Society's Child
In a new post on Patreon today, Jordan Peterson has articulated his position on Patreon's deplatforming of controversial YouTube personality Carl Benjamin, aka Sargon of Akkad. In the post, Peterson states: "I am an admirer of Sargon, and he was a great friend of mine when I was in deep trouble two years ago. I think there is no excuse for deplatforming him (particularly when his fundamental crime was defending himself against neo-Nazis)."
Benjamin was booted from Patreon after a video surfaced of him deriding Neo-Nazis by using a racist term in an ironic way. Whatever you may think of Benjamin's language in the video, it was not in violation of Patreon's policies. Benjamin was well within his right to express himself, and the fact that he was deplatformed for exercising free speech as opposed to committing some kind of harmful action is problematic to say the least.
The footage begins with the truck going far too fast down a hill in the Crimean resort city of Yalta. It narrowly misses a smaller vehicle before breaking through a fence, crashing into a hotel water park, and finally landing sideways.
Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident, which was like a Hollywood crash scene.
We start our walk on the hilltop of Mithridates, in the heart of modern Kerch, where "terrible" king Mithridates of Pontus (134 - 64 BC) was killed. Greek geographer Strabo (63 BC - 23 AD) said Panticapaeum was the mother country of "all the Milesian cities of Bosphorus". It was a big city that boasted a convenient harbor and a shipyard.
As we climb higher, we come across an obelisk celebrating victory in the Great Patriotic War. This is one of the last ridges in eastern Crimea. To the left is Kerch harbor with no warships, only coastguard patrol boats. To the right, the dark blue Sea of Azov, the Kerch strait - now one of the geopolitical hot spots of the young 21st century - and far in the distance is Krimsky Most, the Crimea bridge.
Crossing the bridge - a 19km-long engineering marvel, built in only two years - is as smooth as it gets and takes less than 15 minutes. On the right, work proceeds on the rail bridge, which will be ready next year.
Prada is facing a fury of backlash online for its latest collection featuring characters many are calling racist.
The company issued an apology Friday and said it would be pulling all Pradamalia products from its stores after people were quick to point out the problem with the imagery.
Pradamalia, "a new family of mysterious tiny creatures that are one part biological, one part technological, all parts Prada," can be found on T-shirts, wallets, necklace charms, earrings and in ad campaigns.

Yair Netanyahu, son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is seen in Tel Aviv on November 26, 2017.
Yair Netanyahu has said there will not be peace in the land of Israel until either all the Jews or all the Muslims leave - and he would prefer the latter.
The son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted the comment on Facebook on Thursday:
"There will not be peace here until:
1. All the Jews leave the land of Israel.
2. All the Muslims leave the land of Israel.
"I prefer the second option," he added.
Comment: RT adds:
The 27-year-old defended his thoughts on Saturday, asking why the same people who have been calling to "evacuate the settlers and establish a Palestinian state free of Jews" were angered by his words.
Many on social media were indeed unimpressed with the younger Netanyahu's Facebook posts, with one person instead stating that he should be the one to leave Israel.
Ben White, author of the book Cracks in the Wall: Beyond Apartheid in Palestine/Israel, questioned who "radicalized" the prime minister's son.
And another person referred to him as the "third Trump brother."
Yair Netanyahu is no stranger to the spotlight, or to controversy. In May, he came under fire for posting "F*** Turkey" on Instagram amid a diplomatic row between Israel and Ankara.
In January, recordings were released which included Netanyahu, then 25, and his friends talking about spending thousands of shekels for private dances from strippers. He also appeared to offer his friends sexual favors from a woman he was in an intimate relationship with in exchange for money. Some Israeli media outlets have implied that those comments were made in jest while inebriated.
The same tapes, recorded by Netanyahu's then-driver, also revealed Netanyahu asking his friend to "spot him" some money because the elder Netanyahu had secured an "awesome" gas deal that would benefit the friend's father.
Chinese rich buy nearly one third of global luxury goods and take the lead in the consumption growth, Julius Baer revealed in its annual report. The world's second-largest economy took the crown from Japan long ago, which used to be the number one luxury consuming country in the world during the 1980s-1990s.
But the rising interest in high-end goods is especially remarkable among women, the analysts believe, dedicating its thematic piece to so-called 'Womenomics' in Asia. Women in the region are increasingly becoming self-made millionaires and are more and more employed at senior levels. At least 31 percent of top management positions in the region were held by women in 2017.
"The purchasing power of women in Asia is increasingly gaining recognition, with more women in senior management positions and becoming more financially savvy," the editors of the report say.
In an exclusive conversation with News18, General Rawat said that while he was ready to introduce women to combat roles, the Army may not be as most jawans come from villages and they may not accept a woman officer leading them.
He also highlighted the issue of maternity leave and said the Army would not be able to give her leave if she is the commanding officer as she can't leave her unit for six months, but said objecting to the leave could create a "ruckus".
Comment: Everything Gen. Rawat says is common sense. He even points out that he's in favor of having women in the military. But check out the (entirely predictable) response:
The blast occurred in the city of Sapporo. The cause of the explosion is currently unknown.
One person is in critical condition, according to fire department officials cited by The Japan Times.
Several people were rushed to hospital by ambulance following the blast.
Comment: On Thursday in Queens, NY, footage showed a dramatic backdraft engulfing firefighters in an area also associated with restaurants, although the cause was yet to be determined.
See also:
- SOTT Exclusive: The growing threat of underground fires and explosions
- SOTT Exclusive: Mysterious 'gas explosions' destroying residential homes, killing people
- Powerful gas explosions rip through street in Urk, the Netherlands - Six houses destroyed

China’s action would likely decrease the global use of glyphosate as a desiccant, a practice that leads to higher levels of the herbicide in harvested crops.
The Chinese introduction of low MRLs, which are officially based on health concerns following the classification of glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has been expected by both U.S. and Australian farming organizations for some time.
China's action would likely decrease the global use of glyphosate as a desiccant. The practice, known as desiccating, pre-harvest spraying or crop topping, is favored by many 'conventional' farmers as a way to hasten the even ripening of grains, such as wheat, oats and barley, as well as legumes and other crops such as sunflowers and potatoes, even though it is not a recommended use of the increasingly controversial weedkiller. Desiccation leads to higher levels of the herbicide in harvested crops and final food products.

Shocking' figures show that for the first time since the Second World War, the poor cannot afford sufficient calories.
The trend has set in since 2011, under brutal Tory cuts, and Public Health England found death rates from heart disease and stroke are major factors.
Slamming austerity's impact on public health cash and NHS funding, the report states: "Those who have been most affected are those with the least resources - those living in deprived areas -' which could indicate a role for Government spending."
Eight out of 10 heart disease and stroke deaths are preventable and the report said tackling smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and other "drivers of inequalities" is vital.
Comment: Rates of smoking have have been declining for a long time, and obesity has been steadily rising, so it's unlikely that either are responsible for the rise in deaths, especially considering the sudden stagnation of life expectancy correlates quite tightly with austerity measures.
Comment: The British need to look to the French and the Yellow Vest movement for ideas:
- Life expectancy for poorest girls in England falls for first time since 1920s
- UK in crisis: Children in poverty surges by 100,000 in a year - totalling a staggering 4.1 million
- Income stagnation and rising poverty: Millions of UK families earning less than 15 years ago
- Rough sleepers surge 60% in UK due to government imposed 'austerity' and the failing economy













Comment: Sargon of Akkad on his dispute with Patreon:
UPDATE: Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin give more information on their Patreon-like enterprise: