Society's Child

Free speech on campus: War on Christianity or equal-opportunity ideological battleground?

RT
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 00:00 UTC

Conservative counterprotesters at UC-Berkeley

A pair of recent incidents on US campuses has again highlighted the issue of free speech. Is there really a "war on Christianity" happening on American campuses?

In September, Polly Olsen sued Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, claiming staff had violated her free speech rights when they stopped her from handing out religiously-themed Valentines to her fellow students. An observer had complained of "suspicious activity" and Olsen was escorted to the campus security office and told her cards - which contained Christian messages like "Jesus Loves You" - might be considered "offensive," and that she was "soliciting" by distributing them outside the campus' designated "free speech zone."

Comment: See also:

Mentally unstable, cleaver-wielding migrant walks free in Berlin after 107 arrests

RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 11:34 UTC

A migrant from Ghana, notorious for his shoplifting sprees and violent outbursts, was arrested 107 times in Berlin, but none of them stuck. He even walked free after threatening to hack a woman with a meat cleaver.

For years, a 59-year-old man known as Bismark B. made a living out of stealing from supermarkets in central Berlin. He would show up "three to four times a week" to steal food, a store employee told local media. Witnesses also said that he often grabbed the most expensive items and kept a journal of the things he stole.

Bismark B. racked up 107 arrests, but was released each time because he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

US troops erect razor fences in San Diego to thwart migrant caravan

RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 11:34 UTC

US troops razor wire fence barricade Mexico migrant caravan

US military and border protection agents have extended razor wire and erected barricades at the point of entry near San Diego, California, as the first groups of migrants arrived at the US-Mexico border.

Hundreds of migrants who had split off from the main 'caravan' arrived in Tijuana early Tuesday on nine buses. Numbering just over 350 people, they joined an initial, small group of around 85 people, mostly members of the LGBT community, who'd experienced discrimination within the main crowd and were helped to make it to the Mexican border town even earlier on Sunday.

Pilot dead after yet another T-38 supersonic jet crashes at base in Texas

RT
Wed, 14 Nov 2018 11:34 UTC

A US Air Force pilot was killed as a T-38 Talon supersonic training plane crashed at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas on Tuesday night, making it the fifth accident involving the same aircraft model in the last 12 months.

The two-seat jet crashed around 7:40pm local time, the base reported. One pilot was killed, while another was hospitalized. The military didn't provide details of the circumstances of the crash. An official probe has been launched.

According to the aviation blog The Warzone, this is the fifth time a military T-38 has crashed in the last 12 months.

Open-access journal editors resign after alleged pressure to publish mediocre papers

Jop de Vrieze
Science
Tue, 04 Sep 2018 15:45 UTC

All 10 senior editors of the open-access journal Nutrients resigned last month, alleging that the publisher, the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), pressured them to accept manuscripts of mediocre quality and importance.

The conflict is familiar for many commercial open-access publishers: Because authors pay fees per published article (about $1800 in the case of Nutrients), the publisher has an incentive to publish as many as possible. On the other hand, scientists prefer to publish in choosy, reputable journals, and academic journal editors want to maintain this quality.

On 15 August, the editor-in-chief of the journal, Jon Buckley, of the University of South Australia in Adelaide, received an email from MDPI announcing his replacement at the end of the year by someone who would "bring different ideas on board." Buckley says this was an excuse to push him aside because of his strict editorial policy. He resigned immediately, and nine other senior editors followed.

Comment: It looks like just another step in the descending staircase that is scientific integrity. Since the model of open access journals favours quantity over quality, it stands to reason that this will lead to even more poorly conducted research flooding the market. And it seems the number of scientists and editors resigning out of protest is climbing.

See also:

'Post 9/11 US veterans don't have the illusion of righteousness about the wars they fought'

RT
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 04:17 UTC

This generation of US veterans is facing the invalidity of the wars they fought, having been treated like puppets of the government in the execution of the unjust military action, Iraq war combat veteran Adam Kokesh told RT.

A new study has found that American soldiers who were part of the 'War on Terror' are struggling to make ends meet. They are facing greater hardship than veterans of previous generations.

"Post 9/11 veterans have become the first and only generation of veterans to struggle with housing affordability compared to civilians of like ages and demographics," according to the study.

Mysterious booming music pulsates across the Delaware River keeping residents awake

Sputnik
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 03:59 UTC

A repetitive, full bass has been pulsing through homes across the Delaware River on the Atlantic coast of the US since the summer, agonizing New Jersey residents living in the towns of Carneys Point, Penns Grove and Pennsville.

Although it had been heard multiple times throughout the summer, there has been a spate of music during the past couple of weeks, NJ.com reported at the end of last month.

"It was like a sickening, pulsing heartbeat. We turned up our television but could not overpower the throb," Monica Morris Lind, who lives off the Delaware River, told the media outlet.

Tommy Robinson barred from entry into US to attend conservative event on Islam

RT
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 03:36 UTC

Robinson, founder of the English Defence League (EDL), who is currently on bail after being charged with contempt of court, will have to wait "a while" for a US visa to be granted, according to neoconservative Daniel Pipes - the president of Middle East Forum (MEF), a conservative think-tank.

According to the Press Association, Robinson has labelled reports he has been denied a visa as "fake news."

In 2013 Robinson - real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - was jailed for 10 months for entering the US using someone else's passport. The far-right activist turned self-styled journalist, has a myriad of other convictions to his name, including drug offenses, a number of assaults, leading a football riot and mortgage fraud.

Noam Chomsky echoes prominent Israeli intellectual - warns of growing 'Judeo-Nazi tendencies' in Israel

Middle East Monitor
Mon, 12 Nov 2018 14:30 UTC

Prominent Jewish intellectual Noam Chomsky has raised concerns over what he believes is the rise of "Judeo-Nazi tendencies" in Israel. Speaking to i24NEWS last week, the renowned political dissident, linguist and scholar repeated warnings given by Yeshayahu Leibowitz, an Israeli public intellectual, biochemist and polymath, concerning the dehumanising effect of Israel's brutal occupation of Palestine on the victims and the oppressors.

Chomsky commented on remarks by Leibowitz who was nominated for the Israel Prize saying that "Leibowitz warned that if the occupation continues, Israeli Jews are going to turn into what he called, Judeo-Nazis". Chomsky recognised the description was a "strong term" and that most people wouldn't be able to get away with describing Israel in this manner but explained that Leibowitz's status meant that he was able to speak about Israel without incurring fury.

Leibowitz who passed away in 1994 in Jerusalem, cautioned that the state of Israel and Zionism had become more sacred than Jewish humanist values and controversially went on to describe Israeli conduct in occupied Palestinian territories as "Judeo-Nazi" in nature.

Comment: And Chomsky is not the only Jewish person objective enough to make these comparisons:

Palestinians critical of Hollywood stars donating $60 million to support Israeli army terror

Zena Tahhan
Middle East Eye
Fri, 09 Nov 2018 16:09 UTC

Pharrell Williams and Gerard Butler among stars condemned by Palestinians, who say money furthers the occupation

As Hollywood stars celebrated at a fundraiser for the Israeli army last week in Los Angeles, halfway across the world Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip were waking up for another Friday of protest and bloodshed.

The gala on 1 November, organised by Friends of the Israeli Defence Forces and attended by actors such as Ashton Kutcher, Gerard Butler and Andy Garcia, was praised by Israel and its supporters for raising a record $60 million and bringing together more than 1,200 people.

A memorandum of understanding signed between Israel and Barack Obama's US administration in 2016 included a record $38bn deal to provide Israel with military assistance over a ten-year period, the largest such pledge in American history.

In the occupied Palestinian territory and on social media, the star-studded event was met with anger and condemnation.

I once wore a kilt to elementary school but that was because it was part of my homemade Braveheart costume. I had shorts on underneath but pranked...

Animanarchy

She hopefully also knocked out a complete chronology of her situation and made it available to the press. God speed lady! Fight that good fight -...

Rowan Cocoan

.. .. Never go to Happy Hour when it's nurses night.. or, Let's go phizzer [Link]

Jibrish

But we're going into a mini 'ice age'! HAARP has nothing to do with this...

tekdude

Ehret an idiot beyond belief

smertzasmert

Society's Child

Free speech on campus: War on Christianity or equal-opportunity ideological battleground?

Mentally unstable, cleaver-wielding migrant walks free in Berlin after 107 arrests

US troops erect razor fences in San Diego to thwart migrant caravan

Pilot dead after yet another T-38 supersonic jet crashes at base in Texas

Open-access journal editors resign after alleged pressure to publish mediocre papers

'Post 9/11 US veterans don't have the illusion of righteousness about the wars they fought'

Mysterious booming music pulsates across the Delaware River keeping residents awake

Tommy Robinson barred from entry into US to attend conservative event on Islam

Noam Chomsky echoes prominent Israeli intellectual - warns of growing 'Judeo-Nazi tendencies' in Israel

Palestinians critical of Hollywood stars donating $60 million to support Israeli army terror

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