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China blocks HBO after John Oliver segment mocks country and leader


Breitbart
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 12:00 UTC
China Blocks HBO After John Oliver Segment Mocking Xi Jinping
Chinese authorities have blocked HBO's website in China, just days after comedian and HBO talk show host John Oliver criticized President Xi Jinping, an anti-censorship and monitoring group GreatFire.org said on Saturday.

HBO joins a long list of Western media outlets that have had their websites blocked in China including, the New York Times, Facebook, and Twitter.

"China: the country responsible for huge technological advances but it still can't seem to get pandas to fuck," John Oliver opened Last Sunday's controversy-stirring episode of Last Week Tonight.

Those technological advances include draconian surveillance and censorship measures which appear to have made HBO and Oliver their latest victims. Oliver's name and that of the show he hosts were censored on Weibo, China's Twitter-like micro-blogging platform.

"Send failure," and "Content is illegal!" reportedly flash across the screen upon attempting to search Oliver's name on the Chinese social networking service.

Comment: China is quite open about what it will not allow to be aired in its country whereas the US claims to be about freedom of speech but the moment an alternative news network that exposes the hypocrisy of the US, such as RT, gains any traction, they themselves censor under guise of them operating as a 'foreign agent'. And to be fair, much of what is coming out of John Oliver's mouth is typically baseless, defamatory, US state department babble:

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Dollars

Harley-Davidson shifts overseas production due to EU tariffs - Trump disappointed

Emma Ayers
Washington Examiner
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 09:58 UTC
Harleys
© Drew Angerer / Getty Images
President Trump expressed his disappointment Monday with the news that renowned motorcycle company Harley-Davidson would be shifting some of their production outside of the United States.

The company made the announcement on Monday, citing the burden of the retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. enacted by the European Union on Friday in response to the Trump administration's tariffs on European aluminum and steel imports.

"Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag," the president tweeted. "I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the E.U., which has hurt us badly on trade, down $151 Billion. Taxes just a Harley excuse - be patient!"


Comment: Also: Escalating the trade war: Trump threatens to impose tariffs on European cars after Brussels sets up €2.8B of levies on US

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Pirates

The Torture Ship: Hundreds of S&M enthusiasts hold erotic party on German lake (VIDEO)


RT
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 09:53 UTC
S and M party
© Ruptly
The party set out from Friedrichshafen on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance.
Hundreds of pleather-clad S&M enthusiasts descended on Germany's Lake Constance for a boat party with a difference on Saturday.

The 'Torture Ship' is the world's largest BDSM [Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism] and fetish party to take place on a moving barge.
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Books

PC Police: Laura Ingalls Wilder's name pulled from library award over 'stereotypical attitudes' in her books

Nicole Darrah
Fox News
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 09:24 UTC
Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House Praire

A division of the American Library Association has voted to remove Laura Ingalls Wilder's name from a major children's book award.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's name is set to be removed from a major children's book award after concerns were raised about the "Little House on the Prairie" author's depiction of certain races in the early-to-mid 20th century.

The Association of Library Service to Children's (ALSC) board voted unanimously on Saturday to rename the "Laura Ingalls Wilder Award" as the "Children's Literature Legacy Award."

Comment: More from the BBC:
Laura Ingalls Wilder removed from book award over racist language
25 June 2018

The US Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has removed Laura Ingalls Wilder's name from one of its awards over racist views and language.

The association had received complaints for years over the Little House on the Prairie author's "anti-Native and anti-Black sentiments in her work".

...

The ALSC, a division of the American Library Association, said Wilder's novels and "expressions of stereotypical attitudes" were "inconsistent with ALSC's core values".

Wilder's children's novels about pioneer life in the American West have been criticised for language that dehumanises indigenous peoples and people of colour.

Notably, one of the opening chapters of the Little House books described a land with "no people. Only Indians lived there".

In 1953, the Harper's publishing company decided to change "people" to "settlers", according to the Washington Post .

But the novels continues to raise concerns due to storylines featuring racist stereotypes and attitudes typical of white Americans of Wilder's era.

"The only good Indian is a dead Indian," one character says. At other points in the series, African-American characters are called "darkies".

Some fans of the novels say they offer an important historical perspective and should be used as teaching tools for children.

The letter from the ALSC board noted the "complexity" of this issue and "the emotion surrounding it".

"We acknowledge that Wilder's books not only hold a significant place in the history of children's literature and continue to be read today," the board's recommendation reads .

"We also acknowledge that they have been deeply painful to many readers."

Born in 1867, Wilder was known for her semi-autobiographical Little House on the Prairie novels - a series published between 1932 and 1943.

The novels were adapted to a television series in 1974, running until 1983.

E B White and Dr Seuss are both famous recipients of the Wilder Award.

The decision to remove Wilder from this literary award is the latest move to revise cultural tributes to racist historical figures in the US.

The removal of Confederate memorials by local governments across the country has triggered backlash from some Americans who believe it subverts US history and southern culture.

Racial minorities, especially black Americans, feel that the presence of Confederate symbols in public life is offensive.
So how exactly is this different from Nazi book-burning? No matter how distasteful parts of history may seem, or how many people are made uncomfortable by it, to attempt to revise history in favour of today's cultural norms is treading a truly dangerous path. We can't simply deny, ban, alter or erase the parts of history that we don't like. A beloved children's writer like Ingalls Wilder seems, however unlikely, to be yet another casualty in the censorship of truth. Perhaps Dr. Seuss and E.B. White will be the next on the chopping block.

See also:

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Brick Wall

Texas Tribune defends zero-tolerance immigration policy - 'meant to deter immigrants'


Conservative Fighters
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 09:22 UTC
Trumpimmigration
© 14 TapWires
Monday afternoon, the Texas Tribune published a Twitter thread along with an article answering the biggest questions surrounding the immigration crisis along the southern border.

As the Tribune reports, the zero-tolerance policy means that "all adults who cross the border illegally between official ports of entry will be criminally prosecuted."


Comment: As a sovereign nation, the US certainly has the right to prevent illegal immigration from coming accross the border. It is also true that the separation of families was not initially established maliciously, but rather as a consequence of the fact that children cannot be sent to federal prisons. However, there are a number of more humane alternatives to process illegal immigrants without splitting their families apart, and in this respect it is good news that Trump has issued an order to keep families together. After all, families crossing the border in order to find better life opportunities are not on the same league as thieves, murderers or rapists - so there is no reason to make their lives harder while enforcing the law.

The article above and the Texas Tribune show a rather rosey picture of the facilites for children. Unfortunately this is not always the case, at least for one case in Virginia and another in Texas:

US court documents reveal immigrant children tied down, hooded, beaten, stripped and drugged under Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe

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Doberman

Instead of helping woman reporting animal abuse, cop laughs and admits he beats his own dog

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Projecct
Mon, 25 Jun 2018 09:41 UTC
cop punch dog
When a woman witnessed a neighbor hitting his dog in the face repeatedly, she reported it to the police - but instead of helping the dog, an officer admitted on camera that he also beats his dog, and he believes there is nothing wrong with abusing animals.

Susan Mulvaney said she and her friend Vivian Muska witnessed a neighbor hitting his dog in the face four times. She called the authorities who dispatched a few police officers to the scene of the alleged abuse. When she felt like she was getting nowhere with the officers on the scene, Mulvaney took her concerns to the Hartford Station where the officer on desk duty took her information.

After explaining that she had witnessed her neighbor beating his dog, the police officer, whose badge number is 2181, told her that he, too, beats his own dog.

"I punch my own dog. Sometimes you have to discipline an animal," the officer said.
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Book 2

Mugged by reality: Sons of feminism have their say

Barbara Kay
The Post Millennial
Tue, 26 Jun 2018 09:34 UTC
In this column, I review Sons of Feminism: Men Have Their Say; next time, Daughters of Feminism: Women Supporting Men's Equality.
Janice Fiamengo
A recent article in The Washington Post, entitled "Why Can't We Hate Men?", authored by academic feminist Suzanna D. Walters, contains many falsehoods. But Walters' most ridiculous assertion therein was "The world has little place for feminist anger."

This is arrant nonsense. For on the gender file in the western world, at least, there is little room for anything else but feminist anger.

Comment: Feminism: An obituary

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Laptop

Computer science professor on why women don't code

Stuart Reges
Quillette
Tue, 19 Jun 2018 00:01 UTC
woman lit by computer screen
© Niklas Hamann/unsplash
Ever since Google fired James Damore for "advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace," those of us working in tech have been trying to figure out what we can and cannot say on the subject of diversity. You might imagine that a university would be more open to discussing his ideas, but my experience suggests otherwise.

For the last ten months I have been discussing this issue at the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering where I work. I have tried to understand why Damore's opinions generated such anger and have struggled to decide what I want to do in response. As a result of my attempts to discuss this, our mailing list known as 'diversity-allies' is now a moderated list to prevent "nuanced, and potentially hurtful, discussion." Instead, I have been encouraged to participate in face-to-face meetings that have often been tense, but which have helped me to understand where others are coming from.

I embarked on this journey because I worry that tech companies and universities are increasingly embracing an imposed silence, in which one is not permitted to question the prevailing wisdom on how to achieve diversity goals. I intend to fight this imposed silence and I encourage others to do the same. We can't allow the Damore incident to establish a precedent. Damore's twitter handle briefly claimed that he had been "fired for truth," but really he was fired for honesty. Those of us who disagree with current diversity efforts need to speak up and share our honest opinions, even if doing so puts us at risk.

Comment: See also:

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Megaphone

Tens of thousands protest in London, call for second Brexit vote


Times of India
Sat, 23 Jun 2018 21:30 UTC
Brexit rally
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in London on Saturday calling for a second vote on Britain's departure from the European Union.

The anti-Brexit campaigners marched on parliament to mark the second anniversary of the Brexit referendum, demanding a "people's vote" on whether to approve the final deal Prime Minister Theresa May strikes with the EU, if an agreement is struck at all.

"I was in deep tears when the referendum happened, it looked like the future was pretty bad," said Chiara Liduori, a 40-year-old Italian living in London.

"Brexit is awful not only because we want to keep things like it is, but because it is important to be within, in order to make changes."

Comment: Hmmm. And guess who's largely bankrolling this second Brexit vote effort so as to keep the UK firmly entrenched in the EU - and therefore more subject to its dictates??

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TV

Self-help's big lie

Steve Salerno
LA Times
Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:57 UTC
self help
Ever since the United States began weaning itself off the sociological junk food of victimization and its culture of blame, the pop-psychology menu increasingly has been flavored by an antithetical concept - empowerment - that can be summarized as: Believe it, achieve it.

Nowadays, Fortune 500 conglomerates draft business plans with bullet points drawn from Laker coach-cum-inspirational guru Phil Jackson's Zen optimism. Couples write partnership covenants based on the utopian blather of John Gray. Millions of everyday Americans owe their feelings of "personal power" to erstwhile firewalker Tony Robbins, arguably the father of today's mass-market empowerment. And there is Oprah, who is seldom categorized as a guru in her own right but whose status as the movement's eminence grise is beyond dispute: The road to self-help's promised land, and a bite of its $10-billion fruit (as tracked by Marketdata Enterprises), runs straight through Harpo Productions. The nostrums delivered by these and other self-help celebrities form a cultural given, an uncontested - and, we are led to believe, incontestable - foundation for today's starry-eyed zeitgeist.
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