Society's ChildS


Megaphone

Assange's father slams US pursuit of Wikileaks founder as 'revenge' for exposing war destruction


RT
Sat, 04 May 2019 00:00 UTC
John Shipton
© Riptly
Julian Assange's father John Shipton has blasted the US for seeking "vindictive revenge" on his son for WikiLeaks exposing the US "destruction" of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria and the "millions killed" in wars.

Assange is being punished for exposing the "grand narrative of every heinous crime of the late 20th century," Lipton told protesters at a rally in Sydney, Australia, on Friday.

"The consequence of WikiLeaks revealing these crimes, the destruction of Iraq, the destruction of Afghanistan, the destruction of Syria, the destruction of Libya, millions killed, they want their vindictive revenge," he said.
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No Entry

Modern day book-burning: Facebook's most recent purge and the attack on free speech

Danielle Ryan
RT
Sat, 04 May 2019 15:52 UTC
Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Louis Farrakhan
© Lucas Jackson/Jim Bourg / Rebecca Cook
When social media platforms simultaneously banned Alex Jones last summer, I wrote that the decision was merely a "warning shot against dissent." The latest Facebook bans against more conservative figures proves that point.

Facebook, citing company policies on "hate organizations," has now banned Infowars, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Louis Farrakhan, among others. If that was not bad enough, now even merely posting a link to Infowars content could get you in trouble, too.

When I criticized the earlier bans against Jones, I prefaced it by saying that I was not a fan, lest anyone assume my words were tantamount to an endorsement of his content or opinions. But there should be no need for such a semi-apologetic disclaimer. This is straight-up censorship and it should be condemned, regardless of anyone's personal feelings toward the targets.

The initial ban on Jones was an attempt to test the waters; to see how people might react to a popular figure being wiped from social media existence. When establishment journalists whooped and cheered in celebration, Facebook (and the rest) were emboldened. Consequently, we are now sliding down the slippery slope of internet censorship at frighteningly quick pace - and they are still cheering. Most news reports on the new ban have framed it positively as Facebook 'taking action' and finally doing the right thing.
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Eye 1

Tyson recalls additional 11.7 million pounds of chicken strips

Mark Osborne
ABC News
Sat, 04 May 2019 03:09 UTC
Tyson chicken
Tyson Foods is massively expanding a previous recall for its brand of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strips due to consumers finding pieces of metal in them.

The company issued a recall for 69,093 pounds of chicken strips on March 21, but it is now expanding that to 11,829,517 million pounds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The recall was announced on Saturday.

The FSIS had initially received two complaints of "extraneous material" in the chicken, but it has now received six complaints. There have been three oral injuries due to people biting into the chicken strips contaminated with metal pieces.
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Light Saber

Coup flops in Venezuela and Guaido's shadow 'ambassador' flees in failure as DC embassy protectors hold their ground

Max Blumenthal
The Gray Zone
Thu, 02 May 2019 15:27 UTC
Washington venezuela embassy defender
© The Gray Zone
A group of determined US activists forced Juan Guaido's shadow ambassador, Carlos Vecchio, to flee from a rally that was supposed to mark his triumphant entry into the Venezuelan embassy in Washington

It was supposed to be a day of triumph for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and his forces in Washington DC. In Caracas, the opposition had launched "Operacion Libertad," a coup attempt that promised to flip high level figures in the military and Maduro's inner circle and deliver Miraflores Palace to Guaido. And in Washington, self-declared ambassador Carlos Vecchio was poised to take control of Venezuela's embassy from Maduro's representatives.

But by the end of the Mayday holiday, Guaido's plot had been resoundingly defeated, while Vecchio was seen fleeing the embassy after his speech before 50 or so fanatical right-wing supporters was overwhelmed by a group of anti-coup protesters both inside and outside the embassy. It was a humiliating defeat for a US-backed opposition that has not achieved a single concrete victory since launching its coup attempt over 75 days ago.

Comment: RT, reporting on site adds:
Journalists covering the standoff at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC have been harassed by a group of Juan Guaido supporters, who demand that the 'Embassy Civilian Protection Collective' vacate the diplomatic building.

Members of a Telesur crew covering tensions outside the diplomatic compound were verbally assaulted on Friday afternoon by a member of the Venezuelan opposition, who, in a tirade of perfect Spanish, insulted their looks.


"Harassment, taunts, banging in their ears, [and] blocking cameras," appears to be an acceptable way to treat "the media they do not think is on their side," the anti-war A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition pointed out.

"I've covered lots of protests over the years. Never seen more racism vocalized than what I'm seeing from the Venezuelan opposition in DC. Not even in Charlottesville," independent journalist Alex Rubinstein, who has been living in the embassy, tweeted on Friday, in response to a harassment incident.


The US recognized Juan Guaido as the "legitimate" leader of Venezuela in February and told the diplomats representing Maduro's government to leave the country. Activists opposing US interventionism in the Latin America have occupied the diplomatic compound for weeks, refusing to surrender the property to Guaido's supporters.


On Tuesday, at the height of Guaido's failed attempted coup in Venezuela, opposition supporters gathered en masse in front of the diplomatic compound. Chanting and waving Venezuelan flags, protesters immediately verbally engaged a group of anti-war activists being led by Code Pink.

That group is one of the organizations of the "Embassy Civilian Protection Collective" who have been holed up inside the Venezuelan compound in order to prevent diplomats loyal to Guaido from taking control of the building. The activists say they were invited in by embassy staff.

Amid the tense standoff Secret Service and police officers stood between the Maduro and Guaido protesters.


Unable to force the activists to leave the premises, the pro-Guaido protesters began to stop people, food, and supplies from getting into the building. Three activists, including Code Pink's national co-director Ariel Gold, were briefly detained on Thursday. Gold was charged with "throwing missiles," after trying to throw bread, salad boxes, and tampons at those inside the embassy.


On Friday afternoon, Gold streamed a video showing an elderly gentleman getting booked by police for delivering "tooth brushes" to the activists. "Venezuelan Embassy in DC is more wild, violent, racist, unlawful than my times in Hebron, West Bank, Palestine," she tweeted.


Video of the 'contraband' consisting of basic necessities was shared by Alex Rubinstein online.


While the State Department on Thursday called on the "trespassers" to leave, claiming that "Guaido has legal authority over the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC," the anti-war lobby is committed to holding the fortress, even if it means arrests.

On Friday, Republican Congressman from Colorado Scott Tipton wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking him to intervene to kick out the Collective from the embassy.


The opposition, meanwhile, continues their efforts to penetrate the compound.


"Opposition continuing their aggressive & potentially deadly tactics," Rubinstein tweeted late on Friday evening, after the pro-Guaido crowd began flashing strobe lights, considered extremely dangerous to people with epilepsy and spectrum disorders. "A man was arrested in the US for sending a GIF to an epileptic reporter yet cops do nothing to stop this. It's increasingly clear they are on State Dept. orders to let the oppo escalate."




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Cross

New report: Anti-Christian persecution has reached near genocidal levels


RT
Sat, 04 May 2019 15:30 UTC
Syrian mass
© Reuters / Sertac KayarA Syrian priest prays during mass, December 25, 2018
Christians are the most persecuted of any religious group and face near-genocidal levels of oppression in some parts of the world, says a report commissioned by the UK Foreign Office.

Prepared by Reverend Philip Mounstephen, the Bishop of Truro and an Anglican missionary, the report estimated that one in three people worldwide experience some form of religious oppression, finding Christians are the most widely targeted group.

"Evidence shows not only the geographic spread of anti-Christian persecution, but also its increasing severity," said the report, adding that "in some regions, the level and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide."

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who commissioned the study last year, said on Friday that "political correctness" played a role in the abuses, slamming governments around the world for being "asleep" on the issue.

"What we have forgotten in that atmosphere of political correctness is actually the Christians that are being persecuted are some of the poorest people on the planet," said Hunt.

The report focuses on faith-based persecution in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America - notably excluding Europe and North America.

Comment: See also:

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Question

Huh? CNN thinks Louis Farrakhan is far-right


RT
Sat, 04 May 2019 15:24 UTC
Louis Farrakhan
© Reuters / Rebecca Cook
In the wake of another social media purge, CNN host Alisyn Camerota described Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan as a 'far right' figure on air. Did somebody hand her the wrong script?

Facebook on Thursday announced it would delete several "far right" and "anti-Semitic" pages and permanently ban their creators, the latest in a series of attempts to crack down on those the platform considers "extreme."

Thursday's casualties include avowedly right-wing figures such as Milo Yiannopoulos and Paul Joseph Watson, but major media outlets, from The Washington Post to The Atlantic, ran with the "far-right" description of Farrakhan, mindlessly lumping him in with the group.

Though Farrakhan does share some sentiments with elements on the right - his views on people of the Jewish faith, for example - the Nation of Islam has historically associated itself with left-wing causes, such as the civil rights movement.
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Fire

Authorities try to discover the cause of a ground-shaking explosion at industrial complex Lake County, Illinois

Jamie Knodel and Yuliya Talmazan
NBC News
Sat, 04 May 2019 15:05 UTC
Illinois explosion
© Emily LaughlinA blast rocked a neighborhood Friday night in Lake County, Illinois, where authorities were trying to determine what caused it.
Four people were hospitalized and three are missing after a "ground-shaking" explosion and fire broke out Friday night in an industrial complex in Lake County, Illinois.

Shortly before 10 p.m. the Lake County Sheriff's Department said it was working to determine the cause of a blast in the Gurnee-Waukegan area.

Waukegan Police Commander Joe Florip said four workers were transported to the hospital from the scene with "moderate injuries" as crews continued to actively search the rubble for any other victims.

Police have confirmed that the explosion took place at AB Specialty Silicones, a manufacturing and distribution company specializing in silicone-based ingredients.

Hours after the initial blast, crews continued to fight the blaze and urged residents to stay clear of the scene.

Comment: Residents have tweeted their own footage:





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Handcuffs

Man who kidnapped and held teenaged girl captive will not serve prison time

Adrianne Haney
KHOU 11
Thu, 02 May 2019 14:58 UTC
Michael Wysolovski
© Gwinnett County Sheriff's OfficeMichael Wysolovski
A man accused of kidnapping a North Carolina teen and holding her captive in a Duluth, Georgia home will not serve any more jail time, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office.

As part of a negotiated plea, Michael Wysolovski received credit for jail time already served, the D.A.'s office confirmed.

Prosecutors said Wysolovski drove near the then-16-year-old's Charlotte-area home in June 2016 and took her to Georgia. Family told 11Alive's sister-station NBC Charlotte that the teen had Asperger Syndrome and left her home without her medication. Officials said the two met on an internet chat site for people with eating disorders - but the communications allegedly turned to be a sexual nature.

According to the district attorney's office, the Gwinnett County Police Department received a report that the victim had revealed her true identity online to a person in Romania and said she was living with Wysolovski.
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Quenelle - Golden

French Yellow Vests join and speak out about Assange extradition during protest in London


wsws.org
Fri, 03 May 2019 00:00 UTC
Assange protestors
Protesters block the main road outside the court
WSWS reporters spoke to demonstrators outside Westminster Magistrates Court protesting plans to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Dozens of protesters from the Yellow Vest movement in France, which has been opposing "president of the rich" Macron for months, attended.

Vivien travelled from Paris to support Assange. She said: "For us, he is the first Yellow Vest. A person that was willing to fight against the government for peace and freedom. Today he is in court and there is a high risk that he will be sent to the US. On the 5th of April we started protests outside the Australian embassy in France and we have gone to the UK Embassy and the Foreign Minister's Office.
"Over seven years, little by little, the media has misled people, introducing 'fake news' lies about Assange. Plenty of lawyers and journalists in France will claim they support him, but when it comes to actually protesting, they stay at home.

"Today's protest is a symbol of the fight for freedom. We are talking about human rights. We are talking about justice. We are talking about how we can live in a better society. Assange has brought to light information that can stop wars. He is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for a reason. His journalism has received so many awards around the world. But it's not reported. He's like a ghost in the mainstream press. So we have to protest."
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Shopping Bag

Try telling me the economy is "booming" after reading this list of highly negative indicators

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Thu, 02 May 2019 00:00 UTC
economic indicators
After taking an honest look at the facts, I don't know how anyone can possibly claim that the U.S. economy is "booming". I really don't. We hear this sort of rhetoric from the mainstream media all the time, but it doesn't make any sense. As I discussed yesterday, nobody should be using the term "booming" to describe the state of the U.S. economy until we have a full year when GDP growth is 3 percent or better, and at this point we haven't had that since the middle of the Bush administration. And as you will see below, the latest numbers are clearly telling us that the U.S. economy is not even moving in the right direction. Economic conditions are getting worse, and they weren't that great to begin with. According to the calculations that John Williams has made over at shadowstats.com, the U.S. economy is already in a recession, but of course the Federal Reserve will continue to tell us that everything is just fine for as long as they possibly can. Unfortunately for them, they can't hide the depressingly bad numbers that are coming in from all over the economy, and those numbers are all telling us the same thing.

The following are 19 facts about our current economic performance that should deeply disturb all of us...

#1 In April, U.S. auto sales were down 6.1 percent. That was the worst decline in 8 years.

#2 The number of mortgage applications has fallen for four weeks in a row.

#3 We just witnessed the largest crash in luxury home sales in about 9 years.
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