Society's Child

Major fire hits oil refinery in Syria's Homs

Al Jazeera
Sun, 09 May 2021 11:55 UTC

The blaze, which erupted in a distillation unit, was caused by a leak in a pumping station, state media reported.

Syrian firefighters extinguished a major blaze on Sunday that engulfed areas of its main Homs refinery in the west of the nation.

The fire started in a distillation unit because of a leak in a pumping station, state media reported without elaborating.

Comment: Reported yesterday: Fire at Iran chemical factory hours after media reports ANOTHER massive blaze near Bushehr's nuclear power plant

See also: Footage shows Israel's continued attacks on Syria's Damascus - reports

Multiple blasts rock school in Kabul killing at least 30 killed, 50+ injured

RT
Sat, 08 May 2021 17:14 UTC

Multiple explosions have rocked a school in the Afghan capital of Kabul. At least 30 people were killed in the blasts and dozens more were injured. The majority of the victims were female students.

On Saturday, at least three blasts occurred on the premises of the Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School, located in the western part of the capital. The attack occurred when the students were leaving the school.

Comment: It's notable that this uptick in violence occurs amidst calls from the establishment media that the US, that has recently postponed its withdrawal, should instead remain in the region, because their presence 'helps women's rights'. The Taliban have denied involvement, and actions like this do not benefit their cause: 'Woke imperialism strikes again': CNN faces backlash after it defends keeping US troops in Afghanistan by citing 'women's rights'

See also: US begins 'withdrawal' from Afghanistan... by sending MORE troops & gear for 'temporary force protection'

Father jailed for breaking 'gag order' in sex-change case freed on appeal

Bob Unruh
WND
Fri, 07 May 2021 20:34 UTC

A Canadian father who was ordered jailed for six months and fined $30,000 for violating a judge's gag order in a case involving a sex-change procedure for his daughter has been freed while his case is on appeal, according to a report from Mass Resistance, an American organization that investigates and reports on social agendas and campaigns.

The organization has posted a report that Rob Hoogland's new attorney is Vincent Larochelle, who specializes in criminal appeals.

"Two weeks after British Columbia father Rob Hoogland was sentenced to a prison term, he has been freed and is back home! He was imprisoned for violating a 'gag order' that barred him from discussing his teenage daughter's gruesome government-supported 'sex-change' procedures,' the organization reported.

It was the Federalist that reported in March that he was jailed after referring to a 14-year-old daughter who believes she is a boy as "she."

British Columbia's Supreme Court in February 2019 had ordered that the girl receive testosterone injections despite the father's objections. The court further declared that if either parent referred to the girl with female pronouns or by her birth name, the parent would be considered guilty of "family violence."

Turn over routers or face subpoenas, Arizona lawmakers tell Maricopa County

Zachary Stieber
ZeroHedge
Sun, 09 May 2021 04:00 UTC

Votes are counted by staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department office in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 5, 2020.

Legislators in Arizona and officials in the state's largest county clashed anew this week over election audit subpoenas, with county officials refusing to hand over routers and claiming they do not have passwords to access administrative control functions of election machines.

Arizona's Senate told Maricopa County on Friday that it would issue subpoenas for live testimony from the county's Board of Supervisors unless it received the materials that are being withheld. "We've been asked to relay that the Senate views the County's explanations on the router and passwords issues as inadequate and potentially incorrect," a lawyer for the Senate said in an email to county officials.

The Arizona Senate subpoenaed a slew of election materials, such as ballots, following the 2020 election. Lawmakers also issued subpoenas for election machines, passwords, and other technology.

Maricopa County alleged in a lawsuit that the request for materials was overly broad and threatened voter privacy. A judge, though, ruled that they were "the equivalent of a Court order." But the county said this week it is not turning over routers or router images, claiming that doing so poses a significant security risk to law enforcement.

Comment: See also:

Montana Gov. Gianforte signs bill banning transgender athletes from girls sports

Thomas Barrabi
Fox News
Sat, 08 May 2021 07:14 UTC

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte approved legislation Friday barring transgender youth from participating on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.

Backed the Republican state lawmakers, the bill requires athletic teams at public schools to limit participation based on "biological sex." The measure also contains explicit language dictating that girls' or women's sports teams "may not be open to students of the male sex."

The bill generated a heated debate in Montana's GOP-controlled state legislature prior to its passage in April. Lawmakers eventually passed the bill alongside an amendment that would void the law if the government withheld federal funding in response to the ban and state efforts to appeal failed.

President Biden signed an executive order in January calling on public schools to allow transgender athletes to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity. The order signaled that schools that do not comply could lose their federal funding under Title IX, which bars sex-based discrimination.

Comment: See also:

Fire at medical marijuana lab in Italy kills 1, injures 3

Independent
Sat, 08 May 2021 18:21 UTC

Italy Laboratory Blaze

A blaze on Friday at a small laboratory in central Italy that treats marijuana so it can be used medically left a man dead, three injured survivors and a woman missing, Italian firefighters said.

Flames raged through a small building in the countryside outside Gubbio, a town in the Umbria region.

Comment: Other fires reported in just the last few days:

Massive fire breaks out at Ambernath chemical factory, India

Times of India
Sat, 08 May 2021 12:30 UTC

A serious fire broke out at a chemical firm in Morivali MIDC space of Ambernath within the wee hours of Saturday.

The incident occurred round 12.30am at Jain and Jain MEKP chemical firm.

The Ambernath fire brigade officers mentioned that three fire autos from Ulhasnagar and MIDC space have been used together with a number of water tankers to manage the fire.

Comment: Other fires reported in just the last few days:

And in the last few months:

Fire at Iran chemical factory hours after media reports ANOTHER massive blaze near Bushehr's nuclear power plant

RT
Sat, 08 May 2021 14:25 UTC

A large fire has erupted at a chemical plant in the Iranian city of Qazvin, with local media reporting an explosion. The incident follows an overnight blaze in the port city of Bushehr, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant.

The fire broke out at the plant on Saturday afternoon following a small explosion at the site. Footage circulating online shows flames emerging from the facility, with a large column of billowing black smoke.

Multiple fire engines were deployed to the location to tackle the blaze. While the explosion and the fire that followed did not inflict any casualties, at least two firefighters were injured while battling the flames, local media reported.

Comment: Other fires reported in just the last few days:

Another postcard from Brazil

Lockdown Sceptics
Fri, 07 May 2021 00:00 UTC

There it was. With that simple phrase, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro dashed the hopes of everyone who thought he might perform a U-turn. The hateful media, the think tanks, the politically-minded state governors, the scores of lockdown lovers, all of them.

That's when I knew. Brazil was not now, not ever, going to have a national lockdown.

Because, if not now, when?

Let me take you all back a few months. Since roughly August of 2020, Brazilians had been living almost completely free lives. Sure, there were some token rules in place, depending where you were in the vast, continent-sized country, but they were barely adhered too. The first wave had come and gone. In reality, if it hadn't been for the hysterical media coverage, it would have gone unnoticed, swallowed up by the black hole of constant tragedy and stress within the Brazilian medical system.

Comment: Seems to be attitude over latitude and platitude! Keep it up Brazil!

Senior Iranian rabbi accuses Israel of cynically exploiting Judaism to pursue own goals

Ilya Tsukanov
Sputnik
Sat, 08 May 2021 12:26 UTC

Tens of thousands of Muslims in Iran and across the Middle East took part in Friday's 'International Quds Day' protests, an annual Iran-backed campaign of demonstrations meant to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Iranian Jewish leaders have joined in the protests, calling on Jews, Muslims and Christians alike to "stand against" Zionism.

Younes Hamami Lalehzar, one of Iran's top rabbis, has expressed his support for International Quds (Jerusalem) Day and accused Israel's leaders of exploiting the ancient religion of Judaism in pursuit of their own goals.

"Zionists have been exploiting Judaism to achieve their own goals," Hamami Lalehzar said, speaking to Fars News Agency on Saturday.

"The Zionists have used Judaism, which is a monotheistic religion, as a pretext to justify within their own political framework any strategy to achieve their goal. This behaviour was not accepted at all by the Jews of the world, and from the very beginning of the Zionist regime until today, there has been a lot of opposition to the Zionists' approach and it still continues."