Society's ChildS


Brick Wall

U of Connecticut professor predicts societal collapse in 2020s

The Road
© Green ProphetPreparing for societal collapse, survival of the fittest.
We are living in society's twilight years - if a professor of ecology and mathematics from the University of Connecticut is correct. Studying history as a science with variables and trends, he predicts the 2020s will see massive instability. For some, our political future is frightening. Others find it exciting. But Professor Peter Turchin from the University of Connecticut claims that it is time to prepare for political turmoil that could rock society to its core.

Turchin is known for developing a cross-disciplinary subject known as "cliodynamics," which treats history like any other science, with predictions and models. He has been writing about the subject for some time, but three years ago he began working on predicting the future. One of his predictions was: "We should expect many years of political turmoil, peaking in the 2020s."

Turchin says that "the negative trends seem to be accelerating," and that in three years, the path to instability will seem unavoidable. He was quick to point out that Donald Trump's presidential election neither accelerates nor decelerates the process, but was simply a predicted aspect of his theory.

Turchin's concepts include "elite overproduction," in which the rich grow richer and relate less and less to the poor. He said that elite overproduction would result in "ideological polarization and fragmentation of the political class." He used the 2016 election as a prime example, and explained that the Republican party has shattered into different factions consisting of Traditional Republicans, Tea Party Republicans, and Trump Populists. He also said the same applies to the Democratic Party, with the divide between Democratic Socialists and Establishment Democrats.

Comment: Trends can change but it takes unrelenting work to impact a growing trajectory of 'The Road' more taken. Turchin has provided a relatively non-biased forecast that suggests the global collective is doomed. Has he taken into consideration the efforts to bring to and maintain balance from the contributions of truth and knowledge to the collective consciousness? Step up, or step out. That is our choice.


Handcuffs

A high speed chase, a stolen police vehicle, a naked woman...

highspeed chase
© FOX 10 Phoenix / YouTube
A Maricopa County sheriff's deputy responding to a disturbance at a gas station was in for a wild ride. A naked woman greeted him, claiming she had been sexually assaulted, but then things took a bizarre turn. What followed was a high-speed pursuit along Interstate-8 that reached over 100 miles (161 kilometers) per hour. Not even spike strips could stop her until she crashed while trying to merge onto I-10 after driving 75 miles (120 km).

The unidentified woman got into the deputy's car at a gas station in Gila Bend, Arizona, when he went looking for her clothes and left the engine of his pickup truck running. Chief Deputy Ben Henry said the deputy was less concerned about potentially arresting the woman and entered the gas station to try to find something she could use to cover herself.

Henry explained that this was not his department's standard procedure, but felt it could have been justified given the circumstances. "Compassion towards victims is always our utmost concern," Henry said.


Comment: Now there's a concept we don't often hear today!


The deputy tried to stop her by running alongside the vehicle and then jumped on the running board of the truck, but was knocked off. A couple offered him their vehicle to pursue the woman which he accepted to maintain contact with his truck until backup arrived.

Comment: Presumably the officers filed a 'bare bones' report now that the woman is 'under wraps.'


Quenelle

CNBC journalist John Harwood asked 'who Americans believe', Wikileaks or US intel - gets lambasted on Twitter

CIA wikileaks
© Reuters
CNBC Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood, whose cosy relationship with the Clinton campaign was exposed in the Podesta Leaks, asked which source Americans believe regarding the hacking of the Democratic National Committee - WikiLeaks or US Intelligence.

The Twitter poll comes as President-elect Donald Trump's refusal to accept US Intelligence reports that claim Russia is behind the DNC hacking escalated tensions between the incoming and outgoing White House administrations.



Harwood, who is also a contributor for the New York Times, launched the poll on Thursday and it received more than 19,000 votes within 14 hours.
WikiLeaks is, so far, hugely surpassing US Intelligence officials, accumulating 74 per cent of the vote. Only a quarter of those polled say they believe US Intelligence officials.

Comment: Be careful what you ask for.


V

Wikileaks trolls Democrats by highlighting failed Clinton strategy to bolster Trump as 'pied piper' opposition

hillary
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has been trolling Democrats on Twitter by highlighting one of the leaked Podesta emails, revealing a Clinton campaign strategy to bolster "Pied Piper" candidates such as Donald Trump.

The strategy was apparently designed to force more moderate Republican candidates into more conservative positions making them unpalatable to the majority of the electorate.

The email was sent back in April 2015, before Trump had cemented his position as a viable contender, as the then-crowded Republican field of candidates jockeyed for position.

It came from the mastor@hillaryclinton.com account, likely belonging to Marissa Astor, who worked as an assistant to Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook. It was found in the WikiLeaks dump of emails belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Handcuffs

UK doubles sentence for stalkers after crime rate shoots up since 2012

man sitting bench
© Susana Vera / Reuters
Stalkers are to face a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail after the government bowed to pressure from a cross-party campaign to better protect victims.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) says the maximum custodial sentence available to courts in England and Wales will double from five years when the tough new measures in the Policing and Crime Bill are adopted next week.

If the crime is racially or religiously aggravated, jail terms will also rise from seven to 14 years.

The Tory government had previously said five-year sentences were sufficient for the worst stalkers, but were defeated by Labour and crossbench peers in a key vote in the House of Lords just before Christmas.

A total of 194 people were convicted of stalking in 2015. The average custodial sentence was just over a year at 14.1 months, according to the Telegraph.

Attention

33 killed in gruesome massacre in the second Brazilian prison riot this week

brazilian prison
© Nacho Doce / Reuters
At last 33 people have been massacred in a new prison riot in Brazil's northern region of Roraima, according to the country's justice secretary. The incident came less than a week after the country was shaken by the brutal killing of 56 inmates in Manaus.


Comment: More on the prison riot in Manaus: 60 dead, hundreds escape in Brazil prison riot


The riot started at around 2:30 AM on Friday at the overcrowded Monte Cristo Agricultural Penitentiary in Boa Vista. Roraima's largest prison holds between 1,200 and 1,700 inmates, according to various reports, exceeding its capacity twofold.

The inmates broke padlocks in their cells and escaped, slaughtering other prisoners, reportedly members of a rival drug gang. The 15 officers on duty were unable to stop the violence, which was only quelled after the intervention of the Special Operations Battalion (Bope) and Brazilian military police.

Dig

No good deed goes unpunished: Man fined for shoveling the street to help his elderly neighbors

snow shoveling
There is a saying among law enforcement when they are questioned for writing asinine tickets for non-crimes and arresting well-meaning people who may be in possession of a plant to treat their child — 'Just doing my job.' This phrase is uttered countless times a day as police officers write tickets for everything from window tint to license plate lights — as they somehow think it justifies this level of extortion.

The most recent case of extortion for non-crimes is getting a lot of attention in Idaho because police extorted a man who was actually providing a community service.

When it snows in his community, Mitch Fisher is ready to help.

"I take care of the neighbors. They're all elderly and I like to help them out," Fisher said.

Fisher's community service of plowing streets and sidewalks — for free — is so highly regarded that he was featured in a segment on a local news station in December.

Comment: Don't share food, don't help the homeless and, for God's sake, don't shovel your neighbor's snow! The PTB can't have people looking after each other.


Palette

Anxiety of notoriety: Some artists no longer want to be famous

Banksy
© AFP Photo/Philippe HuguenAn art piece protected by a plexiglass pane by British artist Banksy, seen on a beach in Calais, northern France
"I love being famous," the black US comedian Chris Rock once quipped. "It's almost like being white."

But a growing number of artists would rather have success without the encumbrance of fame.

From the street artist Banksy to the Italian literary phenomenon Elena Ferrante, a new brand of creator is actively rejecting the limelight and doing everything they can to avoid it.

Even first-time novelists, whose publishers are often desperate for them to go out and promote their work, are thumbing their noses at celebrity.

One young French novelist, who writes under the pseudonym of Joseph Andras, rejected the country's top prize for a first book last year because it threatened his anonymity.

Like Ferrante, whose Naples quartet has become a huge international bestseller, Andras refuses to be photographed and only does interviews via email.

"A baker makes bread, a plumber unblocks pipes and writers write," he declared in his only interview, granted to the Communist newspaper L'Humanite. "Everything is in the book, I don't really see what more I have to add."

Newspaper

Las Vegas: Elderly couple commits suicide by jumping off of casino parking garage

Silverton hotel-casino
© David Guzman/Las Vegas Review JournalSilverton hotel-casino
UPDATE: The couple has been identified as 63-year-old Emi Yamasaki and 63-year-old Glen Yamasaki from Henderson.

Those who knew the Yamasakis were horrified to hear of their final moments.

"I can't believe they would do such a thing," said Jo Lepore.

The Lepores live just a few feet away from the couple.

"I'm just so upset really that they passed," said Dick Lepore. "If you would've met them, you would've like them."

Many other neighbors shared fond memories of Emi and Glen. We're told they would always check in on the elderly in the area.

It is unknown why the couple jumped. However, court records show the couple had recent financial troubles. The bank filed a complaint that the Yamasakis were ordered to pay $15,000.

13 Action News briefly spoke with relatives of the couple. They did not want to comment at this time.

Smoking

Anti-smoking fascism: Virginia proposes bill to allow smoking ban in parks

smoking ban
© Reuters
A Virginia lawmaker has proposed a bill that would allow counties, cities and towns to decide whether to ban smoking at outdoor public spaces such as parks.

The legislation was introduced by State Sen. John Edwards (D-Roanoke) and would impose a $25 fine for those in violation of the ban.

Arlington County is likely to be a local jurisdiction that would be in favor of this proposed bill. While smoking is not currently banned, signs have been seen posted at public parks in the county asking people to not smoke within 50 feet of playgrounds, courts, fields and other recreation areas.

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