Society's Child

What's scarier than racists and Russian trolls on Instagram? Why, 'Russian-influenced racist trolls,' of course!

Helen Buyniski
RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 17:42 UTC

The mainstream media censors have hit a brick wall smearing their quarry as "racists" - the overused term no longer packs much of a punch. To really work up a good scare, they're calling the erstwhile racists "Russian-inspired."

The 2020 US election is just around the corner and social media is crawling with wrongthink, according to the Daily Beast. This time, it's not Russian trolls - it's worse. The Russian trolls' ideas have infected so-called "American neo-confederates" and created an unholy hybrid of racist Russian trolls who are unstoppable by the usual mass-deplatforming solutions used to wipe out entire nests of foreign-origin trolls. It's almost like they're...real people.

The Beast partnered up with the NATO-backed Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRL) - not exactly a bastion of neutral, level-headed reporting - to comb through the darker reaches of Instagram, where the platform has stubbornly refused to remove accounts that aren't violating its terms of service even as they "run some of the same racist crap" as the Internet Research Agency troll accounts of yore.

The offending memes include the Peanuts cartoon character Linus van Pelt sporting a t-shirt that reads "THE SOUTH" and hugging a Confederate flag as his blanket. A speech bubble that appears to be coming from the blanket says "Our Battle Flag Protecting Us From Tyranny Since 1861." Another meme shows the Confederate flag with a coiled snake, the caption "Don't tread on me," and another caption "HERITAGE NOT HATE." Won't someone think of the children?!?

Ukrainian consul in Germany, who celebrated birthday with 'Mein Kampf' cake, rejoins diplomatic corps

RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 17:25 UTC

Last year a Ukrainian diplomat, whose friends-only Facebook posts hailed the Nazis and invoked God's wrath on Jews, was sacked for disgracing the service. Now he is back in the ranks, after a court ruled he'd done nothing wrong.

Vasil Marushchinets was recalled from his position as Ukrainian consul in Hamburg, Germany, and fired in May 2018. The incident occurred shortly after a popular Ukrainian video blogger posted a damning report exposing the diplomat's friends-only posts on Facebook.

If they were public, the posts would definitely breach the law of the host country, since Marushchinets wrote about how it was "an honor to be a fascist", how "the Jews declared war" on Hitler-ruled Germany, and how the Holocaust was a hoax. He even shared images from his 60th birthday, which featured a celebration cake fashioned to feature the Nazi leader's book 'Mein Kampf' as the centerpiece.

French police fire TEAR GAS at pension reform protesters in Nantes

RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 17:21 UTC

French police in Nantes have fired tear gas at protesters taking part in continuing demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's proposed pension reforms.

Unions have refused to back down in their opposition to the reforms, which were unveiled by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe last week. The crippling protests and workers' strikes have brought transport chaos to French cities since they kicked off on December 5.

Footage from Nantes, shared on social media, shows tear gas and water cannons being deployed against protesters, while some protesters managed to kick the gas canisters back towards riot cops.

On Monday, the French official overseeing the pension reform project resigned amid the ongoing disruption and in the wake of media reports that he had failed to disclose outside earnings while serving in Macron's cabinet.

Ilhan Omar, AOC, Pelosi districts ranked 'worst sanctuary cities' by Immigration Reform Law Institute

John Binder
Breitbart
Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC

Among the top ten worst sanctuary cities in the United States — that is, jurisdictions that shield criminal illegal aliens from arrest and deportation by federal immigration officials — Pelosi's home city of San Francisco, California, ranks as the most hostile to enforcement of national immigration law.

Before California became a sanctuary state, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department released more than 530 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets, hundreds of which had allegedly committed violent crimes, according to IRLI analysis.

The most famous case involved the death of Kate Steinle, who was killed when five-time deported illegal alien Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate fired a gun and wounded her. Garcia-Zarate was found not guilty of murdering Steinle, meaning the jury believed the illegal alien accidentally shot the firearm and the bullet accidentally hit and killed Steinle. Most recently, Garcia-Zarate escaped the only guilty verdict, illegal gun possession, he faced.

Comment: A sticker-face to goad a civil war? America destroyed from within? The fox is taking residence in the hen house and repercussions are on the rise.

Wilcox's full interview:

Chinese mines: At least 14 dead in latest disaster

BBC
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 10:51 UTC

An explosion at a coal mine in south-west China has killed at least 14 people - the latest in a string of deadly mining accidents.

The local authorities said two people were still trapped underground at the mine in Guizhou province.

At least 37 people have died in five separate mining accidents in China since October.

The accidents are often due to poorly-enforced safety regulations.

The explosion at the Guanglong mine in Guizhou province happened in the early hours of Tuesday. Seven workers were lifted to safety.

Protests and violence continue over Citizenship Amendment Act: Indian PM calls for calm

RT
Tue, 17 Dec 2019 00:10 UTC

© Reuters / Adnan Abidi
Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against a new citizenship law, in New Delhi, India, December 15, 2019.

New Delhi police have released all those unfairly detained in a raid on Jamia Millia Islamia campus, where officers had rounded up a violent mob that had torched vehicles and pelted stones at a march over a new citizenship law.

An agitated crowd of protesters gathered outside a police station in the capital New Delhi on Sunday night, demanding that authorities immediately release students of the Muslim university, who had been detained earlier in the day. By roughly 3:30am local time, the crowd had gradually dispersed after police said they had released everyone who wasn't charged.

Comment: Modi has had great success in peacefully resolving complex problems, like the abrogation of Kashmir's special status and peacefully resolving the centuries-old Babri Masjid issue.

However, he appears to have been caught unprepared in the case of this Citizenship Amendment Act, which has triggered long-standing insecurities in India's northeastern states over the fear of immigrant Bengalis dominating the local culture and administration.

The Modi government was able to control the violence in Assam after a week of protests through a curfew, social media control and other measures.

But the protests have since spread to the neighboring state of West Bengal, where some railway stations were vandalized and burned by a mob.

West Bengal is due for assembly elections in 2021, along with the northeastern state of Assam. West Bengal's ruling party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), is locked in fierce battle with Modi's BJP over electoral fortunes in those coming assembly elections. As many as 150 lives were lost in West Bengal during the May 2019 Parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, the protests have spread to several high-profile Muslim universities, like Jamia Milia Usmania in New Delhi. Delhi police and student leaders have blamed outsiders for the burning of buses there. The student protests have now spread to other campuses in solidarity with Jamia students.

India Today reports:

In Hyderabad's Maulana Azad Urdu University, students held a protest march post midnight in solidarity with the Jamia students and demanded that their exams be postponed.

There were angry demonstrations at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi and at the Jadavpur University in Kolkata with demands that the government take action against police "hooliganism".

Students from the Mumbai University and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) protested on the streets shouting slogans such as "Shame on Delhi Police".

Students at Central University of Kerala, Kasargod and Pondicherry University boycotted classes. Students from Patiala's Punjab University, Patna University and Chennai's Loyola College also joined in the protest that has created ripples in the country.

West Bengal's Chief Minister, Mamata Benejee, and opposition leaders have joined the protesters. The BJP has blamed the violence on the opposition parties. Modi has expressed distress over the protests in an effort to reassure citizens:

Identity politics and societal polarization is nothing new to India - it has been pervasive since India first won independence from Britain. Here is Indian analyst Shekhar Gupta with more in-depth information about this new citizenship law:

Scandal reopens? Court papers on Democrat IT aide Imran Awan make new revelation

Ryan Saavedra
DailyWire.com
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 23:55 UTC

The Department of Justice said this month that it could not release records on Democrat technology aide Imran Awan due to "technical difficulties," but later admitted in court documents that it could not release records on him because there is a secret ongoing case related to the matter.

"Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit Nov. 7, 2018, for 7,000 pages of Capitol Police records related to the cybersecurity investigation, and Aug. 2, the DOJ agreed to begin producing records by Nov. 5," Daily Caller News Foundation investigative reporter Luke Rosiak reported. "That deadline came and went with no records being produced; on a Nov. 13 phone call, the DOJ said 'technical difficulties' had resulted in a delay, Judicial Watch stated in a court filing."

In a newly released court filing, the Department of Justice wrote:

Pursuant to an Order issued by the Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan, who is presiding over a related sealed criminal matter the Government is prohibited from disclosing certain information pursuant to formal and informal information request in this matter. The Government advised Judge Chutkan of the instant FOIA matter and sought clarification from Judge Chutkan concerning the Government's permissible response in light of her Order in the sealed matter. Defendant received the clarification December 5, 2019, the date of this filing, that permitted Defendant to say the following: The Government is prohibited from disclosing any information pursuant to an Order issued by the Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan. ...

...The "difficulties" in providing responsive material was due to the unexpected and unique set of facts described above that was out of the control of the Defendant. Defendant's only motivation was to maintain the integrity of the sealed matter as much as possible, until the issuing Court provided guidance.

The DCNF noted that the DOJ had said it closed the investigation into Awan in 2018 in which Awan entered a plea deal where he pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud.

Comment: Nice to see one of the sideshows to the Servergate/Russiagate/Spygate circus finally coming back into the spotlight. Awan's dealings with DNC, as well as his privileged position as an IT aide to many in Congress have the scent of espionage and blackmail around it.

Wasserman Schultz certainly went out of her way in an attempt to recover his handiwork, even threatening the investigators:

Swedish police setting up special unit to combat dramatic surge in gang violence

Gareth Brown
Euronews
Wed, 11 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC

Swedish police have announced they are setting up a special task force to combat a wave of gang violence in cities across the country.

The country has seen a dramatic surge in the use of grenades and machine guns in gang-related incidents in the last twelve months, shattering its image as one of the safest countries in the world.

On Sunday a fifteen boy was fatally shot in the city of Malmo and another injured.

Mats Löfving, head of national police operations, said: "It is very rare that we use these special methods. There has to be an exceptional situation."

Löfving added that the Malmo shooting was "the straw that broke the camel's back".

Comment: RT adds that the task force will be implemented in cities across Sweden as gang members are becoming more ruthless and reckless:

Speaking to Ekot radio, police chief Anders Thornberg said gangs were becoming more ruthless and reckless, trying desperately to make and spend money quickly as they know they might not live more than 20 or 30 years.

Younger criminals are keen to make their way up the gang hierarchy faster by pulling off more dangerous and daring crimes in public, he said, including revenge attacks on rivals. The police chief also warned that dozens of children aged between 8 and 14 are suspected of involvement in robberies, and may already be prepared to engage in more violent crimes.

Thornberg said the task force's actions "will be moved around Sweden to the places where we think they are needed," including Stockholm and probably Uppsala.

Speaking of Uppsala, Thornberg said he had seen gang members brazenly gathering in the city center in the afternoon and "behaving inconsiderately" without showing respect for anything.

What the Swedish government refuses to acknowledge is the part played by their liberal immigration program, however a local news outlet has pointed out that that 90 percent of shooting perpetrators in Sweden are either first or second generation immigrants. See:

Sympathy ploy? Harvey Weinstein uses walker at criminal court hearing

Ashley Cullins
The Hollywood Reporter
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 18:13 UTC

Legal experts say it's not unheard of for a defendant to use a physical ailment to garner leniency, but the embattled mogul's team maintains his condition is tied to an August car crash and they don't need sympathy to win.

Lots of 67-year-old men have back issues — about 80 percent of them, in fact — but when Harvey Weinstein used a walker to enter a Manhattan courtroom for his bail hearing on December 11 it sparked pervasive speculation that he was faking it.

"This shows everything is going to be under a microscope," former prosecutor Laurie Levenson says of Weinstein's upcoming sexual assault trial. "The very nature of this crime raises questions about whether anything he says or does will be believed."

Weinstein's lawyer, Donna Rotunno, tells The Hollywood Reporter that his health has been deteriorating since an August car crash. "As the pain got worse and the various different courses of treatment failed to remedy the problem, he began to rely on a cane and a walker," she says. "Friday [December 6], he did not want to appear in court using the assistance of those, for fear of exactly what some media turned it into, so we told him to just use the walker on Wednesday."

Rotunno adds that Weinstein hoped the spinal decompression surgery he had on December 12 would end the discussion — but hours after the procedure Page Six still published photos of the producer at Target with the headline: "Harvey Weinstein spotted without his walker: Is he only using one for sympathy?"

His reps tell THR the photos were taken more than two months ago, and Weinstein on Friday gave the paper an interview from his hospital room in an effort to squash its skepticism.

Comment: While Mr. Weinstein may very well have health issues, sociopaths will play any card necessary to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

As support for immigration wanes, Germany's migrant-smuggling activist switches to 'saving the planet', calls for civil disobedience

Graham Dockery
RT
Mon, 16 Dec 2019 16:43 UTC

A criminal investigation for smuggling hasn’t deterred Rackete. Instead she’s hopped on a new bandwagon: saving the planet.

Sea captain Carola Rackete broke the law to pull migrants out of the Mediterranean and bring them to Italy. However, support for immigration in Europe is falling, and the outlaw activist has embraced a new cause: the environment.

The line between 'activist' and 'criminal' is often a blurry one, and 31-year-old Carola Rackete has one foot to either side of it. A former conservation volunteer and officer on Greenpeace ships, the German activist took over the helm of the 'Sea-Watch 3' in June. A month later, she was arrested in Italy for docking on the island of Lampedusa with 53 migrants in tow.

The Italian government had closed its ports to migrant ships in June, and the Dutch government - whose flag the Sea Watch 3 sailed under - described her organization as "not a rescue service but a ferry service." Rackete was honored by left-wing politicians across Europe, but is being investigated for aiding human trafficking, as her ship would regularly sail just kilometers off the Libyan coast, ferrying migrants on the last leg of their trip to Europe.

Comment: One wonders what new radical cause Ms. Rackete will embrace once she realizes that people are equally irritated at the antics of Eco-warriors that do nothing but cause havoc and disrupt the lives of those who actually have jobs and families to support?

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steven23

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Society's Child

What's scarier than racists and Russian trolls on Instagram? Why, 'Russian-influenced racist trolls,' of course!

Ukrainian consul in Germany, who celebrated birthday with 'Mein Kampf' cake, rejoins diplomatic corps

French police fire TEAR GAS at pension reform protesters in Nantes

Ilhan Omar, AOC, Pelosi districts ranked 'worst sanctuary cities' by Immigration Reform Law Institute

Chinese mines: At least 14 dead in latest disaster

Protests and violence continue over Citizenship Amendment Act: Indian PM calls for calm

Scandal reopens? Court papers on Democrat IT aide Imran Awan make new revelation

Swedish police setting up special unit to combat dramatic surge in gang violence

Sympathy ploy? Harvey Weinstein uses walker at criminal court hearing

As support for immigration wanes, Germany's migrant-smuggling activist switches to 'saving the planet', calls for civil disobedience

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