Society's ChildS


Megaphone

The Cuban Cricket Crisis: New study identifies insect as the likely culprit behind alleged "sonic attacks" on U.S. diplomats at embassy in Havana, Cuba

Sara ElShafie
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 12:05 UTC
US embassy in Cuba
© AFP / Yamil LageThe US embassy in Cuba, where mysterious ‘attacks’ on US embassy staff were reported.
Just two years ago, the U.S. Embassy in Havana was bustling with U.S. personnel sent by the Obama Administration to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba. Today it is nearly empty. In late 2016, diplomats started hearing a loud, piercing noise. Two dozen of them reported symptoms such as ear pain and dizziness, and were diagnosed with injuries consistent with a concussion. Suspicions of politically motivated "sonic attacks" soon followed. The U.S. State Department recalled most personnel from Cuba and reduced its embassy staff in Havana to a skeleton crew. Cooperative measures between the two governments stalled amidst conspiracy theories of high-tech attack. Despite ongoing investigations by American and Cuban government agencies, and extensive coverage of the study by major news outlets, the source of the strange noise provoking the crisis has remained an enigma.

But a new study indicates that the culprit behind this debacle is in fact... a cricket. According to Alexander Stubbs, a scientist in the Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, the mysterious noise is actually the echoing call of the Indies short-tailed cricket (Anurogryllus celerinictus). Stubbs will present his findings this week at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Tampa, Florida, based on a paper that was just released through the bioArxive online database.

Comment: Interesting that the study doesn't mention similar 'attacks' reported by diplomats in other countries:

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Snowflake

Snowflake viewers rip Ellen DeGeneres for forgiving Kevin Hart over 10yr-old homophobic tweets


RT
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 17:34 UTC
degeneres hart
© Viewers SHRED Ellen DeGeneres for forgiving Kevin Hart over 10yr-old homophobic tweetsKevin Hart and Ellen DeGeneres
Fans are savaging Ellen DeGeneres after she appealed to their sense of forgiveness in defense of fellow comic Kevin Hart, who was pressured into declining an offer of hosting the Oscars over his decade-old homophobic tweets.

DeGeneres, whose on-screen coming-out made television history, offered Hart a chance to explain himself on her show after controversy over his 10-year-old tweets forced him to turn down a chance to host the Academy Awards.

After he explained that he's already apologized, grown up, and evolved since then - "I'm not that guy anymore" - DeGeneres told him that she's called the Academy to ask for him to be reinstated.

Comment: So much for the Left's bleating about peace, brotherhood and tolerance. Apparently once one has "fallen", it's forever.

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Fire

No proper exit in Polish 'escape room' where fire killed 5 teenagers

Joanna Plucinska
Reuters
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 10:19 UTC
Fire investigation
© Agencja Gazeta/Cezary Aszkielowicz/via REUTERSPolice officers are seen at the site of a fire which broke out in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland January 4, 2019. Picture taken January 4, 2019.
Five teenage girls killed by a fire in an "escape room" attraction in Poland might have survived if there had been a proper evacuation route, a senior firefighter said on Saturday.

In "escape rooms", participants are locked in a room and race against the clock to solve puzzles and challenges to open a way out.

The girls killed in Koszalin, in northern Poland, on Friday were taking part in a birthday treat. One other person was being treated for burns.
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Handcuffs

California board recommends parole for Charles Manson follower


NBC News
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 17:30 UTC
Robert Kenneth Beausoleil
© California Department of Corrections and RehabilitationRobert Kenneth Beausoleil
A California parole panel on Thursday recommended for the first time that Charles Manson follower Robert Beausoleil be freed after serving nearly a half-century in prison for murder.

Beausoleil, 71, was not involved in the most notorious killings of actress Sharon Tate and six others by the Manson "family" in 1969. He was convicted in the slaying of musician Gary Hinman that same year.

Hinman was tortured for three days, according to testimony at previous parole hearings, including when Manson cut his face with a sword.

Parole panels ruled against releasing Beausoleil 18 prior times.

California's incoming governor, Gavin Newsom, could block the parole in coming months. Termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown has consistently stopped releases for followers of the cult leader, who died in prison in 2017.
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Newspaper

UK government spends 200K to look after deported terrorist hate preacher and the public is not pleased


RT
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 17:23 UTC
Abu Qatada
© REUTERS / Muhammad HamedAbu Qatada stood trial in Jordan.
The revelation has raised the ire of the public, and a British pundits didn't mince their words live on RT.

Abu Qatada, who requested asylum in the UK in 1993, was deported to his home country of Jordan in 2013 for posing a threat to national security.

Now, it has emerged that Qatada's meetings with doctors and human rights workers in Jordan were actually funded by UK taxpayers for three years, and cost a hefty £200,000 ($254,000), the Times revealed. A legal battle to deport him is said to have cost more than £1.9million ($2.4 million).

"In the first place, Abu Qatada should never have been granted asylum here... And then you think about all the money, all the welfare payments he and those around him have 'parasited' of the UK taxpayer," argued David Vance, a rightwing political commentator.
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2 + 2 = 4

32 y.o. woman arrested for enrolling herself in high school as a 15 y.o. girl

Maura Hohman
People
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 17:16 UTC
Michaelann Goodrich
© Greene County Sheriff's OfficeMichaelann Goodrich
A 32-year-old woman has been arrested in Cairo, New York, for allegedly trying to enroll at a local high school while pretending to be a homeless teenager, PEOPLE confirms.

Joel Rowell, a senior investigator with the Green County Sheriff's Office, tells PEOPLE Michaelann Goodrich was arrested Dec. 28 and charged with with offering felony false information for filing, felony falsifying business records and misdemeanor criminal trespassing.

She was sent to Green County Jail, says Rowell.

Goodrich allegedly tried to use the name Riley Madison and claimed she was 15 years old, says Rowell. He adds Goodrich rode the school bus to and from Cairo-Durham High School on Dec. 20 and attended classes.
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NPC

Deprogrammed: You can't fight racism / sexism with their reverse

Keri Smith
Medium
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 00:00 UTC
racism, sexism
My friend Carter and I started a podcast a few months ago on his Unsafe Space channel, called Deprogrammed. It started as a result of an interview he did with me where we talked about my path away from SJW ideology over the past two years or so and why it might have happened. You can watch that interview here if you're interested:


The goal of the podcast is to help untangle the SJW belief system, not only for myself, but for those who may be caught up in it, for others who have left it or are in the process of leaving it, for those who have lost friends and family to it, and for those who are just now being exposed to parts of it and are wondering what it's all about.
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Robot

AI program taught itself how to complete its task by 'cheating' its human creators

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Fri, 04 Jan 2019 12:28 UTC
Artificial intelligence
When most people think about the potential risks of artificial intelligence and machine learning, their minds immediately jump to "the Terminator" - a future where robots, according to a dystopian vision once articulated by Elon Musk, would march down suburban streets, gunning down every human in their path.

But in reality, while AI does have the potential to sow chaos and discord, the manner in which this might happen is much more pedestrian, and far less exciting than a real-life "Skynet". If anything, risks could arise from AI networks that can create fake images and videos - known in the industry as "deepfakes" - that are indistinguishable from the real think.

Who could forget this video of President Obama? This never happened - it was produced by AI software - but it's almost indistinguishable from a genuine video.

Well, in the latest vision of AI's capabilities in the not-so-distant future, a columnist at TechCrunch highlighted a study that was presented at a prominent industry conference back in 2017. In the study, researchers explained how a Generative Adversarial Network - one of the two common varieties of machine learning agents - defied the intentions of its programmers and started spitting out synthetically engineered maps after being instructed to match aerial photographs with their corresponding street maps.

Comment: So while AI may be helpful in automating some tasks and removing humans from the equation, it seems like just as much (if not more) human oversight would be needed to ensure AI is doing what it's actually supposed to be doing. So the question is, how much do we trust these systems in such things as:

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Cross

Social media outraged after German cardinal claims homosexuality and sex abuse are 'linked'


RT
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 11:02 UTC
gay protest Catholic
© Reuters
It is not the Catholic Church that should be blamed for child sex abuse by priests but modern public morals and the spread of homosexuality, one of the top Catholic prelates alleged, sparking outrage on social media.

Sex abuse in the Catholic Church has recently become a burning issue, casting a shadow on the Church's reputation in light of numerous scandals regarding harassment and rape. However, Cardinal Walter Brandmueller believes the public outrage over the issue is "quite hypocritical" as the abuse is not some institutional problem but a mere indication of a malady that has gripped modern society as a whole.

"What has happened in the Church in terms of abuse is nothing short of what has been happening to the society as a whole," Brandmueller told German dpa news agency. He then designated growing sexualization as the root cause of the problem and said that the real scandal consists in the fact that the Church failed to distinguish itself from the rest of society.
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Stop

Pennsylvania bans tobacco products and vapes at 6 state hospitals

Jeff Himmler
Trib Live
Sat, 05 Jan 2019 11:02 UTC
Vape smoke
Tobacco products and vape devices have been banned at Pennsylvania's six state mental health hospitals, including Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township.

"Smoking is a contributing factor to the shortened life expectancy of individuals with a mental illness," Department of Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller said Monday in a statement announcing the ban. "This initiative will further support health, wellness and recovery within these communities."

The hospitals will be posted to advise patients, staff, visitors, contractors and tenants that the campuses and buildings are tobacco-free zones. The facilities will offer smoking cessation programs and support as needed, including nicotine patches and gum. Information about cessation support groups and programs will be posted online for employees.

Comment: Also see:

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