Society's Child

From 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to 'Ballet Shoes', a plea goes out to save children's literature

Carla Wilson
Quilette
Mon, 12 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC

Edgar Degas: La Classe de Danse, 1874

The Peel District School Board straddles the outskirts of the Greater Toronto Area, with more than 150,000 students enrolled in its elementary and secondary schools. Visible minorities make up more than half of this culturally and linguistically rich catchment area. And occasionally, local controversy erupts when the progressive mandate of the provincially-run education system accelerates headlong into the more conservative attitudes of local parents, especially when it comes to sex education. Indeed, Ontario Premier Doug Ford campaigned successfully on a promise to roll back the most progressive elements of the curriculum put in place by the previous (Liberal) government.

But the problem runs deeper than discussions of birth control and safe sex: A recent Peel District controversy over Harper Lee's classic 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird shows how wide this gulf has grown between ordinary parents and the professional class that presumes to oversee the educational system.

"To Kill a Mockingbird may only be taught in Peel secondary schools, beginning this school year, if instruction occurs through a critical, anti-oppression lens," declared the School Board in a recent memo. "When To Kill a Mockingbird is taught outside of this context, the novel has the potential to cause hurt and harm. As educators, we have an obligation to provide learning environments that are safe and inclusive - that honour staff and students' identities, cultures and lived experiences, including those of the Black community. Of this, there can be no debate."

Comment: Wisdom found...and lost - the undermining of a long, arduous and meaningful human journey.

UK is running out of food warehouse space as no-deal Brexit causes fears to rise

Lisa O'Carroll
The Guardian
Sun, 18 Nov 2018 10:48 UTC

Britain is running out of food warehousing space as retailers and manufacturers rush to stockpile amid growing fears of a no-deal Brexit, it has emerged.

Frozen and chilled food warehouses, storing everything from garden peas to half-cooked supermarket bread and cold-store potatoes, are fully booked for the next six months, with customers being turned away, industry representatives said.

"I started getting inquiries two to three months ago, but they reached fever pitch in the last 48 hours," Malcolm Johnstone, owner of Associated Cold Stores & Transport (ACST) said after the chaos in Westminster last week. "There has been a sea change since Wednesday."

He has capacity for 80,000 pallets in cold storage up and down the country and says food manufacturers and suppliers are desperate to get their stockpiling plans secured.

The bookings are not just for frozen foods such as peas and pizzas but food manufacturers such as crisp-makers who need a guaranteed supply of potatoes, normally put in cold storage. Overseas suppliers are also rushing for stores in the UK.

Following a long recount, Governor Rick Scott wins the Florida Senate race

Chris Good
ABC News
Sun, 18 Nov 2018 04:52 UTC

Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Republican Gov. Rick Scott has won Florida's Senate race. Sitting Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson conceded to Scott Sunday afternoon, recording a YouTube video in which he acknowledged defeat.

Nelson called Scott to concede, the latter said in a statement. President Trump congratulated Scott in a tweet, writing: "From day one Rick Scott never wavered. He was a great Governor and will be even a greater Senator in representing the People of Florida."

It marks the end of a long and at-times messy vote recount that drew national attention amid reported irregularities in vote counting by county officials, problems with tabulation machines and missed deadlines.

It also marks the end of Democrats' hopes in Florida's two high-profile elections this year. On Saturday, Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum conceded to Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis in the governor's race. In defeat, Gillum drew praise from Trump on Twitter afterward. Recounting had stopped in that race after Thursday's conclusion of a machine recount.

Ukraine TV: Over 900 Ukrainian soldiers lost their lives to suicide or murder since 2014

Tom Winter
Fort Russ News
Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC

Channel 112.ua:

During the fighting in the Donbass, nearly 900 soldiers have died because of murders and suicides - Matios

The military prosecutor's office plans to consult Israel and the United States about overcoming the negative effects of PTSD on soldiers.

Since the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbass, nearly 900 soldiers have died due to suicides and murders. This was reported on the TV channel "112 Ukraine" by the Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoly Matios.

"After analyzing the state of non-combat irretrievable losses over the entire period of hostilities, that is, from 2014 to 2018, we were faced with terrifying statistics that made us look for a way out of existing realities how to prevent this - also murder. This is a terrible loss, it is almost 2 full-fledged battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" he said.

Comment: Is it any wonder that Ukrainian soldiers are suffering from PTSD when their insane and fascist government is demanding they commit atrocities against their brothers and sisters in Donbass and elsewhere?

Portland Antifa leader Micah Rhodes is arrested for contact with minors, again

Aimee Green
The Oregonian
Tue, 24 Jul 2018 17:26 UTC

Portland protest leader Micah Rhodes is back in jail on allegations that he violated terms of his probation by having contact with minors.

Rhodes, 24, was ordered to stay away from anyone under 18 years old after he was convicted this year on three counts of second-degree sexual abuse for having illicit sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl in Washington County and a 17-year-old boy in Multnomah County. The sexual abuse occurred in 2014 and 2015, and Rhodes was 20 and 21 years old at the time.

Orthodox Churches begin to respond forcefully to Ukrainian church power play

Seraphim Hanisch
The Duran
Mon, 19 Nov 2018 17:27 UTC

Two local jurisdictions within the Eastern Orthodox Church announced their refusal to accept the legitimization of two schismatic groups in Ukraine, a move authorized by the Ecumenical Patriarch, but spurred by powers in the United States and Petro Poroshenko's secularist-oriented Ukraine.

On October 11th, 2018, the Ecumentical Patriarch, Bartholomew I of Constantinople, authorized his legates to pronounce two schismatic Orthodox "churches" in Ukraine to be restored to canonical communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and by extension, across the entire Orthodox world.

This move was strongly condemned by the authorities of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has the only canonically accepted church presence in Ukraine, a situation that the Ecumenical Patriarch himself agreed with only a few years ago.

Russia moved to break communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, creating a split in the Orthodox Church, but a split that at first risked Russia standing alone in their statement of disapproval of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's actions.

For a time the reaction of the other "local" Orthodox Churches was cautious, with the vast majority (excepting only the Greek Church in the USA) coming out in support of the canonical group in Ukraine, but without taking similar action to Moscow.

That appears to be changing.

Comment: See also:

$629 to sleep with stranger: Irish housing crisis sees bizarre bed share adverts emerge

RT
Mon, 19 Nov 2018 16:22 UTC

A chronic housing shortage means Irish renters are left at the mercy of landlords charging extortionate rates. The latest sorry development sees people being charged €550 ($629) a month to share a bed with a stranger.

Prospective tenants, aggrieved at the capital's current rental situation, have been posting screen grabs on social media of adverts where a spot in a bed has been offered for hundreds of euro.

Now in an investigation into the practice, The Times is reporting that some bedshares are costing almost the same per month as renting a full apartment in the Irish capital Dublin back in 2012.

According to the newspaper, one recent advert for a bed in the area of Islandbridge, South Dublin, asked interested parties to pay €540 ($618) per month for half a double bed. The average monthly cost of a one bedroom apartment in 2012 was reportedly €660 ($756).

The unhinged Left's demand for ritualized apologies dangerously undermines freedom of expression

Ilana Akresh and John Villasenor
Quillette
Sun, 18 Nov 2018 16:12 UTC

chinese cultural revolution public apology

Maoist "struggle session". A struggle session was a form of public humiliation and torture that was used by the Communist Party of China in the Mao Zedong era, particularly during the Cultural Revolution, to shape public opinion and humiliate, persecute, or execute political rivals and those deemed class enemies.

"I want to apologize. I recognize that this moment is a deeply painful one-internally and externally," wrote Facebook's VP of public policy, Joel Kaplan, in a Sep. 28 note to Facebook staff. This followed the publication of photographs showing Kaplan's attendance at Judge Brett Kavanaugh's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kaplan's presence in the hearing room led to a wave of objections voiced on internal message boards by Facebook employees. As one employee opined: Kaplan "knew that this would cause outrage internally, but he knew that he couldn't get fired for it. This was a protest against our culture, and a slap in the face to his fellow employees."

Initially, company executives appeared to defend Kaplan, who has for years counted Kavanaugh as one of his closest friends. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that Kaplan had broken no rules with his attendance at the hearings, and on Oct. 3, Andrew Bosworth, a Facebook VP, weighed in, writing that "it is your responsibility to choose a path, not that of the company you work for." Yet the backlash continued to mount, and the next day, Bosworth walked his declaration back:

"I spoke at a time when I should be listening and that was a big mistake. I'm grateful to employees who shared feedback and very sorry that my actions caused employees pain and frustration when what they needed was better support and understanding from leadership."

Comment: So the Left is requiring personal relationships be jettisoned to maintain membership in the tribe?

Comment:

Brutal VIDEO shows thug kung-fu kicking cop narrowly escaping double-decker bus

RT
Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:30 UTC

Chilling footage has emerged of the moment a female police officer narrowly escaped being crushed by a double-decker bus in south London after a thug sent her flying into the middle of the road with a kung-fu-style kick.

A viral video posted to Twitter on Sunday shows how what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop by two officers escalated into a vicious assault.

It all started when a trio fled as officers stopped their vehicle on Saturday at around 7:55pm on Kingswood Road, Merton, the Metropolitan Police said.

The clip begins with a male officer being wrestled to the ground and dragged across the tarmac street by one of the thugs.

Grab the Monet, let's Gogh: Recovered 'Picasso' was an elaborate hoax

RT
Mon, 19 Nov 2018 13:36 UTC

The Dutch writer who claimed she may have discovered a missing Picasso painting, stolen in the 2012 "theft of the century," has announced that she is instead the unfortunate victim of a rather elaborate hoax.

Writer Mira Feticu, who wrote a novel based on the heist, claims she was sent an anonymous letter ten days ago with instructions telling her where to find Picasso's "Tête d'Arlequin" estimated to be worth €800,000 ($913,000), in a forest in eastern Romania. She uncovered the 'painting' buried and wrapped in plastic and then informed the authorities of her amazing find.

However, it now emerges that Feticu was the victim of a hoax perpetrated by two Belgian directors based in Antwerp. They came clean about their nefarious hoax after all of the international media coverage it received.

Feticu received an email from the pair explaining that it was part of their project called "True Copy" which is dedicated to infamous Dutch forger Geert Jan Jansen.

What(?), ..thought Charlie didn't surf [Link]

Jibrish

SBC says "Hang em... All the jab pushers." to which I add 'after fair trials.' You know all of the TV/film/fiction tropes about 'pushers' giving...

Rowan Cocoan

Good. Shut the bitch up. She was his girlfriend for Christ's sake! MeToo is a Team FUKUSraHell psyop. (I don't know why they threw Weinstein under...

Rowan Cocoan

Winternights3 There's probs a good connection! Just think about it.

sbc

Moving the goalposts. and people are too shit stupid to notice or care

sbc

Society's Child

From 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to 'Ballet Shoes', a plea goes out to save children's literature

UK is running out of food warehouse space as no-deal Brexit causes fears to rise

Following a long recount, Governor Rick Scott wins the Florida Senate race

Ukraine TV: Over 900 Ukrainian soldiers lost their lives to suicide or murder since 2014

Portland Antifa leader Micah Rhodes is arrested for contact with minors, again

Orthodox Churches begin to respond forcefully to Ukrainian church power play

$629 to sleep with stranger: Irish housing crisis sees bizarre bed share adverts emerge

The unhinged Left's demand for ritualized apologies dangerously undermines freedom of expression

Brutal VIDEO shows thug kung-fu kicking cop narrowly escaping double-decker bus

Grab the Monet, let's Gogh: Recovered 'Picasso' was an elaborate hoax

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