Society's ChildS


Heart - Black

Teen fatally shoots a female student and himself at Antioch High School in Nashville, police say

Antioch High School, school shooting
© Metro Nashville via APThis photo provided by Metro Nashville Police, emergency personnel gather outside Antioch High School after a shooting incident on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn.
A shooting in a Nashville high school cafeteria Wednesday left a female student dead and another student wounded, nearly two years after another deadly school shooting in the city that ignited an emotional debate about gun control in Tennessee.

The 17-year-old shooter, who was also a student at Antioch High School, later shot and killed himself with a handgun, Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news conference. Police identified him as Solomon Henderson.

Police Chief John Drake said the shooter "confronted" student Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, in the cafeteria and opened fire, killing her.

The wounded student was grazed by a bullet. He was treated and released from the hospital, Drake said. Another student was taken to a hospital for treatment of a facial injury that happened during a fall, Aaron said.

Metro Nashville Police, federal and state agencies are examining "very concerning online writings and social media posts connected to 17-year-old Solomon Henderson" as they work to establish a motive, police said in a statement Wednesday evening.

Arrow Up

Moscow comments on Trump's 'two genders' diversity rollback

Zakharova
© Sergey Guneev/SputnikRussian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova
The US president has signed executive orders reversing protections for transgender rights and DEI programs.

The decades-long US promotion of the diversity and inclusion agenda should be investigated on an international level, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

Zakharova made the remarks on Tuesday, a day after newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump ended protections for transgender rights and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the federal government.

Zakharova wrote on Telegram:
"Can you imagine how many people's lives have been ruined over the years of promoting this nonsense? What should hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people do now, who have been forced to accept the ideology of amputating healthy genitals and replacing them with artificial ones?"
Zakharova stated that officials in Washington have been forcing other countries:
"To show solidarity with what they called anti-scientific narratives, which in essence was the very propaganda that kills both the body and the soul. This 'inhumane doctrine' was linked with aid, sanctions, and political and financial pressure, as well as the "humiliation of human dignity and bullying."
On his first day back in office, Trump repealed 78 executive orders signed by his predecessor, Joe Biden, including at least a dozen measures supporting racial equity and combating discrimination against gay and transgender people.

Comment: When choice becomes the victim of persuasion...it is no longer choice. When persuasion becomes the victim of choice...it is decision. When choice and persuasion are nulled, 'it' just is.


Bullseye

More activism, less credibility: What CNN's defamation loss says about journalism today

CNN sign
© AP
"Your credibility with me ... is about none."

Those words to CNN counsel by Judge William Henry also clearly spoke for the Florida jury which, on Friday, awarded $5 million for Navy veteran Zachary Young and approved an additional amount, still to be determined, for punitive damages.


The CNN loss is only the latest in a series of media cases that have reversed decades of case law where the media largely prevailed under highly protective legal standards. It says a great deal about the state of modern journalism and its unrelenting efforts at self-destruction.

In "The Indispensable Right," I discuss the radical shift in American journalism that occurred with the rejection of neutrality and objectivity in favor of advocacy journalism. J-schools now teach that objectivity is a dated concept. As former New York Times writer (and now Howard University journalism professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones has explained, "All journalism is activism."

Comment: And in other news relating to the washed-up echo chamber of state-fed propaganda (otherwise known as corporate media), the new FCC Chair has a thing or two to say about the way these companies go about their business. And its long past time if you ask us!
ABC, NBC, CBS Back In Hot-Seat After New FCC Chair Reinstates Complaints

The new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr (R), will overturn an 11th hour decision by the outgoing Democrat chair - and will reinstate three complaints against major media outlets related to bias in the 2024 US election.

Last week, outgoing Chair Jessica Rosenworcel (D) tossed four pending petitions against ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX News - which she said sought "to curtail freedom of the press."

And by 'freedom of the press,' Rosenworcel meant the freedom to deceptively edit a Kamala Harris '60 Minutes' interview to make her appear fit for office, freedom to help Harris in her debate against Trump, and freedom to prop Harris up with a (not funny) appearance on 'Saturday Night Live.'

According to the report, Carr will reinstate the claims against ABC, NBC and CBS - filed by the Center of American Rights - but not the one against Fox, which sought to block Fox Corp's local Philadelphia division's renewal of their license over claims of 2020 election fraud.
A source told Newsmax that Carr will put the ABC, NBC, and CBS cases back into pending or active status. The move means the complaints against the three networks can be adjudicated on their merits.

The source added that Rosenworcel could have prevented the FCC from reversing course had she acted a few weeks earlier. That could have prevented Carr from overturning his predecessor's decision. -Newsmax
In other FCC news, Carr is ready to rock on Trump's executive order killing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the federal government.

In a post on X, Carr said he's "ending the FCC's promotion of DEI and will focus our work on competently carrying out the FCC's statutory mission," adding that the agency will no longer promote DEI in their strategic plans.


In a statement released by the FEC, Carr explained that "Promoting invidious forms of discrimination runs contrary to the Communications Act and deprives Americans of their rights to fair and equal treatment under the law.

"It also represents a wasteful expenditure of taxpayer resources. Nonetheless, the FCC joined other private and public sector institutions in promoting discriminatory DEI policies during the Biden administration. The FCC did so by embedding DEI in its strategic priorities, budget requests, advisory groups, rulemaking proceedings and many other components of its official work."



Hearts

Russian lawmaker wants body positivity recognized as 'undesirable ideology'

fat people
© Getty Images / Artur WidakAn artist painting a mural as part of a market campaign, promoting diversity, inclusion and body positivity.
The ideology of body positivity should be designated undesirable in Russia, as it poses a threat to the nation's health, controversial Russian State Duma lawmaker Vitaly Milonov has said in a letter to Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, which was seen by RT on Wednesday.

According to Milonov, who serves as deputy head of the parliamentary family protection committee, the social movement that advocates for acceptance of all body types and a questioning of traditional beauty standards - is a cause for concern globally and in Russia.

"Considering the social and medical danger of body positivity, I am asking you to put forward an initiative to recognize this ideology as undesirable on the territory of Russia," he urged the minister.

The trend runs counter to the Russian government's efforts to protect the health of the citizens, promote a healthy lifestyle, and support traditional family values, the lawmaker claimed.

Comment: Some individuals may struggle to lose weight due to genetic or biological factors. And in some cases, fat can even be protective. However, the emphasis on body positivity can reduce people's motivation to adopt healthier habits. Therefore, it seems beneficial to limit the influence of this ideology.

See also: It's not fine to be fat. Celebrating obesity is irresponsible


USA

A Recycled President - Trumpty Dumpty returns

Trump
© Reuters
The US has a new president! Well, not really new - it has a recycled president. Slightly refurbished - but essentially the same one from before.

The Washington Post and New York Times were quick to welcome him to office - by scapegoating Anthony Blinken--now called the Secretary of War!

Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, contributed $1 million to Trump's inauguration. Go figure!

WaPo and the NYT are still DNP mouthpieces but...and they have a constituency — but they couldn't exactly throw Biden under the bus after celebrating his presidency as the Second Coming of Christ..

Blinken Idiot
© News Forensics
But Blinken? Why not?

Word is he's starting a rock group with Zelly and Bibi.

Look - they gotta throw somebody under the bus!

At the same time, it pays to be a little circumspect at inauguration time when the guy you never thought could win not only won but won bigly, with support beyond his billionaire and trillionaire backers — that is, with, public support!

The MSM want clicks - so they're going to play nice - for a while at least.

Blinken is click bait.

Eye 1

The evolution of the militarized data broker

data brokers
While often mythologized as having been created to champion human freedom, the internet and many of its most popular companies were directly birthed out of the national security apparatus of the United States.

Today, the world's economy no longer runs on oil, but data. Shortly after the advent of the microprocessor came the internet, unleashing an onslaught of data running on the coils of fiber optic cables beneath the oceans and satellites above the skies. While often posited as a liberator of humanity against the oppressors of nation-states that allows previously impossible interconnectivity and social organization between geographically separated cultures to circumnavigate the monopoly on violence of world governments, ironically, the internet itself was birthed out of the largest military empire of the modern world - the United States.

Comment: Indeed. Not terribly surprising then to learn that Amazon, a data collection service extraordinaire (among other things), has familial ties to DARPA.

See: FBI file on Jeff Bezos' grandfather, a DARPA co-founder, has been destroyed


USA

Godspeed, DJT

Trump
© Reuters
I was going to write something happy and positive and optimistic, about a future that looks brighter after spending 4 years out in the wilderness. But then I saw that the Democrats have pardoned the worst amongst themselves, and thereby every single one of them, for everything they've done over these 4 years, and before it. The entire Democratic party has been placed above the law, along with their Republican friends. The USA is now officially a lawless state.

That is something to think hard about. Because why would you still maintain a judicial system, with courts and judges and prosecutors, if that system doesn't apply to a large group of people? I can't think of a good reason. The rule of law in America is now an abstract idea that belongs in the past. What might be good about this is that the Dems have lost any and all future rights to go after any and all Republicans. But it still doesn't sit well.

You can forgive someone for something they've done, but you can't pardon them for what they might have done, or perhaps even still might do. That is literally a licence to kill. And that has to be illegal. Even if you are the President. It also violates the Constitution, and in too many ways to count. Ergo: the US is no longer a constitutional republic. It's now all bananas all the way down.

Biden's pre-emptive pardons have changed the country forever, though of course nobody realizes it at the moment it happens. From now on in, anything goes. Lying to Congress? No problem. Murder? Don't give it a second thought. Just as long as you get along with whoever is President, or who functions as such, you will be pardoned.

Megaphone

Austin Tice's mom says Trump already offering to help bring him home from Syria— after Biden did nothing

Mother of missing journalist Austin Tice
© AHMAD FALLAHA/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockMother of missing journalist Austin Tice said she is hopeful the Trump administration will help locate her son.
President Trump has already promised to do everything he can to bring home Austin Tice, the Marine veteran who vanished more than 12 years ago while working as a journalist in Syria, according to his mom.

Trump's people reached out even before he re-entered the White House on Monday — while President Biden did nothing during his four years in office, Debra Tice said Sunday.
"I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home," the hopeful-sounding mom said during her first visit to Damascus since insurgents toppled President Bashar al-Assad last month.

Comment: See also:


Cell Phone

Biden's border entry phone app was flooded with 166 MILLION appointment requests in just two years

Biden  CBP One illegal immigrants
A smartphone app, CBP One, that allows migrants to schedule appointments at the U.S.-Mexico border was shut down by Trump administration officials only minutes after the new president took office on Monday, January 6, 2025.
Migrants reportedly made millions of attempts to secure an asylum appointment through a phone app popularized by former President Joe Biden in just the past two years.

Asylum seekers made 166 million attempts to secure an appointment with U.S. immigration officials through the CBP One App in the past two years, according to internal documents obtained by CBS News. The CBP One allowed nearly one million foreign nationals to enter the United States before President Donald Trump followed through on a campaign promise Monday and immediately shut down the app.

First established in October 2020 with a very limited scope, the Biden administration greatly expanded the use of CBP One in January 2023. The app has since enabled migrants to schedule appointments to obtain exemptions at ports of entry and permits them to submit biometric data to federal immigration authorities in order to apply for travel authorization and obtain parole.

TV

Left devours its own: 'SNL' skewers MSNBC's Trump obsession in fiery takedown of host Rachel Maddow

saturday night live skit rachel maddow satire
© NBC / SNLThe "SNL" skit parodying MSNBC featured imitations of Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow and Stephanie Ruhle.
This weekend's Saturday Night Live roasted MSNBC in a skit ridiculing the left-wing cable news network about everything from its hysteria-prone coverage of President-elect Donald Trump to its anchors' personalities and appearances.

The segment featured Sarah Sherman as Rachel Maddow — complete with the host's signature close-cropped hairstyle and thick-rimmed glasses — who introduced herself warning that dads watching at home had "better hide their older, bookish-looking lesbian daughters."

Sherman then introduced the panel, whom she described as "basically like 'The Avengers' for your aunt" and which included cast members mimicking network regulars including Ari Melber, Joy Reid, Stephanie Ruhle and Chris Hayes.

Comment: The screeching harridan that is Rachel Maddow & Co., has been ripe for satirical targeting for years, especially over her hyping of the Russiagate hoax. Apparently it's finally politically safe to do so.