Society's ChildS


Георгиевская ленточка

Russian judge: Obama's statements on US exceptionalism the same as what Nazis said about Germany

russian judge
© Vladimir Fedorenko / SputnikRussian Constitutional Court Chairman Valery Zorkin
The chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court has said that Barack Obama's statements about American exceptionalism were very similar to propaganda used by Nazi Germany and equally dangerous to world peace.

"The idea of specialness, exceptionality and unique rights of the American state and American people has been used in US internal political rhetoric for quite a while, but in the recent years it is being actively and persistently offered in US foreign policy documents and public speeches on international politics delivered by US officials," Judge Valery Zorkin said at the St Petersburg international legal forum on Thursday.

"Any unbiased and educated person would see that this statement by Obama is an almost exact copy of leading politicians and propaganda specialists of the Third Reich, including Adolph Hitler... In essence, Obama is using the exact same thing that Nazi bosses said about the German exceptionalism when they started the world war," he added.

The judge also said that in his view the exceptionalism concept had direct influence on the modern US concepts of military planning and these concepts see the main objective of all activities as reaching such degree of military might that the United States remains out of reach of other nations, on land, sea, in air and in space.

Quenelle

World-renowned Pianist, Valentina Lisitsa interviewed in Donetsk: 'They have threatened me many times'

Valentina Lisitsa
© Komsomolskaya Pravda
Interview with Valentina Lisitsa published in Komsomolskaya Pravda, translated to English and published on Slavyangrad.org, May 16, 2016. Translation by Alexander Fedotov for Slavyangrad.org

Musicians Alexander Kots and Dmitry Steshin spoke with the renowned international, classical pianist Valentina Lisitsa for Komsomolskaya Pravda prior to a recent concert in Donetsk. Lisitsa grew up in Ukraine and moved to the United States at the age of 18.

Comment: Here is a an Exclusive SoTT article back from August 2015. Valentina Lisitsa's strength and bravery should be shared with others. SOTT Exclusive: Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa condemns Kiev's atrocities, silenced by Dutch airline KLM


Pistol

Texas man charged with capital murder after shooting 3yo stepson for jumping on bed

Coty Wayman
© FacebookCoty Wayman
A Texas man was charged with murder after allegedly shooting his 3-year-old stepson in the head because the child would not stop jumping on the bed.

George Coty Wayman initially told police the boy was bouncing on the bed shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday and accidentally landed on the gun, causing it to fire, reported KFDX-TV.

But investigators said the evidence did not match up with the 18-year-old Wayman's account, and they said he admitted to pointing the gun at the child and threatened to shoot if he did not stop jumping on the bed.

Wayman said the gun accidentally fired and struck the child, identified by authorities as Dominic Tra'Juan Castro, in the back of the head.

Radar

Egypt announces debris and body parts from EgyptAir Flight 804 discovered on search mission

egyptair crash
The Egyptian search mission has reportedly found a body part, seats and suitcases from EgyptAir Flight 804, hours after other debris was spotted 290km north of Alexandria. President Sisi and the airline have offered their condolences to families of the victims.

A body part, two seats and suitcases from the EgyptAir Airbus A320 have been found by Egyptian rescuers, Greece's defense minister, Panos Kammenos, said later on Friday. Greece has been notified about the discovery by the Egyptian authorities, he told journalists in Athens

"Regarding the outputs of the research, we have been briefed by the Egyptian JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination Center) - and that was also announced to the media - about the discovery of a body part, two seats and luggage at the scene of the search, slightly to the south of where the plane's signal was lost. That is to the south and east of where the plane was lost, and further north of yesterday's sighting, that was not confirmed to be debris from the plane."

He also stressed that Greek radars detected that the aircraft had taken a normal course through Greece's airspace and did not deviate. The radars then spotted sharp turns in the aircraft's trajectory as it plunged from a cruising altitude to 15,000ft, then disappearing from radars.

Comment: See: Egyptair Flight MS804 disappears from radar - Hollande speculates plane crashed with no physical proof - analysts point to "abrupt incident"


Info

Doom and disaster: Project Fear campaign to keep UK in EU goes into overdrive

Fear robot photo
© Flickr/ Okay Yaramanoglu
One the highlights of the television week in the UK is watching Saturday night repeats of the much-loved 1970s comedy show 'Dad's Army'. The classic sitcom - which even outperformed BBC2's much-hyped live Shakespeare "special" featuring Prince Charles - tells the story of a brave, but rather incompetent Home Guard platoon in World War Two.

All the characters are quite wonderful and very-very funny, but a particular favorite of mine is the gloomy undertaker Private Frazer — who's always forecasting doom and disaster. Recently, I've been wondering if Frazer has secretly been put in charge of the Remain campaign, because some of the claims are pure Dad's Army.

Bad Guys

1,000s of Ukrainian far-right zealots vow to oust Poroshenko administration over Donbass elections

Azov battalion protests
© Gleb Garanich / ReutersMembers of the Ukrainian interior ministry's "Azov" battalion attend a protest against local elections in eastern Ukraine under the Minsk peace agreement, in Kiev, Ukraine, May 20, 2016.
Thousands of nationalists are protesting in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev. The demonstrators are threatening to oust Ukrainian MPs and Petro Poroshenko's administration if Kiev allows elections in Donbass.

According to Kiev police, an estimated crowd of over 2,000 people have joined the protest, although organizers have said that at least 8,000 people are attending the event.

Quenelle

French Unions announce new wave of protests against labor reform

France labor reform protest
© REUTERS/ Jean-Paul Pelissier
French unions have agreed to hold another round of strikes on May 26 and June 14 against the unpopular labour reforms adopted by the government, seven unions said in a statement.

The CGT, FO, FSU, Solidaires, UNEF, UNL, FIDL said in a statement that a "national day of strikes, protests and actions" will be held on May 26," as quoted by La Voix du Nord newspaper on Thursday.

On June 14, the unions will "reinforce the move by a day of inter-profession strike with a national demonstration in Paris" as the Senate will be debating the issue.

Red Flag

Policing of speech: NYC to fine businesses for not using the correct gender pronoun

gender pronouns
© blazing cat fur
As if the U.S. needed still more laws legislating political correctness, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Commission on Human Rights now claims city businesses and entities which 'fail to address customers by their preferred gender pronouns,' such as Mr. or Mrs., could face fines up to $250,000.

Yes, seriously.

In a "legal enforcement guidance" issued under New York City Human Rights Law, "employers and converted entities" are now required "to use an individual's preferred name, pronoun and title (e.g., Ms./Mrs.) regardless of the individual's sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual's identification," reported the Washington Times.

Comment: Ze? Hir? Newspeak, anyone?


Sheriff

San Francisco police chief forced to resign after officer shoots woman in wake of high-profile police killings

Greg Suhr
© REUTERS/STEPHEN LAMGreg Suhr
San Francisco's embattled police chief, Greg Suhr, resigned under pressure from the city's mayor on Thursday, just hours after an officer fatally shot a black woman, as the mayor indicated he had lost confidence in the chief

The police department and Suhr have faced mounting criticism and protests for months in the wake of several high-profile police killings and a racist text scandal.

"I have previously expressed confidence in Chief Suhr because I know he agrees with and understands the need for reform," Lee told reporters at a press conference in City Hall. "But following this morning's officer-involved shooting and my meeting with Chief Suhr this afternoon, today I have arrived at a different conclusion to the question of how best to move forward."

San Francisco Police spokeswoman Officer Grace Gatpandan said she could not comment on the resignation. "The statement was given by the mayor. That's all we have," she said.

Red Flag

FBI investigating widespread female genital mutilation, over 500,000 women at risk

human rights logo
© fbi.gov
The FBI is following up on leads and tips concerning the practice of female genital mutilation in the US, where it says more than 500,000 women and girls are at risk of being subject to the controversial procedure.

Female genital mutilation, also known as "cutting" or FGM, involves the partial or total removal of a female's external genitalia. The procedure has been traditionally performed in the Middle East and Africa as a cultural custom, though it does not offer any medical or health benefit.

Despite being made illegal by Congress back in 1996, roughly 513,000 women and girls in the US were at risk of undergoing FGM as of 2012, according to a recent study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is more than three times higher than previous estimates based on data from 1990.

Notably, the CDC report said that the number of women and girls at risk below the age of 18 had increased by more than four times, making up about one-third of potential victims.

"We believe some of it is being conducted by medical practitioners - physicians, nurses, midwives - and some by female elders within the communities who have the distinction of being what is called a cutter," said Special Agent Kerry Sparks, who focuses on FGM cases as part of the FBI's International Human Rights Unit (IHRU), in a statement.