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Russia hosting the World Cup has political dimensions all to her benefit

Andrew Korybko
Eurasia Future
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 17:05 UTC
Putin world cup
© Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin /Reuters
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour kick-off ceremony at the Luzhniki Stadium, on September 9, 2017
The act of playing and watching football should always remain apolitical, but it's impossible not to notice the political dimensions of hosting the World Cup, all of which decisively play to Russia's favor.

It was a very prudent move for President Putin to work his hardest over the years in getting FIFA to ultimately grant Russia the global honor of hosting the 2018 World Cup. This renowned privilege will assuredly be to Moscow's political advantage despite the act of playing and watching football being a decidedly apolitical pastime. Here are the three benefits that Russia stands to reap through its hosting of this event, beginning with those that are most relevant from a grassroots level and then proceeding to the ones that are within the realm of International Relations:

Comment: Russia's patient and disciplined diplomatic policies are paying off handsomely. The West ought to be taking notes.

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People 2

Child abuse: Mother wants son she birthed to see 'him' as a man - father now a 'woman' too


Conservative Fighters
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 17:11 UTC
Sabastion Sparks
Just in time for Father's Day, CNN brings you the story of a biological female who refers to herself as a transgender man who, after taking testosterone to "transition," conceived a child with a man who was "transitioning" into a transgender woman but stopped taking hormones long enough that they could conceive a son.

CNN titled the piece, "He gave birth. He breastfed. Now, he wants his son to see him as a man."

The "he" in question is Sabastion Sparks, 24, "a transgender man who lives with his wife Angel in suburban Atlanta."

CNN writes, "Like many new dads, Sabastion Sparks knew parenting would come with serious challenges. But most new dads didn't give birth to their child. They didn't breastfeed them."

That's certainly true.

CNN writes that Sparks "wants Jaxen, their 20-month-old son, to have as normal a childhood as possible," suggesting that a more "comfortable" Sparks can now better provide that normal childhood.

"I'm going to be a better father being comfortable in myself and him seeing that confidence in me," said Sparks.
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Dollar

Judges work around student loan bankruptcy laws in favor of borrowers

Yves Smith
Naked Capitalism
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 17:06 UTC
student loan debt
Earlier this week, we linked to a CNBC story that described how the Department of Education is seeking input on whether it was too hard for borrowers to discharge student loans in bankruptcy. We pointed out that if the DoE went forward, it would be a twofer for the Republicans: they'd probably win votes from at least some borrowers who benefitted, and the recognition of losses on Federally guaranteed loans would lead to call to make the program more stringent, perhaps including penalties on higher educational institutions who mislead borrowers about loan risks and their earnings potential. Since employees of higher educational institutions skew Democratic, effectively cutting their funding would not hurt and probably would help Team R.

It turns out some bankruptcy judges have already concluded that the bankruptcy requirements for student loans have been excessive, and they've been allowing some borrowers to reduce or discharge their debts, something that was heretofore virtually impossible.

Mind you, this is not happening very often, in part because bankruptcy judges historically have been so unreceptive to plaintiffs weighed down by student debts seeking relief that lawyers would refuse to take these cases. As a result, last year, only 473 borrowers made the attempt.

Comment: See also:

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Camera

Inside the California shelter for child illegals separated from parents

Joel B. Pollak
Breitbart
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 16:50 UTC
el cajon hhs
The Department of Health and Human Services hosted Breitbart News and other media on a tour of a facility in El Cajon, California, on Friday where migrant children are being sheltered after being separated from their parents.

The children are separated from their parents - or, to be precise, from the adults accompanying them, who may or may not be their parents - when their parents cross the southern U.S. border illegally and are caught and detained.

Previously, under the "catch-and-release" policy, the adults would be released. Under the "zero tolerance" policy of the Trump administration, the adults are being detained and prosecuted. Children cannot be incarcerated with them.

However, families that arrive together at legal ports of entry and apply for asylum status are generally not split up and are permitted to stay in the U.S. pending the adjudication of their applications (which can take several years).

Democrats and the mainstream media have accused the administration of separating the children of "immigrants" from their parents and imprisoning them in "cages." On Thursday, CNN analyst and Playboy reporter Brian Karem shouted at White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "These people have nothing. They come to the border with nothing and you throw children in cages." None of the reporters in the briefing room corrected him.
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Better Earth

China's all-seeing credit score system rewards good behavior, punishes bad

Charles Rollet
Wired
Tue, 05 Jun 2018 08:29 UTC
chinese social credit score
© Kevin Hong
In the UK, credit scores are mostly used to determine whether people can get a credit card or loan. But in China, the government is developing a much broader "social credit" system partly based on people's routine behaviours with the ultimate goal of determining the "trustworthiness" of the country's 1.4 billion citizens.

It might sound like a futuristic dystopian nightmare but the system is already a reality. Social credit is preventing people from buying airline and train tickets, stopping social gatherings from happening, and blocking people from going on certain dating websites. Meanwhile, those viewed kindly are rewarded with discounted energy bills and similar perks.

China's social credit system was launched in 2014 and is supposed to be nationwide by 2020. As well as tracking and rating individuals, it also encompasses businesses and government officials. When it is complete, every Chinese citizen will have a searchable file of amalgamated data from public and private sources tracking their social credit. Currently, the system is still under development and authorities are trying to centralise local databases.

Comment: Undoubtedly, a system like this is very powerful and thus by its very nature, dangerous, however the devil is always in the details and ultimately it comes down to how such a system is used. Those in the west, where in reality we're already living in a strongly Orwellian system with corrupt governments that routinely spy on us and work to our detriment, would likely see such a system as inherently evil.

However, if the government weren't corrupt and if the system did actually work to punish anti-social behavior while rewarding pro-social behavior, where all kinds of various anti-social people couldn't hide their various nefarious activities in the shadows, such a powerful tool could actually aid in increasing the honesty, decency, and functionality of a society.

Interestingly, such a system does bear a resemblance to a theoretical system mapped out by Pierre Lescaudron for Sott.net: Post imperialism: A Template for a New Social Order

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Fire

Tesla vehicle catches fire 'out of the blue' in California traffic


RT
Sun, 17 Jun 2018 11:27 UTC
Tesla car
© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
A Tesla vehicle caught fire, apparently "out of the blue," while sitting in California traffic. Video of the incident has been shared by US actress Mary McCormack whose husband was in the electric car at the time.

McCormack said her husband was in traffic on Santa Monica Boulevard when the vehicle suddenly caught fire. There was "no accident" and the blaze came completely "out of the blue," she said.

Passersby flagged down the driver who then got out of the vehicle. Video recorded at the scene shows flames shooting from underneath the parked car.

The electric car did not have an autopilot feature and was a "normal Tesla,"according to McCormack.
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Bad Guys

Wave of amputations in Gaza shows Israel shoots to maim for life, but sometimes also kill

Alexandra Zavis and Hanah Salah
LA Times
Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:39 UTC
Palestinian protesters
© AP Photo/Adel Hana
Palestinian protesters evacuate a wounded youth during clashes with Israeli troops along the Gaza Strip.
Baha Abu Ayash winced as a nurse unraveled the bandage around his right ankle. There was a whiff of rotting meat as a gaping bullet wound came into view. A doctor pinched his toes. They were black and cold.

For six days, the 23-year-old and his family had held out hope that his foot might be saved, if only he could be evacuated from the Gaza Strip. But it was too late now, the doctor from Jordan told them. Even if Israel agreed to the transfer, the decision would be the same.

"This patient needs a life-saving amputation," the doctor said. "Gangrene has set in. ... It is very critical."

Still, the family hesitated. Nobody in the family had steady work. Who would support the young man if his foot or leg were removed?

"It's not an easy decision," said Mohammed Abu Ayash, one of his 12 siblings.

The toll of violence during two months of protests along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel is most often measured in deaths: at least 123 Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire.
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Sheriff

Former cop who solicited child sex retires with full benefits

Jack Burns
The Free Thought Project
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 15:47 UTC
Stephen Robert Deck
A former police lieutenant could be facing a new trial after he was given probation for sending lewd messages and attempting to have sex with a child, and then allowed to quietly retire on taxpayer-funded medical disability.

Former California Highway Patrol lieutenant Stephen Robert Deck was given probation for attempting to have sex with a 13-year-old in 2006. The officer was caught in an undercover sting operation set up by police to catch pedophiles in the act of trying to have sex with kids. Unlike most of the other 12 defendants in the case, who were sentenced to at least one year in prison, Deck was afforded probation simply because he wore a badge.

His attorneys fought his conviction for years, losing twice in appeals, but Deck eventually was granted a mistrial on a technicality. Now, instead of simply allowing the years-old case to go by the wayside, the Orange County District Attorney's Office is preparing for a possible new trial with hearings scheduled on July 16th. The Orange County Weekly described how the officer was able to have his conviction overturned in 2014:
In 2014, however, the Ninth Circuit overturned the conviction for an attempted lewd act upon a child. A non-unanimous panel of judges ruled that Mestman (prosecutor) erred in his closing statement on a technicality about when Deck, who worked at CHP's San Clemente office, intended to commit a lewd act on Amy.
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Bizarro Earth

People with BIID feel urge to maim themselves to feel 'normal'

Tom Fish
Daily Star
Sat, 16 Jun 2018 11:55 UTC
body modification
© Facebook
BODY MODIFICATION: People are voluntarily cutting off their own limbs
Forget extreme plastic surgery, tattoos and piercings - a minority are taking body modification to the next level - by voluntarily cutting off their own limbs.

A body modifier has exclusively revealed how his "extra" limbs feel alien, and has resorted to the drastic measure of self-mutilation - because he actually want to be disabled.

Dr. Michael First, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, has led investigations into this bizarre and extremely rare psychiatric condition which he is calling body integrity identity disorder (BIID).

Also known as amputee identity disorder, it gives people a fierce desire to rid themselves of perfectly healthy limbs.


Comment: Warning: More disturbing images below.


Comment: What drives people to do this to themselves could be many and varied, and as this 'disorder' gets more exposure, one can expect there will be a rise in 'sufferers', even if for some it is genuine. But in the end, shouldn't we be encouraged to make peace with our bodies rather than try to correct what we were given?


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USA

Nine Florida cities are the latest in banning conversion therapy for minors

Kaylee McGhee
Liberty Headlines
Fri, 15 Jun 2018 15:35 UTC
transgender
Licensed professionals who offer counseling and therapy to those experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction are now unwelcome in some Florida cities.

The City of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County have joined more than nine Florida cities in banning "conversion therapy."

The Human Rights Council has worked in Palm Beach County to get City Ordinance 5407 passed for quite some time, labeling these counseling sessions as "extremely dangerous."

The Christian Family Coalition fought against this initiative when the Miami-Dade County Commission passed it in October.

"The ban would have prohibited parents, pastors, and doctors from counseling minors to help them reduce and eliminate unwanted homosexual urges and transsexual confusion," the Coalition wrote on its Facebook page.

Comment: Denying treatment options, no matter how 'controversial', is a blatant intrusion in private life by the government.

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