Society's Child

If your BS detector isn't shrieking...it's broken

Charles Hugh Smith
The Survivalist Blog
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 00:00 UTC

Wishing it was true doesn't make it true - it makes you a chump who fell for the con.

Once upon a time in America, no adult could survive without possessing a finely tuned BS detector. Herman Melville masterfully captured America's fascination with cons and con artists in his 1857 classic The Confidence-Man, which I discussed in The Con in Confidence (October 4, 2006).

An essential component of the American ethos is: don't be a chump. Don't fall for the con. And if you do, it's your own fault. The Wild West wasn't just thieves shooting people in the back (your classic "gunfight" in the real West) - it was a simmering stew of con artists, flim-flammers and grifters exploiting the naive, the trusting and the credulous.

We now inhabit a world where virtually everything is a con. That "organic" produce from some other country - did anyone test the soil the produce grew in? It could be loaded with heavy metals and be certified "organic" because no pesticides were used during production. But what about last year? And the year before? What's in the water used to irrigate the crops?

The employment/unemployment statistics are obviously BS. 93 million people aren't even counted any more - they're statistical zombies, no longer among the living workforce. If the unemployment rate were calculated on the number of full-time jobs and the true workforce (everyone ages 18 - 70 that isn't institutionalized or in prison), the unemployment rate would not be the absurdly delusional 5.6% claimed by the bureaucratic con artists.

Comment: Regarding China's debt...so, when this kick-the-can-down-the-road megabubble finally bursts, the prosperity of the entire world comes down to one gigantic domino wave default from the greatest financial con game ever! Is that the plan?

Decoder rings...buy 'em in bulk! So many applications to choose from!

Fox News poll shows only 9% of Americans see Russia as a threat

Sputnik
Sat, 27 Jun 2015 14:58 UTC

Only nine percent of American TV viewers see Russia as a security threat, according to the results of an opinion poll released earlier this week.

With 33 percent the Islamic State terrorist group topped the list of the Americans' security fears, followed by China with 26 percent, according to a Fox News poll conducted between June 21 and 23.

A mere nine percent of respondents pointed to Russia as a security threat, followed by Iran and al-Qaeda.

In Russia, meanwhile, the US and President Barack Obama were seen as this country's main ill-wishers by a hefty 37 percent of respondents in a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center.

Comment: Looks like the propaganda efforts of the U.S. government and corporate media to demonize Russia aren't working very well

Study: U.S. state with highest incarceration rate holds inmates in private prisons longer, no crime reduction

RT
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 04:00 UTC

Private prisons in Mississippi routinely extend inmate's sentences by two to three months to leverage extra costs from the state, a new study found. However, the extended prison stays are having no effect on crime reduction.

The first-of-a-kind study from the University of Wisconsin compared time served by inmates in public and private prisons in Mississippi, between 1996 and 2004, to determine whether private prisons were more cost effective and whether they were leading to lower crime rates through rehabilitation programs.

The study found that private prison operators were increasing inmates' prison sentences by 60 to 90 additional days (roughly 4 to 7 percent) for the average prisoner through a scheme of prison conduct violations. The additional two to three months were leading to an average additional cost per prisoner of $3,000 and eroding any costs savings the state was trying to achieve.

"If inmates sent to private prisons somehow serve longer terms, this undermines the very cost benefit that makes private prisons attractive relative to public prisons," said Anita Mukherjee, an assistant professor of actuary science at the University of Wisconsin, and the study's author, in a statement.

Mississippi has the highest incarceration rate in the US, with 40 percent of inmates held in private prisons. Since 1980, states have been contracting with private prison operators to help reduce costs and expand bed capacity, which has led to the US contracting 10 percent of its 2.3 million prison population out to private prisons. The private prison contracting industry is now worth $5 billion. Under Mississippi state law, private prisons have to provide cost savings of 10 percent compared to public prisons.

Comment: Prisons: America's slave empire

UN report: Number of refugees from Ukraine exceeding 900,000

ITAR-TASS
Sat, 27 Jun 2015 14:23 UTC

Number of Ukrainians who have fled to neighboring countries after the outbreak of the armed civil conflict in Donbass in spring 2014 has exceeded 900,000 and most of them have found shelter in Russia, of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a report on Friday.

Information from governmental sources in the host countries suggests that the overall number of refugees seeking shelter or looking for other legal forms of residence in neighboring states has reached 900,300 people and most of them, or 746,000 have headed for Russia.

Country of destination number two for them is Belarus where 81,200 refugees have arrived, the report indicated.

Comment: A very sad and unnecessary consequence perpetrated by US/NATO/EU in the name of "freedom and democracy".

Libya, Syria, Ukraine: It's worse than we can imagine

The world's top 10 tobacco smoking nations

Donald Armbrecht
World Economic Forums
Thu, 25 Jun 2015 14:17 UTC

Only 10 years ago, it was common to find smokers in major European cities having a cigarette in bars, restaurants and even on public transport. The subsequent crackdown on smoking in Western Europe has changed habits drastically.

While tobacco consumption in the West seems to be on the decline, new research suggests that it is on the rise in the developing world. According to the WHO, of the 1 billion global smokers, almost 80% are in a low or middle-income countries.

Of those, Chinese smokers consume more than all other low- and middle-income countries combined. To combat this, the Chinese government has clamped down on existing smoking bans, reinforcing them with hefty fines, and levying a full ban on public smoking in Beijing.

So of the 5.8 trillion cigarettes smoked in 2014, which countries consumed the most?

Comment: See also: Let's All Light Up!

Austrians launch petition to quit EU

RT
Sat, 27 Jun 2015 14:03 UTC

© Reuters / Laszlo Balogh
A barbed wire is seen in front of a European Union flag at an immigration reception centre in Bicske, Hungary June 25, 2015.

Austrians have launched a petition to quit the EU, arguing that the nation will be better off economically if it leaves the union. To force the national parliament to consider the initiative activists need to have gathered 100,000 signatures by July 1.

The petition was started by a retired 66-year-old translator, Inge Rauscher, who has collected enough signatures to launch an official campaign. The plea seeks to request that the national parliament debate the idea of a referendum on quitting the EU. However, to get that issue even discussed, the petition must gather 100,000 signatures.

"We want to go back to a neutral and peace-loving Austria," Rauscher said at the start of the campaign this week. Austrians have until July 1 to sign the petition which they can do in municipal or district offices.

Comment: Looks like the EU is on its last legs. The Austrian Federal Minister bashed the Greek government for holding a referendum but will soon face the same problem in his own country.

Austrian Federal Minister Hans Joerg Schelling bashed the Greek government on Saturday for losing time on bickering over reforms proposals and eventually dropping out of talks to declare a snap referendum, in what he said was an untimely thing to do.

Chuck it in the bin: UK police offer 'amnesty' for surrendering knives

Mac Slavo
SHTFplan.com
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:56 UTC

Don't try to think this one through.

The logic fail and sheer volume of absurdity might just make you sick if you do.

For the UK - whose laws and policies all-too-often influence those of the U.S. - gun control isn't enough. Probably nothing will ever be enough.

Now a call to surrender knives, ongoing for years, is in full swing. Via Citizen Action:

The right to bear arms might be under attack here in America - but in the United Kingdom, police are trying to do something even more ridiculous: they're attempting to ban knives.

The British police have recently joined forces with liberal grassroots activists in the UK, launching the "Save a Life - Surrender Your Knife" program. Knife crime has been climbing recently in major UK cities like London.

The program involved several weeks of "amnesty" for "pointed knives." Civilians can turn in these apparently dangerous weapons at their local police station in exchange for "amnesty," apparently, even though knives (rounded or pointed) aren't illegal in the United Kingdom.

Comment: This is what happens when nutters are in charge of public policy.

North Charleston cop fired over Confederate flag boxers pic while thug officers get away with murder

Melissa Dykes
The Daily Sheeple
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:46 UTC

North Charleston officer fired over Confederate flag boxers Facebook photo http://t.co/3La8DsUcHf

— FOX8 WGHP (@myfox8) June 26, 2015

There's a reason I took the time to point this out real quick. According to Raw Story:

Police Chief Eddie Driggers said the photo undermines the trust and confidence citizens have in police because the Confederate flag "symbolizes hate and oppression to a significant portion of the citizens we are sworn to serve."

Dildine has ten days to appeal. I suspect he'll be going with freedom of expression. It is, after all, his underwear...

Pope Francis: Sometimes divorce can be a 'moral necessity'

RT
Thu, 25 Jun 2015 09:54 UTC

Pope Francis may go down in history as the Catholic leader most actively supporting divorce, after saying the practice was "morally necessary." However, the pontiff's position could face obstacles at an upcoming bishops' meeting.

The Catholic Church is known worldwide for being staunchly anti-divorce, but according to Francis there are certain moral imperatives, which make divorce a lesser evil. He was talking about the humiliation a wife could suffer at the hands of an abusive spouse. Also, if there are children, their safety must be considered.

The Pope's remarks come ahead of an important bishops' conference set to mull over many issues Catholics consider crucial, including whether remarried divorcees can take communion.

"There are cases in which separation is inevitable," Francis told an audience gathered on St. Peters Square.
"Sometimes, it can even be morally necessary, when it's about shielding the weaker spouse or young children from the more serious wounds caused by intimidation and violence, humiliation and exploitation.".

Dylann Roof and the Charleston massacre media coverage: Recognizing the crime, downplaying the causes

Ben Norton
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
Wed, 24 Jun 2015 20:38 UTC

When a white male kills people in a mass shooting in the US, the corporate media follow an algorithm not unlike the Kübler-Ross model of the five stages of grief.

First, media deny that the attack constitutes terrorism. In their view, acts of political violence carried out against civilians are indisputably terrorism when they are committed by a Muslim, but this is not necessarily the case when they are committed by a white person.

This is the stage in which most media coverage of shootings by white Americans remains stuck. When Elliot Rodger massacred six people and injured 14 more in May 2014, he was not classified as a terrorist—even though he explicitly stated that his attack was motivated by an intense hatred of women, and that he sought to "punish" women, collectively, for "rejecting" him in the past.

Yet because of mounting pressure and criticism from independent media, activists and social media, in the wake of mass shooting after mass shooting carried out disproportionately by white men, corporate media are no longer able to remain in a state of such denial.

Comment: Another possibility, aside from Dylann Roof being influenced by far-right racist groups to demonize blacks and ultimately shoot and kill them, is that Dylann Roof was not so in control of himself as most think he was. Is it possible that he was a mind-controlled shooter?

The parasites declare, that BY WAY OF DECEPTION they hold humanity ensnared. The time, times and a half time, the last grains of sand in the hour...

Solare

Pfizer is just another word for murder. Don't get pfizered.

Steve S

Disgusting creatures. Filthy little bags of evil and disease that serve no purpose but misery. Never ever EVER touch a politician. Ticks are gross...

DeliciousTears

.. .. Ernesto Guido, you know much that his hidden! [Link]

Jibrish

Another case of truth being stranger than fiction with the tale of a “Stranger in the Valley of the Kings”, by Ahmed Osman. An ‘out of place’...

Solare

Society's Child

If your BS detector isn't shrieking...it's broken

Fox News poll shows only 9% of Americans see Russia as a threat

Study: U.S. state with highest incarceration rate holds inmates in private prisons longer, no crime reduction

UN report: Number of refugees from Ukraine exceeding 900,000

The world's top 10 tobacco smoking nations

Austrians launch petition to quit EU

Chuck it in the bin: UK police offer 'amnesty' for surrendering knives

North Charleston cop fired over Confederate flag boxers pic while thug officers get away with murder

Pope Francis: Sometimes divorce can be a 'moral necessity'

Dylann Roof and the Charleston massacre media coverage: Recognizing the crime, downplaying the causes

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