't trust the country's judicial system.

The Interfax news agency quoted Vladimir Zherebenkov as saying on June 23 that Whelan hopes Washington and Moscow will instead agree on an exchange of prisoners.

"Today, we met [Whelan] in the detention facility and after a discussion it was decided not to appeal the verdict because he doesn't believe in Russian justice," Zherebenkov was quoted as saying.

"He hopes that he will be swapped in the near future for Russians who have been convicted in the United States," he added.

Comment: Previously:


Red Flag

The Guardian's sister paper forces YouTube to again terminate 'far-right' channel The Iconoclast, doxes man behind it

youtube
© Global Look Press / Ulrich Roth
The liberal newspaper the Observer has prodded YouTube into re-suspending "the most successful and toxic British far-right" anonymous channel and has unmasked the individual running it.

The Observer, the sister newspaper of British liberal heavyweight the Guardian, has joined campaigners in celebrating a victory over YouTube channel 'The Iconoclast'. It's author will no longer be able to use Google's video platform to deliver messages of hate and white supremacy to its 218,000 subscribers, the newspaper said.

The channel was suspended "after the Observer asked YouTube why it continued to host The Iconoclast," to which the service said they shared "a deep concern and responsibility in protecting the community against hate speech and do not want our platform used for harm."

NPC

Police thwart protesters' attempt to remove statue of President Andrew Jackson outside White House

protester removing statue Andrew Jackson
© Getty
On Monday night, in the midst of a nationwide wave of protestors taking down statues of slaveowners and Confederate leaders, demonstrators in Lafayette Park outside the White House attempted to remove a statue of President Andrew Jackson. Using ropes attached to the top of the head of the 167-year-old figure, the demonstrators were interrupted by police before they were able to bring down the 15-ton statue.


Comment: This article is yet one more demonstration of the media's deliberate twisting of the facts- many of the 'protests' have descended into violent riots; many police have been injured and some killed by the rioters. See:


Pistol

Mayor Durkan: Seattle will move to dismantle 'Chaz' occupied protest zone 'in the near future'

CHOP Seattle
© Reuters/Lindsey WassonCHOP section of Seattle shows concrete barriers installed by the city.
The so-called "Capitol Hill Organised Protest", or "CHOP", was established by protesters in the vicinity of Capitol Hill about two weeks ago, after police retreated from the East Precinct in the area, with Durkan's approval.

Seattle authorities will take back control over the "CHOP", Mayor Jenny Durkan announced on Monday, following two shootings that left a 19-year-old man dead and two more people injured. Durkan said at a news conference:
"The cumulative impacts of the gatherings and protests and the nighttime atmosphere and violence has led to increasingly difficult circumstances for our businesses and residents. We can still accommodate people who can protest peacefully, who come there and gather. But the impacts on the businesses and residents and community are now too much."

Comment: People are dead and wounded because the mayor has condoned a societal framework without accountability. She removed both protection and leverage - and seems in no big hurry to readdress it. Other crimes including rape, arson and burglary have also been reported.

See also:


NPC

If all 'problematic' statues have to go, then that includes monuments to Gandhi, Marx, Engels and Che Guevara

Karl Marx statue
© Wikimedia Commons / Einsamer Schütze
Now that both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have been ignominiously defenestrated, it is clear that the "woke" iconoclasts really do mean business. But will left-wing icons be held to the same standards as everyone else?

Charges leveled at figures who have been marked for defenestration include: being involved in colonialism or slavery; making pejorative statements about other ethnic groups; and expressing support for eugenics. Since all those who stand accused have the misfortune of being deceased, none have been able to repudiate the charges against them. And as a consequence, many have been found guilty.

So far, most of the guilty parties are either symbols of the old order (such as Cecil Rhodes) or individuals more revered on the right than the left (such as Winston Churchill). But when it comes to historical figures at whom the aforementioned charges could be leveled, there is plenty of material to work with on the left.

Cell Phone

Israeli spyware used to target Moroccan journalist, Amnesty claims

Omar Radi
© Photograph: courtesy of Fanny HedenmoAmnesty International says Omar Radi’s phone was hacked using NSO’s software even after the firm professed its commitment to human rights.
Amnesty alleges phone of Omar Radi in Morocco was infected by NSO's Pegasus software

As NSO Group faced mounting criticism last year that its hacking software was being used illegally against journalists, dissidents and campaigners around the world, the Israeli spyware company unveiled a new policy that it said showed its commitment to human rights.

Now an investigation has alleged that another journalist, Omar Radi in Morocco, was targeted with NSO's Pegasus software and put under surveillance just days after the company made that promise.

Comment: See also:


Stop

Life Care fired staffer who revealed nursing home nightmare to Reuters

Colleen Lelievre
An undated handout photo of nurse Colleen Lelievre, who was fired last week from her job at the Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley.
A nursing home owned by Life Care Centers of America Inc has fired one nurse and banned another from the premises after the two were quoted in a Reuters investigation detailing horrific conditions, a staff exodus and a botched management response to the facility's deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

Life Care terminated one of the nurses, Colleen Lelievre, last week after managers at the Littleton, Massachusetts, home accused her of making clerical errors involving narcotics for residents. She said she had not been told of any issues until June 12, two days after publication of the Reuters report. Another nurse, Lisa Harmon, said a manager barred her from the building the same day, without explaining why.

"I don't know how they think that they're just blatantly doing this and getting away with it," said Harmon, a supervisor.

Comment: See also:


Bullseye

Best of the Web: Face masks are making statists of us all

Face masks must be worn in the UK on public transport (to begin with) by order of the State. We will explore the reasons why people might comply or resist this diktat. What reasons are there to wear a face mask, do they make sense and what does our compliance or resistance say about us?

covid facemask
© engin akyurt / Unsplash
The State Is A State Of Mind

The State is a belief system. It is a faith, rather like a religion. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with faith. It doesn't necessarily mean the belief itself is "wrong." Faith can be a powerful force for good. It all depend upon what the belief is.

If your faith dictates that you treat all with love, compassion and respect then your belief is "right." If you live in accordance with your faith then you are living in the truth, regardless of which deity you follow.

However, if your faith teaches you that you are better than "non believers," that yours in the only true way and that those who don't follow your beliefs, or your deity, deserve to be punished, you are "wrong." You are not living in harmony with the truth.

People who believe in the State are called statists. Those who don't, broadly come under the umbrella term anarchists. For statists, the anarchist is despised. Life without their State is unimaginable, therefore those who wish to live without it must be evil. The anarchist has long been reviled by statists as the dangerous subversive.

Comment: See also: